Ray is a passionate and engaged communications expert. He can regularly be seen out and about campus, promoting the equity services of the EEO-TIX Office. He played a key leadership role in an impactful USC-wide initiative commemorating the 50th anniversary of Title IX (and honoring a plethora of USC Title IX trailblazers) over the span of a year, and beyond. During my tenure at USC, he managed the EEO-TIX office’s website, keeping it timely updated with respect to content and with attention to accessibility. Ray was a pleasure to work with!
Catherine Spear: Supervisor at USC's EEO-TIX office
I worked with Ray for nearly two years first in an agency / client relationship, then as a marketing colleague at Renew Financial. Over that time, I got to see his full Marketing skill-set and leadership qualities. Ray has a unique ability to grasp difficult concepts, pull together the right resources, and execute on ideas. His core competencies of public relations and content development were crucial for the company during periods of high growth and publicity. He also knows how to get the absolute most out of his fellow colleagues, direct reports, and agency partners while keeping morale high. It is a management style that I respect, and hope to learn from.
Ryan Buckley: Director of Marketing at Renew Financial
Ray was a great colleague for the 6+ years we worked together at the Irvine Foundation. He started in a role that was focused on writing and editing and grew into a strategic communicator as he was promoted to Communications Officer. He led the communications effort to launch a new arts grantmaking strategy and helped us transition to more interactive, multimedia communications practices. Ray was a great colleague, a true team player and a joy to work with.
Daniel Silverman: Vice President of Communications at the James Irvine Foundation and supervisor
Ray is a wonderful colleague, and a total team player. It's been great to have another person on the team with communications experience, as we partnered together on grant reports, writing profiles, blog posts, and other projects. Ray's background as a journalist serves us well because he understands what makes a story interesting — he's able to effectively distill the impact of our many complex projects in a compelling way. Ray brings warmth and collegiality to our office, always bringing us together to celebrate each other's work. He's well-liked as a colleague and friend.
Tina Barsegian: Colleague at FUSE Corps
Ray has been an excellent partner on a number of significant communications projects that I needed his help with this fall. He has great insight into foundation operations, which was very helpful in his onboarding and anticipating upcoming projects. He was a pleasure to work with.
Suzi Emmerling: Director of Communications at the Broad Foundation
Ray is a dedicated and creative communications professional. He brings a wealth of knowledge and writing skill as well as an ability to create success under even the tightest of deadlines. Ray was my supervisor for close to two years, and he clearly values those who work for him. He proactively supported me and was an unfailing advocate of my work and professional growth. He is unfailingly cheerful and brings a collaborative spirit to all his work, which makes him great to work with and a support to all his colleagues.
Rachel Vallens-Benditt: Direct Report at Renew Financial