Geneva Sum is Communications Director at UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools, where she manages branding, creative direction, communications strategy & deliverables, and public & media relations for the Center. A former creative director in the private sector, Geneva has a background in graphic design and photography and provided creative services & support to a variety of companies across a range of industries before joining UCLA. Geneva continues to provide creative services to clients through her freelance business, SumStudio. Geneva has volunteered as a youth mentor and creative workshop facilitator, which helped to nurture her passion for empowering historically marginalized young people to use education and creativity to transform their lives and communities. She has mentored and led workshops for trauma survivors living in transitional homes in Los Angeles, liberated child brides in Bangladesh, Syrian refugees in Beirut, and sex trafficking survivors in Mexico City. Geneva holds a BFA in Graphic Design from Northeastern University in Boston, MA, where she was awarded the Meserve Award for Creative Excellence, and a Photography certificate from the Los Angeles Center of Photography where her work concentrated in portraiture, street, documentary, and personal narrative. Geneva lives in South Orange County, CA with her husband Wyatt, son Avery, and rescue dog Wilbur. Her interests include hot yoga, cooking, thrifting, crafting, and film photography.
