Congratulation to Courtney Cordero (B.A. 2010) on receiving this year’s Communication Studies Outstanding Alumni Award.
In 2014, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Communication Studies Department at SJSU we inaugurated the COMM Alumni Award. This yearly award is designed to recognize alumni who have made significant accomplishments when putting their COMM degree into practice.
This year’s recipient, Courtney Cordero, distinguished herself in COMM 157SL: Community Action & Service, where she worked with Sacred Heart Community Center in downtown San Jose. Her professors in this course were impressed with her dedication to the community and her communication skills.
After graduation, Courtney accepted a position as the Associate Director of Communications at the Northwest YMCA in Cupertino. After one year, she was promoted to the Director of Communications based on her outstanding performance and leadership.
Two years later she was promoted to Director for Philanthropy and Volunteers. In this position she developed outreach strategies to identify donors and business prospects to partner with the organization, leading the Annual Campaign raising over $750,000 in three years, resulting in 32% revenue growth.
In March of this year, Courtney accepted a new position at the YMCA Corporate Office in San Diego Country, the second largest YMCA office in the United States with 28 community centers. Courtney is now responsible for an annual campaign of 6.4 million dollars.
Courtney’s success is impressive. But, perhaps more remarkable is that in addition to her day job, she remains involved in her community.
After graduating from SJSU, she served as a volunteer Marketing Director for Beautiful Day, a community outreach program, in which she participated in volunteer work at an AIDS community center, an elementary school and a medical mission trip to the Philippines.
And, for four years after her graduation, Courtney came back to SJSU each semester to talk to students in the Community Action and Service course about the importance of community learning and leadership.
Courtney’s obviously outstanding communication skills coupled with her commitment to community growth and development exemplify social responsibility, ethical awareness, and community engagement.
Congratulations Courtney!