Sarah Hernandez Herman
Director of Content Strategy and Development
Arizona Western College
Yuma, AZ
Sarah Hernandez Herman’s time at Arizona Western College (AWC) started as a student studying media arts. Even during those years, she learned how to promote the college, serving as a student ambassador, where she helped AWC attract prospective students and encourage new students. On its face, it isn’t all that different from working in a marketing department.
She’s also been an AWC Residential Life assistant. An International Program clerk and recruiter. A Health and Wellness Office assistant. The social media and strategic content coordinator and specialist. And today, Hernandez Herman is AWC’s director of content strategy and development.
All told, she boasts well over a decade at the college. During that time, she’s seen the institution from a variety of angles, which offers her a special vantage at marketing – and at leading others to market the college. It’s one of the reasons she was named NCMPR’s 2025 Communicator of the Year, an award which honors someone who has demonstrated leadership and ability in college communications.?
AWC didn’t have a social media coordinator until Hernandez Herman. The once part-time role quickly evolved into a full-time role, and she’s spearheaded and been involved with a variety of long-term campaigns, including the We Are Western enrollment campaign, which won a District 6 silver Medallion Award in 2024.
Hernandez-Herman is particularly proud of her leadership around AWC’s updated mascot. The college wanted to replace Andale the Matabull due in part to its outdated color palette that no longer matched AWC’s rebranded school colors. After months of surveys and focus groups, Hernandez-Herman was surprised to realize that the school did not, in fact, want a completely new mascot.
“People overwhelmingly loved the Matador,” she says. “We knew we couldn’t replace it but needed to reimagine and refresh it. My challenge then became generating excitement for a new look rather than an entirely new mascot.”
The key to leading this project, she says, was collaboration. She gave students a voice in the process – they selected the mascot’s new name, Mateo of Matador – and ensured the launch felt celebratory instead of transactional. She paid attention to the details, right down to finding a beloved community figure to serve as Mateo’s speaking voice, “which led to fun speculation rippling throughout campus,” she says. “The result was a packed reveal event.”
Hernandez Herman is a graduate of NCMPR’s Leadership Institute. Marketing at a community college can feel siloed, and she was craving connection with people who were doing similar work.
“You can talk to colleagues within our institutions, but talking to people who really get it because they’re in very similar creative roles was so rewarding,” she says. “I think I learned so much and made new relationships with people that I’m still leaning on.”
She also learned keys to management, including how to connect with people who have different personalities, backgrounds, attitudes and opinions.
“Marketing is inherently about storytelling, but leadership is about helping others see their role in the bigger story. That’s the part I love,” she says. “The work I do is bigger than me, and that’s what makes it so rewarding. My goal is for my team to outshine and surpass me. Their success?feels?like my own point of pride.”
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