As the child of refugees from Vietnam, Vanessa “Vanni” Le held two very important jobs for most of her youth: interpreter and advocate for her parents. “There are people out there who would judge my parents’ intelligence based on the way they speak English,” said Le, who was born in Orange County, California and moved to Tampa, Florida when she was 7. "It was really frustrating to see them...
Ever since she was a young girl, Megan V. Green was determined to create DIY hair care products using easily available kitchen provisions, like eggs and honey, that would help her embrace the beauty of her natural hair. By the time she was 13, Green was getting paid to style hair in her neighborhood; during her high school years, she spent time working in a salon. By 2015, she was sharing her...
Torod Neptune, chief communications officer and worldwide vice president of marketing for Lenovo Group LTD, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of computers, joins Dean Willow Bay for a candid Annenberg Intelligence conversation on Nov. 6, 2020, about purpose-driven brands and his call to address...
“ Adelante .” As Brenda Gonzalez walked through the halls of the iconic Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C, the word echoed in her memory. “Move forward,” she could hear her parents and grandmother telling her. She smiled. Gonzalez knew she belonged.
During that 2012 internship for Congresswoman Judy Chu, Gonzalez introduced herself to Chu’s communications director and expressed her...
As part of the Annenberg Intelligence series, USC Annenberg Dean Willow Bay leads a conversation with WE Communications Global CEO and Founder Melissa Waggener Zorkin to explore how purpose-led communications can act as a catalyst for industry — and help to create societal change.
Necessity may be the mother of invention, but in ChrisAnna Mink’s case, necessity can also give rise to re invention. Mink, who graduated in 2015 with a master’s degree in specialized journalism , didn’t come into the program as a student a few years out of college, but instead returned to school after having worked...
This past summer cars curled their way through the Dodger Stadium parking lot, steered not by excited fans ready to cheer on their team, but instead by anxious drivers submitting to COVID-19 tests. At the entrance, a giant Healthvana digital sign, framed in calming baby blue, greeted them.
Ramin Bastani started Healthvana in 2014 to better deliver...
Pre-pandemic, Ashley Alvarado stood in front of a large crowd at the Armstrong Theatre in Torrance to welcome the audience to Unheard LA, a live event series she co-created and co-produced. The idea was to give Angelenos who have a story to tell, a place to tell it. On this particular night in October 2019, a dozen people took the stage to either talk about their lives, share a perspective...
