Bianca Jones and Shane Kitzman are new members of ThreeSixty Journalism’s Leadership Council. The Council serves as the program’s advisory board, contributing primarily to programming, connecting, and fundraising.
Jones is the Foundation and Corporate Relations Officer at the Northside Achievement Zone. She’s a Minnesota native and graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 2013 with a degree in communication and journalism.
“I’m thrilled to join the ThreeSixty Leadership Council. I’ve long admired the incredible work that students have produced year after year while in the program, and I’m excited to bring my skills to the Council to help move their mission forward.”
Northside Achievement Zone is a nonprofit serving families and children in North Minneapolis. At NAZ, Jones oversees research, writing, reporting, fundraising, and relationship tracking related to institutional support, including corporations and foundations.
Prior to working at NAZ, Jones led communications at Best Buy for the company’s social impact, corporate social responsibility, and diversity & inclusion efforts. Jones kicked off her career working at a variety of public relations agencies in Minneapolis, helping Fortune 500 companies optimize their communication strategies.
Also recently joining the Council is Shane Kitzman, a communications team member at Target. Kitzman has always been amazed by its students and the organization’s value.
“As a longtime ThreeSixty Journalism volunteer, I’ve always walked away in awe of the next generation and the pivotal role ThreeSixty plays in students learning the power of communication skills in their own life and the lives of their communities,” Kitzman said. “I’m honored to join the Leadership Council as we help empower diverse Minnesota youth to become the impactful future communications professionals they aspire to be.”
After graduating with a degree in Journalism from the St. Thomas in 2010, Kitzman began a successful career as a journalist for various newspapers in southern Minnesota and WCCO TV. Kitzman’s journalism work earned him an array of awards before he switched directions and joined Best Buy to work in corporate communications and public relations.
