10 Years Later: CSUDH Alumni Iris Hosea

In 2018, the Gardena Chamber of Commerce recognized CSUDH alumni Iris Hosea as an "Outstanding Woman" at their annual awards ceremony. As the conversation deepened, it wasn't hard to see why she was granted this title.

Hosea, a former Communications student in the Public Relations option, appreciated her involvement working on The Bulletin newspaper because of its professional setting. She also thought her writing skills improved because of the valuable feedback she got from then advisor Professor Donn Silvis.

She saw internships as a "training ground" because they helped her transition school lessons and apply them to the real world. This was a safe place to make mistakes, learn from them, and ask questions without judgement. After several internships and a lot of networking, Hosea eventually secured a PR job with the firm Lagrant Communications.

After four years at Lagrant, Hosea submitted a campaign to the Public Relations Society of American (PRSA). Shortly after, the energy company Edison recruited her and she has been there since. She began working in the corporate communications department and her PR background came in handy when it came to strategizing campaigns. The skills she brought to the job also helped her plan out methods to exceed yearly objectives.

"I roll it out as a PR campaign," said Hosea. "This means I put together events that celebrates and recognizes the completed goals that were set in place."

Hosea also reminisces about when she first spoke to then-president Barack Obama in 2009. After he made an appearance at an Electric Vehicle Technical Center in Pomona, California, five Edison members (including Hosea) got a chance to meet him. As she watched him pass her colleagues, Hosea prepared to talk to him but her nerves only allowed her to say, "Thank you for coming."

Hosea also took an opportunity to partner with her aunt in creating a travel agency called Sankofa Excursions, where they partnered with an agency in Ghana, West Africa, to provide vacation packages and local tours there.

"Renting the van and hiring a local tour guide is how we were able to take the clients around and absorb the culture," said Hosea. "We also adopted a local orphanage and all our clients brought schools supplies for the kids. We visited the slave castle on Ghana's Cape Coast (St. George's Castle - Elmina Castle), the famous one Obama visited a few years ago with 'The Door of No Return.'"

Hosea also got Edison to sponsor a work-study program at Verbum Dei High School in Watts, California, where they mentored two students from each grade level. They spent the school year preparing a presentation that recounts what they learned from the mentorship. Hosea conducted activities for students like assisting in research for their final projects and practicing public speaking skills.

"When I say practice, I placed them in a conference room with a projector and they went over and over their lines," said Hosea. "I critiqued their hand movements, eye contact, word choice, inflections in tone, etc."

Combined, Hosea took the lessons she learned from CSUDH and has been applying them in the real world ever since. Hosea says she loves every minute of working at Edison, where she recently got promoted to Strategic Planning, Senior Advisor, and she doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon.