More Than Words: How Alison Bibb-Carson Built a Career That Connects
BY RHONDA CROWDER, PHOTO BY L EWI S B U R R E L L
Raised by a renowned TV journalist father and a mother who made her career as a reading specialist and educator, it’s only natural Alison Bibb-Carson would develop a knack for communication arts, particularly writing and speaking well. And although many expected her to follow in her dad’s TV news footsteps, she set out to chart her own course.
“Writing has always been my bread and butter, probably since high school when I realized [that] I’m a solid writer,” says Bibb-Carson.
When the Shaker High grad first arrived at Ohio University, she majored in Latin-American studies due to strong interest in Spanish and the dream of becoming a United Nations translator. Then, she decided to lean into classes in the Scripps School of Journalism where she studied interpersonal communications with a focus on organizational communications which ultimately landed her in political communications.
“I was really interested in that,” she says, “I was like, ‘I’m going to use my communications skills and run for congress and save the world.’ Clearly, that has not happened yet,” she laughs.
Bibb-Carson started her professional career working in politics for then Vice President Al Gore, as a director of correspondence and on his presidential campaign. “That’s when I decided this ‘politics’ thing is not for me.”
She went on to spend several years as a freelance writer and public relations consultant with a variety of clients between DC and Cleveland. She later became the director of communications for the Cleveland Museum of Art and held strategic communications positions at University Circle Incorporated, the Cleveland Play House and University Hospitals of Cleveland. She also worked as the in-park host for the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) baseball team, where she conducted television-style interviews with fans and corporate partners and hosted ballpark entertainment on the American League’s largest video scoreboard.
In 2012, she relocated to Washington, DC. where she worked for the National Children’s Museum and American Water. She also received an appointment to serve as chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government & Community Engagement Committee, on the Veterans Administration AWWA’s publications committee, and the American Water’s Inclusion & Diversity Council.
Since returning to Cleveland with her family, husband Ron and two children, she’s served as executive director of marketing and communications for Cleveland State University where she rebuilt the department responsible for comprehensive communications and marketing strategies for the university.
She is currently chief marketing and communications officer for College Now Greater Cleveland.
What she loves most about working in communications… no day is ever the same. “I’ve been fortunate enough to work in a number of different industries,” she says. “It’s really been a fun career. I’ve never been bored.”
To quote her father, upon which she agrees, she gives this advice to young people interested in communications.
“You have to know how to write.”
“Writing well is a lost art. There’s nothing that will replace the humanity of writing [something] yourself. If you can write well, you can do anything. Good writing and strong communications open doors,” says the proclaimed “grammar nerd.”
And, reared to always recognize people as human beings and give back, she uses her communications skills to advance humanity.
Bibb-Carson currently sits on the Shaker Heights board of education, which came as a result of her seeing an opportunity to give back to the community she owes so much to her own success. But, with her term approaching an end, she’s considering other ways to serve.