Ian Leonhardt | Selected communications work
Ian Leonhardt Let's talk

Portfolio · Selected work 2025–2026

I write and produce communications for the University of Evansville.

News releases, campaign social, video, email newsletters and event photography. Everything here is published work, shown the way readers first saw it.

Advancement Communications Coordinator UE Class of 2023 Evansville, Indiana
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The work, in order

Format · Date
  1. 01FORWARD Campaign closing announcementNews release · Jul 2026
  2. 02United Way mental health clinic grantNews release · Aug 2026
  3. 03UEvansville Fund social campaignInstagram series · May 2026
  4. 04Volleyball alumni-engagement reelInstagram reel · Aug 2025
  5. 05Aces Advance and Aces ImpactEmail newsletters · Fall 2026
  6. 06Event photographyPhotography · 2025–2026
evansville.edu / NewsJuly 13, 2026

University of Evansville Announces Final Total of Historic FORWARD Campaign: $133,300,829

By Ian Leonhardt, Advancement Communications Coordinator

The University of Evansville (UE) has completed and officially closed its historic FORWARD Campaign, with donors generously providing $133,300,829 in philanthropic support to expand scholarship support, strengthen academic and community programming…
01Lead institutional release

FORWARD Campaign closing announcement

The release that closed UE's largest fundraising campaign, written to tie the total to specific university outcomes.

My role: bylined writer.

$133,300,829

raised from nearly 16,000 donors through 48,461 gifts to more than 500 giving areas

  • Endowmentnearly $40M
  • Facilities and capitalnearly $23M
  • Mission-centered givingmore than $71M

How the release is built

11 paragraphs · 6 moves
Read the release
evansville.edu / NewsAugust 4, 2026
A group holding an oversized United Way check in front of the UE Emily M. Young Mental Health Clinic sign.
Photo as published with the article

UE Emily M. Young Mental Health Clinic Receives $250,000 Grant from United Way

By University Communications
02Public-service news

United Way mental health clinic grant

A grant announcement that tells a reader, in plain language, who the clinic serves and how to ask for care.

My role: writing and refinement in a collaborative process. Published under University Communications.

What a reader gets from it

  • Who funded itUnited Way of Southwestern Indiana, Pathways to Potential
  • Who benefitsLower-income residents and others facing barriers to care
  • What the clinic offersTherapy, assessment and testing, medication management, ages 5 and up
  • Why it matters at UEDoctoral students train under licensed psychologists
  • ContextOne of six United Way grants totaling $976,393
  • What to do nextA phone number and web address to request services
Read the announcement
04Athletics and alumni

Volleyball alumni-engagement reel

A reel inviting UE alumni and friends in Indianapolis to cheer on Purple Aces volleyball at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

My role: published as part of my communications work.

  • PostedAugust 25, 2025
  • Channel@uealumni on Instagram
  • OpponentsButler, Middle Tennessee, Purdue Fort Wayne
Watch on Instagram
A Polaroid-style frame held up in a crowd showing two smiling students and the handwritten words A new beginning.
May 7 · Post
A subway-platform graphic in UE purple and orange reading Close the Gap, $951,023 raised, $48,977 to go.
May 20 · Post
A handwritten sign reading $36,308 to go! among pink flowers in front of a campus building.
May 28 · Reel
03Campaign social · @uealumni

UEvansville Fund social campaign

Three posts, one deadline: the $1 million UEvansville Fund goal by May 31, 2026. Each reported a real running total and found a new way into the same ask.

My role: campaign communications and creative content.

$189,000

to go· $811,000 raised
$750K$1M goal

Imagines the student and faculty moments a gift makes possible.

05Email newsletters

Aces Advance and Aces Impact

Two newsletters for two communities: the whole UE community, and the alumni, donors and friends of Purple Aces Athletics.

My role: newsletter development and production.

The sent version of each issue, with its original photos. Links open the original stories.

06Also in the kit

Event photography

Photography: Ian Leonhardt · University of Evansville events · tap any frame to enlarge

07More on the record

More bylines, print and posts

Print · UE Magazine · Spring 2026

Fostering a Healthier Community

Contributing writer, editor and project manager. I wrote the feature on education and youth programs on pages 2 and 3, "Preparing Educators, Empowering Youth, and Creating Change."

