FIRE-ENGINE-RED - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Client Solutions Specialist
As a Client Solutions Specialist for the Sales team, Adam Parker connects institutions with the Carnegie solutions that best meet their needs. Prior to joining Carnegie, Adam worked at University of Iowa Health Care Marketing and Communications in Collegiate and Community Relations where he managed alumni relations marketing and strategy for the Carver College of Medicine. In addition, Adam spent eight years in international admissions. Adam is passionate about higher education and looks forward to helping clients surpass their marketing goals.
Alexa Poulin manages the daily operations of Carnegie's leading-edge Digital marketing team. She understands the complexities of recruitment and enrollment marketing challenges, as a former collegiate director of marketing with more than 20 years of student-facing marketing experience. Alexa also serves as a board member of the American Marketing Association, working alongside colleagues to plan and execute AMA's annual Higher Ed Symposium.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor
- Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of Counsel
Allana Forté (she/her) serves as a senior advisor in the Of Counsel role for Carnegie. Allana's prior experience as a higher education enrollment management leader, combined with her legal expertise and passion for diversity and inclusion, allows her to navigate complex issues within the ever-changing landscape of higher education. Allana's portfolio includes the intersectionality of legal, compliance, and human resources, with a concentrated focus on inclusion and belonging. She is General Counsel at Jacksonville University and manages the Office of Legal and Compliance and the Office of People & Culture.
Job Titles:
- Expert
- VP, Digital Strategy
Anderson Murphy is an expert at creating comprehensive digital advertising solutions that are aligned with each institution's objectives and enrollment goals. He has an unmatched eye for strategy and optimization, ensuring peak performance for each client campaign. From the proposal process to implementation and analysis, he works closely as a liaison between clients and Carnegie's Digital team to ensure successful outcomes.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Client Success
With more than 20 years of higher education experience, Ben Arendt knows how to transform clients' unique challenges into opportunities for success. Ben is an imaginative and enthusiastic problem solver, with expertise in everything from student affairs and teaching to visit programs and enrollment programs. He is motivated by understanding the people, goals, and priorities that make up the unique identity of each client community-- connecting them to the Carnegie strategies that drive results.
In 2021, Bill brought his 25+ years of experience in consulting and software development to Carnegie as part of the company's acquisition of mStoner, a web development agency for higher education. At mStoner, Bill worked closely with clients to form strategic partnerships to achieve measurable, deeply satisfying results through superior technology. An expert problem solver, Bill has thrived in leadership roles in consulting, start-up, and corporate environments. A highlight includes his seven years at CNA Insurance as director of application development, where he led a group of 50 employees and participated in large-scale projects that transformed the organization.
Brian's extensive expertise in business management and operations has led to success in several leadership roles at Carnegie. As director of account management, his positive approach inspires his team to create and deliver perfectly customized strategic solutions for each client. Prior to Carnegie, Brian led the rapid growth of an innovative medical device company in San Francisco. He has also influenced start-ups and established companies in the photography, event entertainment, and public utility sectors.
Job Titles:
- Director of Client Success
As a Director of Client Success, Christie Barone brings compassion, enthusiasm, and determination to her clients and is passionate about providing them with solutions that meet their needs. Before joining Carnegie, Christie was Director of Admissions at Brandeis University for nine years, providing strategic leadership in marketing, recruitment, and admissions to grow online programs. With her expertise in Slate, she created an internal call center and built out lead classifications and communication plans, resulting in significant growth in application completion rates and yield. Christie holds a BA in International Relations from Boston University and an MS in Project and Program Management from Brandeis University.
Christine Kramer spearheads Carnegie's marketing operation, working collaboratively with company stakeholders to ensure Carnegie is a relied upon brand and partner in the higher education industry. In Christine's 15+ year career, she has dedicated more than a decade to the higher education marketing and communications space, running strategy and operations for enrollment communications and advising on those services as a consultant. Her experience outside higher education includes management consulting for media and tech, entertainment, retail, research, and nonprofit companies.
Job Titles:
- VP, Digital Strategy / Persona the Determined and Caring Advisor
Danielle helped pioneer Carnegie's Digital team as one of its first members, and she has more than a decade of experience in account and campaign management. She inspires higher education clients to use the growing digital industry to form lasting connections with their target audiences.
Job Titles:
- EVP, Research, Strategy Creativ
David Viggiano has dedicated more than two decades to designing strategic communications, enrollment, and research solutions that empower colleges and universities to elevate their brands and reputations. "Vigg" is an expert at coordinating with leadership at the highest levels of institutions, and he has an unmatched ability to identify and solve the most pressing needs of organizations across the country.
