P.R. Exec Tries on Old School Tie in New Assignment

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Vivien Hao has gone back to school.


After 20 years in public relations, Hao has been named director of the LAUSD’s Partnerships & Adopt-A-School Office, where she will oversee efforts to build relationships between businesses and individual schools, including the Micheltorena Street School that she attended through the fifth grade.


“I’m a cheerleader to inspire schools to make connections with the private sector,” she said. “Partnerships are happening all over the LAUSD. They could be schools connecting with a business, or even a high school principal with an elementary school principal for tutoring.”


Right now, Hao is determining which of the school system’s 1,200 partnerships are working. She will then focus on creating more partnerships, especially those that can help address the system’s 33.5 percent dropout rate.


“When you’re studying geometry in school and saying, ‘Why am I doing this?’ and you see the school is connected to the building trade, you see how relevant it is to your future,” she said.


One partnership Hao sees as a model is Creative Artists Agency’s association with three schools in Venice, where the agency funds special events, supplies talent to help with school plays, and provides mentoring.


Born in Taiwan, Hao came to Los Angeles when she was 6. After graduating from USC in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, she worked for a few years as a television reporter. She then turned to public relations, including a five-year stint as the communications director for the Compton and Hacienda Heights school districts.


Hao enjoyed the work with the school systems, while her jobs for Fortune 500 companies seemed like she was doing them just for the paycheck. “I felt that I wanted to take my skills and background and make a difference in people’s lives,” she said. “It sounds corny but it’s true.”

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