The Marketing Executive Who Helps Others’ Stories Shine

This story is part of Georgetown Faces, a storytelling series that celebrates the beloved figures, unsung heroes and dedicated Hoyas who make our campus special.

Teresa Mannix is the associate dean and chief marketing and communications officer for the McDonough School of Business.

From an early age, Teresa Mannix was interested in writing. When she took a journalism class in high school, something clicked.

"Once I found that outlet, I knew what I wanted to do," she said. "I'm an introvert and prefer to be behind the scenes. Journalism done right takes the focus away from the writer and lets the subject of the story shine."

Now, as the associate dean and chief marketing and communications officer for the McDonough School of Business, Mannix helps the business school and the teams she oversees shine. She leads the school's brand marketing, internal and external communications, editorial content, media relations, digital marketing, events and rankings.

In communications and marketing, Mannix has found a connection to her original interest in journalism.

"You are there to tell an institutional story to others and let the subject shine," she said of her work in public relations. "That's also why it's appealing to focus on a values-driven organization like Georgetown - if I'm going to spend my career focused on promoting a brand, it has to be meaningful to me."

Mannix started working in communications for her alma mater, the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where she served on the university's central communications team for eight years.

In Teresa Mannix's office, she displays her certificates from Georgetown as well as a flag from her alma mater, the University of Mary Washington.

In 2009, she joined Georgetown as the director of media relations for the McDonough School of Business. She was promoted to three other roles in the Office of Marketing and Communications before assuming her current position in 2021. Along the way, she feels like she's earned a "mini-MBA," diving deep into finance, accounting, leadership, global logistics and more.

At Georgetown, Mannix has found meaning not only in her day-to-day work but also in her various leadership roles, including serving on the Staff/AAP Council. She helped launch the Provost's Distinguished Staff Award and university-wide Staff Symposium, and is currently president of the Council's Main Campus Caucus.

Mannix notes that while a lot has changed within the culture of the business school in the 16 years she's been at Georgetown, much has stayed the same.

"Our values have always been part of the Georgetown experience. It's something that's been really meaningful to me to be in a place with such a strong community and values," said Mannix. "Over time, the coherence around values and the way that we express them has strengthened. I've worked for three deans, and each of them built upon the last one and took the school a lot farther."

Explore what she wishes everyone knew about her job, why traveling inspires her and how baseball became a core part of her identity.

Mannix joined the McDonough School of Business in 2009.

Something I wish people knew about my job: Don't equate marketing to sales. It's not about trying to drive revenue or bring people in for enrollments: it really is building a community. We are reaching out to build our reputation and understand when someone says they went to the McDonough School of Business, what does that mean to an employer? What does that mean out in the world when they're trying to create new business partnerships? Our role is very broad in ensuring that the McDonough name associated with any member of our community brings value to them.

I also work to support Georgetown's staff: Finding ways to support members of our community has been really rewarding for me. As the president of the Main Campus Caucus on the Staff/AAP Council, I find myself in a place where I'm really engaging with other staff; understanding what's on their minds and being able to share that with leadership is really fulfilling. As a group, we're able to make change at Georgetown for the best. Staff are often quietly doing work in the background, but there's a lot of good work they're doing that I don't want to go unnoticed.

In addition to her role in the School of Business, Mannix is the president of the Staff/AAP Council's Main Campus Caucus.

A memorable moment in Rome: We had an opportunity at the McDonough School of Business to run a program in Rome to teach members of the Society of Jesus how to bring business principles to their leadership. These are folks who trained as priests and nuns, and they're running multi-country non-profits and dioceses, coordinating education across the world. Realizing the broad scope of impact that these leaders have on so many communities, especially those in need around the world, was really amazing to be part of and to see the reach that a Georgetown education can bring.

The most valuable experience I've had at Georgetown:Helping to launch our Executive MBA program in Dubai. It felt as if our cross-functional team was undergoing the Global Business Experience projects that we ask our graduate students to do. Everything from marketing to admissions to finance to regulations, layered with cultural and societal differences - we had to navigate it all. And we did! It may have been the most challenging and rewarding project I've contributed to.

Outside of work, you might find me at a baseball stadium: Part of my family's quest is to see all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums, but I think what I'm hoping they get out of it, and what I'm really enjoying about it, is seeing different parts of the country that I probably never would have chosen to vacation in. Our country is big and diverse, and so having those experiences to see major landmarks, eat different food and really see how people live in different areas that are not the bubble of Washington, D.C., is amazing.

Mannix keeps a knitted eagle mascot from the Washington Nationals on her desk.

Why I keep an eagle mascot on my desk: I had an uncle with special needs who, from the time he was little, was a Montreal Expos fan - even though he was born and raised in New York. When he was older, he ended up moving down to Virginia with us, and then the Expos moved to D.C. and became the Nationals, so he felt like they followed him here. He was a die-hard Nationals fan, and he had a giveaway from one of the games: a little knitted eagle mascot. He passed away a couple years ago, but sharing his love of baseball, and seeing that little guy, I took that and put it on my desk so I can think of him. It encapsulates a lot of the fun that I was able to have with him.

One word that comes to mind when I think of Georgetown:Transformational. I think it applies to everyone. We think about how we're trying to transform our students, but I can see how we're transforming our staff, faculty, alumni, the communities we work with, whether here or abroad. If we're doing our job right, we're changing the world for the better through our work.

What has kept me here for 16 years: It is hard to find such a wonderful community of people who care about their work and whose work is centered on core, universal values focused on making the world around us better. At the business school and across Georgetown, it's hard to find anyone not attracted to our Jesuit values (even across cultures and faiths). To have a full community working from the same principles is refreshing.

By Jessica Marr