Evan Dingle, Communications Lead, Koa Switzerland

To help current students and recent graduates navigate the world of work, several USI Alumni shared their career paths and career story. Here the story of Evan Dingle, Communications Lead at Koa Switzerland in Zurich (CH). USI Degree: Master in Communication, Management and Health, 2023.

How did you start your career?

I started my career with a dream to go to Hollywood. I wanted to be a filmmaker. As such, I started doing freelance video production in 2010 as a sophomore in high school. At university, I chose to study English Creative Writing, as I believed a good filmmaker needed to understand the structure of strong narratives. I knew I needed to get as much experience as possible, so I did 5 internships from 2012 to 2018 in various multimedia and writing roles: Cru, The Hall Steps Foundation, The Hidden Rebellion (French Docudrama), CAFO, and finally UNICEF HQ in New York City.

During this timeframe, I realized that I would rather use my creative skills in the humanitarian and development sectors, rather than Hollywood. I wanted to make a positive impact on people who needed it most. So I pursued a graduate certificate in Communication, Advocacy, and Negotiation in Humanitarian Action from the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies in 2018. After that, I found a job as the Communications Manager for Ekisa Ministries, who supports children with disabilities and their families in Uganda. There, I managed the organization’s communications, social media, content production, and fundraising efforts for four years from 2019 until 2023. I left Uganda in 2021 to concurrently study my Master’s at USI.

In 2023, I became the Content Marketing Manager at Koa in Zurich. Koa is a B-corporation startup that upcycles cocoa fruit for the food and beverage industry and gastronomy. We work with Lindt, Sprüngli, and Vom Fass, to name a few.

Why did you choose a career at Koa Switzerland?

Starting at Koa was yet another step into the unknown. I had never worked in a creative role within the food and beverage industry, and I never imagined that I wouldn’t be working for an NGO or the UN. Then I learned about B Corporations (think Patagonia) and how Koa was using business as a force for good; namely, increasing the income of small-scale farmers in Ghana and changing the cocoa industry, which is rife with low wages, environmental degradation, and wasted resources — like tasty cocoa fruit pulp. This made me believe I could continue to work toward making a positive impact on people through this new role.

What is your current role/duties?

As the Communications Lead, which is a bit of a hybrid role at the moment, I work on communications strategy and content marketing. I’m essentially trying to tell the world how amazing and tasty cocoa fruit is, that it’s like nothing you’ve ever had before, and that by using it in foods and beverages, we can create a positive impact on people and the planet. So it’s a heavily marketing-centric role, but I’m currently moving in the direction of taking on more communications directed toward all our stakeholders — internally and externally.

In your opinion, what are the qualities necessary for a successful career at Koa Switzerland?

Koa is a startup, so you have to be ready for change and flexibility; it’s about being agile. You also have to be a go-getter and have a can-do attitude, as this isn’t a super corporate environment where you’re told exactly what you need to do and what it takes to be successful. Koa is about daring to fail, because there are great lessons in failure. You also have to be persistent, because failing is easy and success is hard.

What positive aspects and qualities meant most to you during the study programme you attended?

I appreciated having classmates from various backgrounds. I think we all brought something different to the table. I also thought our capstone project with Novartis was a positive experience, which gave me my first experience in the pharmaceutical world.

What competences and skills acquired in your USI Study Program have been useful/are useful to your professional career?

In my current role, I’m mostly applying what I learned in the courses Critical Consumer Behavior and Corporate Identity & Image. I didn’t expect these classes to be the most useful for my career at the time, but sometimes we end up somewhere we didn’t expect; make sure you save all your class notes! I think I also gathered a lot from the classes that focused on the health communication theories.

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

Get as much experience as you can, even if it’s an unpaid internship, as long as you can manage living expenses. I think the five internships I did were excessive, but I gained a lot of experience and also recommendation letters(!), which opened up the next doors. If you want to work in Switzerland, then most companies will want to see that you have worked with a Swiss company before — even if it was an internship. You also have to be hungry and work hard to find a job. Stalk LinkedIn job postings as much as you open up Instagram/social media. Perfect your CV. Perfect the art of researching a company and writing a tailored cover letter. Go above and beyond, even if it feels cumbersome. Just keep persisting. It can be a demoralizing process, but you can’t beat someone who never gives up.