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The Young Alumni Award will be announced at the 2025 Communication & Media Hall of Fame.
Stephanie Rizzo is a senior account executive at Gatesman, a full-service marketing and communications agency. She leads strategy across social media, influencer marketing and public relations for clients in healthcare, education, finance and other sectors. Her work has contributed to campaigns recognized with more than 30 PRSA Renaissance Awards and nearly 25 ADDY Awards. In 2025, she was named part of PRSA’s Social Media Team of the Year and has received internal honors at Gatesman for team performance. Previously, Rizzo held roles as an account executive at Gatesman and as an account coordinator at Ten Four Social, where she focused on social media content, influencer outreach and campaign reporting. She is an active member of the Public Relations Society of America, AAF Pittsburgh/Ad 2 Pittsburgh—where she serves on the education board—and The Cohort, a network of agency professionals and content creators. Rizzo graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2018 with a degree in integrated marketing and communications. While at SRU, she held leadership roles in Rock PRoductions, PRSSA and Colleges Against Cancer, where she coordinated fundraising and promotional efforts. She was named to the dean’s list each semester from 2016 to 2018 and continues to support SRU through student mentorship and alumni events. 
Carly Campbell is the owner and director of Little Moon Marketing, a boutique digital marketing agency based outside Pittsburgh.
She founded the company in 2018 as a freelance project and has since grown it into a full-time business, leading a team that creates custom strategies for clients ranging from local businesses to national brands. Campbell manages day-to-day operations and remains deeply involved in all aspects of client work, including strategy development and creative execution. Prior to launching her agency, Campbell served as marketing communications specialist at Netronome from 2016 to 2019, where she led social media, email marketing and digital content efforts. From 2015 to 2016, she was media manager at Butler County Community College, managing the college’s digital presence and assisting with public relations—BC3 is now a client of her agency, completing a full-circle career moment. Campbell graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2015 with a degree in communication and journalism. Though not extensively involved in student media while on campus, she gained experience through year-round classes, internships and part-time work. Since graduating, she has stayed connected to SRU by serving as a panel judge for senior projects, conducting mock interviews and offering internship opportunities at Little Moon Marketing—two of which led to the hiring of SRU graduates. She remains active in the broader professional community, serving on the marketing committee for the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber and as a member of Inspired Women Paying It Forward. She also donates time to EmpowerWear, a social impact initiative benefiting Dress for Success chapters, and is part of the Dress for Success Pittsburgh Monthly Giving Club. Marissa Altenburg is the integrative career solutions manager at the University of Florida Career Connections Center, where she leads the strategy and implementation of two key career education platforms—Career Hub and Gator Network.
She creates self-guided, tech-enabled tools that support students and alumni in career exploration, skill development and professional networking. Altenburg manages digital content, trains campus partners and collaborates across departments to ensure tools are intuitive, inclusive and impactful. In addition to her full-time role, Altenburg works as a freelance digital brand strategist and branding consultant. She partners with entrepreneurs and small business owners to build cohesive brand identities and execute digital content strategies. Her work spans brand discovery sessions, messaging development, content calendars and visual asset design, all aimed at building authentic engagement and long-term growth. Altenburg earned a Bachelor of Science in communication with a minor in philosophy from Slippery Rock University in 2020. She served as an ambassador for the Sustainable Enterprise Accelerator, a marketing intern at The Primary Health Network, and president of the Rhoads Hall House Council. She was also a community assistant and desk attendant in Residence Life and a member of Lambda Pi Eta. She earned the Ben Addison Alumni Scholarship and appeared on the dean’s list eight times. She is a member of the UF Communicators Network, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE), where she is also a presenter at the 2025 conference. 
Delaney Shaffer is the co-founder and co-manager of Mothers Know Best Management, where she oversees day-to-day operations for a roster of independent music artists.
Her role includes career planning, tour booking, release strategy, brand development and contract negotiation. She coordinates closely with labels, legal teams and publicists to ensure cohesive, strategic artist development. Several of the artists she manages have toured alongside acts such as Tiny Habits, The Staves and Dora Jar, and have generated millions of streams across digital platforms. Shaffer also works at Eternal Music Group as a creative services manager. She manages music metadata and assets to improve discoverability for sync opportunities and supports music pitching to film and television supervisors. Previously, she held positions in digital and tour marketing at Q Prime Artist Management and Foundations Artist Management. At Q Prime, she supported digital campaigns for artists including Metallica, Brothers Osborne and Eric Church. At Foundations, she assisted with marketing for national and international tours, tracking ticket sales and coordinating venue communications. She earned a Master of Arts in audio arts from Syracuse University in 2021 after completing her undergraduate degree in communication with a concentration in digital media production at Slippery Rock University in 2020. While at SRU, she served as music director at WSRU 88.1 FM and was active in Lambda Pi Eta, Phi Sigma Pi and the Boost Peer Mentorship program. She also worked in the student conduct office and was named to the dean’s list. Shaffer is a member of the Music Managers Forum, American Association of Independent Music and Amplify Her Voice. 
