Contact Us
Communications & Marketing Staff
Carrie O'Brion
carrieobrion@usf.edu
Assistant Regional Vice Chancellor for Marketing,
Communications and Strategic Initiatives
(727) 873-4452
Carrie's Biography
Carrie drives strategic communications and marketing for the university, including executive communications, brand and reputation management, crisis communications and media relations. She previously served as the Senior Manager of Communications for BluePearl Veterinary Partners, the country’s largest provider of specialty and emergency veterinary medicine, with more than 70 hospitals in 21 states.
Carrie began her career as a journalist and spent more than seven years as a reporter and an editor at the Tampa Bay Times. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Colgate University and a master’s degree in communication from Johns Hopkins University.
Kelli Carmack
kcarmack@usf.edu
Social Media Strategist
(727) 873-4974
Kelli's Biography
Kelli oversees USF St. Petersburg's social media platforms which include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. She collaborates with various USF St. Petersburg departments and organizations to showcase via social media all the opportunities and resources the campus has to offer students.
Kelli graduated from USF St. Petersburg back in 2019, earning a bachelor's degree in journalism & media studies. Prior to joining the USF St. Petersburg team, Kelli spent three years working as a Digital Content Manager for a local newspaper in Pasco County.
Matthew Cimitile
mcimitile@usf.edu
Assistant Director
(727) 873-4840
Matthew's Biography
Matthew reports and writes about key USF St. Petersburg campus news and events for print, online and social media platforms. He serves as a primary point of contact for general media requests as well as assists in crisis communication, helping to respond to emergencies and media inquiries.
Prior to joining the USF St. Petersburg campus team, Matthew worked for the Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture, where he developed content for a regional partnership focused on bird conservation, raised awareness around key conservation programs and produced messaging for Congressional briefings. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Tampa and a master’s in environmental journalism from Michigan State University.
Gillian Finklea
gfinklea@usf.edu
Web Content Administrator
Gillian's Biography
Gillian works to ensure the USF St. Petersburg website runs smoothly and is informative for all who visit. She has over 10 years experience working in jobs related to journalism, PR and web development. She also spent five years teaching English abroad, mainly in Central America, before returning to Florida.
Gillian is a Tampa native but enjoys working across the bridge and learning more about St. Petersburg. She graduated from UF in 2012, earning bachelor's degrees in journalism as well as history.
Lily Hoddinott
lhoddinott@usf.edu
Creative Services Manager
(813) 394-0013
Lily's Biography
Lily has over 17 years of graphic design and marketing experience. She has a broad skill set including corporate and lifestyle marketing in a wide variety of industries from real estate and property development to electronics.
Lily is a Florida native and loves traveling around the world. She holds a BFA in Fashion Design and Marketing and an MBA in Marketing.
Kate Holden
kholden1@usf.edu
Campus Webmaster
Kate's Biography
Kate oversees the USF St. Petersburg campus website. In this role, she sets the strategic vision, troubleshoots technical issues, and supervises departments in the planning and posting of content. Kate possesses an extensive background in web technology, having previously served as webmaster at Indiana University where she supervised a team responsible for managing and maintaining the university's online presence.
Kate holds two master's degrees: an M.S. Ed. in Instructional Systems Technology and a Master of Information Science.
Amy Harcar Holloway
harcar@usf.edu
Project Manager
(727) 873-4986
Amy's Biography
Amy is responsible for managing the project flow of the USF St. Petersburg campus and Communications & Marketing Team. With a Master’s degree in Communication from the University of South Florida, she has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit administration, volunteer management and human resources.
Alex Jonas
ajjonas@usf.edu
Graphic Design Specialist
(765) 404-1147
Alex's Biography
Alex has over 18 years of experiencing working in the Marketing industry. He has a BA in Visual Communication & Design from Purdue University with his work experience geared towards print, digital animation & web design. A large majority of his career experience comes from working in a fast paced casino environment that produced everything in-house.
Alex was born and raised in Indiana, but his family recently relocated to Florida to escape the snow, gray skies and cold winter months. He enjoys spending time with his family, at the beach and on the ice playing hockey.
Cliff McBride
cmcbride3@usf.edu
Multimedia Journalist
(727) 873-4468
Cliff's Biography
Cliff is a visual story-teller, providing both photos and video of events and activities at the university for print, online and social media platforms.
Cliff has over 30 years of experience as a photographer with the Tampa Tribune and Newschannel 8.
Sarah Sell Ward
sarahw14@usf.edu
Communications Officer
(616) 970-5524
Sarah's Biography
Sara covers news and events for USF-St. Petersburg campus. She produces videos and writes stories for print, online and social media platforms.
Sarah spent 27 years as a television news reporter and anchor in Michigan before moving to Florida to be closer to her family in the Tampa Bay area. As a television news journalist, she won several awards for her work, including multiple Emmys for stories about social issues, business, education, and the environment.
Sarah has a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.