Forging a New Role: Executive VP of Strategy

Where I am & Where I'm Going

"I want to influence social systems and organizational structures to achieve impact in meaningful ways- I want to lead strategy and development."

I am preparing to enter into my fifth (yes, fifth) year at 美国北卡罗莱纳州立大学 . It's complicated- feeling as though I should be moving on to the next phase, but knowing that my work here is unfinished. I am sticking around because, although my concentration is in marketing, it's not the marketing roles that excite me. Instead, I am drawn to the strategy of business and I see my education in marketing as a way to engage with the complexities of perception. I need to supplement my education with relevant minors and organizational leadership to learn what I need to be successful in my career. I want to influence social systems and organizational structures to achieve impact in meaningful ways- I want to lead strategy and development. Whether it's as Project Manager or a Social Entrepreneur- and in every role along the way- I know that I have unique capabilities in this arena.

My article about leveraging psychology in marketing is an example of how I enjoy engaging with marketing as a component of strategy, rather than actually carrying out marketing and media-related tasks.

My AMA Journey

I have served in several roles for NC State AMA . I began my leadership journey with the American Marketing Association last year (2021-22) working with my Co-Director, Issa Tuli , as Director of Mentorship and Director of Community Outreach under our VP lead, Simon Nagel . Simon passed the torch on to me as I took over the Role of VP of Community Relations this past year (2022-23). There, my Directors, Khushi Patel , Neha Kar , and I greatly expanded the Mentorship Program and scope of community engagement. I served on our Regional Conference Planning Committee under Federica Lenti and helped Chapter President Greyson Cahill integrate more strategic alignment tactics. I am proud to have competed at the Regional level in a Business Case Competition and as an International finalist at the Marketing Strategy Competition at the AMA International Colligate Conference with Meagan Shirley . I've developed relationships with and learned from our Faculty Advisors, Tom Byrnes and Pieter Verhallen, Ph.D. . Now, I prepare to pass the role on to Lilly Shapiro , someone that I'm confident will do the role justice.

Check out the NC State AMA website

(some) Improvements & Accomplishments

• Mentors are now recruited on the basis of Mentee goals and needs
• Agendas with topics and resources are now provided to Mentorship pairings on a monthly, instead of bi-monthly, basis
• The Mentorship Program Interest Forms are now open on a rolling basis throughout the first semester, to allow for more flexibility and inclusivity
• Our team partnered with NC State Mental Health Ambassadors for two consecutive semesters to help combat the struggles students face, as they have culminated in several devastating losses on our campus this year
• We aligned with and supported A Place at The Table, a local non-profit focused on food insecurity and owned and operated by social entrepreneur and NC State alumna, Maggie Kane
• Our Chapter created over 60 handmade cards to support children that were hospitalized and distributed them through the Cardz For Kidz organization
• We ran a successful Food Drive through Feed the Pack, a 美国北卡罗莱纳州立大学 Student Leadership and Engagement program designed to provide nutritional aid to the roughly 14% of students who face food insecurity, according to this most recent article. We collected over 35 pounds of food donations and $75 for the organization
• We designed a curriculum to share marketing knowledge with other groups on campus in a way that is customized to their needs. We focused on personal branding, as it was the topic of this year's Regional Conference that our Chapter hosts annually. I created and distributed recordings of presentations for the Artists of this year's Student Art Sale and for this year's cohort of Social Innovation Fellows (*see the bottom of the article for links to recordings of my presentations)
• We designed the curriculum and helped plan our Chapter's first (more to come) DEI event where we invited members of the Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions DEI team to help deliver our message

All of this is to say that I am familiar with our AMA chapter- what it takes to lead and the struggles we face. I've seen the gaps in how we serve our members and what we could do better as leaders. Truthfully, even though my team reached a lot of success, I felt a bit defeated in my position this year; struggling to find the support that the role requires and unsure how to make a greater impact. As I thought of ways to prepare my successor, I realized that the only way to address our recurring issues was to restructure and resocialize our Leadership Team.

