Communication careers are many and varied—but certain skills and behaviors can take you almost anywhere. Learn from alumni who have been successful in one field, and then jumped into another. Why did they make the big change? What did they decide to bring with them? And—given how fast each of our fields is continually changing—how can we all embrace ongoing adaptability even if we don’t decide to shift industries?

Panelists:

Jon Banner (CGS'87, COM'89)
EVP
Pepsico Global Communications

Jon Banner is Executive Vice President, Global Communications and President, PepsiCo Foundation at PepsiCo. Banner has led Global Communications since May 2014 and the PepsiCo Foundation since September 2017. He holds responsibility for PepsiCo’s internal and external communications across all business units and global sectors, while also steering the company’s philanthropic arm and its nearly 60-year legacy of investing in community impact. In 2020, he led the Foundation’s broad response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including donating more than $60 million to COVID relief and 140 million meals to families in need. Previously, he served as PepsiCo Senior Vice President for Global Strategy and Planning

Banner has more than two decades of journalism experience. Before joining PepsiCo, Banner held senior-level executive and editorial positions at ABC News, where he led the rebranding of the news division, worked with the world’s leading anchors, controlled all editorial, creative and financial aspects of the network's flagship broadcast.

Naja Harvey (COM '18)
Associate Copywriter
Craft Worldwide

Naja has switched her career a total of four times, with the latest being from public relations to advertising copywriter (which she loves). While these two positions have some overlap, she feels there’s a huge difference in responsibilities and outputs. These nuances made it difficult, but not impossible, to cross that bridge to advertising.
 
She graduated from the COM program with her Master’s degree in PR in 2018. Fun fact: one time she cried during a yoga class to an Adele song which she uses to her advantage on her resume to show empathy — it’s all in how you spin it.

Dorothy Davis (COM’76)
President
Dorothy M. Davis

Dorothy M. Davis is President of Dorothy M. Davis Consulting (www.dorothymdavis.com), an international development communications consulting and project management firm that strategically and innovatively organizes complex issues into manageable and sustainable solutions. Davis has worked across continents through her assignments with a spectrum of United Nations agencies, the African Union, Africa America Institute and other international organizations. After graduating from Boston University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she worked in a wide spectrum of communications fields including: public relations at Church World Service and American Friends Service Committee, public affairs, community relations and broadcasting at WIP Radio and print at Philadelphia Bulletin and as the first African American Advertising Sales Representative at Fortune Magazine. At the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Davis created and managed the Global Goodwill Ambassador program featuring Danny Glover, Nadine Gordimer, Dikembe Mutombo as part of the agency’s global communications campaign fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS. Davis also manages and promotes the 55,000 image legacy of her father as President of Griffith J. Davis Photographs and Archives (www.griffdavis.com) through exhibitions and presentations. Griff Davis was a pioneer international photographer, journalist, U.S. senior Foreign Service Officer at the juncture of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and Independence Movement in Africa.

Nancy Armstrong (COM’98)
Executive Producer
Happy Warrior Media

Nancy Armstrong is an Emmy-nominated producer and Executive Producer at Happy Warrior Media. She is currently completing production on the first feature length documentary on ADHD.  Prior to HWM, she co-founded the award-winning women’s leadership and media platform, MAKERS, that was named one of the 100 best websites for women by Forbes and received the Women’s Media Center Award for its ground-breaking contribution to women, history, and America.  Prior to MAKERS, Nancy was a senior executive at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide in NYC.   Nancy made her start as a professional actor and singer. She’s a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and received a master’s in public relations from Boston University.  She lives in Connecticut with her husband, Tim, and their three teenage children.

Moderator:

Mariette DiChristina (COM’86)
Dean
College of Communication

Mariette DiChristina is the dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and a nationally recognized science journalist.
 
Before arriving in 2019, DiChristina was the editor-in-chief and executive vice president of Scientific American, as well as executive vice president, magazines, of the magazine’s publisher, Springer Nature - the first woman to head Scientific American since its founding in 1845.
 
Previously, DiChristina served as president of the National Association of Science Writers and as executive editor of Popular Science, where she was named Editor of the Year by the magazine’s publisher, Times Mirror Magazines. Boston University recognized her work in 2016 with a Distinguished Alumni Award.
 
Beyond her role as dean, DiChristina chairs the Steering Group for the “Top 10 Emerging Technologies” for the World Economic Forum and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

The webinar will be conducted using the online Zoom webinar platform. Access information and additional instructions on using the Zoom platform will be provided via email upon successful registration. This webinar is open to all members of the BU community including alumni, students, faculty, and staff.