Renetta McCann (born December 8, 1956) is an American advertising and public relations executive who previously served as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Starcom Mediavest Group Starcom is an international media network, the third-largest communications group globally, part of France’s Publicis, with headquarters in Chicago. History The global holding company Starcom Mediavest Group was formed in 2000. Jack Klues ...

in North America.

Early life and education

McCann was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

on December 8, 1956, and was raised by her mother, a school teacher, and her grandmother. She graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in communications in 1978. Originally interested in political science and a legal career, McCann was inspired by professors such as

David Zarefsky David H. Zarefsky (born 1946) is an American communication scholar with research specialties in rhetorical history and criticism. He is professor emeritus at Northwestern University. He is a past president of the National Communication Association ...

to pursue public relations. In 2009, McCann returned to Northwestern and earned her

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in learning and organizational change.

Career

McCann joined

Leo Burnett Worldwide Leo Burnett Worldwide, Inc., also known as Leo Burnett Company, Inc., is an American advertising company, founded on August 5, 1935, in Chicago by Leo Burnett. In September 2002, the company was acquired by Publicis Groupe, the world's third ...

, a Chicago-based advertising agency, after graduating from college in 1978. Within a year of starting, McCann became the first African-American media supervisor at the agency. In 1988, she was named vice president, and became a media director in 1989. In 1998, McCann became managing director of

in North America; after a merger between Leo Burnett and D'Arcy, McCann became CEO in 2000. During her tenure as CEO, Starcom's client billings exceeded $26 billion and the company grew to over 6,000 employees. McCann was responsible for strategic planning and financial management as well as overseeing clients in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. McCann stepped down as CEO in 2008. In 2012, McCann returned to Leo Burnett in the role of chief talent officer. She also serves as a member of Northwestern Alumni Association's Board of Directors as well as an adjunct lecturer.

Awards and honors

*In 2001, named a "Media Maven" by

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in ...

*In 2002, named "Corporate Executive of the Year" by

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' (stylized in all caps) is an American multimedia company. A Black-owned business since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African American businesses with a readership of 3.7 mil ...

*In 2003, named as one of the "50 Women Who Are Changing The World" by

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

*In 2006, received a

Matrix Award The Matrix Awards is an annual awards ceremony held bNew York Women in Communications It started in 1970 to honor exceptional women in the fields of arts, advertising, entertainment, film, television, theater, books, broadcasting, magazines, news ...

from New York Women in Communications *In 2007, appeared on

Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women Since 2004, ''Forbes'', an American business magazine, has published an annual list of its ranking of the 100 most powerful women in the world. Edited by prominent ''Forbes'' journalists, including Moira Forbes, the list is compiled using vario ...

*In 2019, received a Silver Medal Award, an award from Chicago Advertising Federation for outstanding career accomplishments *In 2023, inducted into the

American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame The Advertising Hall of Fame, operated by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), began in 1948 as a result of a proposal by the New York Ad Club and its president, Andrew Haire, to the Advertising Federation of America, the predecessor organiza ...

*In 2024, received the Northwestern Alumni Medal for exceptional achievement in her career and service to Northwestern University *In 2024, received the

Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism Missouri (''see pronunciation'') is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it borders Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas, a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Renetta Living people 1956 births African-American business executives African-American women in business American advertising executives American chief executives in the mass media industry American women chief executives Businesspeople from Chicago Mass media people from Chicago Northwestern University School of Communication alumni Women in advertising