Cheryl Broom is the CEO and co-founder of GradComm, a higher education marketing and communications agency dedicated to helping colleges communicate more clearly, connect more meaningfully with students, and strengthen the communities they serve. A nationally recognized higher education marketing leader, keynote speaker, podcast host, author, and former college communications director, Cheryl has spent nearly two decades at the intersection of strategy, storytelling, enrollment, and the student experience.

Under Cheryl’s leadership, GradComm has partnered with more than 120 colleges, universities, adult education providers, high schools, and public education organizations. She has led multimillion-dollar marketing initiatives, institutional rebrands, enrollment campaigns, strategic planning efforts, and public awareness programs designed not simply to generate attention, but to create measurable impact. Her work is grounded in a belief that effective marketing is about much more than promotion: it is about building trust, removing barriers, and helping students understand where they belong and how to move forward.

That philosophy is also at the heart of Cheryl’s new book, Marketing Is Mission Work, which challenges higher education leaders to think beyond campaigns and consider the full student experience. Cheryl believes every webpage, email, phone call, form, handoff, and interaction communicates something about an institution. When an organization aligns the promise it makes through marketing with the experience it delivers, marketing becomes an essential part of fulfilling its mission.

Cheryl is also the host of Higher Ed Conversations, an award-winning podcast ranked among the top 10% of podcasts globally. Through candid conversations with college presidents, marketing leaders, enrollment professionals, and other changemakers, she explores the most important challenges and opportunities facing higher education and gives leaders a platform to share ideas that can strengthen institutions across the country.

Before co-founding GradComm, Cheryl served as Director of Governmental Relations, Marketing, and Communications at MiraCosta College. She also taught communications courses at MiraCosta and Palomar colleges, experiences that continue to shape her understanding of students, faculty, institutional leadership, and the complexity of communicating within higher education.

Cheryl’s creative and strategic leadership has earned more than 100 marketing awards, as well as recognition as District 6 Communicator of the Year by the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations. She holds a master’s degree from California State University, Chico, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Santa Barbara.

Across her career, Cheryl has built her work around a simple idea: when communication is clear, authentic, and purposeful, it can do more than market an institution. It can open doors, strengthen trust, and help change the trajectory of a student’s life.