Alabama State University\’s new executive director of Strategic Communications and Marketing is a game changer who doesn\’t fit conventional stereotypes. As a matter of fact, her career path, professional acumen and marketing expertise breaks the mold.
ASU\’s new marketing and communications guru is Jessica Madison, a native of Luverne, Ala., who comes to her new position from within the University\’s staff structure; having served as the former assistant athletic director for Development and Marketing. She made a name for herself early in athletics for engaging students and others to lift-up and support its programs, and for developing novel and positive ways to advance the “Bama State” brand.
\”We looked far and wide to find just the right person to fit in this important and far-reaching position, which is beyond doubt, a very important job. It helps the University in so many ways,\” said Colonel (retired) Gregory L. Clark, vice president for Institutional Advancement and executive director of the ASU Foundation. \”I hired Jessica because we needed someone to help move the vision of Alabama State University forward in a global manner, and she fit our requirements in so many ways.\”
MADISON\’S BACKGROUND
Her professional background includes an extensive list of positions with Fortune 500 corporations and sports organizations, including NASCAR.
\”Yes, I caught the NASCAR racing \’bug\’ early in my life, and I am an unreserved fan, aficionado and a former senior level staffer in the world of NASCAR racing,\” Madison said with a smile. \”I started watching NASCAR on television while in high school in Crenshaw County (Ala.) at my parent\’s home and became determined early in my life to one day join the industry as a staff professional and succeed in promoting the races and drivers.\” Succeed she did.
After graduating from Troy State University in 2007 with a master\’s degree in Sports Administration (one of two Troy degrees she holds, and she will soon receive a doctoral degree from Walden University), Madison moved to Daytona Beach, Fla., and started working with NASCAR. She later moved to Charlotte, N.C. and on to other states to take senior positions in Arena Football in Birmingham and the WNBA with the Atlanta Dream. Her experience in sports marketing and communications is too extensive to detail, but needless to say, her resume is quite impressive.
WHY ASU?
Madison’s career path changed when she moved back home to help her mother as a caregiver for her terminally ill father. As she settled back into life in Luverne, she became more aware of the newly awakened surge of interest in HBCU sports and decided to offer her sports marketing and communications abilities to Alabama State University.
\”I was in Luverne and could not help but notice the great potential of nearby ASU, whose storied history was well known to me after childhood excursions to Turkey Day Classic games and more. That is when I decided that I could help with my parents in Luverne and still take part in pushing up the excitement of what is Bama States Sports. I was hired to work for the Athletic Director at ASU, which now has led me to my new position,\” Madison stated.
GOAL IS A GLOBAL IMPACT FOR ASU
Madison explains that now she wants to put her skills to work, not just for one aspect of the University, but to lift up the institution as a whole.
\”God has given me a unique ability to see outside of the box and communicate and advance organizations so they may be the best that they can be in whatever field they fall within,\” she said. \”I am here to lend my knowledge and skillset to assist ASU to move to the forefront of not just the schools in Alabama, not merely the institutions of higher education in America, but globally. With the guidance and leadership of President (Quinton) Ross and Vice President Clark, there is nothing that our ASU can\’t do in a very big way,\” Madison said.
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