Communications
The objective of the Communications Committee is to be the communications hub though the Associate Board newsletter, social media promotion and to assist in elevating the AB board externally.
Co-Chair
Brittany Applegate
Brittany Applegate is a brand marketer, strategist, and entrepreneur. Currently, as the Director of Inclusive Marketing at a Chicago-based ad agency, she leads teams and brands to design campaigns through an inclusive-first lens. In addition, she works with small- to mid-size businesses through her self-named consultancy and designs brand strategies. To round out her professional experience, she's also the CEO of a fast-growing resume writing and diverse talent solutions company, The Resume Agency. Brittany is a graduate of Illinois State University's State Farm College of Business.
Nicole McCarthy
Nicole currently serves as the Innovation Program Manager at World Business Chicago (WBC) where she manages a corporate-startup connectivity initiative called Venture Engine. Her team strives to place equity at the forefront of Chicago’s tech ecosystem by developing programs that connect underrepresented entrepreneurs with resources to help them scale and grow. Prior to this, she also held positions with the Neighborhood Strategic Initiatives and Chicago Sister Cities teams within WBC.
Before joining WBC, Nicole worked with students from 90+ countries around the globe while managing Greenheart International’s highly competitive scholarship and grant programs. Previously she worked as an English teacher in Chile from 2013-2016. She has lived and taught in three countries. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Spanish from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. She volunteers regularly with Girl Forward, Chicago Fair Trade, and Chicago Voyagers.
Co-Chair
Kirk Henderson
Kirk Henderson is an Investment Banking Analyst in the Tech-Enabled Services group at William Blair. Prior to joining William Blair, Kirk worked at the Pulitzer Center, a nonprofit media organization based in Washington, DC. Kirk holds a BA in Political Science from Lincoln University where he co-founded TEDxLincolnUniversity, an independent TEDx event sponsored by the college.
Tiffani Mitchell
Tiffani was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and is passionate about her city and fellow Chicagoans. She is a graduate of Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago, Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI and Loyola University Chicago's Graduate School of Business.
Professionally, Tiffani has 15 years of experience in traditional and digital media and marketing strategy. She has recently joined Meta (Facebook) as a Client Partner on the CPG team. Her previous experience includes roles at Google and media agencies like Starcom and Mindshare across a variety of clients and industries.
Tiffani currently resides in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood and loves reading, singing on her church’s praise team, watching live sports and spending time with family and friends.