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Rinebold leaves NCAA for new consulting practice

JoJo Rinebold, NCAA managing director of communications, recently left the Association to launch a consulting practice.

The company, not yet named, will specialize in integrated brand, communications, and strategic marketing and positioning for NCAA member schools, conferences and nonprofits. She will join former NCAA Senior Vice President Dennis Cryder in the enterprise.

Rinebold joined the NCAA in 1999 as the office moved from Kansas City to Indianapolis. Hired as the director of broadcast services, she spent eight months in Kansas City before making the transition to the new headquarters.

She was a member of the staff negotiating team for the 1999 media rights agreement. Rinebold eventually left broadcasting to lead marketing and brand efforts − an experience that offered an opportunity for professional growth.

“I opted to go with what I didn’t know,” she said.  “It ended up being a very fascinating experience.”

Rinebold led the development of the NCAA brand and the public-service announcement  campaign, supporting the academics-first philosophy of the newly appointment president, Myles Brand. The challenge was, she said, finding a “more aspirational way to talk about why the NCAA exists.”

“Being able to do something at that level and scale was very impactful,” she said.

The now-familiar phrase “There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports” was developed under Rinebold’s leadership.

Although the PSA campaign was perhaps her most high-profile achievement, Rinebold’s work establishing stronger Division II and Division III identities ranked among her favorite initiatives.

“They were just not well understood,” she said, adding that she enjoyed the challenge of elevating the divisions to enhance the NCAA parent brand. “The stronger the divisions are, the stronger the parent,” she said.

Rinebold will continue to briefly consult with at the national office, wrapping up several current projects.

“The best thing about my 12 years there was that I got an opportunity to work for a mission that I so strongly believed in − that it was more than just the work itself. It was about what the organization stood for. I consider a true privilege.”