PCBC 2019

Josh Grau
Director & Lecturer, Medill IMC
Northwestern University


Josh Grau is a marketing, media and technology industry veteran. He most recently spent six years at Twitter, where he worked in a variety of leadership roles. Most recently he was the global director of partner marketing, content strategy and editorial. In this role, he worked with the world's top creators and influencers to bring original and unique content to the platform. As the first person hired in the newly formed revenue organization in 2010, he helped build Twitter into a multi-billion dollar business from the ground up, launching numerous international markets and creating the Global Brand Strategy organization, leading teams in both the US and EMEA. Prior to Twitter, Grau was at YouTube, where he helped launch the first marketing solutions group focused on monetizing the platform and spearheaded the platform's initial efforts around branded entertainment. Before YouTube, he was a director of marketing for ESPN, building strategic solutions for marketers across television, digital, print and mobile. He started his career in media as director of marketing solutions for CBS Radio Group in Austin, Texas. No stranger to Northwestern, Grau was the associate head coach of the Northwestern University women's volleyball team. He transformed the team from a 6-24 record in 2000 to back-to-back NCAA berths in 2002 and 2003. He was a charter faculty member for Northwestern's graduate program in Sports Administration, serving as an adjunct professor and program director from 2005 to 2010. Since then he's been a frequent guest speaker for Medill, most recently giving the commencement speech at the December 2015 graduation. Grau also sits on the board of the Women's Sports Foundation and serves as a strategic advisor for several Bay area tech companies, including Strava, Epic Digital and Smule. He also does on-air commentating for volleyball for Pac-12 Networks.

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