Director, College of Business Marketing and Communications
In her current College of Business role, Richards works to share success stories of students and faculty in the college — as well as those of alumni and donors — with the wider university and community audiences. She also coordinates marketing materials and resources in support of the department.
Previously, she worked as an editorial writer for the NIU Foundation where she reported and wrote feature stories about alumni and their post-graduation accomplishments. She also edited and proofread NIU Foundation communications before publication.
Before NIU, Richards spent a decade in corporate communications, working as assistant communications manager for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and as a communications specialist for Ace Hardware Corporation.
Richards has been published in Chicago Magazine, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and The Daily Southtown, among other publications.
She earned her B.S. in journalism in 2002 from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She went on to earn her M.S. in journalism from her alma mater the following year.