By Steve Shlisky
Chapter President
Larena Baldazo
Chapter Marketing Chair Larena Baldazo moves from the corporate world to academia, from a company which sold outdoor furniture to a position of Public Information Officer at Laney College in Oakland.
Laney College President Tammeil Y. Gilkerson, Ed.D says: “We are thrilled to have Larena join the Laney College community. It makes me proud to have a community college graduate representing our institution and look forward to seeing how her vision and creativity enhance telling the stories of our beloved learning community.”
Laney College President Tammeil Gilkerson
The community college Gilkerson referred to was Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, California, where she majored in journalism and reported for the Experience Newspaper. She learned the basics of news reporting, copy editing and photography, valuable tools to her new position.
After graduation she transferred to John F. Kennedy University (JFKU) in Pleasant Hill, and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism & Digital Media in June of 2017. The program at JFKU focused on building creative content for the Internet and measuring analytics through social media.
Just before graduation from JFKU, Baldazo was hired as an intern at KTVU FOX 2 News, where she worked the assignment desk and wrote stories for KTVU.com. Baldazo learned how different a television newsroom is from writing news for print and the web.
Baldazo comes to Laney College from Bond Manufacturing Company, a global manufacturer of outdoor consumer goods. As their Media Manager she was able to apply both her content curation and digital backgrounds.
Baldazo says, “I am so excited to be a part of the Laney Community! I have a great team and I’m really looking forward to working with the faculty and staff, to promote our programs and events effectively. There are so many great things going on at Laney and it’s my job to ensure that the message gets out to the right audience.”
Chapter Governor and Laney College Professor, Mike Moya, says: “Larena’s ability to communicate her enthusiasm is a refreshing attribute. Her professional demeanor is engaging and always positive. I look forward to working with Larena on upcoming projects”
For our local NATAS chapter in 2017, Baldazo served out the remaining year of retiring Governor Robert Campos before her current appointment of Marketing Chair in 2018.