Creative Arts and Communication Pathway Leadership Team

Career Pathway Leadership Teams are model community members and leaders within the Career Pathways, who help the Career Advancement Center with mobilizing community members, evaluating services, and implementing best practice career development solutions to support graduates’ ability to prepare for, and attain, productive and rewarding careers. Leadership teams are composed of trustees, alumni, faculty/staff, employers and students willing to serve as engaged, enthusiastic partners to the CAC.

Creative Arts and Communication Career Pathway Leader: Danielle Kelly


Danielle Kelly

Danielle Kelly is the Creative Arts and Communication Career Pathway Leader. Her work in the non-profit, public, and private sectors encompasses executive, administrative, curatorial, and educational experience as well as arts & cultural programming, content development, media relations, and team development.

Danielle most recently served as Executive Director for Surface Design Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to contemporary fiber arts by supporting exhibitions, biennial conferences, and the quarterly publication, Surface Design Journal. Previous executive experience includes serving as Executive Director for the Las Vegas Neon Museum, where Danielle led the development of the Museum’s operational, programmatic, and educational structure. Danielle was also the curator and exhibition designer for the Museum’s Neon Boneyard exhibition, and collaborated on numerous historic preservation projects in the City of Las Vegas.

External Community Members: Trustees, Employers, Alumni, and Friends


Elin Alexander ’14
User Interface Designer
Mintel

Cassia Baker ’15
Project Manager
Woodruff Arts Center

Geoff Curtis ’97 (Trustee)
Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer
Horizon Therapeutics

Paula Danoff
President and CEO
Evanston Art Center

Gerardo Gordillo ’20
Graphic Design, Print Maker, Event Organizer, Stage Manager
Waukegan Public Schools/Various Non-Profits

Mark Nagle (Trustee)
President
Czarnowski Display Service Inc.

John Newlin ’94
Global Shared Services, Marketing Group
IDEO

Rhoda Pierce ’60 (Trustee)
Vice-Chairman
Illinois Arts Council Agency

Internal Community Members: Faculty, Staff, Students


Ann Barry
Professor of Music

Jasmine Carag ’23
Major: Studio Art
Minors: Computer Science, Digital Media Design

Josh Corey
Professor of English

Juanjo Campos Villalta '23
Major: Communication
Minor: Digital Media Design

Emma O’Hagan
Senior Graphic Design and Brand Manager

Dave Park
Professor of Communication and Chair of Cinema Studies

Richard Pettengill
Associate Professor of Theater and Chair of Theater

RL Watson
Professor of English, African American Studies

Affiliate Membership

There are many more people interested in contributing to the Career Pathways than will be able serve on Leadership Teams at any given time, and supporters who want to be highly involved, but are not serving on a Leadership Team may elect to join the Career Pathways as affiliate members. Privileges and responsibilities for affiliates include:

  • Receive regular updates from Pathway Leaders about events and success stories
  • Be invited to offer assistance to students in the Pathways – ways to help may include: event attendance, hosting interns, recommending sites for interns we are struggling to place, or networking referrals; some update messaging will be similar to what is provided to leadership teams
  • Highly engaged affiliate members can be considered as future Leadership Team members

Leadership Teams are limited to 20 members. All key stakeholders (faculty, staff, employers, alumni, parents, students and other friends of the College) are welcome to become affiliates. All stakeholders will receive periodic updates from the CAC; affiliate members will get more action-oriented, community-building messages, while more passive community members will receive outreach messages more appropriate for their level of involvement. There is no limit to the number of affiliate members associated with leadership teams, and key stakeholders are welcome to join multiple pathways as affiliate members. Join a Career Pathway as an affiliate.

Check out the Creative Arts and Communication Career Pathway