Showcasing Pride in PR

Karine Jean-Pierre currently serves as the White House principal deputy press scretary. She was the senior advisor to President-Elect Joe Biden and chief of staff to Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on the Biden-Harris Campaign. Prior to her role on the campaign, she served as chief public affairs officer for MoveOn.org and an NBC and MSNBC political analyst. Jean-Pierre served as regional political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama-Biden administration and as deputy battleground states director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She served as southeast regional political director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, deputy campaign manager for Martin O’Malley for President, campaign manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative, and deputy chief of staff and director of legislative and budget affairs for two members in the New York City Council. Previously, she worked at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, pushing major companies to change their business practices. Born in Martinique and raised in New York, Jean-Pierre is a graduate of Columbia University.

Lisa Manley is VP of Sustainability at Mars, overseeing the company’s global initiatives on respecting human rights and unlocking opportunities for women. For over 20 years, Lisa has devoted her focus and passion to driving sustainable business strategy, communication and stakeholder engagement. She’s worked in-house at The Coca-Cola Company in the U.S. and Europe and served as a consultant to numerous Fortune 100 companies. Her fingerprints are on numerous initiatives on climate action, water stewardship, sustainable packaging, and diversity & inclusion. Outside work, Lisa serves on the Board of SMYAL, a Washington DC-based organization working to empower LGBTQ youth. She and her wife, Christina, enjoy travel, golf, tennis, hiking and biking.

As VP, communications, Ben Boyd leads a team focused on informing and engaging associates, customers, communities and additional stakeholders about Lowe’s, its products and services. He joined Lowe’s in 2020. Ben’s communications responsibilities include public relations, associate communications, executive communications, digital content and corporate events. In addition, he is responsible for Lowe’s community relations efforts, including the Lowe’s Foundation, and national and local programs with a focus on safe, affordable housing and skilled trades education. Ben has over 25 years of experience in senior communications roles. Before joining Lowe’s, he served as chief strategy and operating officer for BCW Global. His 15 year career with Edelman included his role as chief client strategy officer, overseeing the agency’s client experience program, as well as leading the global corporate practice, global marketing function and managing the firm’s global Trust Barometer study. Prior to Edelman, he served the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) as assistant to the president, director of communications. Ben earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Wake Forest University. He is a member of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program board.

Precious Brady-Davis is an award-winning diversity advocate, communications professional, and public speaker. She currently serves as the associate regional communications director at the Sierra Club. She served for three years as the assistant director of diversity recruitment initiatives at Columbia College Chicago, her alma mater, implementing the campus-wide diversity initiative and providing leadership and oversight of national diversity recruitment and inclusion policy initiatives. She also served as the youth outreach coordinator at Center on Halsted, the largest LGBTQ community center in the Midwest. During Precious’s tenure, she launched a $1.6 million CDC HIV prevention grant, which provided outreach, education, youth programming, and testing services to over three thousand young African American and Latinx gay, bi, and trans youth. Precious is married to Myles Brady and lives in Hyde Park on the South Side of Chicago, where they are raising their daughter, Zayn. In her free time, she enjoys online shoe shopping, travel, and fine dining with friends. Her debut memoir, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN ME will be released from TOPPLE/Little A Books on July 1, 2021. For more information visit www.preciousbradydavis.com. Photo of Precious Brady-Davis courtesy of Zackary Drucker.

Previous experience includes Vice President of Grayling Communications, Executive Producer of SF Bay Area KRON News, and more than 10 years-experience producing TV news and features, working side by side with national and local print editors. Curtis has been interviewed for broadcast, print, and online publications and knows what it’s like to be in the hot seat.