National Winner

2025 National Rising Star

Anne Falgout
Director of Strategic Communications
South Louisiana Community College
Lafayette, LA

The first thing Anne Falgout did when she was brought on to lead the comms department at South Louisiana Community College (SoLAcc) was update the college brand.  

In other words, a new employee, one who had never worked at any community college before, was tasked with rebranding the whole institution. 

What could have been a daunting first project at a new job was instead, for Falgout, an opportunity – to both build something authentic for the public and help college employees understand their value to the region and grow their pride. 

“In the three years (since starting the rebrand), I’ve seen perspectives do a 180,” she says. 

This is the attitude, drive and commitment that helped Falgout win NCMPR’s 2025 national Rising Star of the Year award, which is given to a new-to-field employee who has shown special creativity and ability in marcom and PR, someone who’s made their mark quickly in the field. 

Before joining SoLAcc in 2022, Falgout worked in economic development, which proved to be ideal preparation to work in marcom at a community college: 

• She helped small businesses market their goods and services to the federal, state and local governments. 

• When a research director learned that Falgout had studied library science in college, they invited her to help turn the organization’s data into information that was easy-to-understand for community members. 

• She was the organizations’ spokesperson. 

• She wrote news releases and for its website and social media outlets. 

• She did statistical data analysis. 

• She served as the organization’s quality manager, overseeing communications, consulting and PR.   

In short? 

“I made sense of complicated things and concepts,” she says. “I loved it.” 

Falgout first considered making the switch over to SoLAcc during a “very vulnerable” meeting between the college chancellor and key community stakeholders.  

“It was during COVID,” she says. “It was a very small group all spread out in a room with the chancellor, and his vice chancellor of external relations sat at the head of the table. I was just blown away by how open he was and how willing he was to change and adapt and grow and listen to what the business community said, listen to stakeholders like me in the public sector.” 

After that meeting, Falgout texted that vice chancellor and said, “If there’s ever an opportunity for me to work for Dr. June, this chancellor, you let me know.” 

A year later, Falgout got a text about an opening to run SoLacc’s communications department. Her first thought: “But I’m an economic developer!” But then she saw the job description. It was, she says, “Me to a tee.” 

Because the role was about strategic communications, working behind-the-scenes to help the college’s executive team on those big initiatives and messages, which she was very versed in. But it was also about traditional marcom, including enrollment marketing, which was a new duty for Falgout. 

“But I was like, I can sell a community and understand what assets are and break that down and translate that to easily digestible information,” she says. “Why couldn’t I do that for students and their families? 

“Who knew it was a match that I could not have expected? And I’m so grateful for it. I definitely feel like this is what I was supposed to do.” 

View past Rising Star winners »