Academy of Country Music® Announces Promotions Across Several Departments

ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC® ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS ACROSS SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS

Jen Heaton Promoted to Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

Brandon Campbell Promoted to Director, Creative & Content

Bridget Cirone Promoted to Manager, Marketing

Libby Gardner Promoted to Manager, Creative & Content

Los Angeles, CA – The Academy of Country Music® is announcing promotions within three departments. Brandon Campbell promoted to Director, Creative & Content; Bridget Cirone promoted to Manager, Marketing; Libby Gardner promoted to Manager, Creative & Content; and Jen Heaton promoted to Vice President, Strategic Partnerships.

Jen Heaton, a California native, joined the Academy of Country Music in 2017, most recently serving as Director, Strategic Partnerships and now elevated to Vice President. In her time at the Academy, Heaton grew existing partnerships and continues to expand the Academy’s footprint with corporate partners. Recent endeavors for Heaton include renewing partnerships with Ford, 1000 Stories Wine and Dr Pepper, in addition to creating new relationships with brands such as Crown Royal, T-Mobile and AT&T. Heaton’s efforts in 2020 focused on supporting fundraising for the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund and collaborating to launch a national vaccine PSA campaign with the Ad Council. Prior to her time at ACM, Heaton worked with Arizona Diamondbacks in both Sales and Corporate Partnerships where she oversaw contracts and executed activations with the team. Heaton graduated from University of Arizona where she studied Communications and Business. Heaton currently resides in California with her husband and their new addition, Zoe. In her role as Vice President, Heaton will continue to plan and execute the ACM and ACM Lifting Lives® partners programs—including identifying, cultivating and developing new sponsors across industries and developing a multi-year partnership strategy. She reports to Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy and can be reached here.

Atlanta-born and Tennessee-raised, Brandon Campbell first joined the Academy in 2015, most recently serving as Senior Video Manager, Creative & Content. Campbell graduated from Middle Tennessee State University where he studied Electronic Media Communications with a focus on single camera production. Prior to joining the Academy, Campbell spent six years freelancing in Nashville on various awards shows and joined Hunter Hayes’ team as a full-time videographer for three years. During his time at the Academy, Campbell has contributed to media campaigns for the Academy and its partners CBS and dick clark productions to promote the ACM Awards, ACM Honors and ACM Lifting Lives, among other Academy initiatives. In his role as Director, Creative & Content, Campbell will tap into his extensive video production experience, overseeing creative strategy, development and content production, heavily supporting Marketing and Partnership initiatives with original content, as well as collaborating with Digital Strategy & Engagement to develop cutting-edge social-native content. Campbell reports to Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy and can be reached here.

Chicago-born and Las Vegas-raised, Bridget Cirone first joined the Academy of Country Music in 2018, as Assistant for both the Marketing and Creative & Content departments, most recently serving as Coordinator, Marketing. Cirone graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she studied public relations and digital media and worked for both the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WISN 12 News and Marquette Basketball. After graduating, Cirone moved back to Las Vegas where she worked at Wicked Creative, an entertainment, hospitality and lifestyle public relations firm. Cirone was a volunteer for the ACM Awards and ACM Party for a Cause® events in 2017 prior to her hire in 2018. In her time at the ACM, Cirone supported all publicity and marketing initiatives for the Academy and ACM Lifting Lives including over seeing red carpet media, press materials and more. As Manager, Cirone will add digital publicity initiatives in addition to company publicity and communications. She reports to Melissa Moldovan, Senior Manager, Marketing and can be reached here.

Born in Kokomo, Ind. and raised in both Shelby Township, Mich. and Allentown, Pa., Libby Gardner first joined the Academy full-time in 2019 as Coordinator, Creative & Content. Gardner attended Syracuse University where she received a bachelor’s degree in Television, Radio, and Film. During her time at Syracuse, Gardner interned at the Academy in the Creative department and following her graduation in 2018, continued working for the Academy as a freelance field producer. Gardner has also worked as a production assistant on numerous television shows, ranging from an Investigation Discovery true crime series to the talk show, The Doctors. In her role as Manager, Gardner oversees the day-to-day management of the Academy’s website properties, photo archives, and A-List email blasts and serves as assistant editor of ACM Tempo. Gardner also acts as a field producer for the Academy’s in-house video content and supervises both the digital and print creative content distributed by the Academy. Gardner reports to Brandon Campbell, Director, Creative & Content and can be reached here.

“The Academy is so thrilled to recognize the promotions of Jen, Brandon, Bridget and Libby,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music. “All of these individuals have continued to showcase their hard work, perseverance and knowledge in their areas of expertise, helping to make this past year one of ACM’s most groundbreaking years ever. I look forward to seeing them continue to grow in their careers and enhance our organization for years to come.”

PHOTO CAPTION #1: Jen Heaton Vice President, Strategic Partnerships

PHOTO CAPTION #2: Brandon Campbell Director, Creative & Content

PHOTO CAPTION #3: Bridget Cirone Manager, Marketing

PHOTO CAPTION #4: Libby Gardner Manager, Creative & Content

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Academy of Country Music

Courtesy of ACM