Job Titles:
- President, CLARUS, a Carnegie Company
Dr. Kathi Swanson understands how community colleges operate and shares that knowledge nationally with humor and insight. As President of CLARUS, A Carnegie Company, Kathi continues to be on the cutting edge of new technologies used in marketing. Kathi has been working with community colleges for nearly 30 years - helping them stay current with their advertising tactics and assisting them in understanding their markets. Her work with more than one-third of the community colleges in the country provides insight into best practices in marketing for community colleges. With a Doctorate in Marketing from Texas A&M University, Kathi brings fine-tuned information-gathering skills as well as a wealth of information regarding best practices for community colleges across the country.
Eric Page brings a bold approach to clients' enrollment solutions, propelled by his 15+ years of experience leading and executing cutting-edge communications and marketing strategies. He has expertise across the board, including in strategic planning, organizational dynamics, higher education enrollment and marketing, media and public relations, digital marketing, social media, website design, storytelling, and content marketing strategy. Eric previously led the admission recruitment and marketing team at the University of Iowa, where he engineered a 17% growth in enrollment over a two-year period.
Job Titles:
- VP, Web Content and Operations
As vice president of Carnegie's Inbound department, Erica specializes in refining service offerings that include Carnegie Clarity™️, search engine optimization, and analytics. Prior to this role, Erica dedicated the majority of her career to AdTech firms. She most recently led the Operations division for Semcasting, a data-as-a-service provider that specializes in IP targeting. She has also directed teams at Burst Media (now RhythmOne) in leadership roles as VP of Advertising Operations, and VP of Audience Development.
Job Titles:
- Client Solutions Specialist
As a Client Solutions Specialist, Gianna connects institutions with the Carnegie services that best fit their lead generation and enrollment marketing needs. Prior to joining Carnegie, she worked in sales for a Property Management company. In college, Gianna interacted frequently with the enrollment and admissions committees on the board of trustees as a student representative. Gianna is excited to use this knowledge to help clients increase their lead generation, and in turn, help more students find their perfect fit.
Greg Zguta plays a key role in delivering the technical rigor and expansive capabilities for which our web team is known. From discovery and planning through creative development and implementation, he is involved at every step to ensure that all of a project's pieces fit together and function elegantly. He guides Carnegie's web clients in selecting the best technology, including content management systems and other third-party technologies, and also provides diligent support to help our clients integrate these tools. Greg applies more than 13 years of web and software consulting experience to each project. He has provided technical project leadership to a range of Industries including higher education, health care, financial services, and retail. As a frequent speaker on technology and integrated marketing, Greg has presented at HighEdWeb, CASE, Omni Update's User Conference, and other events. He earned a bachelor's in English and environmental studies from Oberlin College and holds certifications from Microsoft and Google, as well as a number of content management systems. Greg is a fan of Jack Kerouac and he also enjoys snowboarding and bourbon, though not at the same time.
Job Titles:
- Director of Client Success
As Director of Client Success, Hollie Tyler serves as a strategic resource for clients by problem-solving through partnership. Hollie acts as an internal client advocate and the fusion point for cross-portfolio work to ensure client success, satisfaction, retention, and growth. Prior to joining Carnegie, Hollie worked at Samford University's Office of Admission in Birmingham, Alabama. In her role as marketing coordinator, she managed marketing plans, digital advertising, Slate communications, and brand strategy for the University, working regularly with Carnegie as a client. Hollie is passionate about data-driven creativity and enjoys working closely with clients to meet their enrollment goals.
Job Titles:
- Chief Technology Officer
- EVP of Technology for Carnegie
As EVP of Technology for Carnegie, Ilya Liberman is responsible for developing and maintaining custom software systems to support our suite of products and services. With over 25 years of IT experience, Ilya works closely with business leaders to identify, implement, and operate robust secure technology solutions for Carnegie and our clients. Prior to joining us, he held technical leadership positions, building products for a wide array of applications such as e-commerce, education, publishing, and others.
Jaime is passionate about client partnerships and has an affinity for finding unique solutions to enrollment challenges and audience outreach. With more than a decade of experience in recruitment and enrollment marketing, she has held roles in undergraduate admission, international student recruitment, and visit programming at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) prior to joining the Carnegie team.
