NEWS: Laurel Skurko Wins the Silver Sustained Impact Award at the 2025 UC Tech Awards 

Overview 

For nearly three years, Laurel has strengthened the UC Tech community by leading innovative engagement and content strategies. Known for her customer-centric approach, marketing expertise, and cross-functional collaboration, she has helped tech employees grow their careers while advancing UC’s digital transformation. For her work, Laurel won the Silver Sustained Impact Award at the 2025 UC Tech Awards. 

Laurel has worked at the University of California for 10 years and has been an active member of Women in Tech (WIT). Since June 2022, she has been leading systemwide and local initiatives at UC Office of the President or UC Tech, leveraging insights from UC classrooms, clinics, labs, town halls, staff projects, and employee resource groups. 

The Journey to Excellence: Navigating Complexity, Impact, and Mission Alignment 

Complexity 

Laurel unites 11,000 UC tech employees and their “tech-adjacent” peers for professional development, networking, and career growth. Operating within a matrixed organization of 30+ legal entities and a growing network of 400 advisors, she integrates diverse perspectives while respecting members’ demanding schedules. 

She also addresses the distinct needs of multiple stakeholder groups, including accessibility, privacy, security, UX, and AI communities, as well as research IT, faculty, library management, vendors, and students—ensuring their voices are heard and considered.  

An example is based on community input, Laurel learned about the relative strength of LinkedIn among community members and used this insight to develop new approaches to knowledge-sharing on this channel. This approach generated 75,000 impressions over the past year, with top posts including: (1) UC Tech News Marketing Internship (5K); (2) UC Health Conference Recap (2.7K); and (3) Van Williams work anniversary and video vision for diversity in the UC Tech Community (2.6K). 

Impact 

Laurel has made significant progress in uniting the community. The impact, expressed in quantitative terms, can be summarized by the following compliments: 

• “Thank you! Your ongoing presence as a leader in the UC Tech community has been critical to its continued growth and impact.” – UC Tech community leader 

•  “Thank you for taking our event to the next level. Without you, none of this would have happened.” – Event organizer, after launching a webinar series that grew from 150 online guests to in-person conference meetings and six months of follow-on calls 

• “This newsletter and stories are unique. It is the way that all audiences can get insight into what is happening on the different campuses and is key to our ability to serve UC.” – Vendor panelist at UC Health conference, on the impact of UC Tech News 

• “I read every article and attend as many UC Tech events as possible. This newsletter and your events have been a core part of my professional development.” – UC Tech News subscriber 

• “You have served as a role model, demonstrating how we can use data that we own to take our understanding of our work to the next level.” – Project leader, on data-driven insights and decision-making 

Mission Alignment 

Blending expertise across higher education, healthcare, tech startups, and corporate environments, Laurel has elevated her role as UC Tech’s marketing director by establishing a long-term vision and five-year plan. She ensures that marketing drives real impact—not just visibility—by centering efforts on students, patients, faculty, researchers, and staff while aligning community-building with measurable business objectives. 

Her approach is deeply collaborative, dedicating half of her resources to stakeholder inclusion. She conducts surveys and establishes multiple feedback channels, ensuring new initiatives—ranging from YouTube videos and podcasts to social media, live events, and newsletters—are designed to meet community needs. 

Standard deliverables include: 

• Weekly newsletters 
• Monthly reports 
• Quarterly scorecards 
• Annual surveys, marketing plans, and budgets 

Each is developed in close collaboration with advisors to strengthen systemwide synergies. By maintaining this disciplined, impact-driven approach, Laurel ensures that marketing serves the mission—not the other way around. 

For example, Laurel measured awareness of accessibility content in 2022 and 2023. With those metrics, she worked to elevate key messaging through stories, events, and unique outreach in 2024. As a result, awareness grew from 8% to 11% YoY among UC staff audiences. 

Quantitative Success Measures 

Leadership & Operations 

• Managed three direct reports and hundreds of contributors, overseeing a content and events pipeline, including a weekly newsletter and major conferences. 

• Led UC Tech marketing efforts in collaboration with UC leaders, supporting 11,000 employees, and UC Office of the President Information Technology Services (ITS), supporting 320 employees and contractors. 

• Developed UC Tech’s first strategic marketing plan, calendar, budget, and brand guide, setting a five-year vision. 

Community & Executive Engagement 

• Organized two monthly events and launched UC’s first AI leadership workshops, expanding to UCLA-hosted sessions with 250 senior leaders. 

• Increased visibility of the UC Tech Awards, driving a 5x jump in applicants in year one. 

• Led social media strategy and digital outreach for UC executives, including President Drake’s UC Health AI Guidelines. 

Marketing & Growth Strategy 

• Shifted content management from reactive to strategic across 30+ legal entities. 

• Expanded UC Tech’s health-related content through key industry conference coverage. 

• Launched paid ad campaigns, increasing job applicants by 25% year-over-year. 

Content & Digital Engagement 

• Managed UC Tech’s website, newsletter, and social channels, increasing engagement by 200x. 

• Introduced video and infographic-based content at UCOP, gaining industry attention. 

• Represented UC Tech at major conferences, including UC Health, Cyber Security, and EDUCAUSE. 

Data & Impact Measurement 

• Conducted an annual survey of 190,000 staff to assess UC Tech News and CX/EX needs. 

• Provided survey insights to UC leadership, shaping UC Tech’s newsletter strategy. 

• Measured event and campaign impact, tracking audience engagement and response data.

Read More

Read the team’s complete UC Tech Awards application

Learn more about the UC Tech Awards Program

Contact 

[Cover image and event photo of Laurel Skurko courtesy of Andrew Castro]