SAB Creative & Consulting

?? Advancing Kosovo’s Workforce for a Digital Future ?? Arizona State University and UNI- Universum International College are joining forces to bring world-class, career-driven learning to Kosovo, one of the fastest-growing economies in the Balkans. At our recent launch event in Pristina, Kosovo’s leaders joined ASU to explore AI’s role in workforce development as a key driver of growth. Together, we’re providing pathways to new skills—helping Kosovo’s professionals lead in the global market. We've blended ASU’s top-tier courses with Kosovo-specific insights, creating hands-on programs focused on: ???? Digital Skills: Boosting confidence in today’s essential tech tools. ?? Health and Wellness: Paving the way for a healthier, more resilient workforce. ?? Soft Skills: Developing leaders skilled in communication and problem-solving. This partnership is about more than education—it’s a roadmap to impactful careers and a brighter economic future. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/guG3cmDk. Marco Serrato Faith Dalzell Alejtin Berisha Uran Rraci Artane Rizvanolli Samantha Adams Becker Thunderbird School of Global Management Cintana Education #ASU #Kosovo #Balkans #DigitalSkills #HealthAndWellness #AI #WorkforceDevelopment #GlobalPartnership

?ASU en Espa?ol! For Spanish-speaking communities, Arizona State University has launched new learning offerings designed to deliver critical skills in sectors including artificial intelligence, immersive technologies and sustainability. In time for?#HispanicHeritageMonth, these programs underscore ASU’s growing impact across Latin America, offering new opportunities for learners to engage with topics essential to economic innovation and progress. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g8vvR-qC ASU Learning Enterprise, Marco Serrato, Faith Dalzell

Over the past year, I've built a lot of brand-bots ....is not a sentence I ever thought I'd start a post with. But here we go! I've learned a ton. So here a are my top 7 tips for building your brand's go-to AI storytelling bot to amplify the impact of your work and build significant communications capacity across your organization. 1?? Reflect genuine brand values: Make sure you've seeded your bot with values, mission, vision, and design principles. Configure the bot’s responses to reflect the specific tone you want — whether it's authoritative, empathetic, playful, or inspiring. For example, I gave my own brand-bot a bit of an attitude problem and some unchecked irreverence (screen shot below). ?? 2?? Train on human-centered narratives: Give the bot a wide variety of examples of successful narratives from your past projects to ensure it can replicate this storytelling style. Use sentiment analysis to help the bot gauge emotional tones and adjust its responses accordingly, ensuring it's relatable and authentic. 3?? Integrate real data for thought leadership: Enable the bot to pull from credible databases, internal documents, and external reports to integrate relevant statistics or trends. Thought leadership is always bolstered by using credible data to support claims and stories. 4?? Personalize it with unique, fun facts: What makes one human different than another? These are details like family, upbringing, passions, hobbies, past projects, personality quirks and frequently used words, etc. As you uncover these details, it becomes an impetus to update the bot. 5?? Build in ethical standards and transparency: Just like with any news outlet, there should be editorial standards given to the bot that ensure the narrative output is credible, consistent, and citing its sources. 6?? Design once, deploy everywhere -- with tags and segmentation:?Different audiences resonate with different types of stories and tones. Configure the bot to detect or prompt the user for details about their role or interests. Use personas, tags or prompts that help the bot adjust its stories based on the user’s background—whether they are educators, policymakers, or students. Use predefined templates for long-form content (articles, whitepapers) and short-form content (social media posts). 7?? Provide continual care and feeding: Don't expect to have a well-operating bot if you never update it. Could you teach a dog new tricks without training? When your bot is based after a real human or org, feed it the transcripts from panels, interviews, and more so it increasingly adjusts to the right voice and absorbs any new messaging and ideas. Of course, if you don't feel like doing any of this, call me. It's what we do at SAB Creative & Consulting as a full service storytelling agency for education. Full article: https://lnkd.in/gfVy3QPx

?? ASU and CESA are shaping the future of Colombia’s business landscape ?? With a new Advanced Innovation course, Arizona State University and CESA are equipping students with the skills to lead Colombia's next wave of entrepreneurship. This partnership offers learners a global perspective on innovation while tackling local challenges. “My experience with ASU’s course has been incredibly enriching," says CESA student Maria Cano. "The collaborative activities spark curiosity and build knowledge together.” ?? Read more on how this collaboration equips Colombia’s next generation of leaders:?https://lnkd.in/g_j_vHTd Marco Serrato Maria Anguiano Stuart Rice Ryan M. Johnson Sharon J. Hall Eusebio Scornavacca Faith Dalzell Emilia Restrepo Gómez Alejandro Noguera C.

