National Advisory Board

David Albritton P’24 (chair) is an accredited executive coach and managing director at CRA | Admired Leadership, a leadership development and strategic communication consultancy. He provides coaching, counsel and facilitation for senior executives and rising stars in areas such as leadership development, communication strategy, relationship building, team effectiveness, change/crises management, career growth, and culture evolution. With more than 35 years of professional experience, Albritton’s career has exemplified growth and versatility as he transitioned from being an officer in the U.S. Navy to his current position as an independent director on the board of Embecta Corp. (NASDAQ: EMBC). He has also served as the president of General Motors Defense, chief communications officer at Exelis and held vice president of communications roles at Amazon Web Services, ITT Defense, and United Way of America. Albritton is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds a M.S. in Management from the Naval Postgraduate School.

Sheryl Battles P’23 is the former vice president of global diversity, inclusion and engagement at Pitney Bowes, a global technology company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Throughout her career, Battles has focused on the critical intersection of diversity, inclusion, engagement and business results, leveraging them to help drive business and individual success. She is a co-chair of Arthur W. Page Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In 2018, Battles received the D. Parke Gibson Award from the Public Relations Society of America, the organization’s highest individual honor presented to a PR professional who has contributed to increased awareness of public relations within multicultural communities. Additionally, she has been recognized as Diversity Magazine’s Most Influential Woman in Global Diversity. Battles is also one of the professionals featured in the book “Diverse Voices: Profiles in Leadership,” which shares the career experiences of multicultural comminutions leaders and professionals. She is a graduate of Stanford University.

Lori Beecher P’23 is senior vice president and communications leader at Wells Fargo, overseeing the Media Relations Center of Excellence and supporting corporate reputation, enterprise functions and all lines of business. Previously, Beecher was partner and managing director of media and content strategy at Ketchum. In her role, she counseled many of the firm’s largest clients in North America on content-forward media strategy and executive visibility, as well as securing top-tier earned coverage for clients across the agency. Prior to Ketchum, Beecher spent nearly three decades as a television producer at ABC, NBC, CBS and in syndicated television. She has produced compelling stories for “60 Minutes,” “CBS Evening News,” “Good Morning America,” “Today,” “Dateline,” “Nightline” and Katie Couric’s talk show. A recipient of Emmy and duPont awards, Beecher is a graduate of the University of Maryland.

Joie Chen, an award-winning national and international television journalist, is special correspondent for “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” the country’s No. 1 syndicated public affairs news magazine program. Previously, she served as a senior leader and faculty member of the Poynter Institute, which is dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders worldwide. Chen is best known for her decade-long tenure as a prime-time anchor at CNN and CNN International, where she anchored multiple talk and town hall programs. She was part of CNN’s coverage of politics, global conflicts, natural disasters and many major news events, including the Olympic Park bombing for which she received her first national Emmy. Her past roles have included serving as the host of “America Tonight” on Al Jazeera America and as a CBS news correspondent at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Chen was director of Washington programs for Northwestern University’s Medill School, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Michael Clemente P’10 is special advisor to the president and executive producer of “Centerpoint,” a news program on the international Christian-based Trinity Broadcasting Network. Additionally, he is founder of Point West Media, a firm that designs strategies for TV, online and digital companies. Previously, Clemente was the CEO of NewsMax TV, responsible for the channel’s programming and daily operations. Clemente spent 27 years at ABC News, during which he was senior producer for “20/20” and “World News Tonight with Peter Jennings” before becoming senior executive producer of the ABC Digital Media Group and executive producer of ABCNews.com. Clemente joined Fox News in 2009 as senior vice president of news and was promoted in 2012 to executive vice president, overseeing all news operations for the most-watched cable network. Earlier in his career, he spent two years at CNN, overseeing news coverage out of Washington and helping grow CNN’s signature talk shows “Crossfire” and “Inside Politics.” He is a graduate of American University.