Corey DeSantis is a management consultant at BDO, where he works with leading global manufacturers to solve complex business challenges.
His role includes diagnosing organizational inefficiencies, developing strategic solutions and communicating recommendations to senior executives. His thought leadership on transportation execution was featured in Supply Chain Management Review, a publication with international reach among supply chain professionals. Before joining BDO in 2023, DeSantis built a career focused on logistics, consulting and operations strategy. He currently serves as president of the Pittsburgh Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and as committee chair of CSCMP’s Transportation Center of Excellence Modes Committee. He also volunteers as director of Robert Morris University’s Logistics Certificate Program, where he helped modernize the curriculum to reflect emerging industry trends. DeSantis earned a Bachelor of Science in public relations from Slippery Rock University in 2013 and is set to complete his Master of Business Administration in 2024. While at SRU, he was involved in WSRU 88.1 FM, the Green & White Society, Rock PRSSA, Lambda Pi Eta and Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He is also a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national MBA honor society. Since graduating, he has served on the SRU Alumni Association Board of Directors, helping direct scholarship funding and representing alumni at key university events. His community involvement includes service as a board member for the Spencer Family YMCA and recognition as a 2023 Western Pennsylvania Rising Star by Get Involved! Inc. He was also a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s 2022 class of 50 Finest, raising more than $5,000 for the cause. In 2025, he was a featured panelist at the RMU Supply Chain Symposium, where he spoke on the role of AI in the 4PL industry. 
Abbey Ciancio is a project manager for workforce strategy, analytics and systems at Disney Experiences.
She leads large-scale strategic initiatives across Disney’s six global theme parks and three resort locations, supporting an employee population of more than 184,000. Ciancio collaborates with cross-functional teams to drive organizational change, manage complex budgets, develop executive communications and ensure stakeholder alignment across departments. Prior to her current role, she served as an HR analyst at Disney from 2021 to 2024. There, she led a team of more than 20 in onboarding up to 1,000 hires per day and played a key role in the relaunch of Disney Programs. She also supported the implementation of new HR systems and served as the primary contact for a range of internal and external business partners. In 2020, she worked as a contracted media reviewer for TikTok, evaluating content for the platform’s under-13 user experience. Ciancio earned a degree in integrated marketing communication with a minor in business administration from Slippery Rock University in 2019. She served as communication vice president for the SRU chapter of Alpha Xi Delta and was consistently named to the dean’s list. 
Ian Ponitz is an account supervisor at Havas Red, where he leads public relations efforts across industries including life sciences, sustainability, nonprofit, manufacturing and med-tech.
He acts as a strategic liaison between agency leadership and clients, managing junior team members and ensuring that all work aligns with campaign goals. His responsibilities span media relations, corporate communications, content development, experiential events and social media management. He joined Havas Red as a public relations fellow in 2021 and advanced through account and senior account executive roles before stepping into his current position in 2024. Throughout his time at the agency, Ponitz has developed media outreach strategies, coordinated interviews, media trained client spokespeople and overseen performance analysis of campaigns. He is recognized by clients and colleagues as a central point of coordination across teams. Ponitz earned a degree in communication with a concentration in integrated marketing communication from Slippery Rock University in 2018. While at SRU, he was an active member of WSRU-FM for four years, serving on the board for three, and a two-year member of Lambda Pi Eta. In 2025, Ponitz was recognized with the Rising Star award at the PRSA Pittsburgh Renaissance Awards. He is also a member of PRSA Pittsburgh. 
Paige Borgman is senior vice president and head of digital strategy at Reputation Partners, a national strategic communications firm based in Chicago.
She serves on the agency’s senior management team and is responsible for overseeing client account work, developing high-level strategies and guiding agency operations. Borgman also leads new business efforts, supports thought leadership initiatives and plays a key role in mentoring and managing staff across the firm. She joined Reputation Partners in 2018 as a senior digital strategist and was promoted through director and vice president roles before assuming her current position in 2021. Over the course of her tenure, she has helped drive the agency’s growth and visibility while advancing digital communications programs for clients across a wide range of industries. Borgman earned a degree in communication with a concentration in public relations from Slippery Rock University in 2014. While not heavily involved in student media during her time on campus, she participated in FLSP during her freshman year and discovered her passion for public relations midway through college, ultimately diving fully into her major coursework and career path. She is an active member of the PR Council, PRSA and Women of Toledo. While she has not pursued individual awards, she has played a lead role in securing recognition for her agency’s work and is committed to supporting the professional growth and visibility of her team. |