Whoops! I forgot last month, so here are my "Top 5 favorite storytelling projects of the month" for SAB Creative & Consulting a little late: 1?? Putting digital inclusion on the map -- literally! I am amazed by what Kelly Chung Mukherjee, M.Eng, Ciera Parkhurst, Daniel Ennis and team have accomplished through the AZ-1 Broadband Map: https://lnkd.in/gSX94Arp. This map integrates data from a variety of key national and state resources, providing custom views of internet access and areas of need in Arizona, and the new layers keep coming! Working with Jennifer Moore on a social campaign to share the value of this work has been an honor. Pictured here is just one fun animation. 2?? Expanded portfolio for AI career upskilling. No surprises that Arizona State University and specifically ASU Learning Enterprise would meet this major moment in time with the most innovative AI programs in vital areas that cross-cut every industry, like sustainability, healthcare and marketing -- all with practical, real-world applications. Read the story, and consider signing up for some flexible courses: https://lnkd.in/gHbqv6_2 (AND Marco Serrato even jumped in to a same-day interview with NBC Telemundo on the subject -- what a pro!) 3?? Planning for a community college's strategic plan. This requires stakeholder inclusion and understanding what stories you want to be telling as an institution, across all initiatives. Writing proposals may not always be fun, but it is when you get to do so alongside the brilliant Cary Lopez, PhD and Anca Castillo! Hopefully more on this big honker of a project later ;) 4?? Branding for a new / seasoned science & technology consortium. Sometimes organizations and universities have been working together for so long that it's time to make things formal! A united color palette, logo, graphics and more really set the tone, and the stage for presenting together at national conferences. AND I get to do that with Laura Geringer and Stephany Esquivel, MS! 5?? Creative design session for UTSA Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE). As I've gotten to know the team at PaCE more, it's clear why this nationally ranked program is a powerhouse when it comes to career upskilling and personal growth. It's a pleasure to get to think through the next stages of storytelling with them! Kudos Melissa K. Mahan, PhD, PCC! Ok, back to you in October -- maybe. ??

How can the USA and Mexico work together to lead in the global semiconductor industry? ???? ???? ? Arizona State University, in collaboration with the Iberoamerican Technology Foundation and Santander Universidades México, is leading the charge. By training 200 faculty members in Baja California in advanced semiconductor technology, we're not just filling a skills gap — we're building a pipeline of skilled professionals ready to lead the industry. This collaboration is a crucial step in securing the future of North America's semiconductor supply chain. Read more about how we’re shaping the future ?? https://lnkd.in/ghe_8uC9 Fernando Sepulveda Marco Serrato Maria Anguiano Kyle Squires Eugenio Marín FUMEC | Fundación México-Estados Unidos para la Ciencia Universidad Tecmilenio Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara Tecnológico de Monterrey Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University CETYS Universidad Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana Instituto Tecnológico de Ensenada Universidad Iberoamericana, Ciudad de México Universidad del Valle de M??xico CONALEP Estado de México INUE Universidad

Arizona State University and Mexico!!! ???? ?? Mexico’s economy is currently driven by automotive, aerospace, electronics, and technology. These industries are rapidly shape-shifting in front of our eyes -- necessitating a deep innovation mindset for engineers and other roles. With 31 campuses serving 90,000 students across Mexico, Tecnológico de Monterrey has been a wonderful partner for ASU to roll out initial learning offerings focused on Sustainability Analytics and Advanced Innovation, with more to come. Gotta love hearing from students on how the new experiences are expanding their horizons! ? “By examining real-world examples like Tesla and discussing the impacts of digital inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic, I gained valuable insights into how technological advancements can reshape industries and societies. This experience significantly enhanced my ability to foster and sustain innovation in a rapidly evolving landscape.”? - Pablo Cid, Master’s in Engineering student at Tec de Monterrey Congrats Marco Serrato, Faith Dalzell and the ASU Learning Enterprise team!

