While working full time as a social media manager for the Portland Timbers, Vanesa Montalvo is completing the Strategic Communication Master’s program.
by Connor Baird, Class of ’26
Meet Vanesa Montalvo
Current Job:
Social Media Manager at Portland Timbers
Biggest Accomplishment So Far:
Stepping outside my comfort zone and challenging myself both academically and professionally with this new role while pursuing my master’s.
SOJC Faculty or Staff Who Made the Biggest Impression:
Melissa Havel supported and mentored me through a challenging professional transition in my career.
Best Thing About the SOJC:
The people you share a classroom with and the professional connections you make.
Vanesa Montalvo used to follow the Portland Timbers the way most fans do: from a distance. Now she’s on the other side of the screen, shaping the moments she once watched.
Montalvo is a student in the Strategic Communication Master's program at the UO School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), where she is completing her degree while working full time as a social media manager with the Portland Timbers.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in mass communication and marketing from Linfield University in 2018, Montalvo spent nearly seven years gaining professional experience before returning to school.
She began her career at the Portland advertising agency Sparkloft Media, where she started as a social media marketing intern and later became a community manager. There, she worked with travel and tourism brands during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Job at Nike led Montalvo to her calling — and to the Timbers
After Sparkloft, Montalvo continued agency work before taking a creator specialist role at Nike. That position introduced her to the sports world, where she worked with athletes and trainers. It was at Nike that she found her calling.
“When my contract ended, I knew I wanted to stay in sports,” Montalvo said.
That clarity led her to the Portland Timbers, where she joined the club's social media team in March 2025 and now works under Timbers CEO and SOJC Hall of Achievement inductee Heather Davis ’98. Growing up in Oregon as a soccer fan made the opportunity deeply personal.
“Combining my passion for soccer with social media felt like a perfect fit,” Montalvo said. “It makes going to work easy, and I feel really lucky to be in this role.”
Capturing moments and humanizing players
As part of a four-person social media team, Montalvo leads the strategy side of the club’s digital presence. Like the sport itself, she sees the most action during the season: working matches, live-tweeting key moments and engaging fans watching from home. Year-round, her responsibilities include developing content calendars, analyzing performance data and guiding how the team presents itself across platforms. The social team plans content week by week and often travels with the players to capture moments on the road.
However, what she enjoys most is working directly with the athletes.
“Fans usually only see players on the field,” Montalvo said. “We get to show training, travel, meals and lighter moments. It helps fans see them as people.”
During the offseason, content is harder to generate, forcing Montalvo and her team to find creative ways to engage the audience. One recent example was a “12 Days of Giveaways” TikTok series featuring memorabilia pulled from the Timbers’ equipment storage area at Providence Park, known as “the cage.” The series exceeded expectations, driving higher engagement and follower growth than anticipated.
In fact, Montalvo’s work has helped the Timbers rank among the top 10 MLS teams for season-over-season social media growth, achieving a 16.7% increase since 2024 and more than 3 million total engagements.
Strategic Communication Master’s program spurred professional growth
Alongside managing social media for a nearly billion-dollar sports organization, Montalvo is also in her final year of the Strategic Communication Master’s program at the SOJC.
Her decision to pursue the degree was also influenced by her time working at Nike.
“I met professionals I really admired, and I noticed that many of them had pursued higher education,” Montalvo said. “It wasn’t that a master’s degree felt required, but I wanted additional support and growth. I felt a master’s program would help me reach the level I aspired to professionally.”
Montalvo joined the SOJC’s Strategic Communication Master’s program in September 2024, knowing she needed a graduate program with built-in flexibility that would accommodate her professional ambitions. With the Timbers, her schedule often shifts with matches and travel, but the program’s structure and flexibility enable her to complete coursework despite a demanding work schedule.
Master’s program offers mentorship and community
Beyond flexibility, the program also offers mentorship and a surprising sense of community.
“Making friends as an adult can be hard,” Montalvo said. “But in our small cohort of 10-12 students, spending so much time together and sharing the same goals naturally built a connection. We’ve grown really close. It’ll be bittersweet to finish, but I know everyone is going to do great things.”
She also credits SOJC pro tem instructor Melissa Havel, who is chief communications officer at Turnitin, with offering guidance that has shaped how she approaches her role.
Havel, who teaches Strategic Influence and Brand Reputation Management and who serves on the program’s Strategic Communication Leadership Network, was a guiding light.
“Her classes were practical and relevant,” Montalvo said. “She was also a great mentor during a challenging time at work, and I truly credit her advice with helping me move forward in my career.”
Montalvo says her time in the Strategic Communication Master’s program has refined how she approaches her work and strengthened her confidence as a professional. As for the future, she plans on continuing to grow within the Portland Timbers organization.
“I’m excited to keep building from here,” she said, and to continue creating the moments she once followed from afar.
Connor Baird is a fourth-year advertising major at the SOJC with a minor in writing, public speaking and critical reasoning. He is a writing intern for the SOJC and the co-director of After Hours, an advertising portfolio club.