Master of Entertainment Industry Management
MEIM Alum Finds a Winning Career at Prizeo
written by
Pam Wigley
Winning prizes is a treat, to be sure. Giving them away is even better, as Jueying Li has learned in her role as senior campaign fulfillment manager at Prizeo. Li, a 2014 graduate of the Master in Entertainment Industry Management (MEIM) program — a joint program of the College of Fine Arts and Heinz College — has learned firsthand what it’s like to make people happy through the online “sweepstakes-for-good” platform.
Li joined Prizeo in 2014, shortly after graduation. Prior, she interned at Jerry Bruckheimer Films and a Beverly Hills talent agency. Managing talent and experience in film and television development, scripts and translation prepared her well for her role at Prizeo. There, she oversees campaigns from beginning to end, manages client relationships and focuses much of her time on fulfillment and financials, she said.
"I collaborate closely with the talent, the merchandising partners, vendors and fulfillment centers to make sure rewards that donors purchase are fulfilled on time," she said. "The campaign rewards include merchandise, exclusive signed items from talent, virtual prizes like personalized voicemails and videos, as well as in-person experiences, such as a lunch or a studio tour with the talent."
Her finance role includes assessing the campaigns’ financial performance and managing financial reports, fulfillment budgets and fund transfers to the nonprofit organizations. She also performs research and data analysis projects, and she leads presentations to the executive team. A self-described "numbers person," Li said she’s earned the trust of leadership when it comes to her data analysis skills.
Li said she finds her work rewarding, watching the business change and grow as she has taken on more responsibilities.
"The best thing about working at Prizeo is that every day, we are making the world a better place," she said. "It’s very fulfilling when I receive thank you notes from the non-profit organizations telling us how many children or how many families that we’ve helped by raising funds for them, and when I get to meet so many incredible people that care about various causes, like the environment, humanity, education and so on. In a world of chaos, politically, socially and environmentally, many people are still trying their best to bring positive impacts to other people (and this planet) in need."
Her MEIM experience helped contribute, in part, to her career trajectory and personal success, she said. In her first year while in Pittsburgh, she learned practical skills like accounting, statistics, marketing, analysis and leadership. During her second year on the West Coast, she found the exposure to the entertainment industry and networks extremely valuable.
"The film festivals (SXSW and Sundance), the classes instructed by entertainment industry leaders, the internships that I took in entertainment companies, as well as the alumni/ in-school network, helped broaden my social circle in the entertainment industry and eventually secured my current job," she said.
The campaigns she works on vary in scope and benefits, and she shared a few of her favorites, not only because of how much she enjoyed working on them, but also because of the prizes that donors won. Check out her favorites here:
- In 2021, campaign Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian mission to space, raised over $11 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in collaboration with Shift4 Payment and SpaceX. Through the sweepstake campaign, one lucky winner joined the crew to travel to space.
- In 2022, Prizeo partnered with Lin-Manual Miranda and the Hamilton show to bring awareness to female reproductive rights. They have partnered with LMM and his team on over 15 campaigns throughout the years and raised millions of dollars for various causes, including immigration, art education, natural resources defense and environmental protection. Campaign winners got to travel all over the world and be LMM’s VIP guests at the show premiere.
- In 2018, they partnered with the NFL and its 32 teams to raise funds for United Way Worldwide. The funds raised from the campaign help youth to learn and grow through Character Playbook™ — the NFL and United Way's digital program that educates middle school students on how to cultivate and maintain healthy relationships. The lucky winner of the campaign attended the VIP tailgate, was on-field before kickoff, attended the NFL Friday Night Party, watched the big game in VIP seats and had access to the Super Bowl Half Time Press Conference. Here is the campaign's landing page.
