| National public relations trade magazine PR News has named North Carolina A&T State University chief of staff Nicole Pride to its 2017 list of Top Women in PR. Pride is one of only 82 women from across the United States selected for this prestigious honor.
“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized for doing a job you love. I share this distinction with my team because none of this would have been possible without them,” Pride said. “I am excited to be in the great company of such dynamic women.”
The Top Women in PR list comprises the most influential women in the nation who drive the agenda for the industry and their companies. Pride and her counterparts have been recognized for managing crises, developing brand messages, protecting and building brand reputations and creating content for digital platforms for their respective organizations or their clients.
As a recipient of the award, Pride will travel to New York City in January for recognition at the magazine’s awards luncheon.
Pride was appointed chief of staff in 2014. She is the principal liaison and adviser to Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr., is a member of the chancellor’s executive cabinet and provides strategic and operational support for internal and external constituencies. She is responsible for planning, organizing and driving initiatives and activities of the Office of the Chancellor. Pride also manages the Office of University Relations, as well as Government and Community Relations.
In addition, she serves as the liaison between the University of North Carolina General Administration and the campus community; is the point of contact for N.C. A&T’s various constituent groups; provides leadership on administrative matters and continues to serve as the university’s chief spokeswoman and crisis strategist.
Prior to this position, Pride served as the interim vice chancellor for the Division of University Advancement. She came to N.C. A&T in 2010 as the associate vice chancellor for university relations, serving as the university’s spokeswoman and chief communications officer, responsible for branding, marketing, media relations, public relations and crisis communications.
In her time in the Office of University Relations, some of her major accomplishments included the redesign of the university’s website, execution of a comprehensive crisis communications model, development of an integrated marketing and strategic communications strategy and establishment of the university’s first comprehensive marketing and branding assessment in alignment with the institution’s strategic goals. The most prominent result of that assessment is the Aggies DO! branding campaign.
A native of Orange, N.J., Pride received her B.A. degrees in business management and economics from North Carolina State University and her M.A. degree in corporate and public communications from Seton Hall University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in leadership studies at North Carolina A&T State University. Pride has two sons, Turner Jr. and Todd. |
