Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations, University of California, Riverside
As the Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs at the University of California, Riverside, Wes Mallette serves on the Senior Leadership Team and is responsible for managing the UC Riverside Athletics Department’s brand. He serves as the primary liaison between the Athletics Director and all fundraising activities and revenue operations and is responsible for Strategic Communications, Digital & Emerging Media, Marketing & External Relations, Community and Fan Engagement, Ticket Sales and Operations and Sponsorships.
Wes is a seasoned sports, entertainment and corporate brand communications and reputation management. Prior to joining UC Riverside, Wes held a parallel role at Cal (UC Berkeley) where as Associate Athletics Director for Strategic Communications, he oversaw all internal and external brand communications and guided Cal Athletics through multiple crisis, issues and reputation management situations. He has also served as VP of Communications for Pac-12 Networks.
In addition, Wes has created and conducted several hundred ”Building & Protecting Your Brand in the Digital Age,” trainings for thousands of high school, college, Olympic and professional athletes across the country over the past 15 years. Based on a custom curriculum he created, developed and has adapted accordingly, this specialized, interactive workshop is designed to successfully provide traditional and social media and brand development training for athletes at all levels.
An issues and crisis management, strategic and brand communications and marketing veteran, Wes spent 15 years in senior communications roles with MTV Networks, Limited Brands, Inc.’s Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works brands, and Black Entertainment Television, Inc. (BET). He also spent seven years running a boutique reputation, issues and brand management firm in the professional and intercollegiate athletics space; in addition to the past six years in intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level.
Wes has a B.A. in Communications from James Madison University (where he was a two-sport Division I student-athlete in football and track & field) and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. He currently resides in Southern California with his son and daughter.