Tom Clendenin P’24 is senior vice president of marketing at CNBC, providing lead strategy, planning and execution of all marketing programs across domestic network and digital properties. He is responsible for driving audience growth and year-over-year profitability for one of NBC Universal’s most critical assets. Clendenin joined CNBC in 2006 from Aeropostale Inc., where he was senior vice president and director of marketing, leading all marketing efforts for two retail brands, Aeropostale and JimmyZ, including in-store and external communications. Previously, he served in marketing leadership positions with Old Navy, ESPN, Partners & Shevack, Young & Rubicam and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He is a four-time Emmy Award winner. Clendenin is a graduate of Alfred University.

John J. Clendening P’21 is founding principal of Clients First Marketing & Communications™, a full-service marketing and communications consultancy based in Dallas. He has three decades of corporate experience, serving in a variety of senior leadership roles with five current or former Global 50 (Siemens) or Fortune 500 (Unisys, EDS, Honeywell and Avery Dennison) companies. Most recently, Clendening was executive director and head of marketing and communications for Texas Capital, a full-service financial services firm and led global communications for Unisys, a global information technology (IT) solutions company that serves businesses and governments. Additionally, he has public relations agency experience and began his career in journalism. Clendening earned a bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of Southern California.

Angela Connor is senior director of internal communications and storytelling at Bandwidth, a software company headquartered in Raleigh. Previously, she founded Change Agent Communications, a marketing communications consultancy focused on helping brands navigate change and stay on top of emerging trends. Her past roles have also included serving as executive vice president of media and audience engagement for Capstrat (acquired by Ketchum), one of the Triangle’s largest communications firms, as well as vice president of business development and audience engagement at Gelia in Cary, North Carolina. With more than 17 years of experience in print, broadcast and online news – with stops in Cleveland, Raleigh and throughout Florida – the former multimedia journalist is an expert on engaging online audiences. Her book, titled “18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online,” provides readers with strategies for building successful online communities. She is a graduate of Bowling Green State University.

Carol Cunningham is managing senior director for human experiences, shopper insights and innovation for Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC, an American brewing company. Previously, she served as vice president of consumer insights and business strategy at Black Entertainment Television Networks, where she was responsible for positioning BET as an industry leader in consumer insights, multi-cultural audience expertise and market research. Prior to that, Cunningham served as head of strategic research for Scripps Interactive and led affiliate strategic initiatives for A&E Television Networks and ESPN. Cunningham has extensive expertise in network, syndication and local broadcast, having served as head of research for Univision, Fox and NBCUniversal affiliate stations. She has been honored with a 2013 MAAX Award for Research Executive of the Year and a 2015 Next Generation Market Research Disruptive Innovator Award. Cunningham is a graduate of Syracuse University.

Steve Daniels P’23 is an award-winning broadcast journalist who has worked in local and network television news across the country for more than 30 years. He currently serves as the primary weeknight anchor at WTVD-TV, an ABC affiliate serving the Raleigh-Durham region. He has been with ABC11 in June 1999. Daniels previously worked as a national correspondent on the NBC newsmagazine program “Dateline.” He has also appeared on NBC’s morning show “Today,” “NBC Nightly News,” MSNBC and CNBC. Prior to NBC News, Daniels was a weeknight anchor and investigative reporter in Miami at NBC-owned WTVJ-TV and also worked as an anchor and reporter at KCNC-TV in Denver. During his broadcast career, Daniels has been awarded with several Emmys, as well as national and regional awards for investigative reporting. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Monica Fee ’04 is senior vice president and global head of partnerships for LIV Golf Investments, an international company that aims to improve the health of professional golf on a global scale. In her role, she identifies and build relationships with new sponsors for LIV Golf. Fee previously served as a property sales agent at CAA Sports, representing many of the top sports properties for naming rights opportunities and global sponsorship. Based in New York, Fee began her career at the William Morris Agency, working in the television department with sports broadcast talent. She later transitioned to the agency’s corporate consulting division to work on the NHL account. In 2017, Fee was recognized by Adweek as one of “The Most Powerful Women in Sports.” Fee graduated from Elon University with a degree in psychology in 2004.

