Alumni Spotlight: Kimberly Maldonado

Kimberly Maldonado, a Moody Public Relations alumni, was recently appointed to The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Office of Strategy as the Associate Vice President for Strategy and Executive Communication. The team was designed to support the University through all the changes it expects to undergo in the next few years, including its recently announced integration with UT Health San Antonio.

Maldonado has taken an unconventional path to work in higher education eventually, but it all started with her college search. As a third-generation Longhorn, she did explore other options, but she said she always had a gut feeling that the University of Texas was the school for her. 

“There is a spirit in the air on that campus that I cannot explain,” Maldonado said. “It's just like, there’s excitement, there's intellect, there's innovation.”

After internally transferring to the Stan Richards School during her sophomore year, Maldonado remembers taking a class with Professor Terry Hemeyer, who helped solidify her future in public relations.

“Making situations make sense to people and connecting them to solutions and the call to action, that's what really has kept me in PR this long,” she said.

Maldonado worked for various Advertising and PR agencies for over a decade before joining UTSA President Dr. Taylor Eighmy’s staff. She said she met him for a coffee chat and knew that something special was happening at UTSA that she wanted to be a part of.

“I remember leaving thinking, ‘I'm not 100% sure what I just signed up for, but I know that good, big things are happening here,’” Maldonado said.

Two years of working in communications at the Office of the President led Maldonado to become a part of this new team that would focus directly on planning for the bright future ahead of UTSA, which is precisely what she felt inclined to work on.

Maldonado credits where she is today with her time at UT and the path it led her down, one that she never expected to take. She wants to urge this open mindset among UT students today.

“Be comfortable with the unknown and be open to saying yes to opportunities that were not in your original plan,” Maldonado said. “I have found that saying yes and raising your hands to volunteer to do things that might sound scary have opened up so many doors of opportunity for me.”