Gabe Ross learned the value of accuracy, timeliness and personal responsibility as a teenager, while serving as the editor-in-chief of the aptly named “The Nucleus” student newspaper at Albert Einstein High School in Kensington Md.
“I often think about my experience at that high school, and I learned so much beyond just the principles of journalism and effective writing and research,” said Gabe, who serves on the Board of the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) and serves as Associate Vice Chancellor, Communications and Media Relations, for the Los Rios Community College District.
“We had virtually no resources, so we really had to be self-motivated and had to meet deadlines on our own,” he recalls. “We were part of a team and the team was counting on you. I learned a lot from our faculty adviser, Miss Layton, about how you organize yourself and organize others to lead a team.”
Today, Gabe appreciates the fact that he and Los Rios are part of another effective, well organized team — the SECC — and acknowledges that the partnership is of great benefit to the four Los Rios Colleges and their students.
“SECC’s infrastructure investment is a significant and valued component,” he says. “The production capacity is particularly valuable for Los Rios, because we don’t have a significant amount of bandwidth from a video production standpoint.
“More and more, the content we need for social media, marketing and promotional campaigns is video content. So, the ability to have a professional production team that we can call on, at no additional cost and without sacrificing production values, is incredibly valuable. We know the quality is professional and the content adds extraordinary value to our colleges and to our promotional and marketing efforts.”
Gabe was never destined for a career in newspapers. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., where he majored in English and minored in Communications. He served in several public relations and communications posts, including locally with the Sacramento River Cats and another SECC member — the Sacramento City Unified School District — before joining Los Rios.
As Associate Vice Chancellor, Communications and Media Relations at Los Rios, Gabe works with the District Chancellor and the Los Rios Colleges (American River, Cosumnes River, Folsom Lake and Sacramento City colleges) on communications and marketing efforts, as well as on organizational change, providing support for the leadership at the District and the four colleges.
In his spare time, Gabe enjoys golfing, though admits he is “not very good.” He is also very active in coaching his children’s sports teams: “I really enjoy that time with my kids. When you are wrangling a dozen 5-to-8 year olds, you have no choice but to be present and let the stresses from your day fade away.”
As for Los Rios’ future relationship with SECC, Gabe says, “Content is king, and it is only going to become more and more important. As traditional media breaks down, it will be more and more important for organizations to tell our own story. For 2019-20 and beyond, the story needs to be told with video.”
Want to contact Gabe? Write to him at rossg@losrios.edu
