Jeffrey Heyman

Executive Director, Marketing, Public Relations and Communications

Jeffrey Heyman, the Executive Director of the Department of Marketing, Public Relations and Communications at the Peralta Community College District, directs a department that produces public information and marketing materials, oversees publicity, media relations, design and publications, and community outreach for the District and the four Peralta Colleges. Under his leadership, the department has earned numerous awards for its graphic design work and advertising/public information campaigns. Mr. Heyman also oversees Peralta Colleges Television, which is seen on cable stations in Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville and Piedmont, and is spokesperson for the 29,500-student district.

Mr. Heyman is a member of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the Bay Area Advertising and Marketing Association (AdMark!), the California Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO), the National Association of Broadcasters and the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), an affiliate organization of the American Association of Community Colleges.

Mr. Heyman has made a number of presentations involving community college issues, including, “Making the Media Work for You” (Alameda County Leadership Council, 2004), “From Sarajevo to Oakland: Media Relations Under Fire” (Community College League of California, 2003), “Winning a Bond Election: Publicity and Politics” (CCPRO, 2001), “Who Owns Your Web Site: Strategic Objectives For Enrollment Management and Marketing Online” (NCMPR, 2000), “Getting in Gear: Developing a Marketing and Enrollment Management Plan” (Association of California Community College Administrators, 2000) and “Diversity Marketing and Public Relations” (CCPRO, 1999).

Before being named to his position at the Peralta Community College District in 1999, Mr. Heyman worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina on behalf of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a 54-nation governmental organization, coordinating media development initiatives and overseeing the national public service broadcasting network, Radio FERN.

Previously, Mr. Heyman was an Information Officer with the United Nations and served with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) during the wars in former Yugoslavia. In addition to acting as a deputy spokesperson for the UN in Zagreb and Sarajevo and coordinating in-country public information initiatives, he headed United Nations Radio in Former Yugoslavia, which produced daily and weekly programs that were broadcast throughout the Balkans and internationally.

Mr. Heyman also provided guidance on policy, logistics and budgetary planning to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Public Information concerning United Nations missions in Angola and Rwanda, traveling frequently to those countries. Previously, Mr. Heyman was Program Director of the UN’s first peacekeeping radio station, Radio UNTAC, in Cambodia. With an audience of more than 3 million, the station is often cited as a model for peacekeeping public information initiatives.

Prior to his work for the United Nations, Mr. Heyman was a Deputy Director at Kroll Associates, Inc., an international investigative firm based in New York. Mr. Heyman directed matters involving highly specialized investigations, information gathering and analysis, political risk assessment, and crisis management for a range of worldwide corporate, legal, government, and private clients. Mr. Heyman undertook a variety of assignments throughout the Americas, Europe, and Africa, producing comprehensive reports and studies that addressed regional stability, political risk, media and legal matters, and media relations issues.

Mr. Heyman was involved in numerous matters that helped gain Kroll Associates worldwide publicity, including a three-year investigation for the Reichmann family of Toronto as part of the largest ever libel case in Canada; an inquiry on behalf of the Russian Government into post-communist era misappropriation of funds and criminal activity; historical research into possible involvement of De Beers and other South African firms with Nazi Germany; and investigations and intelligence-building for the Kuwaiti government related to accusations of Iraqi war crimes, Iraq’s arms procurement network and the financial holdings of Saddam Hussein. In these matters, he worked closely with editors, reporters and producers from major media such as the Financial Times, BBC, The New York Times, Radio France International, National Public Radio and the CBS News program “60 Minutes.”

Mr. Heyman has also served as a Legal Assistant in both New York and San Francisco, where he oversaw trial preparation and research involving matters of complex litigation.

Born in San Francisco, Mr. Heyman studied Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, summa cum laude, from San Francisco State University. He also completed graduate work in education and holds a California State Teaching Credential.

In addition to his community college work, Mr. Heyman remains active in international affairs, speaking, making presentations at conferences and in the classroom, and contributing to a range of publications.