Barbara J. Kolb Price, seated, in conversation in a campus lounge. Release · Feb 25, 2026 · Byline

UE Announces $2 Million Planned Gift That Will Fund New Endowed Chair in Chemistry

Read the release ↗ Suresh Immanuel, Walayet Khan, President Christopher Pietruszkiewicz and Yolanda Obaze in academic regalia outside the chapel. Release · Apr 10, 2026 · Byline

University of Evansville Invests Dr. Walayet Khan as Mead Johnson Nutrition Endowed Chair in Business

Read the release ↗ Alumni profile · Jul 8, 2025 · Byline

UE Alumnus Elected PGA of America Vice President, Poised for Future Presidency

Read the profile ↗

More social work · Instagram · @uevansville

Post graphic comparing archived versions of evansville.edu.PostUE website, through the years ↗ A crumpled receipt printed with UEvansville Fund, Investing in What Matters.PostA receipt for student impact ↗ Reel cover reading Get Ready over a campus tower.ReelPhilanthropy Week teaser ↗ A speaker at a podium for the Health Sciences Lecture Series.PostHealth Sciences Lecture Series ↗
08About

Find the story. Get the facts right. Carry it into every format people will see.

I work in University Advancement at the University of Evansville, where I write news releases and donor stories, plan campaign communications, produce newsletters and email, and contribute social, video and photography. Most of it is built with partners in University Communications, Alumni and Athletics.

  • 28donor announcements and stories published in 2025–26, against a goal of 25
  • 3offices in a biweekly communications group I started with Alumni and Athletics, run from a shared calendar
  • AICo-chair of UE's AI Committee; led an "AI, in practice" session at the August 2026 Fall Conference
Ian Leonhardt photographing a campus event from the audience with a camera.
On the job at a campus event

Path

  1. 2025 – nowAdvancement Communications Coordinator, University of Evansville
  2. 2023 – 2025Operations and Communications Specialist, Shoe Carnival
  3. 2023Graduated, University of Evansville
  4. 2022Communications intern, Metronet

Let's talk

Have a story that needs telling?

I'm glad to talk about media relations, university storytelling, campaigns and the craft of getting the facts right on deadline.

FORWARD Campaign closing announcement

The problem

A campaign total is easy to report and easy to forget. The close needed to tell donors, media and campus what the money did.

How the release handles it

It opens with the final figure and the five areas it supported, gives the scale (nearly 16,000 donors, 48,461 gifts), and breaks the total into endowment, facilities and mission-centered giving. It then names concrete results: 69 new scholarships, facilities such as the Emily M. Young Mental Health Clinic and Wheeler Concert Hall, and new academic programs.

Quotes from President Christopher M. Pietruszkiewicz and Vice President Abigail Werling carry the "what it made possible" message, and the close points to the next phase of philanthropy.

Published

July 13, 2026, on evansville.edu. Bylined by Ian Leonhardt.

United Way mental health clinic grant

The problem

Mental health care is a specialized subject. The announcement had to be precise about services and audiences without overstating what the grant does.

How the announcement handles it

It leads with the funder, amount and initiative, then states who benefits. It describes the clinic's services and its role as a supervised training site for UE doctoral students, places the award among six United Way grants totaling $976,393, and ends with how to request services.

Published

August 4, 2026, on evansville.edu under University Communications. I contributed writing and refinement as part of a collaborative process.

UEvansville Fund social campaign

The problem

A fiscal-year fund goal can feel abstract. The final weeks needed a reason to give now, repeated without sounding repetitive.

How the series handles it

Each post reports a real running total against the same May 31 deadline and finds a different way into the ask. "Picture this" describes the student and faculty moments that support makes possible. "Mind the Gap" turns the remaining amount into a gap to close. The final-push reel reduces the goal to the last $36,308.

Published

May 7, May 20 and May 28, 2026, on @uealumni (University of Evansville Alumni) on Instagram. My role: campaign communications and creative content.

Volleyball alumni-engagement reel

The problem

Away games are a chance to gather alumni who live in another city, but only if they know the team is coming.

How the reel handles it

It speaks directly to UE alumni and friends in Indianapolis and invites them to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the weekend's matches against Butler, Middle Tennessee and Purdue Fort Wayne, framing the arena as a home away from home.

Published

August 25, 2025, on @uealumni on Instagram. Published as part of my communications work.

Newsletter
Pages 2 and 3 of UE Magazine, Spring 2026: Preparing Educators, Empowering Youth, and Creating Change.
UE Magazine · Spring 2026 · pages 2 and 3
Cover of UE Magazine, Spring 2026, Fostering a Healthier Community.
UE Magazine · Spring 2026 · cover
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