Beyond SJMC Days — Alumni Video Series

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021

Lindsay Gilbert, assistant director of professional and career development services, conducted interviews with young SJMC alumni as part of 2021 SJMC Days.

Watch the videos below to learn how SJMC grads made it to their current positions, what they do in those roles and what they took away from their time at Drake.

Ankita Dhussa

Ankita Dhussa (JO ’13) in Radio, TV, production is a user researcher for the Nextdoor neighborhood app. Listen to hear her story as she tells how she navigated the tech industry to land on a position in research for Nextdoor in San Francisco.

Bailey Coronis

Bailey Coronis (JO ’20) in Digital Media Production is an East Coast page at NBC Universal. Listen to hear his story about paging for the “Today Show” and “Saturday Night Live” and fulfilling his dream of living in New York City.

Ezekiel Okeleye

Ezekiel Okeleye (JO ’15) in Public Relations and Adveritisng is a senior business partner for store operations at Target HQ. Listen to his story how he moved from sports communication with the Minnesota United to his current role at Target in Minneapolis.

Jazlin Coley- Smith

Jazlin Coley- Smith (JO ’19) in Public Relations is the director of Equity and Inclusion at Drake University. Listen to her story how she navigated difficult conversations and the Americorps role through Community and Engage Learning to land her position as the director of Equity and Inclusion in Des Moines.

Katie Martin

Katie Martin (JO ’10) in Advertising is the brand director for the NFL account at 72 and Sunny. Listen to her story how she began at an agency in Des Moines and moved to a larger agency in Los Angeles.

Paul LeFort

Paul LeFort (JO ’91) in Radio and TV is the director of Sales and Development for Nielsen. Listen to his presentation on “The Audience is Everything” and how to apply data to all aspects of storytelling. Paul lives near Los Angeles.

Raquel Rivera

Raquel Rivera (JO ’15) in Public Relations is a human relations manager at Amazon. Listen to her story how she worked with her Drake University adviser to develop a major in PR and concentration in Human Relations to find her perfect fit to launch into her positions at Amazon in Phoenix.