Marketing Advisory Board
The Marketing Advisory Board is comprised of successful alumni and friends of the Department of Marketing. The Board draws upon their professional expertise to advise the Dean, Department Chair, and faculty on strategic planning, curricula, student mentorship, co-ops, job placement, career development, faculty engagement with industry, and alumni affairs. In addition, the Board promotes the Department by highlighting the achievements of faculty, students, and alumni in their professional network. The Board meets once or twice per year. Members are expected to attend meetings and be available to advise the Chair between meeting(s).
Members are selected by the Dean and Department Chair. Prospective members should send a resume and statement of interest to the Department Chair. See the highly successful business leaders who have already made the commitment to serve on the Marketing Advisory Board.
Experience: Dan built his career in marketing research, specializing in strategic business planning, profit and loss oversight, team leadership, client consulting, as well as coaching and mentoring others. He held a senior role as Executive Vice President at Kantar, a leading global market research firm. Although mainly retired now, Dan continues to offer consulting services from time to time through his business, Being Better LLC.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmboehm/
Education:
BGSU, Bachelor’s of Arts, Business, Minor: Psychology ‘85
University of Toledo, Master of Business Administration, Finance and Marketing
Experience: Chris is the National Sales Manager for Kanaflex Corporation based in Vernon Hills, IL. He leads a team of Independent Sales Representatives covering North America. Chris' expertise is in industrial distribution, contract negotiations and national accounts. His sales experience includes industrial and IT software sales. Chris started his career in Purchasing in the Medical industry with Stryker Corporation and has purchasing experience in the automotive and furniture industries.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-cline-18527b12/
Education:
BGSU Master of Business Administration, 2011
Experience: Jillian is Director of Sales for the Account Executive Team/Enterprise Sales Team. With areas of expertise in strategic selling, needs based selling, and coaching/mentoring. Currently she serves as Director of Sales for ESO (SaaS) and is responsible for leading Account Executives to achieve Goals and ESO’s Mission. Previously, she was in Medical Device Sales with 15 years of Capital, and Case Based experience.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-downey-b66b3729/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Secondary Language Arts, 2005
Experience: For the past 13 years, Bill has been serving as a realtor at the Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. He has an extensive career in the housing and automotive industry. He spent his first 11 years working for IBM in Northeast Ohio, then proceeded to serve in senior management sales and marketing with Moen Faucet, Merillat Cabinetry, Gerber Plumbing Products and Fields Automotive Group. He is also a member of Schmidthorst College of Business’ Leadership Council.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/billfickenbgsu/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration ‘63
Experience: A proven sales and marketing professional, Grace is currently a Sales and Marketing Consultant. Most recently, Grace was Underwriting Account Manager with ideastream WVIZ-WCPN-WCLV, public broadcasting for Northeast Ohio, for 11- 1/2 years. Prior to that, she worked in various marketing/account/sales positions at Northern Ohio Live Magazine, Wolf Group Advertising Agency, Penton Publishing, and others.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-heese-47709514/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration, Advertising ‘78
Kent State University, MBA Marketing '83
Experience: Shelly Hutchison is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Huge, where she leads multichannel campaigns that align marketing and sales to drive measurable pipeline growth. With over 12 years of marketing experience, Shelly blends creativity, data, and strategy to accelerate demand through ABM, events, and integrated campaigns across digital and partner ecosystems.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyhutchison/
Education:
BGSU, Fashion Merchandising and Product Development, Minor: Marketing ‘09
Experience: Ben is currently an Application Advisor in OhioHealth's IT organization, leading a team that works with corporate applications like Workday and ServiceNow while serving internal corporate customers like finance, supply chain, marketing & communications and human resources.. As an Advisor, Ben gets to lead projects, build strategic roadmaps with internal customers, and manage a team that works with people at OhioHealth across all of their hospitals in Ohio.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminkister/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration, Marketing ‘16
Experience: Stephanie currently serves as a Product Marketing Manager for Apple Watch and Health. Previously, she spent over 4 years at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, where she managed the product plan and determined the feature offerings for the next generation Jeep Grand Cherokee.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniekuharik/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration, Marketing ‘11
University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, Master of Business Administration ‘15
Experience: Collin currently works as a Senior Executive at CB Insights. Prior to that, he held enterprise sales roles at companies like Microsoft, LivePerson, and Gartner. He won 1st place in BGSU’s sales competition in 2018, and was given the outstanding senior award within the Sales/Marketing specialization for the 2019-2020 academic year.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/collinlev/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration, Specializations in Sales & Services Marketing and International Business '20
Experience: Mike was the Senior Graphic & Digital Designer at the Terra State Community College, handling print and digital media materials and campus photography for the marketing department, before assuming his current role as the Marketing Manager. Prior to joining the college, Mike was a Prepress Production Artist at CMC Group, responsible for preflighted and output files for multiple press operations. Mike used to be a teaching assistant in the Visual Technology Communication program at BGSU.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelametzger/
Education:
BGSU, Bachelor of Science, Visual Communication Technology ‘06
BGSU, M.Ed. Career and Technology Education ‘09
Experience: Travis is excited by marketing’s ability to bring innovation, collaboration, and positive change to the business and customers down the channel.
