Integrated Marketing Communications is composed of five teams that lead the development
and design of the Pepperdine brand experience. Get to know the members of our team
below.
Senior Leadership
Sean Burnett
Senior Vice President for Integrated Marketing Communications and Chief Marketing
Officer
Mauricio Acevedo is Pepperdine University's director of digital marketing. With over
17 years of experience in digital marketing, Mauricio has particular expertise in
online campaign development, paid search, search engine optimization, marketing automation,
analytics, website design, information architecture, and marketing systems integrations.
Most recently, Mauricio was the vice president of marketing at a private lending company,
where he was responsible for lead acquisition, management of software platforms, and
website development for various brands and business units.
Mauricio is an Eloqua, Sitecore, and Pragmatic Marketing Certified professional and
holds an MBA in finance from the University of Redlands.
Nate Ethell
Senior Director of Communications and Brand Development
As senior director of communications and brand development at Pepperdine, Nate Ethell
provides strategic and operational leadership of key communications for Pepperdine,
including flagship University communications and outreach platforms in print, web,
social media, and mobile. He is also responsible for developing, implementing, and
assessing marketing initiatives aimed to increase brand awareness and depth while
creating opportunities to facilitate brand and messaging strategy that aligns with
Pepperdine's mission, vision, and strategic plan. Nate is a graduate of Seaver College
and received his MBA in marketing from the Graziadio Business School.
Allen Haren has more than 16 years of experience in higher education and fields related
to multimedia and technology. He holds a bachelor's of science in sports medicine
and a master's of arts in education technology, both from Pepperdine University. Allen
is responsible for providing the vision and leadership in advancing the University
through video production, photography, and digital archives. While his focus has been
in video production, he has a personal passion for storytelling through the art of
photography and for cultivating efficient organizational systems. Allen led the implementation
of the Public Affairs Media Bank and continues as the system administer today.
Keith came to Pepperdine in 2001 after stints in the ad agency world. He oversees
the brand assets and design strategies for the University and contributes to the strategy
for the licensing and trademarking of those assets. His work at Pepperdine has won
awards from groups such as CASE, Graphic Design magazine, and Adobe. He is also a
professional artist and maintains a painting studio in his house. Keith plays piano
and percussion and worked as a professional musician in the Los Angeles area for many
years. He has a BFA in studio art, degrees in graphic design and philosophy, and training
in voice-over for television and radio. He lives in Ventura with his wife and their
two dogs.
Tamara O'Brien has over 20 years of experience in customer service and over five years
of experience managing projects and operations within the Integrated Marketing Communications
(IMC) department at Pepperdine. Since joining the IMC team back in 2007 as an administrative
assistant, Tamara has had the pleasure of serving the department in many roles. Most
recently, she serves as a project manager and administers the new project management
system, Workfront. Tamara holds a bachelor of arts degree in liberal studies from
California State University, Northridge.
After starting her career in lifestyle editorial and fashion e-commerce, Gareen Darakjian's
lifelong passion for storytelling led her to Pepperdine in 2010, where she communicates
the evolving Pepperdine story through various channels as senior managing editor.
She leads content development for Pepperdine Magazine, Pepperdine Newsroom, the annual President's Report, the Year in Review, and other
flagship initiatives.
Gareen earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California, Los
Angeles, in 2007 and completed graduate studies in mass communication and journalism
at California State University, Northridge, in 2011.
As social media manager, Sarah Dillion is responsible for developing engaging content
and building brand awareness across Pepperdine's social media channels. Sarah has
a decade of experience creating content and developing communication strategies for
nonprofit and government organizations. Sarah holds a BA and MFA, both in filmmaking,
from the University of Central Arkansas.
As associate director of communications and public relations, Elyse Jankowski enhances
initiatives aimed at increasing brand awareness, enrollment, fundraising, and student
engagement. Elyse is responsible for building brand equity, elevating the University’s
national reputation, providing strong and consistent institutional message leadership,
and implementing effective integrated marketing and communications strategies. Elyse
has a BA in contemporary arts and over a decade of experience in nonprofit marketing.
Amanda Pisani joined Pepperdine in 2018 as the university copy editor. In her role,
she has the responsibility of managing, articulating, and enforcing all editorial
policy for the University—ensuring appropriate literary style, grammar guidelines,
brand alignment, and mission compliance across all flagship publications in print,
digital, social media, and new media platforms. Prior to coming to Pepperdine, Amanda
served as an editor at Macmillan and Renaissance Media, as well as at a number of
other publishers and businesses. She has a BA in English from Boston College and a
JD from Cornell University.