Jared Brickman considers himself a true data nerd. With a decade of research experience in communication technologies and campaign studies, Jared is practical, focused, and driven by the compelling stories found underneath the numbers. He has won local, national, and international awards for his overall research on mobile health, viral web content, and online social support. He is also an active member of the research review community and is an upcoming member of the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal New Media and Society.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director for Client Success
As Senior Director for Client Success, Jenna Briggs brings curiosity, determination, and empathy to each client relationship to help connect them to Carnegie strategies that drive results. For the past 12 years, Jenna has served as a senior leader at institutions both large and midsized in the US and abroad. She brings a unique perspective, having worked extensively in undergraduate, international, and graduate enrollment management as well as marketing and communications.
Job Titles:
- SVP, New Product Development, Slate Optimization
Jeremiah is an admission wizard who is continually revealing new ways for clients to maximize Slate. With more than 15 years of enrollment experience-- from counselor to dean of admissions-- he has spent his time implementing undergraduate and graduate instances, as well as an advancement module. Jeremiah joined the Carnegie team as part of the company's merger with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Jeremy has lived and breathed higher education recruitment and marketing for the last 20 years, spending more than a decade serving as a director of admissions and assistant vice president for traditional and non-traditional enrollment. His consultative approach led to success in the higher education agency arena, where he's worked with private and public two- and four-year institutions on lead generation, digital advertising, communications, and enrollment strategy.
Job Titles:
- National Director, Client Solutions
Jim is an expert in recruitment services, dedicating the last 13 years to providing game-changing solutions for colleges and universities by leveraging the latest online and digital avenues for recruitment. His work inspires clients to connect with prospective students in new and authentic ways, giving institutions the best position possible for attracting the audiences most important to them.
Jim Rogers is laser-focused on clients' unique enrollment needs, and he can empathize like no one else. From his days as an admission counselor to leading private liberal arts colleges as a dean, he has dedicated the last 25 years to understanding the client perspective. Jim has been enhancing the Carnegie team since 2021 when the company merged with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Joe Moore has pioneered higher education marketing and publishing businesses for more than 30 years, partnering with more than 1,000 institutions to help them meet or exceed their enrollment goals. After co-founding Carnegie Communications, he introduced digital services to higher education marketing in 1995 by launching CollegeXpress-one of the first websites designed for college-bound students. Carnegie merged with Dartlet in 2018, and now offers a complete end-to-end portfolio of innovative communications services and response-driven recruitment solutions. Joe's leadership has motivated others to grow and succeed, and he has found great pleasure in empowering millions of students to find the right college or university.
Job Titles:
- EVP, Operations
- Leader of the Operations Division at Carnegie
As the leader of the Operations Division at Carnegie, Jorie consistently brings excellence and finesse to operational and organizational strategy and provides oversight across business systems and software operations, people success operations, special projects, and operational and legal administration. She is passionate about humanizing impersonal systems and contributing towards a people-first culture at Carnegie.
As AVP of Digital Strategy, Katie collaborates with clients to create comprehensive digital advertising campaigns that are aligned with each institution's objectives and enrollment goals. She has worked in digital marketing for more than nine years and specializes in innovative digital marketing strategies, strategic campaign development across paid search, display, social media, and streaming services. Her vital role as a liaison between the client and the Digital team provides a seamless process, from campaign implementation to optimization and analysis.
Kayla lives and breathes digital marketing, overseeing the Account Management team to ensure top-notch communication, project management, and client service. She has more than a decade of experience in digital strategy and marketing management, and she is passionate about assisting clients with complex strategic campaigns that empower them to achieve their goals.
Kelsey Anderson's ability to connect with people and problem-solve has been fostered by her background in psychology and college admission. From working at a Big Ten institution to small private colleges and universities, she brings a range of experiences and strengths to the Carnegie team. Kelsey finds customized solutions for clients using both her people skills and strategic planning. She hails from the Midwest, where she is active in her community and volunteers with a number of nonprofit organizations. In her spare time, she enjoys exploring the outdoors with her three dogs and her husband, Reid.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Client Success
Kevin brings more than 20 years of enrollment expertise to Carnegie. Prior to joining the team, he found success in both undergraduate and graduate admission at Monmouth University. There he earned continuous promotions from undergraduate admission counselor to assistant director to associate director. In his final role as director of graduate admissions, he led a team that welcomed the largest class in school history. His invaluable knowledge makes him an unmatched resource for clients in both undergraduate and graduate enrollments.
As a regional sales director, Kristy is a valuable client resource for full-funnel strategies across audiences. Before joining Carnegie, she led two university website redesign initiatives and worked with multiple institution types, including public R1 research universities and mid-sized private universities. She has an unrivaled eye for building consensus and an expertise in developing positioning statements for campuses that are part of a larger university system. Her forward-thinking approach enhances recruitment strategies for first-year students, transfers, graduate and professional studies, and adult learners.
