Ric Sweeney Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award

Current Recipient

Suzanne Buzek is a marketing communications professional from Cincinnati, Ohio. Her career path has had twists and turns through B2B, technology, agency and non-profit sectors. Today, she leads an award-winning marketing communications team as Director of Marketing at the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business, where she is also an MBA student.

Suzanne became a member of the AMA in 2013 and got involved as a volunteer. She joined AMA Cincinnati’s board in 2015 and held the roles of VP Volunteers, VP Special Events, VP Marketing Communications, President-Elect, President, Past President, Advisor, VP Collegiate Connections and VP Mentorship. Cincinnati won Silver Chapter of the Year for her presidential year (2018-19). In 2020, inspired by and with chapter leaders around the country to attract and retain diverse talent in the marketing field, she volunteered at the national level by joining the AMA Professional Chapter Council’s DEI Committee to conduct research and co-write a white paper on how marketers can create a more inclusive future.

Suzanne and her husband Daniel live in the eclectic community of Northside and provide a loving home to their cats, Binx and Hazel.

2023 Recipient

Gina serves as an AMA Cincinnati Board Member in the role of CMO Roundtable Leader and VP Programming for the Executive Marketer Community. She also serves as a Mentor in the chapter’s Mentorship Program, an Account Lead for AMA Cincinnati Agency, and a member of the Sponsorship and IGNITE! Conference committees. Nationally, she continues to serve as a volunteer on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI committee and the national awards program exploration committee under the leadership of the Professional Chapters Council (PCC). She has been a part of the AMA Cincinnati community and Board for a decade, serving as President in 2016-2017, and as a member of the PCC 2018-2021.

A long-time Chicagoan transplanted to Cincinnati in 2013, Gina is the Founder and Lead Marketing Partner at 5 Whys Marketing. She is a writer and strategist with a focus on digital content strategy, development, and delivery for clients across industries and around the world. She has served as US Marketing Leader at Mercer, Lead Client and Industry Marketer at Deloitte, and various marketing and communications roles at Exelon, USG, and Golin Harris. Gina holds an MS IMC/PR from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a Kellogg MBA.

Community involvement is a true passion for Gina. During her time in Chicago, she served on boards and/or advisory committees of several nonprofit organizations, including the Network of Executive Women (now NextUP), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Illinois young leaders committee, Life Span, Women Employed, and Lakefront Supportive Housing (now Mercy Housing Lakefront). She earned the Jefferson Award for Community Service for work on skills-based volunteering at Deloitte. She finds her balance through gentle yoga practice, her “Winey Women” friend/networking group, and many walks with her beloved dogs Jester and Dickens.