Goff Public is excited to announce that Jake Ricker is joining its team as a new vice president of public relations. He brings nearly 20 years of experience as a strategic thinker and solution-focused planner with a deep understanding of how communications can elevate an organization’s mission and advance its goals.
Jake is a credentialed crisis communicator and executive strategic communications advisor with extensive experience as a media spokesperson and trainer. An unyielding optimist with a commitment to building strong relationships, he consistently provides strategic counsel and delivers high-quality work built on sound judgment and trust. As a team leader, mentor and coach, he prioritizes professional development through positive and honest communication.
Jake most recently served as the senior public relations director at the University of Minnesota (U of M) where he led a highly collaborative team that partnered with hundreds of communications and marketing staff at different levels of the organization and across more than 40 teams representing campuses, colleges and units throughout the U of M’s statewide system. As part of an integrated team that included media relations, internal communications, social media and marketing, Jake specialized in creating comprehensive and cohesive communications that consider the big picture to make a meaningful impact.
Prior to his role leading the U of M’s central public relations team, Jake was the strategic communications director for Gopher Athletics at the U of M’s Twin Cities campus. In this role, he developed and executed long-term communications plans, including fundraising campaigns and the athletics director’s external communications, led issues management and public records responses, and launched the department’s first intranet communications channel.
He also served as the press box public address announcer for the Minnesota Wild, a role that allowed him to build relationships with National Hockey League reporters and public relations teams. Prior to this, Jake established his expertise in strategic communications at Weber Shandwick, where he managed key accounts for clients such as State Farm, the U.S. Army and Polaris.