Ryan Poe
Director of Executive Communications
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
A longtime reporter, columnist and strategic communications leader, he serves as an advisor to the CEO on internal and external communications strategy, creates content, and collaborates on various projects with teams from across 30+ departments.
After joining the CEO’s Office in 2024, Poe co-led the Living Our Values employee recognition program to its most successful years ever in 2024 and 2025, earning a Bronze Anvil from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and a VOX Award from PRSA Memphis. He also co-manages an internal executive leadership speaker series, the Blueprint Series, and leads the CEO’s employee gratitude program. In 2025, his office won another VOX award for executive communications on the launch of the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines, a transformative program of St. Jude and the World Health Organization to deliver free cancer medicines to more than 120,000 children in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to these projects, Poe is helping lead legacy planning in preparation for a CEO transition in 2026.
Prior to St. Jude, Poe served from 2021-2024 as director of communications for the Greater Memphis Chamber, a nonprofit that leads economic development, workforce development and business advocacy for the Memphis, Tennessee, region. He oversaw the Chamber’s internal and external communications, including executive communications, media relations, and social media. Leveraging his experience and creativity, he grew the Chamber’s media mentions by 244% in his first year, helped plan the Chamber’s CEO transition in 2022, and won a 2023 Silver Award for Best Annual Report from the International Economic Development Council.
Poe was an award-winning journalist before moving into strategic communications. His career includes stints as a reporter at the Commercial Dispatch in Columbus, Mississippi (2010-2011); a reporter at the Birmingham Business Journal and then the Memphis Business Journal (2011-2015); and as a government and politics reporter and then as a columnist at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee (2015-2021). His coverage has resulted in several awards, including the top prize for First Amendment reporting and for in-depth reporting from the Alabama Press Association in 2012.
He currently serves as vice president of the University of Memphis Alumni Association’s Journalism and Strategic Media Alumni Chapter Board, taking a leading role in coordinating the board’s annual awards dinner and in reorganizing the board to better serve future generations of students. He is also a past communications committee co-chair of PRSA Memphis (2022-2023) and an active member.
A native Memphian, Poe graduated from the University of Memphis in 2010 with a B.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in Philosophy, with a minor in Political Science.
Most importantly, he is a devoted husband and a dedicated father of three.