Media and Communication alumna Ali Flewelling ‘11 was recently named Castleton University’s Emerging Leader of the Year for 2021, a distinct honor presented to recent graduates who have demonstrated strong leadership qualities and innovative business practices. She was selected by Castleton’s Alumni Association and will be celebrated at a small in-person ceremony on campus in August.
Flewelling currently serves as a Communications Business Partnerships Manager for BAE Systems, the global aerospace and defense company based in Nashua, New Hampshire. She leads a team of executive communications professionals who serve as advisors to the company’s senior executives. As a team leader, she drives message alignment and provides strategic internal and external communication support for the Electronic Systems sector’s seven business areas, spanning commercial and defense markets, which employ more than 15,000 employees across 26 sites in the United States, United Kingdom, and Mexico.
“Castleton prepared me for success as a communication professional by exposing me to all facets of communication during my degree program, including those that were outside my comfort zone,” said Flewelling.
Castleton’s Emerging Leader Award was established in 2019 and is given out annually to a graduate from the past 10 years who has made an impact in their community or profession and demonstrated exceptional success in their chosen field. They also must possess outstanding character, creative leadership, professional achievement, and devotion to Castleton.
Flewelling credits her time as a Spartan for laying a solid foundation and leading to positions after her graduation such as Communications Director for the Town of Castleton, columnist for the Rutland Herald, and Director of Public Relations for Nashua Community College.
“Castleton truly lived up to its ‘small college with a big heart’ motto and just felt right,” she said. “It felt like home then, and it still does today."
Flewelling also embodies the Castleton Way through her dedication to volunteering as an active member of the BAE Systems young professionals community. Recent local community-based projects include installing raised bed gardens so that neighbors in need have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, raising money for local non-profit organizations, and building tiny libraries in underrepresented neighborhoods, in addition to her volunteer service at United Way of Greater Nashua.
Flewelling holds a B.S. from Castleton University in Media and Communication and an M.A. in Communications and Public Relations from Southern New Hampshire University.