Dana Ferrell is senior vice president and managing director of G&S Business Communications, a global independent public relations and marketing agency headquartered in New York with offices in Chicago, Raleigh and Basel, Switzerland. G&S specializes in business communications across advanced manufacturing and energy, agribusiness, financial and professional services, healthcare and wellness, and home and building, turning complex subject matters into understandable, digestible content delivered via integrated campaigns that inspire action. With more than two decades with the company, Ferrell was named managing director of the agency’s Raleigh location in 2020 and is responsible for operations and growth of the office. In prior roles, Ferrell led the development and execution of numerous award-winning campaigns for clients, successfully managing and growing critical areas of client business with a focus on strategy and innovation. She is a graduate of N.C. State University.

Michael Friedenberg P’23 is former president of news and media operations for Reuters, a division of global information and technology company Thomson Reuters. The tech and media veteran previously served as CEO of IDG Communications, a global business and information company and publisher of popular magazine brands including PCWorld and Macworld. Prior to IDG, Friedenberg advanced from United Business Media sales management positions to vice president and publisher of InformationWeek, and later vice president and group publisher of the InformationWeek Media Network and co-founder of Optimize magazine. In 2012, Friedenberg was inducted into Min’s Digital Hall of Fame and named as one of business media’s Top Innovators by Media Business. Additionally, Min’s selected Friedenberg for its Sales Hall of Fame in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.

Maity Interiano ’07 is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and on-air talent at Univision Network in Miami. She is currently a co-anchor of the late evening edition of the network’s national newscast, “Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna,” and is the creator and host of her personal travel blog, www.MaityontheGo.com. During her career, Interiano has reported on numerous major news events, including the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the 2016 Presidential Inauguration from Washington, D.C. In 2018 and 2015 she hosted the Tournament of Roses Parade live from Pasadena, California, for which she won an Emmy Award. An Elon graduate, Interiano learned her broadcast skills as a reporter for the Elon student newcast, then called Phoenix14News. In 2017, she delivered the university’s 2017 Commencement address. Four year later, Interiano was presented with the School of Communications’ Outstanding Alumna Award.

Andreas Kisslinger is founder and CEO of Lightcast, a multi-platform online video platform (OVP) and over-the-top (OTT) provider. He has more than two decades of business experience as an entrepreneur, having launched eight companies in the verticals of advertising, app development and streaming technologies. Kisslinger founded Lightcast.com in 2010 and leads its parent company, Cross Media Group, with offices in Charlotte and Vienna, Austria. Under his leadership, Lightcast.com has launched more than 6,000 TV apps across all major app stores. Between 2014 and 2016 he served as a consultant with Amazon facilitating the development of the FireTV platform and its initial APKs. Previously, Kisslinger served as a host for CBN’s music television show “One Cubed,” leading more than 250 episodes aired across numerous television networks, including ABC Family and Main TV in Europe. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vienna and a master’s degree from the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

Renee Kopkowski P’20 is vice president for public affairs and communications at Yale University. Previously, she was vice president for institute communications at the Georgia Institute of Technology and president and partner for strat-igence Inc., a communications consultancy. Before joining strat-igence, Kopkowski served as vice president of communications for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., overseeing the communications for the world’s second-largest quick-service chicken concept. She was also senior director of global external communications for candy maker Mars, Inc. Earlier in her career, Kopkowski was co-owner of Wonder Public Relations, a boutique communications agency based near Atlanta, worked in television news, and held media relations roles with two large hospital systems in Florida and Georgia. She is a graduate of Clemson University and Georgia State University’s Graduate School.

Eric Kraus P’16 is co-founder of CommsCollectiv, a fractional hiring firm that provides clients access to senior-level communications expertise, and principal of Kimball Road Strategies, a marketing, communications and public affairs consultancy. He previously served as executive vice president of communications and public affairs at Clean Harbors, Inc., a provider of environmental, energy and industrial services based in Massachusetts. Before Clean Harbors, he served as senior vice president and chief communications officer at Bacardi Ltd.; senior vice president of corporate communications and public affairs at Covidien; and a vice president at Procter & Gamble. Additionally, he was a Boston Herald reporter, account executive at PR agencies, and public relations manager for Miller Brewing Co. He is a graduate of Boston University.

