Donna L Byrd

Donna is Publisher of TheRoot.com, a daily online magazine that provides thought-provoking commentary on today's news from a variety of African-American perspectives. She helped launch TheRoot.com in 2008 and has worked to build it into the number one African-American news site in the U.S. Prior to joining TheRoot.com, Donna was CEO of Black America Web, where she worked with entrepreneur and national radio personality Tom Joyner to launch one of the top three African-American news and lifestyle websites. She was also a founding partner of Kickoff Marketing, a strategic planning and brand firm. Her online career began in 1999 when she served as Vice President of Marketing for Ezgov.com. Donna has held previous positions at The Coca-Cola Company as Brand Manager, and Procter and Gamble where she developed and managed marketing strategies and advertising for new products, among other initiatives. Donna has a B.A. in American Government from the University of Virginia, and an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. She also attended Graduate Business School at The University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is a member of the 2012 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.