Newhouse Emerging Leaders Members
Amanda Quick
Amanda Quick is a senior manager at American Express in the company’s consumer banking division.
Before joining Amex, she worked at KPMG for six years as a consultant. She advised various Fortune 100 and 500 companies in the healthcare, finance and TMT areas.
At Newhouse, Amanda studied broadcast and digital journalism with minors in marketing and Chinese studies. She earned her master’s in information management from the School of Information Studies.
While on campus, Amanda was involved with Z89 Radio, the National Association of Black Journalists, Newhouse Peer Advisors and The Daily Orange.
She enjoys traveling, reading, writing and cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Annemarie Norris
Annemarie Norris is an award-winning brand steward serving as executive vice president and strategy director at Leo Burnett.
Annemarie spent nearly a decade at BBDO working as executive president and group director of global strategy. Before joining BBDO, she worked for Ogilvy as a senior partner.
Over the course of her career, she developed brands including Dove, Gillette and Pedigree. Annemarie graduated magna cum laude from Newhouse with a degree in advertising creative, with a minor in fine arts/art history. She is a guest lecturer at Newhouse.
She has her master’s from Columbia University in arts administration.
Annemarie is a life-long New Yorker and has three young sons with her husband, Ben.
Chelsea Brown-Ferguson
Chelsea Brown-Ferguson is an account director at Obviously, a full-service influencer marketing agency and creator platform.
She is a strategic account lead with experience executing marketing, communications and digital advertising campaigns with world-class brands. She has worked across various industries including Healthcare, Beauty, CPG and Tech.
Chelsea was named as one of Business Insider’s Rising Stars of Madison Avenue for her impactful work in advertising.
She graduated from Newhouse with a degree in public relations, and is currently based in Virginia Beach, VA.
Chris Marino
Chris Marino is the head of US Agency at Google. In his role he oversees a team responsible for partnering with C-level agency executives across the East Coast to drive digital transformation at scale.
Prior to Google, Chris led digital marketing transformations at Bloomberg Media and American Express delivering significant revenue growth.
He has been recognized for his achievements in the industry by AdWeek as one of 50 executives transforming media, marketing and technology, Business Insider as a rising star of brand marketing and Brand Innovators as a 40 Under 40.
Chris received his MBA from Cornell University. He lives in NYC with his fiancé Emily and their two rescue newfoundlands.
David DeRobbio
David DeRobbio leads the API and Independent Agency Partnerships team and works on ads insights partnerships at Instacart. David heads ads strategy for offline data partnerships, where he runs a team driving partnerships with leading US CPG brands and advertising platforms.
Before joining Instacart, David worked at Acxiom/LiveRamp. He ran identity integrations for premium publishers (Facebook, Hulu, Twitter, LinkedIn) and later led LiveRamp’s data marketplace business development team.
David began his career in account management at McCann Erickson. He then moved into advertising sales and management at AOL, Pandora, Microsoft and NBC News.
David has three children and lives in Summit, New Jersey.
Jaime Fraser
Jaime Fraser currently runs executive communications for the president of Montclair State University.
Before joining Montclair, Jaime crafted brand marketing and communications strategies for global brands such as Virgin Atlantic, EWC, McDonald’s, Colgate-Palmolive, Bank of America and Yahoo.
In addition to in-house roles, she has worked for public relations agencies in New York City, Washington D.C. and London.
Jaime graduated from Newhouse with a major in public relations and serves as co-chair of the Newhouse Emerging Leaders. She lives in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Jessica Mendelson
Jessica Mendelson manages and oversees operations for NBCUniversal’s streaming and data team in the advertising and partnerships division.
She also serves as chief of staff to the EVP of streaming and data products and head of DEI. She works as a strategic liaison across the company to create efficiencies and alignment on large-scale initiatives and day-to-day functions.
Jessica began her work at NBCUniversal in the Page Program. She rotated between various assignments across the enterprise and led tours through the historic 30 Rock studios.
Jessica graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse with dual degrees. From Newhouse, she has a degree in television, radio and film. From the College of Arts and Sciences, she has a degree in Spanish language and literature.
She received a master’s in organizational leadership from Johns Hopkins University.