As AVP of Marketing for Carnegie, Lizzie Lithgow oversees marketing production and operations, builds and maintains the content calendar, and manages marketing staff and freelancers. Prior to joining Carnegie, Lizzie was the co-founder of Underscore (now a division of Carnegie), where she was the VP of Marketing. There, she led the creative team, created and coordinated content strategy, and functioned as the unofficial COO. The Persevering and Compassionate Confidant, Lizzie brings her extensive background in marketing and brand strategy and infectious enthusiasm to market Carnegie's innovative solutions that help institutions meet their goals.
Job Titles:
- Chief Partnerships Officer
- Expert
Mark Cunningham is a leading expert in recruitment services and marketing, empowering clients to communicate their brand and personality to create unmatched engagement with their audiences. With more than 20 years of experience, he is a regular presenter and speaker at industry conferences, and he manages many of Carnegie's partnerships with various associations and organizations in the higher education space.
As the primary day-to-day contact for an integrated account, Matt brings together the communication and coordination of multiple client solutions. Matt is responsible for moving projects forward, running client calls, and answering any questions or concerns. Matt has lived a higher ed life prior to joining the Carnegie team. His leadership roles at both public and private institutions include: Alumni Relations, Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Programs, and Enrollment Management. Matt\'s primary desire is to share his positive Carnegie client experiences with others for the purpose of successful account solutions.
Megan Gibbs has been a part of the student lead generation team at Carnegie's CollegeXpress division for over a decade. Starting as an editor, Megan now oversees the division, specifically operations, marketing, business growth, and more. She is passionate about building a student experience on CollegeXpress.com that enables students to find their perfect school and for college/university clients to increase their brand awareness and build their pipelines for years to come.
Job Titles:
- EVP, Strategy, Slate Optimization
Megan is an expert on the endless possibilities of Slate and is eager to share her enthusiasm about its latest and greatest new features with clients. As a former admissions counselor, she understands the complexities of recruitment and operations in the higher education industry. She joined the Carnegie team in 2021 as part of the company's merger with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Meghan Dalesandro is passionate about finding innovative ways to help colleges and universities surpass their goals, making her a natural fit to oversee Carnegie's business operations. Meghan is actively involved in sales, product implementation and management, business acquisitions and mergers, and in impacting the overall growth of the company. She is an advocate for authentic storytelling and education, and she helped launch the annual Carnegie Conference-a leading event in the education recruitment marketing circuit.
Job Titles:
- EVP, Enrollment Marketing Strategy
As a Carnegie team member for more than a decade, Melissa Rekos manages and coordinates the forward-thinking enrollment and marketing strategies that meet each client's unique needs and goals. Melissa has always been on the cutting-edge of digital strategy for students, co-founding an award-winning website focused on young adult and teen audiences in 1997. She is deeply invested in client success, and she enjoys traveling to campuses and enrollment-related conferences to develop relationships and partnerships that exceed expectations.
With over a decade in the industry, Melissa Vangsness has an exceptional passion for elevating brands and has gained recognition for her ability to move organizations forward. Known for her relentless work ethic, she is a fearless champion of everything she does. After relinquishing her post as Director of Communications and Marketing at the University of Minnesota, Morris, Melissa is now using her expertise at Carnegie to guide clients through research, strategy, creative, and strategic marketing. She holds a bachelor's degree from North Dakota State University and a master's in Strategic Communication from Concordia University, St. Paul. Melissa resides in Minnesota with her husband, Mike, and two daughters.
Job Titles:
- SVP, Modeling Client Strategy
Mike leads modeling projects for clients, provides financial aid policy and operations expertise, and advises on a range of topics within enrollment management. Previously, Mike served as the Assistant Vice Provost for Financial Aid at Loyola Marymount University, where he led a financial aid team of more than 20 staff members and oversaw an aid portfolio exceeding $240 million. Mike has 12+ years of experience in enrollment data collection, analysis, and reporting. Mike has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame and a B.A. in History and Latin from Loyola Marymount University.
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President of Enrollment & Data Services
Mike Matthews is the Executive Vice President of Enrollment & Data Services, overseeing Carnegie's non-Slate delivery and strategy team in the Student Search division. A seasoned professional with a wealth of experience, Mike led the Student Search business unit at Fire Engine RED before joining Carnegie and was the Director of Student Search Service at College Board. With over 25 years in the higher education sphere, he brings extensive knowledge and expertise to his role.
As a Director of Client Success for Carnegie's Sales division, Nicole Vilegi-Sandage brings creative problem-solving, curiosity, empathy, and enthusiasm to ensure strong partnerships and client success and satisfaction. Nicole advocates for clients, wearing their jersey on and off the field. Before joining Carnegie, she spent over 14 years in enrollment management, leading communications/marketing and Slate implementation and coordinating international and domestic recruitment for undergraduate and graduate admissions.
