Carrie Welch, Launch Director
Carrie Welch is the Launch Director for the Center for the Creator Economy at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She directs launch strategy, events and media engagement on behalf of the ground-breaking academic center. Welch also serves as an Adjunct Professor and Technical Writer, co-authoring papers on disinformation, responsible AI and fake new detection, and gender bias in AI. With over 20 years of experience in communications, her research interests include public relations, AI, intersectional feminism and media representation. She previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Washington State University Vancouver.
Prior to Syracuse, Welch and her wife lived in Portland, Oregon where they built and ran a leading food PR agency, Little Green Pickle, and the Feast Portland food and drink festival for nine years. She began her career at the Food Network in New York City where she rose to Vice President of Public Relations. During her 10 year tenure, Welch worked with the network’s celebrity chefs and was responsible for the public relations campaigns for all series launches, network initiatives and philanthropic platforms.
Thomas O’Brien, Project Coordinator
Thomas O’Brien is a filmmaker and entrepreneur currently serving as Project Coordinator for the Center for the Creator Economy at Syracuse University, where he helps develop programming for student creators, builds university-wide partnerships, and leads the Center’s brand and content strategy as its first full-time employee. Previously, Thomas served as Chief Operating Officer of Project FreeFall, a media brand focused on elevating music artists and creators through visually driven storytelling, where he helped shape its business model across content campaigns, music videos, and merchandise under the brand’s “Take the Leap” ethos.
Prior to his institutional roles, Thomas served as founder and CEO of Ten Projects Open, which provides social media strategy, political campaign content, actor marketing, and personal brand development across platforms including Instagram and YouTube. His creative work—including viral short-form series and brand campaigns for artists, actors, clothing brands, and public figures—has reached tens of millions of views. Thomas brings a hands-on, creator-first perspective grounded in storytelling, platform strategy, and community-building as the creator economy enters its next phase. He graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film, Cinema, and Video Studies.