The Day of Giving is March 26, 2025! When you give to the College of Arts and Humanities, you are supporting the Dean’s Council (a fund for College of Arts and Humanities excellence).
“I’ve been very fortunate to work for good organizations that do good work, and the challenge that I have is to tell their story.”
Ronald Ballecer attributes this quote to a local advertising agency owner, and it’s something that’s stuck with him.
“Advertising is just the truth well told.”
The difficulty in the task, he says, is in finding creative, interesting and engaging ways to tell a story so people understand what an organization does. Then, find the most effective medium to deliver that message to the customer, whether it be video, a presentation, long-form writing or social media.
“It’s a good exercise. It’s a challenging exercise. And that’s why I went to school,” said Ballecer.
It’s a profession that, at its core, plays at the intersection of the arts and the humanities.
Born in the Philippines, Ballecer moved to the United States with his parents. His father, who had just finished medical training in the Philippines, did internships in New Jersey and Ohio before completing specialty ear, nose and throat training in Baltimore, Maryland, at Johns Hopkins University. He graduated number one in his class, giving him his pick of where he could go to start his career.
“We’re from a tropical island. So my dad said, ‘I want to go where there’s no snow because there’s too much snow here.’ So we ended up in California, in Clovis, and we’ve been here since,” Ballecer said.
A self-described “California boy,” Ballecer graduated from San Joaquin Memorial High School in 1989. After a year at Saint Mary’s College of California, he returned to the Valley. He enrolled at Fresno State, where he found the Graphic Design program, which at that time was housed in the School of Industrial Technology.
“I really enjoyed the creativity in the work.”
As he neared graduation, he began taking courses in the Mass Communications and Journalism Department, now the Department of Media, Communications and Journalism (MCJ). Between the creativity of graphic design and the science of advertising, Ballecer found his calling, eventually graduating with a B.A. in graphic design and a minor in mass communication.
In reflecting on experiences that informed his career, Ballecer vividly recalled taking part in an advertising competition team. Professor Roberta Asahina placed him as the presenter and creative director for his team.
“Our product was the Kodak Fun Saver camera, so I’m dating myself. It was a cardboard disposable camera,” Ballecer said. “I felt like we put together a tremendous plan. I felt like the thought process was spot on.”
Competing against other universities, the Fresno State team came in second place.
“When I think back to 25 years ago, it still sticks in my craw that we lost by a quarter point to Cal Berkeley in that regional competition,” he said. “You know, it was a great experience, and it really kind of put me on my path for what I’m doing now.”
With a father as a medical doctor and a freshly minted degree from Fresno State, Ballecer went to work for Sunrise Medical as a branding and marketing specialist for Quickie Wheelchairs. The job allowed him to do a bit of everything.
“We had wheelchairs for every situation. We also were a big supporter of the Paralympic Games.”
From there, he got a job as a graphic designer for Community Medical Centers, where he was involved in their rebranding campaign. During his tenure, he was promoted to Senior Communications Specialist before taking the director of marketing and public relations position at Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia.
Returning to Fresno, Ballecer spent about 10 years outside the healthcare industry. He became the first marketing director in over 50 years for the McCormick Barstow law firm and then took a job as the marketing manager for SUNPOWER by Quality Home Service.
Coming back into the healthcare industry, he was the marketing manager at Saint Agnes Home Health and Hospice/Trinity Home Health Services, the director of marketing at Valley Children’s Healthcare and now the marketing and communications manager for California’s Valued Trust, a health insurance company focused on the education community.
“It’s a bit of an altruistic work because it makes me feel good about what I do. I think if I’m going to put the hours in and accumulate all the stress that goes along with the job, then you might as well be doing some good for people,” Ballecer said. “That’s what [California’s Valued Trust] has afforded me, Valley’s Children’s Hospital had given me the opportunity to do, and Community Medical Center, as well as Quickie. All different versions of healthcare.”
Outside of his day jobs, Ballecer has worked to train the next generation of advertisers as an instructor at the John Sperling School of Business at the University of Phoenix and a part-time instructor at Fresno State. Additionally, Ballecer donates his time to mentor Fresno State students through the PRSA and MCJ AD/PR Mentor Program and the TASTE (Take a Student to Eat) event, which pairs MCJ students with professionals from various Fresno and Clovis media agencies for a day of mentoring and networking.
As a member of the Arts and Humanities Advisory Board (AHAB), Ballecer has served as the chairman of the board, the vice chairman, and is currently the marketing subcommittee chairman.
Ballecer also supports Fresno State students financially as a member of the Dean’s Council (a fund for College of Arts and Humanities excellence). The fund pools Dean’s Council members’ donations and donations made through Day of Giving to provide scholarships and awards to students and help fund tuition support, travel, art supplies, technology, research and other immediate needs for students. It also helps fund research, conference travel and other support for faculty and staff.
“I want to give back to the school that gave me so much,” Ballecer said. “I’m so thankful for my time there as a student. It’s really given back to me tenfold as an adult and a working professional. Me giving of my time to the college and the university and my monetary support is important because I want people to have the same opportunities that I had.”
For Ballecer, what draws him to the Dean’s Council fund is the ability to combine his donations as a member with others to make a direct impact on students’ lives.
“It feels good. I feel like I’m making a difference,” he said. “It feels good, not for the sake of giving, but knowing that it’s going to make a difference. Dean’s Council specifically. I know where the money is going. It’s nice to get the reports afterward about what the students are doing, who they are, what they’re studying and how the money is helping them.”
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 