S3 - Episode #9: Jesica Lopez-Huskey, Marketing & Social Media Brand Ambassador
Jesica Lopez-Huskey is an experienced marketing and communication professional passionate about working within public safety. She leverages her creativity honed from working within Hollywood’s most iconic brands DreamWorks, DreamWorks Animation, and Marvel Studios, for storytelling on behalf of private security firms to police agencies.Her career in law enforcement agencies began by accident in 2016. Chief of Police Joe Monroe of the University of Kentucky Police Department (UKPD) sought to fill one vacant position but found two qualified applicants. By sheer luck, a new role was created. Lopez-Huskey became the agency's first Senior Marketing/Promotions Specialist, which changed her career trajectory.For more than four years, Lopez-Huskey successfully elevated the image, brand, reputation, and perception of the largest university police department in the state. She reorganized and re-branded departmental websites for greater transparency. Most notably, she built an informed and highly engaged audience on social media. Her engaging articles, humorous crime tips, and safety videos often became a source of local news stories, to the extent that a video of two officers rescuing a baby duckling from a storm drain reached 189,000 views on Facebook. Notwithstanding, the story was shared on Fox News and distributed across seven international news outlets from England to Scotland.Through her involvement with UKPD, she was invited to chronicle the history of the departmental motor unit, published in the Harley-Davidson Motor magazine. A thought leader, Lopez-Huskey, spoke on law enforcement utilization of social media at the Southern Association of College & University Business Officers, College Business Management Institute (CBMI).In addition to her efforts on behalf of policing, she volunteered on the Board of The Girl Project Arts Initiative. She was an advisor for Natalie’s Sisters, a Community outreach program in partnership with the Lexington, Kentucky Police Department. She also received awards for her contributions to public safety, including the Staff Senate Award and peer-recognized Support Employee of the Year award.Most recently, as Safety Communications Manager at the University of Chicago, she led efforts to build public engagement and awareness on safety issues by refining and implementing the University’s safety communications strategy, re-organizing the Department of Public Safety website, and create safety-related content.Originally from Los Angeles, California, Lopez-Huskey is a native Spanish speaker. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Claremont McKenna College and resides in Chicagoland with her husband and two sons. In her spare time, she likes to meet new people, read fiction, and listen to NPR podcasts.AgriFutures On Air The official podcast channel for AgriFutures Australia. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Sponsored by the Social Media Strategies Summit. Check out their website to learn more about their upcoming social media conferences for Public Safety and Government professionals. https://bit.ly/3IrRdDL