UT English to Hold Roundtable on Careers in Business
University of Tennessee English alumni Amanda Henneghan, Mal Alder, and Kara Orellana joined Dr. Erin Elizabeth Smith for a roundtable discussion on how their English degrees helped them in their future careers in business. This online discussion took take place on Wednesday, March 5th from 5:00-6:00 PM EST on Zoom.
Amanda Henneghan is a native Memphian, a next-generation communications professional, and a passionate community advocate recognized among the top rising leaders in Memphis. With over 15 years of communications experience across diverse industries and excelling leadership capacities, Amanda has significantly contributed to both non-profit organizations and Fortune 500 companies. Currently, she is a senior communications manager at Amazon, where she leads innovative internal communications strategies, executive messaging, and issues management for Amazon’s North America delivery businesses, supporting over 850,000 employees across North America.
Kara Orellana is currently the Chief of Staff to the Chief Marketing Officer at Verizon and also oversees Strategic Planning and Business Operations for the Marketing organization. Prior to Verizon, she spent almost a decade at Visa driving successful transformational initiatives across the enterprise and held leadership roles across multiple teams, including Marketing, Human Resources, Technology, and Government Relations. Kara earned her Bachelor’s of English from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Denver.
Mal Alder is a dynamic marketing professional and dedicated community advocate with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation for small businesses and nonprofit organizations. As the founder of Alderwood Creative, a full-service marketing agency established in 2018, Mal has successfully supported over 100 clients in achieving their goals. Her agency has been recognized with numerous accolades including Addy Awards from the Knoxville chapter of the American Advertising Federation, Cityview Magazine‘s Best of the Best awards, and multiple Knoxville’s Finest honors. Beyond her work in marketing, Mal is an active community leader serving on various nonprofit boards and committees, including Leadership Knoxville’s Introduction Knoxville Committee, Zoo Knoxville’s Circle of Friends Leadership Committee, and the Arc of Knox County Board of Directors.
This event is sponsored by the English Department’s Career Development program. Find out more about how our department supports its students and grads with career support at https://english.utk.edu/careers/.