Christina Steed

Christina Steed is an award-winning marketing communication expert whose experience includes previously serving as executive vice president of client relations for a boutique agency in Chicago. Her expertise includes business development, client relations, diversity, equity and inclusion, and internal and external marketing communications. She is also a consultant for global companies and agencies with Agents & Strategies (A&S), a Black-owned, women-led communications and cultural consultancy company. Her brand experience includes Cox Communications, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Nielsen, Dow Chemical, Nike Chicago, City of Chicago, and several more in various industries. Additionally, she provided strategic issues management and counsel for companies including Ferrara USA, McDonald's, AT&T, Poetry Foundation, Bimbo Bakery, Commonwealth Edison, and several others.

Christina's background includes a mix of journalism, consumer, and business-to-business (B2B) public relations and marketing communications, social media, content marketing, stakeholder engagement, trade show marketing, and international communications. She has previously held management positions with Golin; a small B2B marcom agency focused on global trade show marketing; and an international food service packaging manufacturer.

With a lifelong commitment to quality storytelling, she began her career in broadcast journalism after receiving her B.S. in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her M.A. in Strategic Communication from the University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Journalism.

Christina has been featured in PR Week, PR News, PR Newswire, and Rolling Out. She is also a podcaster with her podcast Firsts Over Forty and a host/producer of CAN-TV's show For the Culture with Christina Steed. She is an adjunct professor and the 2022-2023 Center for Communication Engagement Faculty Fellow in the College of Communication with a focus on multicultural marketing communications at DePaul University, as well as serves on the dean's advisory board.

Christina enjoys reading, writing, traveling, attending live concerts, yoga, and social media surfing. She is a former board member and treasurer of the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC), the Black Public Relations Society (BPRS), ColorComm, and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). She currently serves as chair on the board of Chicago State University Foundation and is a board member of Girls Like Me Project and Open Books. She previously served on the board of the South Side Community Art Center and on the Executive Committee for the American Diabetes Association Step Out Walk. She has been recognized as one of PR Week's 40 under 40 Rising Stars, Ariel Investments and WVON's 1690 40 Game Changers in Chicago and has received numerous awards for her marketing communications campaigns from Bulldog Reporter, PCC, NABJ, and other organizations. A native of Chicago's south suburbs, she is married and currently resides in Chicago and Atlanta.

Areas of Expertise:

• Public Relations, Marketing, Multicultural Communications, Diversity and Inclusion, Global Communications