August marks Black Business Month, an opportunity to celebrate Black entrepreneurship and recognize the leaders creating businesses, opportunities and lasting impact in their communities.
Across public relations and communications, Black professionals are building agencies, consultancies and creative firms that counsel organizations, elevate brands, shape culture and create pathways for the next generation. Their leadership reflects the breadth of Black entrepreneurship and the power that comes from turning expertise, vision and purpose into ownership.
The PRSA Black Voices Affinity Group is proud to spotlight 20 Black leaders whose work is helping move our profession forward.
Chuck Wallington, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Cone Health
Wallington brings senior communications leadership and a longstanding commitment to advancing the profession. His career reflects the influence Black communications executives continue to have in shaping organizations, developing talent and opening doors for others.
Fatou Barry, Founder & CEO, PR Girl Manifesto
Barry created PR Girl Manifesto to build community among communications professionals while expanding access to industry conversations, resources and relationships. Her platform has grown into a space where the next generation of PR professionals can connect, learn and see themselves represented.
Marsha Pitts-Phillips, APR, CEO & Founder, MRPP and Associates Communications
Pitts-Phillips has built her career around strategic communications, leadership and service to the profession. Through MRPP and Associates Communications, she brings her experience and perspective to organizations seeking thoughtful communications counsel.
LaMar Holliday, CEO, The Holliday Collaborative Agency
Holliday leads The Holliday Collaborative Agency with a focus on communications, collaboration and connection. His entrepreneurial leadership demonstrates how independent agencies can bring fresh thinking and diverse perspectives to clients and communities.
Bernadette Davis, APR, Founder & Chief Strategist, BDC Strategy Group
Davis leads BDC Strategy Group with an emphasis on strategic communications and counsel. She pairs entrepreneurship with deep industry expertise to help organizations communicate with greater clarity and purpose.
TaQuinda Cylar, Founder, T. Marie Media Group
Cylar has transformed her communications experience into an entrepreneurial platform through T. Marie Media Group. Her work reflects the creativity and business acumen Black women continue to bring to the media and communications landscape.
Damaryan Benton, Founder, The PR Habitat
Benton founded The PR Habitat to create his own space within the communications industry. Through his work, he contributes an entrepreneurial voice to a profession increasingly shaped by independent practitioners, global agencies, and boutique firms.
Renee Malone, APR, President & CEO, KQ Communications
Malone has spent more than 15 years leading award-winning work for business, nonprofit and government clients. Under her leadership, KQ Communications has grown into one of the largest Black-owned PR firms in the Southeast.
Tequilla White, CEO, TWPR
White leads TWPR as part of a growing community of Black women building and leading communications businesses. Her leadership represents the creativity, expertise and ownership driving the next chapter of the industry.
Chris Gee, CEO, Chris Gee Consulting
Gee brings his communications expertise to entrepreneurship through Chris Gee Consulting. His work underscores the value independent counselors bring to organizations seeking experienced, focused and strategic guidance.
Kosi Harris, CEO & Founder, Kosi Harris PR
Harris discovered public relations as a high school student during a career experience at a PR firm and turned that early exposure into a career in the industry. Today, she leads Kosi Harris PR and brings that entrepreneurial perspective to her work with brands and businesses.
Cheryl Overton, Chief Experience Officer, Cheryl Overton Communications
Overton has built a communications business grounded in strategy, experience and connection. Through Cheryl Overton Communications, she brings an entrepreneurial lens to helping organizations engage audiences and strengthen their brands.
Omari T. Evans, Founder & Managing Director, PRESSFWD
Evans leads PRESSFWD as founder and managing director, bringing his perspective to an increasingly dynamic communications landscape. His leadership represents the growing influence of Black-owned independent firms in shaping how organizations communicate.
Shakira Monet Johnson, Chief Impact Officer, Maple & Monroe
Johnson has evolved her entrepreneurial work from traditional public relations and events into Maple & Monroe, a global social impact firm. The business focuses on creating sustained social impact and reflects Johnson’s commitment to moving communications toward deeper community engagement.
Dr. Brandi Sims, Founder & CEO, Brandinc PR
Sims leads Brandinc PR, a strategic communications firm that helps entrepreneurs, brands and organizations strengthen visibility and build lasting media relationships. With decades of experience, she has built a business centered on strategic storytelling, earned media, and long-term brand equity.
Jecoby Carter, Founder, Jecoby and Company
Carter represents a dynamic generation of Black entrepreneurs building businesses around their expertise and vision. Through Jecoby and Company, he is creating his own footprint while contributing to a broader ecosystem of Black-owned professional services firms.
Meredith LeJeune, Founder & CEO, Amplify Good PR
LeJeune leads Amplify Good PR, an award-winning, Black woman-owned boutique communications firm. With nearly 20 years of experience, she has developed high-impact media relations campaigns while remaining deeply engaged in organizations advancing Black communications professionals.
Monique Kelley Gigliotti, Founder, Monique Kelley Consulting
Gigliotti is an associate professor of practice at Boston University’s College of Communication, the CEO and founder of Monique Kelley Consulting, LLC, a fractional communications consultancy for Fortune 50 and global biopharmaceutical companies, and the author of Redefining Networking: How to Lead with Your Unique Value.
Joseph Williams, Founder, The Carnell Agency
Williams leads The Carnell Agency as part of a thriving community of Black agency founders and entrepreneurs. Through ownership, he is helping expand representation among the decision-makers building businesses and shaping client work to redefine communications.
Angela Betancourt, Founder, Betancourt Group
Betancourt brings an entrepreneurial perspective to communications through the Betancourt Group. Her work contributes to a broader legacy of Black professionals building firms, creating opportunity and strengthening the presence of diverse leadership throughout the industry.
Black Business Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate these leaders while recognizing what their businesses represent. Ownership creates agency. Entrepreneurship creates opportunity. Representation expands what future generations can imagine for themselves.
As communicators, we understand that visibility matters. This August, we encourage the PRSA community to discover Black-owned agencies and businesses, hire Black entrepreneurs, recommend their expertise, invest in their ideas and amplify their work throughout the year.
The future of our profession is being built today, and Black leaders are helping lead the way.
Illustration credit: yassine