Originally from Westhampton, New York, Jessica lives in Manhattan.
Jose Lopez
Jose Lopez is a marketing manager for American Express and has been at the company since 2021. He manages and plans multiple omni-channel marketing campaigns to drive acquisitions for some of the enterprise’s commercial B2B banking solutions and products.
Prior to starting work full time in NYC, he graduated from University of Pennsylvania with his bachelor’s in French language and francophone studies in 2019. Jose also later received his master’s in communications from the online master’s in communications program at Newhouse in 2020.
He has spent the entirety of his career working in marketing and is passionate about customer-centric initiatives that help foster business revenue and growth.
Julia Haber
Julia Haber is the co-founder and CEO of Home from College, a professional development platform built for students establishing their careers. The platform works with more than 2,000 brands and represents students at every U.S. college campus.
Julia has spent the majority of her career building businesses that support college students.
While still at Syracuse, Julia started her first company WAVY, an experiential marketing agency. WAVY works with brands to create pop-up shop experiences on college campuses. Its clients include AT&T, Shopify, Rent the Runway and Refinery29.
She graduated from Newhouse with a degree in advertising and lives in Los Angeles.
Kevin Belbey
Kevin Belbey is a talent agent at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) where he represents sports media personalities.
Kevin is the creator of Boeheim’s Army, a professional basketball team of former Syracuse players competing in The Basketball Tournament.
In 2021, he was hired by Newhouse as an adjunct professor to teach communications law.
Kevin was the recipient of the Generation Orange Award in 2019, recognizing a young SU alumnus making major contributions in their field of work. In 2017, Kevin was named to Front Office Sports’ “Rising 25” list of up-and-coming sports business professionals.
He graduated from Newhouse with his bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and master’s degree in new media management, and received his juris doctor from the Syracuse College of Law.
Kevin currently lives in New York City.
Leah Davies
Leah Davies is the head of communications, marketing and corporate philanthropy for DSJ Advisory Group, a New York-based financial services firm.
Before joining DSJ, Leah managed communications, brand marketing and CSR programs for some of the world’s most powerful brands including the American Heart Association, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Hasbro and Bank of America.
Leah is completing her master’s in nonprofit management at Johns Hopkins University. She is specializing in social enterprise; applying commercial strategies to maximize improvements in financial, social and environmental well-being.
Leah graduated cum laude from Newhouse with a degree in public relations and lives in Manhattan.
Mark McClennan
Mark McClennan is a general manager at C+C, a communications agency. He leads the company’s Boston office in creating strategic communications campaigns for good causes and purpose-driven brands.
For more than 25 years, he has helped technology, financial services, energy and healthcare organizations change the world and save lives through public relations. He has worked with companies including Ancestry.com, Fiserv, Google, Mass Department of Higher Education and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
His wicked awesome teams have been recognized with more than 50 awards for excellence in public relations. That includes eight Silver Anvils, and three SABRE Awards.
Mark runs EthicalVoices.com, a weekly blog and podcast on communication ethics. He is also the author of “Ethical Voices: Practicing Public Relations with Integrity.” It debuted as the #1 new book in public relations during its first week on Amazon.
He previously served as national chair of the Public Relations Society of America, a Boy Scout leader and has been an elected official. He regularly speaks at industry conferences and universities on ethics, crisis communications, social media and the evolution of public relations.
He graduated from Newhouse with a degree in public relations.
Matt Cohn
Matt Cohn is the CEO of Thrill One, a global leader in thrill-based sports and entertainment. Its brands include Nitro Circus, Street League Skateboarding and Superjacket.
Before joining Thrill One, Matt spent more than a decade at Endeavor. There, he held a number of roles including vice president of content strategy and partnerships. Matt was responsible for leveraging the entire Endeavor ecosystem to connect and create value for clients, brands, partners and owned assets. His work spanned across Endeavor’s company-wide strategic initiatives to help the company grow and diversify into new and disruptive spaces, including a major focus on UFC’s priorities to grow as a sport and brand.
Matt studied television, radio and film at Newhouse.
