The team’s digital media manager, Alex Perez ’17, was the first to join, before bringing Ryan-Hunter Kondo ’17 on board. Perez visited campus in February to share his journey and insights into a career path that has awarded him three World Series championship rings.
Perez grew up in Whittier, and the combination of proximity and financial aid such as the John Greenleaf Whittier Scholarship made enrolling at Whittier College an easy decision. His sister, Adryanna Perez ’14, who majored in business with concentrations in marketing and finance, also influenced him. Once at Whittier, however, he followed his own path.
Perez joined the William Penn Society and served on the Program Board and Associated Students of Whittier College Senate. He started as a political science major, but switched that to a minor with a major in business, concentrating in both finance and marketing. He’s grateful for the holistic, liberal arts education.
“I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do at that point,” Perez said. “But I was well-rounded, and I still use both my analytics background and the marketing background.”
Between his second and third years of college, he got a summer internship with the fan-run website Dodgers Nation, and soon, he was a full-time employee running the website and social media accounts and writing news articles.
“It was really a crash course,” Perez said. “And I was learning so much.”
Perez became editor-in-chief of Dodgers Nation after graduation, then in 2018 he received an internship with the New York Mets as a marketing and communications associate. It was his first time living outside of California and he enjoyed his time contributing to the team, yet there were no open positions following the conclusion of the internship. Afterward, Perez soon jumped on an opening at the Dodgers and his resume had him starting as a social media coordinator back in LA in 2019.
The pandemic put a pause in his plans, however, and he was laid off in 2020. He worked as a social media manager for the Wasserman sports agency in Brentwood before returning to Dodgers Stadium in March 2022, adding more skills to his repertoire — as well as World Series rings.
As a lifelong Dodgers fan, this career trajectory has been surreal.