"I've seen the gaps in how we serve our members and what we could do better as leaders... As I thought of ways to prepare my successor, I realized that the only way to address our recurring issues was to restructure and resocialize our Leadership Team."

The Next Year

It's common that I find myself passionately strategizing for my organizations, and AMA is no different. I spent a substantial amount of time this year planning how to make improvements for next year. I am so fortunate to have a partner in change leadership whom I see eye to eye with and whom I call a friend! Zedrique Ahmed will serve as our Chapter President next year and I have no doubt that he and I, with the help of each VP and Director, will absolutely transform the organization! He has allowed me to take ownership of my skills and forge my own role as Executive VP of Strategy, empowering me to contribute more meaningfully than any pre-existing role would allow. I am elated to supplement his outward-facing responsibilities with my internal strategy and implementation. Together, we will improve upon the top 15 International Chapter rank we've retained for the past two years! I have no doubt that everyone involved in AMA will feel and favor the adjustments we make.

An Overview: My Plan of Implementation

I want to be able to revisit this article and use its publication as a way to say accountable for the changes I am setting out to make. Specifically, I think I could help our Chapter become a top 10 International Chapter.

I see my role this next year as consisting of 4 overarching phases: (1) goal setting, (2) strategizing, (3) supporting and fostering collaboration, and (4) reaching new heights. Each of these will require alignment, commitment, and support from Zedrique as Chapter President. We will work together to make sure goals are supported at each level of the organization, from resource inputs to VP and Director activities, and to examine how those goals are integrated into the perception of members.

Step 1: Setting Goals

I have worked to identify areas of improvement, but a focused strategy requires a vision for the change you want to see. Zedrique and I will pin down 3 strategic goals that should be kept in mind at all levels of leadership, for every initiative and support activity. For now, I think AMA should prioritize:

1. Professional development
2. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
3. Deep member engagement

Identifying and communicating these goals well will be imperative. We need to emphasize them to VPs, Directors, and members, in our meetings and advertising, as well as our chapter plan and annual report.

Step 2: Strategizing

Once we determine the annual overarching strategic goals, I will take a deep look at each of the VP positions and become familiar with the responsibilities of each. I'll begin planning ways to help integrate goal alignment into individual VP plans. I'll meet regularly with teams and communicate continuously with Zedrique to make sure that everything we do as an organization is supporting our goals. I keep my mind open and search for strategic partnerships to allow us to scale our impact.

Specifically, I hope to:

• Partner with Triangle Business for Good to expand the possibilities for Lilly as she takes on my role as VP of Community Relations
• Create a long-term (2 year) plan to transform our in-house consulting team to have more digital capabilities
• Find ways to bring certifications and/or workshops to our members
• Create "Badges" for members to earn as part of an effort to recognize and uplift members more regularly

Step 3: Supporting & Fostering Collaboration

I've already begun figuring out ways to restructure our Leadership Team to have built-in collaboration. Rather than each of our VPs working in a silo with their Directors, I'm introducing Focus Teams. These will organize our Leadership Team into intuitive groups to allow resource sharing, ideation and collaboration, and better accountability and reporting.

Directors will also have a shift in engagement structure. They will be grouped into Director teams where they will work with our VP of Professional Development to plan and host workshops on a rotating basis. They will also be engaged in the Regional Conference Planning Committee and be more empowered by the Leadership Team identity.

Step 4: Reaching New Heights

Ultimately, I believe that we will see more engagement from members, leaders, and our community. Intentional steps toward inclusion and structure will allow us to have a greater and deeper reach. I'll spend some time toward the end of the year summarizing the results of our strategic shifts so that we can celebrate our accomplishments as a Leadership Team and as a Chapter.

It will be my pleasure to provide recommendations for the next Leadership Team.

*View the recordings of my Student Art Sale presentation and Social Innovation Fellows presentation on how to engage with personal branding and why it is relevant. Notice how they are both aimed at delivering a common message while adjusting to the audience- their needs and their common perceptions of personal branding and marketing. They look similar because they align with my personal brand, but different because they are restructured for each audience and visually adapted to the context of the conversation.