Six-member College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame Class of 2024 highlights Special Award honorees
Amy Yakola joined the ACC in 1998 and has served many roles within the conference office, including public relations, communications and external affairs. In her current role as deputy commissioner/chief of external strategy, Yakola oversees the external affairs department of the conference office (communications, public relations and brand marketing). She also develops and oversees the public relations efforts for the Commissioner.
Yakola serves as the ACC chief spokesperson and oversees promotional efforts to prioritize the ACC and its nearly 10,000 student-athletes, 15 institutions, 28 sponsored sports, championships and events across the League. She also serves as the conference office liaison to the league's development directors.
Among her numerous national honors, she was recognized as
Sports Business Journal/Daily Forty Under 40 Recipient in 2016, which is the annual celebration of the country's best young talent in sports business.
Throughout her time at the ACC, Yakola has been involved in three league expansions, with conference expansion growing from nine to 15 members. She was part of the August 2019 launch of ACC Network, a 24/7 national network dedicated to ACC sports, as part of the league's partnership with ESPN.
Yakola serves as College Football Playoff national championship game press conference moderator and was formerly a member of the NCAA Women's Basketball Division I Media Coordination Committee. She also serves as a member of the Corrigan-Faircloth Chapter of the National Football Foundation and was the long-time Chair of the Chapter Council for the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.
Yakola served a three-year term the CSC (CoSIDA) Board of Directors as a university division at-large representative from 2016-19. She has helped set the future of CSC, serving on the executive director search committee during that time. The current chair of the CSC Membership Recognition Committee, she is a frequent presenter and moderator on CSC webinars and in-person sessions at the convention. Yakola also serves as emcee of the annual CSC convention (CSCUNITE) special awards luncheon.
A 1998 graduate of Clemson University, Yakola earned a bachelor of science degree in mathematics teaching before beginning her tenure with the ACC.