GSPA welcomes keynote speaker Meredith Dean

This year, the Georgia Scholastic Press Association calls a Georgia Bulldog home with the addition of a keynote address to the Fall Conference program. GSPA welcomes UGA Grady College alumna Meredith Dean (ABJ ’14) to lead the inaugural keynote session at the conference Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019 at the Classic Center in Athens.

Dean, the program coordinator and on-air personality for Ryan Seacrest Studios, creates content for pediatric patients in Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to her current role, her multimedia experiences spanned across CNN, FOX and CBS in the United States, all the way to a travel agency in France. She also served as executive assistant to fellow Grady graduate Deborah Norville (ABJ ‘79) at “Inside Edition.”

Focused on empowering others through her storytelling, Dean founded The Dean’s List in 2015. The digital branding and career consulting company helps professionals build personal websites to enhance online presence, allowing them to stand out among competitors in an increasingly crowded marketplace. The Charlotte-based entity consults for companies like ESPN, Twitter, Apple, the Atlanta Braves and the Miss America Organization. Dean ultimately hopes to bring diverse clients’ stories to life in a digital format, empowering those she encounters in all walks of life.

For her work in entertainment and entrepreneurship, the University of Georgia Alumni Association selected her as one of UGA’s 40 Under 40 leaders in 2018. The distinction also honored Dean’s philanthropic endeavors. A percentage of each branding package from The Dean’s List goes toward Habitat Aid Initiative, a nonprofit that works to empower women and alleviate poverty in Western Kenya.

Despite her capacity for international reach, Dean hopes her message will inspire the next generation of media professionals in her home state, starting with the middle and high school students attending the Fall Conference. Check her out on social @mydeanslist, @empower_con and @merenator.

The 2019 GSPA Fall Conference kicks off at 9 a.m. with a welcome and the keynote address. Five rounds of wight concurrent sessions will cover design, leadership, multimedia, photojournalism, writing and other media topics. Students and advisers from all publication types are invited to attend.

For more information, consult ugauspa.org/fall-conference/.