Supporting clients across all of Carnegie's solutions and services, Ryan Ostendorf brings energy, empathy, and innovative ideas as he works with clients to streamline and transform their enrollment and marketing strategies. Ryan carries a wealth of knowledge around Slate optimization and brings a unique skillset to help clients leverage and integrate their overall marketing, communications, and enrollment strategy in creative ways. Prior to Carnegie, Ryan worked within admissions, communications, and marketing at the College of Wooster, helping to enroll some of the largest and most diverse classes in the College's history.
Job Titles:
- Chief Development Officer
Scott Novak doesn't just predict the future of educational marketing, he helps create it. For the last 25 years, he has been an authority on market trends in the industry, with an unrivaled ability to anticipate the marketing needs of colleges and universities across the country. Scott joined the Carnegie team in 2021 as part of the company's merger with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Job Titles:
- Chief Client Solutions Officer for Carnegie
- Chief Leadership Strategist
Scott Ochander is the Chief Client Solutions Officer for Carnegie. As a former Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing, Scott Ochander is regarded as an expert in reputation and enrollment strategy in higher education. Scott pioneered a consensus-building reputation and change management research model in higher education that empowered campus communities and enabled enrollment growth and reputation transformation. Scott has worked extensively in marketing and enrollment strategy, completing hundreds of strategy development projects across higher education at some of the largest and most influential institutions in the nation.
Job Titles:
- AVP, Accounts, Slate Optimization
Selma's client dedication can only be topped by her love of color-coded files and sticky notes. As project manager, she eases client concerns and keeps objectives on track with unmatched organizational skills. She joins the Carnegie team as part of the company's merger with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Client Success / Persona the Adventurous and Compassionate Advisor
Sheridan's unique and creative approach to meeting client needs stems from her previous marketing work in Nashville, where she partnered with leading country music artists to develop their authentic brands and platforms. Transferring those skills to the higher education industry has allowed her to enhance the brands of colleges and universities across the country.
Job Titles:
- SVP, Partnerships Integrations, Slate Optimization / Persona the Sophisticated and Sympathetic Advisor
As a data guru, Ted's unrivaled expertise spans from queries and migration to user-experience enhancements. He has dedicated more than a decade to recruiting and retaining prospective students for colleges all over the country, and he has a deep knowledge and understanding of the complicated numbers that institutions need to leverage with today's digital natives. Ted joined the Carnegie team as part of the company's merger with Underscore, a dedicated Slate development and optimization company.
Tim's cutting-edge marketing strategies and recruitment solutions empower Carnegie's clients to exceed their target audience and enrollment goals. He previously served as an admission counselor at Anna Maria College, where he and his team recruited the largest class in school history.
Job Titles:
- VP, Student Search Solutions
Having served as Vice President for Enrollment at three different institutions, Trent Gilbert understands the challenges and pressures modern-day enrollment managers face at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition to serving as a former VPEM, Trent also co-founded and served as an industry leader of Render Experiences, which put him at the table of enrollment strategy conversations at over 250 institutions. As the VP of Student Search Solutions at Carnegie, Trent is uniquely positioned to work with clients and create tailored solutions that creatively engage students while keeping the experience of human connection at the forefront of the process.
Job Titles:
- Chief Strategy Officer
- As Chief Strategy Officer
As Chief Strategy Officer, Tyler Borders ensures Carnegie's end-to-end products and services are continually advancing and providing unmatched value for clients. Tyler has transformed countless brands since the early 2000s, when he originated and began deploying a first-of-its-kind psychometric approach to communications. This distinctive psychology-centered and research-driven system has positively impacted audiences and teams across the country. Prior to Carnegie, Tyler found success as a creative director and as an entrepreneurial founder of five start-ups. He continues to take his expertise to industry stages nationally and to write and develop disruptive solutions in the fields of organizational psychology and brand transformation.
Voltaire joined the Carnegie team in 2021 when the company acquired mStoner, a web development and technology agency for higher education that he led as CEO and Head of Client Experience for more than 20 years. He spent the first decade of his career in development and alumni relations, working on print publications, alumni magazines, capital campaigns, and website launches. A natural storyteller, Voltaire enjoys teaching others how to effectively tell their brand story, empowering colleges and universities to forge transformative, memorable, and successful connections with their audiences. His expertise in information architecture, content strategy, and governance moves institutions from a project mindset to a process mindset, with powerful results.