Distinguished Alumni: Santiago Kuribreña (IMC ‘04)
Santiago Kuribreña’s time at Northwestern helped prepare him for his latest challenge: rethinking university education.
After graduating from Ibero, Santiago left for Chicago to start his MBA at Loyola University. He applied to Medill with dreams of studying in the IMC program. Once there, he says, “I loved the intensity, the conversations. I felt highly engaged everyday.”
When he returned to Mexico, he spent 10 years with Televisa as head of marketing, then jumped into Mexico’s growing tech scene to launch Twitter in Mexico, and later a startup, Narrative Tech. And then, in February, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Mexico, he joined Universidad Tecmilenio as director of marketing and communications.
“I think education was gradually being challenged by startups and new educational models. But ultimately, the teaching experience hasn’t changed since I went to school or even since my parents went to school. You go, you listen to the professor pontificate, and you take notes. This is a great opportunity for a transformation,” he explains.
Then, COVID hit. Tecmilenio quickly moved everyone online. “We made the decision, and two days later, we had 100% virtual classrooms,” he said.
“It accelerated our process and our need to create new online programs faster,” Santiago explained. He predicts that over the next several years, there will be a higher demand for “edu-tainment”, where media takes an important and relevant role in delivering engaging content. People will rethink educational experiences and why they go to school. He expects a larger focus and interest in lifelong learning.
Luckily, Santiago is ready for these challenges because of the skills Medill taught him. He can think of his students as an audience, and segment them based on their needs. Then, he can adapt existing products and develop new offerings to teach a new generation of students in a changed world.
Kristin C. Barrett is Journalism and Economics ’06 graduate of the Medill School of Journalism and Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.
