Class Notes

Darrin Chiaverini (Comm) is an offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for CU Boulder’s football team. Darrin and his wife, Shannon, have two children: Curtis, a junior in CMCI's Department of Communication, and Kaylie, a first-year student.

Kieley Taylor (Advert) is a managing partner and global head of social at GroupM, the world's largest media investment company. She lives in New York City with her husband, David. 

Jessica Roy (Jour) is executive chief and owner of Shiso Kitchen, a recreational cooking school in Boston. She has appeared in on-air food segments for both local and national networks and has her own digital series, Cooking Cheat Sheet, on Food Network. 

John Barrall (Jour, Thtr) returned to Colorado from New York in 2017 and joined the CU Boulder donor relations team as a senior program manager. He also lends his event planning skills to nonprofits, including the Ronal McDonald House, 9/11 Memorial, HRC Annual Gala, GLAAD Media Awards and Denver Pride Festival. 

Andrew Villegas (Jour) recently moved back to Colorado from Louisville, Kentucky. In January 2019, he started a new job as morning editor for Colorado Public Radio. 

Mike Tarson (Jour) and Allyson Valentine (Advert) are married and live in Fairfield, Connecticut, with their son and twin daughters. Tarson joined NewsNation in March and is a supervising producer on Elizabeth Vargas Reports. Prior to that, he was with CNN for 15 years. After eight years of teaching in public schools, Valentine started Pop Studio, a balloon decor company, in 2020.

Brit Stueven (Comm) is the creator of The Break Changer, which helps people break smarter, work better and live with more intention. The idea for TBC was sparked while she was living in Dusseldorf, Germany. Since June 2015, she has worked with more than 2,000 people through workshops, online programs, one-on-one coaching and sessions for companies. As the owner of Brit Stueven PR, she helps small-business owners with storytelling, email newsletters, design and community building. Since 2013, she’s worked with over 100 businesses and nonprofits. Brit lives in Lakewood, Colorado, with her husband, David (Bus’07).

Chris Avantaggio (Advert) is an associate creative director at The VIA Agency in Portland, Maine, and founder and creative director of the Maine lifestyle brand LiveME. He and his team at The VIA Agency recently developed the “Be an Outsider” campaign for L.L. Bean. He misses the Rockies but is happily rooted back in Scarborough, Maine, with his wife and three young sons.

Victoria Doramus (Advert) is based in London with the Amy Winehouse Foundation as a self-employed director of philanthropy and is involved in the Women's Prison Association. She also volunteers for Room to Read and Best Friends Animal Society. 

The Denver Post recently profiled entrepreneur and Arvada native Scott Spears (Comm). He owns multiple businesses in Olde Town Arvada: Super Zoom Bang Bang, Scrumptious, Sock, and School House Kitchen and Libations.

During his time at CU Boulder Troy Hendershott (Jour) was working full time for HDNet, which is now AXStv, as the Program Manager from 2000-2012. He retired in a sense to fulfill his dream of traveling around the world. Hendershott left Denver on a one-way ticket to Belize and has traveled to 35-countries—living in 19 of them. He is always proud to be a CU Boulder Alum and hopes to inspire others. Throughout his travel experiences he’s  learned an incredible amount of things and have worked a variety of jobs. Follow Hendershott on his travel blog.

In March 2022, Richard Spiegel (MJour) left the Department of Veterans Affairs to take the role of director of corporate communication and legislative affairs at Naval Supply Systems Command, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He’s excited to be a naval civilian working with the Department of Defense.

Silvia Razgova (MJour) is a news photo editor at the Los Angeles Times, which she joined in 2022. Previously, she was a contract photojournalist for the Rocky Mountain News; staff photographer at the National, an English-language newspaper in Abu Dhabi; and a freelance photographer in California and the Middle East. In her personal photographic work, she explores the themes of home, loss, belonging and poignancy of life.

Brooke Diamond (Advert) has worked in advertising and marketing since graduating, leading brands such as American Red Cross, Gillette, Campbell Soup Co. and Johnson & Johnson. Diamond is the marketing director at Morgan Stanley. She met her husband while living in New York City. They welcomed their first child in November 2020 and live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Brooke Diamond (Advert) has worked in advertising and marketing since graduating from CU Boulder, leading brands such as American Red Cross, Gillette, Campbell Soup Company and Johnson & Johnson. Diamond is the marketing director at Morgan Stanley. She met her husband while living in New York City. They welcomed their first child into the world in November 2020 and live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Cody McDevitt (Jour), an investigative reporter and historian, wrote Banished from Johnstown: Racist Backlash in Pennsylvania. The book tells the history of a 1923 incident in which the town mayor ordered 2,000 African Americans and Mexican immigrants out of the city at gunpoint and under a threat of imprisonment. McDevitt has reported for the Somerset Daily American in western Pennsylvania and lives in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

In March 2021, Morgan Bast (Jour) was named the new marketing director for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. In that role, she oversees the resort’s marketing department, creates and analyzes marketing campaigns, and manages the Steamboat brand across all resort outlets, including the Steamboat Grand Hotel. Before joining Steamboat, she worked at Vail Resorts for 10 years, ending as regional director of marketing for Breckenridge and Keystone Resorts.

After a 34-year career, Richard Spiegel (MJour) retired from the U.S. Army in October 2019. He and his wife, Polly (PolSci’90), then took a five-month road trip and tour throughout the United States. In March 2020, Rich joined the Veterans Administration as the chief for stakeholder engagement with the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. He and Polly live in Bethesda, Maryland.

Ben Johnson (Comm) is head of marketing and business development at The Drone Racing League, the premier international league for elite pilots, where he oversees sponsorships, content distribution, media partnerships and licensing. Ben lives in New York City. 

Michael Harris (Jour, Span) is vice president for media and consumer insights with Moosylvania, a brand-building agency. He lives in St. Louis with his wife, Leslie Gershein Harris (Jour'06; Law'10), and their four children.