For Kimberly Manna, B.B.A. ’88, the University of Miami is both an alma mater and a family legacy passed down through four generations and counting.
Born and raised in Miami, Manna has built a career that has taken her from the backlots of Warner Bros. in Los Angeles to the boardrooms of Hard Rock International. As CEO of Panama Jack and senior vice president of global retail and licensing for Hard Rock, she has spent three decades mastering the art of brand management on a global stage. But ask her what she’s most proud of, and the conversation quickly turns back home.
Manna’s parents both earned degrees from the University in the mid-60s, one from the School of Education and Human Development and the other from the Patti and Allan Herbert Business School. Her maternal grandfather was a 1947 graduate of the School of Law.
Manna’s two daughters are recent graduates of the Miami Herbert Business School and the Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, respectively, and her son Maxwell is currently a rising junior at Miami Herbert. The Manna family has been planting roots at the U across generations, and Manna wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s consistently provided a great education. The University has an incredible school spirit and being in Miami gives students a very different perspective than attending school anywhere else in the country,” Manna said.
Manna’s own professional story began right out of Miami Herbert, with an early stint at Panama Jack before heading west to California. At Warner Bros., she dove into consumer products, developing toys, apparel, and licensing deals around properties like Batman. From there she moved to Saban Entertainment during the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers craze, then to Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she ran global consumer products before moving into the television syndication division.
Brand management, she explains, has been a common theme throughout her career, and her Miami Herbert education was the foundation that prepared her for her future. “I didn’t walk into my first role following graduation feeling unprepared,” she said. “I felt confident, ready, and I continued to keep learning from the mentors I had around me.”
When her children were considering colleges, the question in the Manna household was less “where should I go?” and more “why would I go anywhere else?” Her son Maxwell applied early decision without hesitation. “He said, ‘Why would I go anywhere else?’ And I understood him completely.”
Manna’s elder daughter Peyton, who attended the Frost School of Music, now works in Los Angeles for CAA in music touring. Her younger daughter, Preston, went on to SiriusXM in events and promotions after majoring in marketing at Miami Herbert. Each came through a different school and found their own version of Miami, but the affection for the institution is consistent. “I don’t know a single person who went to the University who doesn’t love it,” Manna said.
Today, she serves on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the School of Communication, where she’s focused on a challenge she sees clearly from the outside: Miami is underappreciated, even by people who live here.
“There are so many incredible things happening in each of our individual schools,” she said. “We have a great nursing school, an unbelievable medical campus, one of the best communication schools in the country. We want to show people what’s really going on here.”
Manna sees the University’s growth over time reflected in conversations far beyond Miami’s borders. “The University has evolved from what was once perceived as a regional school to a nationally recognized brand. Whether I’m in Los Angeles, New York, or anywhere else in the country, conversations with parents and business associates who have no connection to South Florida lead to the University. They mention how many kids want to attend and are applying, and they acknowledge how competitive it is to get in,” Manna said.
Her own giving has spanned the School of Communication, Miami Herbert, and Athletics, a reflection of everything the University has meant to her family. “It’s the first place I want to give,” she said. “Everyone in our family has had such a great experience at the school, and we want to see it continue to do well.”
That feeling never left her, even after decades away, and a career that traversed multiple states. “I love when the students come back after summer, seeing all that activity of young people learning and living and beginning their lives. It’s like a rebirth to me. It’s just special.”
For Manna, her time as a student at the University is not a chapter that closed after graduating. It’s an ongoing story, one she is still writing, one generation at a time.
