Digitial Communications Manager
Brett Payton joined the National Committee as Digital Communications Manager in 2026. He helps shape and execute the committee’s overall digital strategy and storytelling campaigns aimed at supporting NCUSCR’s mission and programmatic goals.
He brings over a decade of experience in communications across the global health, education, corporate, and nonprofit sectors in the U.S. and China. He has contributed to programs such as Every Child Ready, a Pre-K instructional model aimed at closing achievement gaps in the U.S.; Xiersen – Careers in Care, an inclusive education initiative supporting caregivers and educators of children on the Autism spectrum across mainland China; and the “Free the River Park” campaign, a grassroots movement that influenced the creation of the Schuylkill River Park in Philadelphia.
Dr. Payton holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Shanghai Jiaotong University, where his research focused on fostering empowering communication ecologies in the global health and education sectors. He has an M.A. in Political Science from East China Normal University, with a focus on Chinese governance. He also double-majored in Film and Media Arts & Political Science at Temple University. He has lived abroad in Shanghai, Nanjing, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Hong Kong, but is happy to be back in Queens, where he was born.