I suppose you could say I was born to tell stories.

When my great-grandfather and his brother immigrated from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s in pursuit of the American dream, they arrived at Ellis Island, where an official asked them their names. My great-grandfather turned to his brother and said, “zag im” – Yiddish for “you tell him.” And so, the official wrote down “Sugam.”

That moment became a family legend, but it also shaped my life’s work: listening closely, translating lived experience into meaning, and ensuring stories are told clearly, accurately, and with integrity while operating calmly on deadline. That sensibility has guided my career at the intersection of journalism, education, and strategic communication.

Born and raised in New Jersey, I went to Rutgers University to study Journalism & Media Studies and Sociology. With a love of storytelling and sports, I began my pursuit of becoming a sportswriter. I covered sports in the New York City metropolitan area for over a decade, nine of which were as a stringer with The Associated Press. I covered countless college football and basketball games, Big East Tournaments, March Madness, NCAA National Championships, NHL games, and the NFL. All the while, I received a post-bachelor teaching certificate from Kean University.

After a couple of years as a classroom teacher, I was offered and accepted a job at Newark Academy to work in the Communications and Marketing office. Working at one of the oldest and most prestigious independent schools in the country, I began translating my skills as a journalist to a communications and marketing role, from planning, writing, and publishing Alumni magazines to social media campaigns, to writing, directing, and producing admissions and fundraising videos.

While quickly ascending from Communications Associate to Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing, I applied to Columbia University's School of Professional Studies for a Master of Science in Strategic Communication. Accepted in January 2020, I deferred my enrollment to September 2021 due to COVID-19. I left my role at Newark Academy to immerse myself in the graduate school experience. I moved to Manhattan and worked for Columbia Athletics, creating content for gocolumbialions.com, while continuing to freelance for the AP, graduating in August of 2023. I was also the Interim Director of Communications for a recently rebranded National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, NY/NJ Gotham FC, for the 2022 season.

Upon graduation from Columbia, I began working as the Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal School, a prestigious pre-K through 12th-grade independent school in Potomac, MD. Despite the move, I continued to freelance for the AP, expanding my portfolio to cover NBA games in Washington, D.C., marking over a decade of reporting and writing for the world’s largest newsgathering organization. 

In 2024, I became a Board Director of Holiday Hoops & Arts, a youth basketball program, to advise the organization on its strategic communications and marketing. Not long after, I began my first senior leadership role, leaving my role at St. Andrew’s in 2025 to become the Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing at The Academy of the Holy Cross, where I reported directly to the President/CEO as a key member of the President’s Strategy Team. In 2026, I began providing strategic communications and marketing consulting services to organizations and institutions.

As I’ve leveraged all of my experience, I am well-suited to be a leader using strategic storytelling across various digital platforms on a myriad of topics, businesses, events, and experiences to achieve meaningful results by developing clear, compelling narratives that strengthen brand identity and engagement.

-Matt Sugam