Biography
Slavka Eberhart-Garah teaches the Brand Strategy and Curiosity for Strategists courses in the Advertising and Brand Responsibility Master’s program. She also serves as faculty advisor to Allen Hall Advertising (AHA), a student-led advertising agency at the School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), and supports professional development initiatives through the SOJC Career Camp program.
Slavka’s career spans more than 20 years across multiple countries, bringing a global perspective to her teaching. Her experience includes work with both business-to-business and business-to-consumer agencies and start-ups in Chicago, London, Barcelona, Frankfurt, and Eugene.
She has led multinational teams, collaborated with research and advertising agencies across continents, and speaks three languages: Bulgarian, Spanish, and English. Her work has covered diverse industries including technology, retail, food and beverage, logistics, automotive, and artificial intelligence. To stay connected with international colleagues and support European creative agencies, Slavka has served as a jury member for the IAB MIXX Awards, which recognize the most impactful and innovative digital advertising campaigns of the year.
Slavka’s curriculum centers on communication strategy, brand experience, storytelling, discovery, design thinking, data analytics, customer insight, and positioning. But she also understands that the first work that students pitch is their own, so she integrates career readiness and personal brand development into her teaching. Before joining the SOJC faculty, she led creative strategy and design thinking workshops for two years in Eugene, Oregon, and Sofia, Bulgaria, engaging diverse audiences of young professionals. Public speaking and mentorship remain important areas of professional interest for her.
Beyond her academic work, Slavka applies her skillset as a board member and advisor to both local and international nonprofit organizations in education, health, early childhood development, urban planning, and the arts. Most recently, she was involved in a national community-oriented bike organization dedicated to providing bicycles to those most in need.
Slavka grew up in Sofia, Bulgaria. She earned a master’s degree from IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology/anthropology and economics from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. She also holds an Insights for Innovation certification from IDEO U based in San Francisco, and is a former member of the UK Market Research Society.