To volunteer as a chapter leader, AVP or committee member, please connect with AMA OC leaders.
Chapter President
Ray Benedicktus, CMO of iLoyal
About Ray: Ray is a marketing focused leader with 22 years experience in consulting, research, branding, and marketing implementations. He brings a creative approach to quantitative analysis and problem solving as a leader and strategist of marketing, research, consulting projects for corporate, small business, institutional, educational, government, and non-profit clients. As CMO of iLoyal, Ray is responsible for the development of email marketing and social media management applications and training Marketing Success Teams on digital marketing and brand strategy.
A member of AMA since 2005, Ray has participated as a doctoral student, academic member, collegiate chapter advisor, and since 2016 as professional chapter leader. Ray was awarded AMA's Sheth Doctoral Scholar award, led CSUF AMA to win Chapter Excellence Awards and case competition awards in four consecutive academic years, and is founder of AMA OC's Marketing Tech Summit event.
Chapter Secretary
Kara Rabouin of Hart Kienle Pentecost
About Kara: Kara is newer to the marketing field, but in just 5 short years she has made her way to the top. From excelling as a Receptionist early on, Kara moved up to a Marketing Coordinator position, which led her to become a Marketing Director at one of the most respected law firms in southern California, Hart Kienle Pentecost. Kara’s passion for quality and efficiency is what drives her motivation for success. In 2022, she was able to secure two magnificent awards for her firm including the prestigious Best Place to Work in OC award by Orange County Business Journal.
Kara’s most favored areas are communications, customer experience and satisfaction, corporate and internal office event planning, email marketing, branding, graphic design, and networking within the community. When Kara isn’t taking over the marketing world, she can be found working towards her MBA while balancing being a wife and mother.
VP Programming
Brooke Behunin of Mitsubishi Electric US, Inc.
About Brooke: Brooke brings 14 years of experience in B2B marketing, business development and marketing communications in the electronics and manufacturing sector to the AMA OC Chapter board. She has managed marketing programs in renewable energy, semiconductors and instructional technology. She spent three years working abroad for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme and is interested in the areas of digital transformation, marketing analysis and marketing automation.
Brooke holds a BS in Economics from the University of Utah and an MS in Marketing Analytics from California State University Long Beach.
VP Communications
Denise Ward of Chapman University
About Denise: Denise is a results driven marketing professional with experience in media buying, planning, account management, and strategy. Her passion for strategy and dedication to client success led to increases in lead generation and brand awareness for her clients. Industries of experience include; e-commerce clients, pharmaceuticals, HVAC and currently higher education.
VP Membership
Van Thu Nguyen owner of Envisionary Studio
About Van: aka Van Revival is a hard-driving brand builder with a refined eye for beauty known to help people achieve goals quicker through community, marketing, and 360-degree branding. Her experiential empathic approach has gotten brands to the #1 spot on Apple Podcast, closed a $1.2M+ contract, sell-out live events, and grown a membership community by 43% in less than a year. With a background in coaching, Van can take your professional image to where you want it to be. She has worked with the world’s most photographed clients including The Kardashians, Forest Whitaker, and All-4-One.
Specialties: reputation establishment, brand development, positioning strategies, consulting, social media, website, event marketing, digital marketing, directory listings, creative production, workspace set up.
VP Special Events
Craig Maloney of EverythingOnline SEM
Craig Maloney is the co-founder and president of EverythingOnline, LLC an integrated digital marketing agency providing search and digital marketing solutions to businesses of all sizes. Craig is also digital marketing enthusiast bringing sales and marketing leadership to a rapidly evolving industry.
VP Collegiate Relations
Levi Eastwood of The Paul Merage School of Business | UC Irvine
About Levi: Levi is a strategic marketing leader focused on creating bridges that connect brands with their audiences. He has spent the last 13 years working with private, public and non-profit sectors to establish a more in-depth understanding of brands and their consumers.
Today, Levi is the Marketing and Communications Director at UCI’s the Paul Merage School of Business. There he works with a talented team to deliver the school’s message and ultimately aids in giving students the high-caliber, holistic preparation they need to become effective leaders in a digitally-driven world.
Art Director
Teresa Fritzler of Fritzler Design
About Teresa: Teresa Fritzler is an expert visual communicator and defines corporate brands with emotionally charged design that identifies who companies and organizations are, what they do and why their products and services are valuable. Her greatest joy is making a difference in their success by creating logos, websites, social media promos, annual reports and trade show graphics with an aesthetic quality that gives them an authentic voice.
Professionals give back. Teresa has contributed design to AMAOC and a belief in the organization since 2016. She also designs promotional materials for Ryan’s Reach, an organization that supports the brain injured and their families. For 7 years she was involved with the local chapter of the national design organization, AIGAOC, and served as one of their board of directors.