Brittany-Rae Gregory Rivers ’08 Focuses on Public Service As a Storyteller

I love the work that I do at Next Century Cities, and I am honored that so many people trust me with telling their stories through our organization's publications and communications platforms. My biggest challenge is probably time and space. There are so many local leaders to talk to, so many narratives to share, and only so much time and publication space. 

After graduating from Hutchison, you majored in English and Creative Writing at Wellesley College. When did you first discover your love of writing and did Hutchison provide you with the opportunity to explore that interest?



While I was at Wellesley, I developed an interest in the role that communications plays in shaping popular culture and institutions. I continued to foster this interest while I was in my Mass Communications Master's degree program at Middle Tennessee State University, and ultimately decided that Howard University's doctoral program was the best route for me to be able to hone in on this specific area of research. While I was at Howard, I studied the role that communications played in the evolving dynamics between residents and university students in a Washington, D.C. neighborhood. 


I first developed an interest in public policy while I was at Howard. During the second year of my program, I was a graduate fellow for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (WHIEEAA). In this role, I was able to combine my background in research and communications to examine what students at all levels of education needed to thrive both inside and outside of the classroom. After that summer, I was hooked. I knew that whether I was in academia or industry post-Ph.D., I wanted to center public service in my career path. 



Brittany-Rae Gregory Rivers ’08 is the Communications Director for Next Century Cities, a tech-focused nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2012 with a degree in English and Creative Writing. She went on to receive a Master’s in Mass Communications from Middle Tennessee State University in 2015, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Communications, Culture, and Media Studies from Howard University in 2019.