Michael Gursha
Michael Gursha is the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Rookie Road. The company is a leading internet destination providing the rules, lingo and gameplay for all sports around the world. Michael helped build rookieroad.com into one of the most popular informational sports websites on the internet with millions of people interacting with the brand and content every month.
Michael is an active advisor, investor and board member to early stage technology and media companies. Michael is a board member for Bettle, a social-first fantasy sports app. He was previously a board member for PowerSpike, a destination for activating sponsorships in the creator community, until its acquisition in 2022.
Michael serves on the national board of directors for America On Tech, a nonprofit with a mission to prepare the next generation of technology leaders by creating pathways for young people to thrive.
In addition to Michael’s commitments to Newhouse, he is chair emeritus for the Young Whitman Advisory Council and a former member of the Whitman Advisory Council at the Whitman School of Management. He also serves as an alumni entrepreneur-in-residence for the Blackstone LaunchPad at Syracuse, a hub for startups and innovation on campus.
Mindy Stockfield
Mindy Sockfield has held senior positions in entertainment and media with a focus on general management, marketing and digital roles. Her expertise in digital strategy and youth media have been core to her career. She has led critical launches on both a product and franchise side for a number of new and culture-defining initiatives.
Mindy’s most recent position was senior vice president of marketing, creative and digital for Scholastic. In this role, she oversaw the overall campaign strategy for top branded series and authors, including Harry Potter, Dog Man and The Baby-Sitters Club. She was instrumental in launching Scholastic’s first digital community for kids – HOME BASE.
Prior to joining Scholastic, she was the senior vice president of marketing for MTV, vice president of marketing and digital media for Hyperion – the Disney/ABC Television Group’s adult trade book division, vice president of digital media for Disney Channel and Jetix and Playhouse Disney, and senior director of marketing at Cartoon Network.
Mindy currently serves as an adjunct professor at NYU and Marist College. She is also the course lead and adjunct professor for Newhouse’s online course, Digital Branding and Strategy.
Mindy graduated from Newhouse with a degree in advertising. She lives in the Hudson Valley outside New York City.
Nick Cicero
Nick Cicero is an entrepreneur and digital strategist with more than 15 years of experience working to help businesses understand their data, optimize their content engagement and drive revenue. He currently is consulting, advising and investing in tech companies in the media, entertainment and sports industries.
In 2014, Nick founded Delmondo, a social video analytics software. At Delmondo, Nick created the first enterprise analytics for Snapchat, Instagram Stories and Facebook Live. Nick bootstrapped Delmondo to a profitable SaaS company with millions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of global customers before being acquired by Conviva.
He specializes in building companies through developing digital products and content initiatives with a proven ability to set vision, strategy and execute. He has helped hundreds of the world’s largest brands and publishers, including the NFL, Meta, Disney, Apple and The GRAMMYs.
He serves as co-chair of the Newhouse Emerging Leaders.
Perry Russom
Perry Russom is a reporter for ABC News with more than a decade of experience.
He reported on CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” where he covered the humanitarian crisis at the Ukraine/Poland border at the start of the Russian invasion, the school shooting in Uvalde, TX, and was the first NBC reporter on the ground in Ft. Myers, FL after Hurricane Ian hit.
Perry won three Emmy Awards at WBTS-TV in Boston for his general assignment reporting and writing.
He graduated Syracuse as a Newhouse Scholar with dual degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He also graduated from the Renee Crowne University Honors Program.
Rachael Gallodoro
Rachael Gallodoro is an author, communicator and social scientist with more than a decade of experience in corporate/project communications.
She is currently a post-master’s research associate in the Coastal Sciences Division at the Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory part of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Her current work is largely focused on project science communications with a focus on marine energy projects. She supports communication engagement efforts with the Triton Initiative.
Rachael’s background includes a breadth of communications work including healthcare marketing, assisting strategic communication plan implementation in the marine industry and government policy communications.
She has served in an advisory capacity previously as District 3 communications coordinator and DEIA Committee member for Sigma Kappa sorority. Rachael had her first children’s book, “You Are My Star,” published in 2021.
In 2021, Rachael earned a master’s in communication from Newhouse. She specialized in journalism innovation and focused on new media and strategic communications.