By The Pollack Group
Heading into her spring semester majoring in public relations at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism (Annenberg), Amanda Brunak, the first recipient of the Noemi Pollack Scholarship, added another reason to celebrate her many successes in her academic career.
According to Brunak, “Receiving this scholarship award makes my whole semester. It gives me added motivation in my senior year and bolsters my confidence heading into graduation, knowing I already have iconic industry professionals supporting my journey.”
Ever since Brunak stepped foot on campus, she’s been motivated and encouraged to make the most out of her time at USC in every way possible. In particular, Annenberg’s programs struck a chord with Brunak during her first year at USC in 2017 when she became the Director of PR for The Buzz, a student-run TV program. In Spring 2019, she participated in USC’s unique Maymester program visiting top media companies in New York City.
“It was really extraordinary to engage with industry professionals and experience all of the opportunities at the world’s most important media, communication, and technology companies,” said Brunak. “I was able to immerse myself in the evolving media landscape and really understand first hand how it is adapting and changing to meet our new digital consuming needs,” she said.
This year, The Pollack PR Marketing Group (PPMG) announced the creation of the Noemi Pollack Scholarship at The USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations. Amanda is the first undergraduate recipient of the scholarship named in honor of Noemi Pollack, the CEO and founder of PPMG. Brunak comments, “Noemi’s goals, values, and no-nonsense model for the agency stood out to me, because I feel that staying true to core beliefs in the pursuit of helping clients craft genuine programming is essential to break through to the right audiences.”
Through her experiences at Annenberg, Brunak has paved her career path, and the added support of the Noemi Pollack Scholarship will help her toward her goal of becoming a more effective communicator and authentic storyteller.
“It is evident that Amanda has learned that public relations and marketing professionals have the ultimate ability to bring change to a business,” said Pollack. “When she graduates, I know that she will apply her creativity and strategic thinking in helping to solve the pressing communications challenges of the day.”
Brunak is currently a public relations intern at Amazon Studios. In the spring, she will work at NBC Entertainment as a corporate communications intern. After graduation, Brunak plans to pursue a career in public relations by working at an agency or entertainment company.
