Class Notes

Mike Tarson (Jour) and Allyson Valentine (Advert) are married and live in Fairfield, Connecticut, with their son and twin daughters. Tarson joined NewsNation in March and is a supervising producer on Elizabeth Vargas Reports. Prior to that, he was with CNN for 15 years. After eight years of teaching in public schools, Valentine started Pop Studio, a balloon decor company, in 2020.

Jennifer Simpson (MComm’99, PhD) is owner and CEO of Integrated Work, where she and her team help mission-driven leaders and organizations build futures. Her new book, the KOAN method: Breakthrough Leadership for a Divided World, was released this September. In her spare time, she continues to teach courses on organizational culture at CU and loves spending time with her two children.

In January, Meredith (Arndt) Mirrington (MediaSt) joined PR Talent, a communications recruitment firm, as managing director. For the previous two decades, Mirrington led high-impact communications efforts for companies in industries ranging from tech to tourism. Most recently, she was a global communications and culture leader at Amazon Web Services. Mirrington lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and serves as an adjunct instructor in CMCI’s online corporate communications graduate program.

Michael Maney (MJour) was named head of internal communications for The Home Depot in January and is building a center of excellence to engage with more than 500,000 associates across North America. He was previously head of internal communications for Amazon’s Whole Foods Market and Target, and led communications for Sony and Disney.

Carrie Strom (Comm) is senior vice president, AbbVie, and president, Global Allergan Aesthetics, where she oversees a multibillion-dollar global aesthetics portfolio. Previously, she led the U.S. aesthetics business for Allergan, and spent 11 years at Pfizer, where she held roles in sales and marketing. Strom lives in Corona del Mar, California, with her husband and two children. She is also on the board of directors for Girls Inc. of Orange County.

In fall 2022, Kirk Siegler (Jour) was selected as an inaugural fellow with the United Nations Foundation’s Thomas Lovejoy Press Fellowship to travel to a remote research camp in the Brazilian Amazon to report on deforestation and its effects on global climate change.

Jennifer (Scholl) Anderson (Advert) is brand director and head of business development for KidNuz, a first-of-its-kind daily news podcast and platform for kids. She’s also a fractional creative director for startups in and beyond the Bay Area. She donates 10% of her services to women-led companies, an additional 10% to nonprofits and stays active on several boards. 

Kate Whiteley (Jour) started her career as a television reporter and anchor before moving to public relations. Since 2018, she has worked for Caesars Entertainment, where she is vice president of corporate communications and production. She lives in Las Vegas. 

Craig Berkley (MJour) is a media technology consultant with more than 20 years of experience negotiating and managing partnerships in advanced media, video advertising, data and analytics. Previously, he was head of revenue for LiveRamp TV. There, he led the sales and development efforts of LiveRamp’s identity products and services across the video advertising industry. Prior to LiveRamp, he held senior executive positions at MasterCard, Charter Spectrum and Comcast.

Kevin Atticks (MJour) was appointed as Maryland’s secretary of agriculture by Gov. Wes Moore. Atticks founded Grow & Fortify, serves on the University of Maryland College of Agriculture’s Global Leadership Council and is on the faculty at Loyola University Maryland.

David Vincent (Jour) is an entrepreneur and 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry. Known for voicing hundreds of characters in popular animation and video games, he’s also an award-winning producer. After years of signing autographs, Vincent founded Streamily, a platform that allows fans to watch celebrities sign a personalized autograph on any livestream platform, and have it delivered to their door. 

Nancy Benfield Connery (Comm) splits her time between California and Colorado. Connery works with CU Athletics and, through her startup OpenComp, she and her team seek to break the cycle of workplace inequities relating to gender and pay. When not working, Connery can be found hiking, skiing or traveling with her husband, two young adult daughters and their golden retrievers.

Jenifer Karpan Marx (Comm’90; MJour) lives in Vail and works part time editing grants and writing for a nonprofit newsletter. She has served on the boards of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and Safe Harbor Lab Rescue, and continues volunteering in the community. Before staying home to raise her three children, she worked in various marketing and communication roles at U.S. West, Starz Encore and The Integer Group. A longtime Buffs season-ticket holder, she attends football games with her husband and best friends from Sewall Hall, Beth (Carmain) Watson (Jour’90) and Vance Watson (Hist’91).

Todd Goldstein (Comm, MBA’09) is chief revenue officer for AEG. He and his wife Kim (Erwin) (Jour’95) live in Los Angeles with their three children. Their middle child, Ben, is a junior at CMCI, majoring in communication and media studies.

Eric Rasmussen (Jour) is a partner with Aventi Group, a product marketing agency for B2B technology companies. Rasmussen lives in Denver and spends a lot of time on Hawaii’s Big Island. He recently jumped on the pickleball bandwagon.

Susan Ganter (Comm) worked in development for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Foundation, which provides funding to support athletes’ journeys to the Olympics. Ganter was responsible for raising money through programs such as special events, hospitality programs and more. Currently, she is a co-owner of The Golden Mill Food Hall and Community Gathering Place in Golden with her spouse, Wes Ganter (EnvCon, Econ’93). 

After volunteering as co-chair of Marshall ROC, an organization supporting Marshall Fire survivors, Jeri Curry (Advert) became its executive director. A Boulder native, Curry attended both Boulder High School and CU Boulder before completing Georgetown University’s nonprofit executive program. Curry’s career includes leading private companies and nonprofits, as well as humanitarian, media, technology and women’s empowerment projects globally.

Los Angeles-based real estate agent Brett Duffy (Comm) was recently awarded the Chairman’s Circle Gold designation for placing in the top 3% of more than 50,000 sales associates in the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Global Network. He is most proud of having both of his children—alumnus Carly Duffy (StratComm’22) and Tyler Duffy, who is studying media production—follow in his footsteps and pursue CMCI degrees.

While living on their 45-foot sailboat for an incredible year, Laurie (McCreary) Prestine (Jour) and her husband Scott (Psych’87) explored amazing East Coast destinations like Charleston, South Carolina; the Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami; and the Bahamas. Now back on the West Coast, their experience inspired them to launch Foodie Footsteps Food Tours, a culinary journey uncovering hidden gastronomic gems in California.

Morgan Bays (Jour) is a research grants administrator in the aerospace department at CU Boulder. After graduation, he played guitar in rock bands in New York City and Washington, D.C., and continues to play music with fellow CU alumni Andrew Engeman (Mktg’83, Jour’84) and Dave Long (Jour’86).