HELLO, I’M MIKE
Marketing Communications
& Brand Leader.
Experience & Perspective
Good communication starts with understanding people.
For more than 25 years, I’ve built my career in higher education. I value the opportunity to bring people together through thoughtful, creative, and useful communication. My background includes communications, marketing, advancement, alumni engagement, and campus services at Cal State Fullerton, UCLA, USC, and Santa Monica College.
I’ve learned that good communication starts with understanding who you are trying to reach, what they need to know, and what you want them to do next. The answer is different for students, faculty, alumni, donors, university leaders, and community members. I tend to work between strategy and execution: shaping the message or creative direction, then staying close to the details to make sure the idea works once it reaches its audience. I enjoy both sides of that process.
I believe it’s important to educate the next generation and build up our local community. That’s a big reason I find higher education so valuable. The best results come when our plans, ideas, and actions work together toward the same purpose.
How I Can Help
Strategic marketing, branding, and creative proficiency that align organizational objectives with coherent, consistent, and engaging experiences for target audiences.
Strategy & Planning
Create clear communication and marketing plans that link goals with the right audiences, messages, channels, and ways to measure success.
Integrated Marketing
Design coordinated campaigns that work across different platforms, ensuring that people have a consistent experience.
Brand & Creative Direction
Develop visual and creative guidelines that enhance our brand identity, support storytelling efforts, and align with core values.
Digital Experience
Oversee our websites, emails, social media, and online content, making sure everything is easy to understand, accessible, user-friendly, accurate, and performs well.
Audience Engagement
Create interactive experiences that foster stronger connections, encourage participation, and help audiences engage with programs, services, and mission.
Project Management
From start to finish by coordinating with different teams, setting timelines, securing approvals, and ensuring everything is produced and delivered as planned.
Work in Practice
A selection of projects that reflect how I approach communication, creative direction, problem-solving, and execution.
Latest from the Blog
Insights and resources on higher education communications and digital strategy.
From AI-generated artwork to a finished CSUF postcard
How I used campus photography, ChatGPT and Adobe Photoshop to build four vintage-inspired postcards—and why the work took far more than one prompt.
How to Create a PAC 2026 Accessible PDF in Adobe InDesign
A practical workflow for building accessibility into an Adobe InDesign file, exporting a properly tagged PDF, checking the final document in Acrobat, and validating it with PAC 2026.
How to Build a Two-Step Adobe Illustrator Logo Export Generator
A step-by-step look at the two-script JSX workflow I built to generate print CMYK and PMS EPS files, then export RGB PNG logo files cleanly and consistently from Adobe Illustrator.
Get in touch
Location
Placentia, California.
Availability
Open to opportunities in communications, marketing, creative strategy and brand leadership.
Response Time
Most messages receive a response within 1–2 business days.