Live from CUPRAP: They’re paying WHAT??!

Eddie Francis, a brand strategy consultant, award-winning broadcaster, podcaster, and speaker, is driven by the deep belief in the importance of being valued. As the founder of Edify Ventures, a consultancy focusing on personal and employer branding, Eddie hosts "I Wanna Work There!" on employer branding in higher education and "For Our Edification" on personal leadership. With a background in radio, including hosting the "HBCU Lifestyle Podcast," Eddie's contributions extend to various platforms, earning him recognition as one of New Orleans Magazine's "30 People to Watch." In higher education, he played pivotal roles in brand identity, communications, and enrollment growth. As a speaker, Eddie shares leadership insights with college students and has contributed to the book "Leadership to Letters." Eddie holds a Master of Professional Studies in strategic leadership and a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication. Proudly affiliated with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., he is the husband of Dr. Halima Leak Francis and the father of Stevie.

Transformation has been a hallmark of Jaime's career. In nearly 20 years working in higher education, she been part of four university rebrandings and five website overhauls. She's been hands-on in the development of an integrated marketing communications model at three institutions. As a result, she has gained extensive expertise in brand strategy, recruitment marketing, internal communications, crisis communications, issues management, online innovation, and media relations. She also has in her portfolio government relations and, for two years, she oversaw a public radio station. She is currently the vice president for university communications and chief marketing officer for Old Dominion University, a 23,000-student public R1 research institution in Coastal Virginia. Prior to her current role, she was the vice president and chief communications and marketing officer for Miami University (the one in not-as-sunny Oxford, Ohio). She also served in marketing and media relations leadership roles at Winston-Salem State University (North Carolina), Radford University (Virginia), the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, and Northwestern Health Sciences University (Minnesota). Her background also includes more than four years as a print journalist and three years working for nonprofits and in nonprofit consulting. She earned my bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota and her master's degree in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University.