A career connecting education, strategy, and high-stakes communication.

Renée Baker, DBA, is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications at the University of South Florida. She joined the school as adjunct faculty in Fall 2018 and was appointed to her current role in August 2026.

Her teaching centers on strategic reasoning, evidence, ethical practice, professional readiness, and student success. Courses draw on live-client briefs, complex media-budget decisions, audience and platform analysis, and the disciplined use of emerging tools. Her Spring 2027 teaching includes Advertising Management, Media Planning for Advertising, Persuasion in Digital Media, and Introduction to AI and Media. She contributes to the academic community as a member of the Zimmerman School Advisory Council, co-facilitator of a USF faculty workshop on AI integration, and developer of the Zimmerman Student Talent Book initiative, which is in progress.

Dr. Baker brings extensive experience at leading financial-services organizations to her academic work. She held senior executive leadership roles, including service as a chief marketing officer and national head of advisor networks. Her work has spanned brand strategy, investor communication, product marketing, professional development, and organizational change.

Her academic interests focus on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies in advertising and media; algorithmic trust, responsible AI, and human oversight; strategic communication and marketing in regulated industries; and audience decision-making, persuasion, and institutional trust. Financial services puts these questions to a serious test because persuasion, compliance, platform design, and institutional credibility directly influence people’s decisions and economic well-being.

Dr. Baker is the founder and CEO of The RBI Group, a consultancy that advises financial-services firms and other organizations on marketing strategy, communication, organizational transformation, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Her continuing work with industry informs her teaching, academic interests, and public commentary. She previously taught marketing at Wilmington University from 2014 to 2017 and is the author of Abundance Unleashed: Redefining Wealth and Success, published in 2026.