He started his career in the building products industry with Fortune Brands Innovations. Now, he is the marketing manager at Archbold Furniture Company. In his current role he leads and executes all aspects of Archbold Furniture's marketing efforts, especially delivering omni-channel marketing strategies and developing retail sales tools. Previously, he held roles in brand marketing and channel marketing leading national and regional media campaigns, public relations, customer communications, digital asset creation and delivering new product channel strategies.
Travis has a passion for being involved in his community. While at BGSU, he was a student leader in the Chapman Learning Community, a service-oriented learning community, and held leadership roles at St. Thomas More Catholic Church. Most recently, he volunteers with Off the Streets Toledo. Excited about personal and professional development, Travis served on the executive board of the American Marketing Association and served as president of the Vanguard Men’s Organization during his time at BGSU.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-thornton/
Education:
BGSU, B.S. Business Administration, Marketing ‘19
Experience: Joel Yashinsky has 30 years of professional experience working with major brands that include Georgia-Pacific, Southwest Airlines, McDonald’s, and Applebee's.
Joel is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar. He is responsible for all aspects of marketing for the iconic brand, including marketing strategy, brand communications, media, creative, digital and beverage and menu innovation. Joel also serves as the brand lead on the Franchise Marketing Committee.
Since joining Applebee’s in 2018, Joel’s leadership has been instrumental in driving the brand’s best sales performance in its 14-year history under Dine Brands ownership. His industry-leading innovation, team management and partnership with franchisees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic enabled and fueled the brand’s category leading sales and market share growth in 2022.
Applebee’s has become synonymous with tapping the power of authentic partnerships and music to connect with guests, launch innovative menu items and build brand affinity. Notable partnerships with Disney, Dwayne Johnson’s Teremana Tequila, NBC’s Football Night in America, CBS’s Survivor and country artist, Walker Hayes whose 2021 Song of the Summer, Fancy Like, was a ballad to the brand, have led to rapid engagement with guests across multiple platforms including TikTok.
Before joining Applebee’s, Joel was most recently Brand and Marketing Vice President for McDonald’s USA, concluding his 18-year career with the brand. In that role he was responsible for the U.S. marketing calendar, promotions, advertising and sponsorships, in partnership with franchisees. Joel was instrumental in the allocation of a $600 million media budget for McDonald’s while managing all national agency and sports marketing relationships. His primary accountability was driving U.S. sales, traffic, and operating income.
Prior to leading the U.S. marketing calendar, Joel served as Chief Marketing Officer for McDonald’s Canada for four years, leading a $4 billion business with 1,400 restaurants and 300 franchisees. Earlier in his career, Joel advanced through the McDonald’s system in Regional and Divisional roles, including four years as Marketing Officer for the company’s East Division, representing 5,000 restaurants and $7 billion in revenue (eight regions from Florida and the southeast up to and including the northeast).
Before joining McDonald’s in 1998, he held marketing positions with Georgia-Pacific Corporation and Southwest Airlines.
Joel has been an active board member, including roles on boards for the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of North Carolina. He is a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-yashinsky-b67bb974/
Education:
BGSU, B.A., Liberal Studies, 1990
Updated: 01/27/2026 10:54AM