Nick Ammazzalorso Position: Executive Director of Athletic Communications Alma Mater: Maryland '99

Nick Ammazzalorso joined the UCLA Athletic Department on September 19, 2011 as Executive Director of Athletic Communications.

His duties include determination and dissemination of overall messaging for the department, crisis communications and management, and the establishment of new communications platforms.

Prior to coming to UCLA, Ammazzalorso spent one year in the corporate communications department at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where he worked with various internal stakeholders to determine the messaging platforms for several departments, including CAA Sports.

A native of Danbury, Conn., he spent the three years prior to his time at CAA (2007-2010) with Leader Enterprises, a marketing and public relations agency in Seal Beach, Calif., as a senior account manager, spearheading projects for various national and regional clients, including, but not limited to, DIRECTV, Motorola, Oakley and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets.

While at Leader, Ammazzalorso was part of the account management team that created the Ocho Cinco News Network (OCNN), the first-ever athlete-driven social media news network for Motorola and then-Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. He also established Leader's Spanish-language PR practice, promoting primarily DIRECTV sports packages that appealed to Hispanic audiences nationwide.

Before joining the staff at Leader, Ammazzalorso led the agency-side PR team for the Rogers Group on American Honda's Acura automotive brand and was responsible for branding initiatives, new model launches and sales releases.

Ammazzalorso was recruited to the West Coast by the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer and joined the club's communications staff just prior to the opening of The Home Depot Center in Carson in June 2003. He spent three seasons with the club, departing after the Galaxy won both the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup in 2005 and it had attained the most coverage (locally, nationally and internationally) since its inception 1996.

Prior to his time with the Galaxy, Ammazzalorso spent 18 months in New York City at the communications department at CONCACAF, soccer's regional governing body, where he was responsible for website content and member national association communications in both English and Spanish.

Ammazzalorso began his professional career as a radio broadcaster in 1999, making stops in Rock Hill, S.C. and Buffalo before entering public relations. He graduated from the University of Maryland - College Park in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Spanish Language.

He currently resides in Redondo Beach with his wife, Jen, and son, Giacomo.