Ann Mack ‘97 (Journalism) is an innovator in the tech and academic worlds, helping people and businesses connect across Meta’s platforms globally while also empowering future communication students.
Since 2020, Mack has served as the director of business solutions marketing at Meta (formerly Facebook). Before stepping into this position, she worked as the director of insights marketing at Facebook from 2014 to 2020.
In 2022, she established the Ann Mack Communications Technology Fund at The Ohio State University, creating opportunities for communication majors. The fund awards a scholarship to an outstanding communication major specializing in the communication technology area. The fund supports students who are at the forefront of combining communication and technology to drive positive movements and momentum in the world.
“Communication and technology have always been a part of my career journey. And now it’s really nice to give back, supporting students who are on a similar path. I hope this fund helps bring their visions and aspirations closer to reality,” Mack said.
Mack serves as co-chair on The Ohio State University Dean's Advisory Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences. The committee helps impact the future direction and advancements for the College of Arts and Sciences.
“The research and partnerships that the Dean’s Advisory Committee fosters in the liberal arts, both big and small, allow me to create opportunities to give back and help impact the future of the College of Arts and Sciences so that it can continue to flourish,” Mack said.
When Mack entered The Ohio State University in 1993, she was an undecided freshman who wanted to explore all the options the university had to offer. She declared a journalism major at the end of her sophomore year and “thrived in news journalism after being bit by the journalism bug.”
“I really appreciated the excitement that is tied into news journalism,” Mack said.
Mack specialized in public relations and gained internship opportunities throughout her time as a student. She interned for the Ohio Department of Travel and Tourism, the Ohio Institute of Insurance and William Silverman & Company, a Cincinnati real estate firm.
After Mack graduated in 1997, she landed a job at the Mansfield News Journal as a crime reporter, covering all crime as she made her daily rounds with the courts, criminal investigators and the sheriff's department. She also covered the only death row prison in Ohio at Mansfield Correctional Institution.
“Working at the Mansfield News Journal was an interesting jump for me; it was the best of times and the worst of times. On the one hand, it was an incredible continuation of my journalism education; on the other hand, it was hard not to take my work home with me,” Mack said.
Following her time at the Mansfield News Journal, Mack transitioned to an assistant editor role at Penton Media, where she worked from 1998 to 2000. Seeking new opportunities, she then moved to New York to join Adweek as an interactive editor and reporter.
After five years at Adweek, she shifted into a role focused on trends and insights at J. Walter Thompson, one of the oldest advertising agencies based in New York.
“I was combining journalism with my love and passion for technology, diving into the trends—many of them, technological—shaping the future of people’s behavior,” Mack said.
Mack currently lives in San Francisco and says she “owes her career and educational success to The Ohio State University.”
“Ohio State has been so good to me; it's given me so much. My years there were valuable in terms of not only my educational growth but my personal growth, and this is my opportunity to give back,” Mack said.
Alumni can donate to the Ann Mack Communication Technology Fund through one-time or monthly donations.
Article by student Emma Thompson