Jacklyne "Jakie" Rodriguez's affinity for writing led her back to Pepperdine University
as the digital content manager for Seaver College. She reviews, creates, and publishes
content distributed across multiple digital channels and leads the development and
execution of digital content strategy. Jakie earned a bachelor's degree in communication,
with an emphasis in journalism, and Spanish from California Lutheran University. She
holds a Masters of Science in communication from Pepperdine's Seaver College.
Arwa earned a BA in Communication and a BA in Sociology from the University of California,
Santa Barbara. After completing her undergraduate studies, she went on to work for
various small businesses and FX Networks before going back to school for her graduate
degree. She graduated from the University of Southern California Annenberg School
of Communication and Journalism with a Masters in Communication Management. In her
current role as Email Marketing Manager, Arwa manages Pepperdine University’s email
communications calendar. She oversees all scheduling, content, and strategy related
to email communications at Pepperdine.
Marsha collaborates with the communications, PR, editorial, creative, digital, and
media teams to advance Pepperdine's brand awareness and transmedia storytelling. Gleaning
from strategic plans, creative briefs, and wireframes she packages online content
for an engaging end-user experience. Other tasks include: managing web pages; developing
the digital magazine; contributing to social media messaging; writing blog articles;
facilitating public relations initiatives; crafting and distributing emails; training
staff on content marketing university-wide.
Marsha holds a bachelor's degree in communications from Michigan State University.
With an acquired blend of traditional skills with modern tactics, she also has agency,
small business, corporate, nonprofit, and trade association marketing experience.
Courtney Gero has served as the senior graphic designer within Pepperdine's Integrated
Marketing Communications (IMC) department since 2015. She leads the art direction
of Pepperdine Magazine, assists the creative director with the design of high-profile branding initiatives,
and is responsible for various large-scale creative projects that promote the University
brand and mission.
Beginning her career as a scenic artist in the entertainment industry, Courtney gravitated
toward graphic design and graduated from Otis College of Art and Design with a degree
in communication arts. Having worked in fine art institutions, design firms, nonprofit
organizations, and the corporate world, Courtney brings to Pepperdine a wide breadth
of creative experience and vision across multiple disciplines.
Roshie Hu joined the creative team at Pepperdine in April 2005 and has worked on such
high-profile initiatives as the University's flagship magazines, marketing collateral,
academic catalogs, and event programs. Roshie has also streamlined some of IMC's vital
electronic document review, approval, and markup processes.
Kyle Dusek has worked for over 25 years at Pepperdine in a variety of roles often
directly serving students, faculty, and staff. As the CRM marketing automation manager,
he primarily focuses on Salesforce marketing solutions for email and events. He also
has a broad range of skills in interactive and social technologies including web,
mobile, and social media. Kyle has three degrees from Pepperdine: a bachelor of arts
in theatre arts, a bachelor of science in computer science/mathematics, and a master
of science in technology management.
Kimberly Robison has been part of Pepperdine's IMC department for over ten years and
is a graduate of Seaver College with degrees in advertising and multimedia design.
She has played an integral role as a key designer and developer in Pepperdine's website
redesigns and continues to manage and maintain all major public websites and systems.
She specializes in front-end coding, digital accessibility, user experience, information
architecture, and search engine optimization. Kimberly also leads and supports digital
marketing campaign strategies and reporting for the University and its five schools.
As the university videographer, Grant Dillion is responsible for shooting, editing,
writing, and producing Pepperdine video content for various platforms and mediums.
He also likes camping.
An alumnus of Seaver College, Ron Hall has been carefully crafting Pepperdine University's
unique visual signature and appearance in photos for over three decades in his career
as university photographer. Ron has captured all aspects of University life for historical,
documentary, and marketing purposes, whether the subject is portraiture, athletic
performance, architecture and landscape, or still life. He also provides direction
for photographic personnel and procedures, and visual asset storage and management
at the University. An accomplished photographic artist, Ron has exhibited in solo
and group shows in galleries in New York, Boston, and throughout the Southland, as
well as in Senlis, France. Ron is a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism
Award.
Nathan Pang has served as a multimedia producer and broadcast engineer at Pepperdine
University since 2008. Nathan's responsibilities include the planning, design, and
development of various digital media productions for the advancement of the University,
as well as technical operation of the Public Affairs Broadcast Studio. A graduate
of Seaver College, Nathan holds a degree in telecommunications (television production)
and has an avid interest in both web development and video media.
Jill McWilliams has over 20 years of managerial experience as a communications producer
in advancement: nine years at Pepperdine; 12 years at the University of Miami, Coral
Gables, Florida. She spent the prior five years managing production, manufacturing,
and distribution for national and regional magazines, working in Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and New York. Jill also holds a degree in communications, public relations.