CreateAthon@USC is part of the national CreateAthon^® network of professionals and students in the communication arts who put their creative talents to work for social good.

CreateAthon was founded in 1998 in Columbia, South Carolina, by Teresa Coles and Cathy Monetti of Riggs Partners, an innovative way to provide pro bono services to nonprofits. It has become a model for creative philanthropy, and achieved enormous impact since its national launch in 2002, attracting  more than 100 agencies, professional organizations, corporate marketing departments, and universities throughout the world as CreateAthon partners. In total, the program has served more than 1,500 community organizations with thousands of marketing projects worth more than $25 million. Columbia ex-patriot Peyton Rowe extended the concept to colleges and universities, creating CreateAthon onCampus in 2008.

In 2013, Professor Karen Mallia launched CreateAthon@USC with help from Senior Instructor Scott Farrand. Dr. Haylee Mercado of Sport and Entertainment Management joined the movement the following year to orchestrate event management.

For more information on CreateAthon@USC, contact:

Scott Farrand
CreateAthon@USC Director
Senior Instructor/SJMC
University of South Carolina
Direct: 803-777-6422
sfarrand@sc.edu

Haylee U. Mercado
Associate Professor/SPTE
University of South Carolina
Direct: 803-777-7087
mercadoh@mailbox.sc.edu