Principal Partnerships Office adds senior communications leader

In a move to support Virginia Tech’s fundraising momentum and ambitious goals to increase the scope of individual, corporate, and foundation philanthropy, Vice President of Communications and Marketing Tracy Vosburgh, in a realignment against priorities, announced the appointment of Brad Soucy as senior director of communications and marketing for the Principal Partnerships Office.

In this role, Soucy will plan and oversee communications and marketing work in collaboration with the Advancement Division’s recently formed Principal Partnerships Office, co-directed by Associate Vice President of Advancement Natalie Hart and Associate Vice President for Innovation and Partnerships Brandy Salmon.

Soucy’s new role begins March 10. He will work closely with leadership and colleagues across Advancement Communications and Marketing, including Albert Raboteau, director of strategic philanthropic communications, and Kim Carlson, director of programs for the Principal Partnerships Office.

Soucy, who currently serves as senior director of the digital project development team in Communications and Marketing, will remain a member of Vosburgh’s senior leadership team.

“Brad combines inspiring creativity with a remarkable ability to connect with colleagues throughout our organization in order to see complicated projects through to elegant solutions,” Vosburgh said. “Our Principal Partnerships Office plays a crucial and growing role in our fundraising strategy, and it needs a dedicated communications team to help it ramp up. We’re excited that Brad has embraced this new challenge, and we look forward to seeing what he and his colleagues produce.”

Soucy joined Virginia Tech as a web developer in 2015 and was soon promoted to a leadership role on the university’s central creative team. Since then, he has led that team through multiple high-profile projects. These include launching the current university brand, the Boundless Impact fundraising campaign, and the Innovation Campus brand.

“When working with prospective donors to design transformative investments in Virginia Tech, we rely on dynamic leadership and strategic storytelling that looks beyond what is to envision what could be,” Hart said. “We have seen Brad deliver on both counts, many times over.”

Salmon has worked closely with Soucy on teams responsible for launching the Innovation Campus brand and for establishing the LINK+LICENSE+LAUNCH program to engage industry and foundation partners in numerous ways.

“Brad has influenced our work from the outset, helping us bring to life a culture committed to collaboration and designed to encourage connection and partnership,” Salmon said. “We are thrilled that he will be joining us, and look forward to his diving into a variety of exciting initiatives.”

Soucy’s career prior to Virginia Tech includes working at the Modea digital agency, in Blacksburg; as a designer and illustrator in Brooklyn, New York; and at the School of Visual Arts, in New York. Soucy has a bachelor’s degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts.

Communications and Marketing will launch a search for a director to lead the digital product development team. The team’s web developers, interaction designers, and others work to enhance audience experience across Virginia Tech’s web presence.