The Evolution of a Strategist: Why I’m Bringing AI Governance to Media and Advertising

The Reckoning and the Rebuild

As you progress in your career, there are defining moments that highlight fundamental changes in your career landscape. This was true for me after spending 10 years entrenched in media, campaigns, and communications. While working in this space, I learned how to elevate voices, oversee multi-million-dollar budgets, and deliver/execute high-stakes campaigns. With changes in the digital ecosystem, simply operating media equipment is no longer sufficient. I must also understand, and then shape, the way algorithms drive the distribution of media work.

I started my career in journalism with a passion and commitment to telling the relevant stories of our time. As a senior staff writer at The Ticker, the student newspaper at Baruch College (where I also completed my undergraduate degree in Journalism & Creative Writing), I wrote about issues that meant something to me. I wrote my first front-page story about CUNY’s denial of basic employment benefits to adjunct professors at CUNY colleges. The subject matter was labor and equity/fair treatment; the story was powerful. I was trying to protect people, even back then.

However, the media industry was going through a significant shift. The distribution of media began to be dictated by algorithms, and the media industry was changing its model. I recognized that, as a first-generation College graduate, I needed to pivot, and I did so into media production and writing for advertising/marketing companies. I was able to write features for ComicsVerse, intern at Half Yard Productions, and provide transcription services for the Netflix documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.

During my time in advertising, I had the opportunity to create campaigns that helped shape public opinion and culture. I managed the media planning and digital buying for several large corporations and organizations, including Audible, Sanofi, and Candy Crush. For regulated industries and more complex audiences, I was responsible for developing compliance-sensitive advertisements with budgets exceeding $8.5 million. Throughout my experience creating/delivering digital ads, I learned that the real potential of today’s digital ad platforms lies in the data used to execute successful campaigns, the privacy policies protecting that data, and the artificial intelligence systems that place ads (i.e., target/serve ads) to users.

While I may have started my career as an ad copywriter, I wanted to become much more than that—I wanted to play a key role in the overall architecture of the advertising ecosystem.

I was able to bring that same strategic approach to the non-profit and public policy sectors as well. I was able to take a similar approach at ExpandED Schools, where I created compliant digital advertising campaigns that supported after-school education. At HCM Strategists, I led communications for federally funded Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility programs in STEM (i.e., workforce development), under a shared policy framework. I was involved in co-designing systems (i.e., monitoring and evaluation) that support these types of programs, and I played a critical role in organizing the National Science Foundation INCLUDES conference on accessibility in STEM in 2024.

These experiences prompted me to ask, “What do I need to be fulfilled (i.e., feel complete) in my work?” Ultimately, I realized that what I wanted most was power—not over others, but rather over a purpose that serves the greater good. I wanted to be in a field where my (ethical) concerns are supported rather than treated as a potential liability. I wanted to work in a field where protecting people is a top priority, rather than something done only as a last resort.

This understanding later led me to become increasingly interested in both the intersection of AI/Public Policy and the Governance of Technology (particularly from an Ethical Perspective). I am not seeking to abandon my roots in Media; instead, I am committed to taking the next evolutionary step in the way Media is constructed and operates. I enrolled in the Google Cybersecurity Certificate program, which equipped me with practical skills in several areas, including Python, Linux, SQL, and Incident Response to Threats via SIEM tools and Intrusion Detection Systems. I learned about several cybersecurity frameworks (i.e., NIST) and methodologies (i.e., Threat Modeling), as well as how to determine the architecture of digital risk. As I completed the Cybersecurity Certificate program, I learned more about the tools, and the questions I was left with were not only what types of tools exist, but also who they were designed for, how they were designed, and why they need to exist in the first place.

It was this curiosity and questioning that stirred an even greater passion for exploring the vast concepts within the study of Responsible AI, data privacy, and tech governance from a strategic perspective. I am now pursuing my graduate education in AI Management at Georgetown University. I have previously studied Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Python at the Georgia Institute of Technology; I am also pursuing additional certifications to deepen my understanding of Data Ethics, Privacy Laws, and Algorithmic Accountability. My goal is to bring my knowledge and experience in media and compliance to help create the next generation of technology, not just how it is deployed, but how it is governed.

In addition to my desire to help others, I would like to develop systems that are equitable for all, and especially for those who have been historically underrepresented in the technology space. My goal is to protect the most vulnerable populations, i.e., children, seniors, persons with cognitive disabilities, and those without media literacy, from the hidden violence that comes from poorly designed technology and unregulated algorithms. I want to put the brakes on technology when it is racing past human dignity. I want to ensure the next breakthrough in AI does not come at the expense of someone’s job, rights, or life.

I am grateful for the opportunity to combine the experiences I have lived with the opportunity to follow a path I believe in. Whether I am working to influence AI policy, contribute to the development of regulatory frameworks, or support responsible design from an advertising strategy perspective, my North Star will remain equity, ethics, and empowerment.

I expect job security to be a baseline, not a privilege. I want to be part of a team that supports my ability to influence executive-level decisions and create high-quality deliverables. I want to build the engine, not just become a part of the machine.

If I can leave a legacy, I want that legacy to be something my daughter will be proud of. I want to leave behind a system, a policy, or a principle that will outlive my time on this earth. I want my work to matter.

I want to be recognized for my mind. I want to be consulted for my opinion and supported. I want to be a builder of futures, not just someone who performs a task. I want to walk into a room, whether virtual or physical, and know that I am the strategy, I am ethical, and I am the reason the system works.

That’s why I am here. That’s why I am learning. That’s the reason for my evolution. Not just securing data, but securing dignity.