Cara Hawkins-Jedlicka

Scholarly Assistant Professor
Edward R. Murrow College of Communication
Washington State University

My primary expertise is in digital advertising strategy with an emphasis in social media and online communities. I have extensive experience using social media to identify and connect diverse publics as well as to promote organizational brands. Additionally, I am skilled at developing and pairing social media strategies to broader marketing campaigns. My graduate training focused on account planning and research within the context of contemporary advertising theory. I am an experienced content producer and have developed best practices for integrating content across different platforms.

In Fall 2018, I joined the Murrow faculty and began teaching a full course load including online and face to face classes. As a faculty member in strategic communication, I help students apply contemporary principles of public relations, advertising, and integrated communications to their work in new settings. 

My creative and scholarly interests are in sports promotion. Sport is widely regarded as a useful tool for promoting education, health, intercultural dialogue, and individual development. More significantly, the highly-influential International Olympic Committee recognizes “the practice of sport” as “a human right”; according to the Olympic Charter, sport participation opportunities must be accessible regardless of an individual’s gender, race, age, ability, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. While it is generally accepted that having role models that look like a participant widely encourages participation, it was not until the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London that every country’s delegation included a female competitor. Additionally, women’s sports in the U.S. receive only four percent of sports media coverage, and Serena Williams was the only female athlete to make the Forbes list of highest paid athletes.  Public relations and advertising can play a role in remedying the gap between men’s and women’s sport.

Early in my career, I worked and wrote for a number of start-up organizations and online news sites that covered sports, particularly track and field. I learned how to garner attention for the sport and foster an online community of passionate fans with the use of social media tools. My graduate capstone project was a white paper entitled How Social Media Can Overcome the Barriers to Sponsorship for Elite Runners, and I published an online how-to guide dedicated to helping runners transition from college running to the elite level. I also managed online communities and served as an editor for a website dedicated to the coverage of women’s sports. 

I’m a new mom, a longtime runner and co-habit with two cats (along with my husband and kid).