Learning to lead

Dr. Hannah Mesouani, M.S. ’19, was among 100 individuals to be selected and participate in the 2024-25 cohort of the Obama Foundation’s Leaders USA program. Mesouani is the director of Mission and Equity Consulting at YWCA McLean County and an adjunct professor in Illinois State’s School of Social Work. She previously held roles with the Equity Lab, the Immigration Project, and Illinois Wesleyan University. The Obama Foundation’s six-month program trains participants worldwide in leadership development and civic engagement to help build their skills and scale their work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

PR pro

Kaitlyn Trage ’24 was recognized by the Publicity Club of Chicago in its “30 under 30” annual spotlight of young professionals in communications, marketing, and public relations at the 66th annual Golden Trumpet Awards. Trage is a strategist with Strategia Consulting, a Chicago-based communications, crisis management, and government affairs team. Trage interned for the company while earning a bachelor’s degree in public relations at Illinois State and was hired for a full-time position upon her graduation last spring. Skills possessed by Trage noted in her nomination included public relations strategy, social media analytics, and market reach optimization.

Voice of the Penguins

Joe Brand ’13 is in his first season as the radio voice of the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins. Primarily paired with longtime color analyst Phil Bourque, Brand handles play-by-play duties on the Penguins Radio Network for the five-time Stanley Cup champions. Brand spent the previous three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks as studio host and fill-in broadcaster on WGN Radio. The broadcast journalism alum has also called contests outside of hockey, with work in baseball, football, basketball, and other sports at the professional and collegiate levels, including calls of select Chicago White Sox games on ESPN radio.

Winning coverage

Zac Summers ’11 won a 2024 Mid-America Emmy award for his contributions to the KCTV5 news team’s coverage of the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory in Super Bowl LVIII last year. The award marked the first Emmy win for Summers, a news anchor at Kansas City’s CBS affiliate, who had been nominated several times before. Summers joined KCTV5 in 2023 after roles as a reporter, anchor, and producer in the Atlanta; Bryan-College Station, Texas; and Central and Eastern Washington and Northern Oregon markets. Summers’ wide-ranging work has included championship teams, but also crime, politics, natural disasters, and human-interest stories.