Scott McCrary ’00 is a senior producer for CNN, leading the correspondent and producer teams in Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles for CNN Newsource, CNN’s affiliate service. Previously, he served as executive producer for WUSA9, TEGNA’s flagship CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. McCrary has been recognized with five Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, three national Gracie Awards from the Alliance of Women in Media Foundation, and six Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association. He has also spent time in control rooms and newsrooms for “CBS Evening News,” “Face the Nation,” “CBS Mornings,” Bloomberg Television, and was the producer on the team that launched “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” the country’s No. 1 syndicated public affairs news magazine program. In 2023, he was presented with the School of Communications’ Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Shelby McKay ’13 is associate commissioner for student-athlete and institutional programs at the Atlantic Coast Conference. Prior to the ACC, McKay served as the senior associate athletic director, staff and student-athlete development, at Washington State University. In the role, McKay was responsible for leading the student-athlete development and staff development programming, serving as the chief diversity officer, overseeing the department’s mental health services, and creating the department’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) education. Previously, McKay was the senior student-athlete development associate at The George Washington University following almost five years as a student-athlete academic adviser. McKay is heavily involved with the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A) and facilitating student-athlete workshops for the NCAA. McKay is a 2013 graduate of Elon University. Additionally, she earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from The George Washington University. McKay completed her dissertation in 2022 examining the perceived value of mid-major college athletics.

Sunshine Overkamp, APR, is chairman of Overkamp Overkamp-Smith, a consulting firm in Atlanta that specializes in strategic planning and crisis communications. She previously served as vice president of the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C., senior vice president of the United Way of America, and as a journalist. Among her honors is an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, election to the Honor Roll of Women in Public Relations, and being named most admired practitioner of nonprofit public relations by pr reporter. She has served on the national board of the Public Relations Society of America, chaired the Ethics Promotion Committee, and served on the Universal Accreditation Board. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and has an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Colleen Penhall ’98 is vice president of global communications for Jeld-Wen, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of doors and windows. The Charlotte-based company operates in 25 countries with 116 manufacturing facilities located primarily in North America, Europe and Australia. She previously served as associate vice chancellor for university communications and chief communications officer at UNC Charlotte. Additionally, Penhall has more than 20 years of experience managing corporate reputation, brand and social responsibility for Fortune 100 companies. Prior to UNC Charlotte, she served as a vice president at Lowe’s Companies Inc., a Fortune 50 home improvement company, overseeing both corporate communications and corporate social responsibility functions. She also served as senior vice president of corporate communications at Bank of America, spent 11 years at Altria Group and its operating company, Philip Morris USA, and held various roles in public affairs, corporate responsibility, and sales and brand management. In 2018, Penhall was presented with the School of Communications’ Outstanding Alumna Award.

Troy Senkiewicz ’98 is founder and CEO of DigiMax Consulting, a Los Angeles-based company that specializes in the design, installation and resale of custom technology solutions. The Elon alumnus regularly serves as a technology consultant for major motion picture studios, and has led integrations involving 360˚ video platforms, 180˚/360˚ 3D camera builds, interactive holograms, fiber optic transport systems, and HD television studio conversions. In 2011, he donated the cable and spent almost a week rewiring the studios in McEwen Communications Building for high-definition – at the time the largest technology initiative in the school since arriving in the facility in 2000. As an undergraduate, Senkiewicz was active in ESTV, Student Government Association, Student Union Board, Habitat for Humanity and Safe Rides. He even produced and directed ESTV’s first live call-in show. In 2016, he was presented with the School of Communications’ Outstanding Alumnus Award.

Melanie Sill is a journalism consultant and inaugural executive director of the North Carolina Local News Workshop at Elon University’s School of Communications, where she oversaw the statewide initiative that provides programming, resources and ongoing support for organizations working to inform North Carolina residents. A journalism veteran and former news executive, she has held senior executive roles at The News & Observer of Raleigh, Sacramento Bee and Southern California Public Radio/KPCC. She was editor of major projects and investigations, including The N&O’s Pulitzer-winning “Boss Hog” series in the mid-1990s. Additionally, she has consulted on news, public service and journalism strategy (NC Local News Lab Fund, Democracy Fund, Institute for Nonprofit News, Membership Puzzle Project and others) working to help local news organizations and individuals reinvent and sustain reliable, high-quality journalism and information for the North Carolina residents. Sill is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.