??????Did you know it's #womensequalityday? As my work focuses on developing skills that help individuals level up their careers, gain equal access to opportunity, and build confidence and become empowered to create a seat at the table even when there isn't one waiting for them, this #womensequality is important today, and every day. I wanted to highlight several organizations and individuals who are working to move the needle towards women's equality: 1) Year Up. This impactful #workforcedevelopment organization supports Opportunity Youth with education, career development, internship/job placement, and mentoring to pave diverse talent pathways to sustainable careers. Women's representation at Year Up includes: ?? All Staff: 62% female ?? Director+: 72% female ?? Executive Team: 62% female ?? Students: 43% female 2) GlobalMindED: GlobalMinded focuses on #firstgen students and young professionals to open access to #career opportunities, and highlighted 7/15 women in their Inclusive Leader Awards this year, leaders who are committed to #inclusion in the workplace: https://lnkd.in/gTnBdF6H 3) WBENC: Women's Business Enterprise National Council - I'm grateful to represent this organization as my business, Opportunities Knock, was just certified by it as a Women's Business Enterprise. This organization exists to help government organizations, corporations, and non-profits who are committed to #supplychaindiversity, and partnering with #womenowned and #minorityowned businesses, and by providing new avenues for business growth and equal opportunity for #womenownedbusinesses. If you're not tuned into Alexandra Carter and Reshma Saujani, go give them a listen, look, follow. They're focused on empowering women, men, and everyone of all gender identities to provide tools, a voice, and a platform to provide equal opportunity for women. Lastly, to achieve #womensequality, we must work and live in inclusive workplaces and communities. How might we invite more women into conversations, work opportunities, and into the room? How might we advocate for women to be paid more, and have access to support and benefits that enable them to not just survive, but thrive? So, I've created this 2-Page Guide: 10 Critical Questions & 30 Actions to Inspire and Activate Inclusion at Work: ?? Download now: https://lnkd.in/gN76YGzd If you, your team, or your leaders are looking for actionable strategies and a place to start to cultivate inclusion at work, and move towards women's equality, download it and use it as a discussion guide to inform your #employeeengagement #employeeresourcegroups #culture strategy.

Congrats to Anne Keough Keehn, Caitlin Hayward and team for the release of the official report and results from the Leading Academic Change National Survey 2.0! When Anne approached me with an idea for this work a year ago I was like "Yes. We ride at dawn. Shot gun!!!" I have loved being along for the ride as a creative and design partner for this important work to inform academic innovation leadership. Because Adam Croom already did such a good job summarizing the calls to action (thank you!), I am sharing them here. Get the infographic and full white paper at https://lnkd.in/eP_7sRit 8 Calls to Action to Advance Academic Innovation Leadership in Higher Ed: ???Embrace Diverse Leadership: Support leaders with strong industry and teaching backgrounds to drive transformative change and enhance student success. ?????Design Faculty Support Structures: Create strategies like innovation fellowships or course releases to involve faculty in innovation while respecting their limited bandwidth. ???Foster Interdisciplinary Teams: Bring together faculty, students, and external partners to tackle educational challenges collaboratively. ???Expand Digital Credentialing: Implement flexible, stackable digital and micro-credential programs to recognize diverse learning achievements. ???Engage with Gen AI Proactively: Align AI adoption with your institution's mission, embracing new technology with the right tools, policies, and practices. ???Promote Flexible Learning Spaces: Redesign spaces to support hybrid and collaborative learning, adapting to various teaching and learning styles. ???Build an Academic Change Community: Scale and sustain innovation by convening consortia, associations, and peer-to-peer learning groups. ???Invest in Academic Innovation Research: Identify best practices and assess new tech's impact to enhance student success and institutional resilience. Quantum Thinking, University of Michigan - Center for Academic Innovation

All my gratitude to Melissa Vito and UTSA Academic Innovation for having me on campus this week! Always love coming to vibrant San Antonio and The University of Texas at San Antonio because the people and culture are so energizing. The work they're doing around faculty development, AI, and online and continuing programming are not to be underestimated! ?? I led some workshops to help Academic Innovation more impactfully tell their stories in a variety of formats. Everyone was such a great sport when I debuted my new storytelling card game to cut through the blaring noise of a blank page and get people telling authentic stories. What was especially exciting was that long-time colleague/pal Kyle Dickson joined me this time! Watching Kyle in action and seeing his video and digital storytelling work at Abilene Christian University was pure inspiration for me. Video has the power to spark emotional resonance through all of the senses. It is probably one of the biggest tools Higher Ed has to convey their purpose and impact. I also got to catch up with Angela Gunder, Ph.D. and absorb her brilliance! I can't believe this is my job or real life sometimes at SAB Creative & Consulting but here we are. ? (Huge thanks Marcela Ramirez, Brett W. Copeland, Jake Erney, Suzana Diaz Rosencrans, MBA, Ernest Hernandez III and many others!)