Matt Prince

Over the course of his 20-year career, Matt Prince has led in-house communications and social media teams and strategies for some of the world's most iconic brands, including KFC, Taco Bell and The Walt Disney Company. He now runs a portfolio career across consulting, teaching and entrepreneurship, all built around one question: how do brands and people earn attention and keep it in a world that's moving faster than ever Matt’s early-career journey led him through multiple sectors including government and non-profit before joining The Walt Disney Company in 2010. There, he led executive communications for Disney Parks and Resorts. He later transitioned to digital marketing where he played a pivotal role in developing Disney's first-ever Social Media Command Center, leading social media monitoring and consumer engagement strategies across Disney Parks and Resorts. In 2014, Matt joined Yum! Brands, the world's largest restaurant company, where he shaped earned media, brand communications and culture strategies for global brands. At Taco Bell, he led public relations and brand communications through some of the brand's most culturally resonant campaigns for over a decade. In 2025 at KFC, he served as Head of Earned Media and Brand Social, helping to navigate the brand through its biggest comeback period in history.

Matt joined the faculty at Chapman University in 2022 as an adjunct professor, where he continues to teach influencer and social media marketing. In 2024, he developed an experimental curriculum on self-discovery called “Finding Your Path,” built to reframe personal branding in the modern age. This course became the foundation for the PATH model, a scientifically backed framework to answer the question: “Am I on the right path?” In addition, he’s currently building curriculum around the evolution of earned media through AI and GEO to be taught in the Fall. He also serves as Director of the Career Advancement Network in Chapman’s School of Communication, where he's building comprehensive programming and curriculum to connect students with industry opportunities and mentorship. He also founded The Path Project, a platform and community dedicated to supporting individuals as they discover and decide where their path leads. He now runs PCG, a consultancy that helps major brands earn cultural relevance and own their narrative in the AI era, work he defines as modern earned media: the convergence of PR, social, culture and AI.

Matt is also co-author of Social Media Campaigns: Strategies for Public Relations and Marketing (3rd Edition, Routledge, 2025), a comprehensive textbook used in universities across the country. His expertise and leadership have earned him recognition on ADWEEK's 31 Young Influentials, the OC Register's 150 Most Influential People and 40 Under 40 honors from PRWeek and OC Metro Magazine. He has been nationally honored by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for his leadership in education (David Ferguson Award - 2023), mentorship (Rick Miltenberger Award - 2022) and local leadership (Distinguished Service Award - 2019). A former PRSA Orange County Chapter President (2014), Matt spent over a decade advising California State University, Fullerton's PRSSA chapter and was inducted into the PRSSA National Hall of Fame in 2024. He has been named National Advisor of the Year three times (2013, 2015 and 2025).