Renetta McCann has been recognized as one of the leading innovators and most influential executives in the advertising, marketing, and media industries, with a global reputation for not only building brands, but also the organizations and leadership to sustain them.
Renetta is a veteran of the advertising industry. She began her career in 1978 in Leo Burnett’s Media department. After a long tenure of engaging clients, marketplace deal-making, and leading high-performing teams, she became the CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group Worldwide. Under her leadership, client billings exceeded $26 billion and the global workforce rose to over 6,000 people.
Later, she shifted her focus from media practitioner to becoming a strategist who operates at the intersection of business and people. More recently, she has served as the Chief Talent Officer for Leo Burnett USA as well as Publicis Communications North America.
Currently, she serves as Chief Inclusion Experience Officer for Publicis Groupe, working to drive inclusion at all levels of the organization, with an emphasis on ensuring that the company’s clients and their businesses are benefiting from the many strategic advantages that diverse teams deliver.
She is a frequent name in the press, appearing on the pages of Advertising Age, Business Week and Chicago Magazine. Renetta has been widely recognized within the industry. In 2002, she was named “Corporate Executive of the Year” by Black Enterprise magazine and was selected Ad Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation. In 2006, she received a Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications and was Forbes ranked number 27 on Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” list. In 2008, Renetta was named an ADCOLOR Legend. In April 2018, she was featured on Adweek’s list of “11 Inspiring Women Who Have Broken Down Advertising’s Most Persistent Barriers.” In 2019, she received The Gladiator Award from the 4A’s MAIP program. In 2020, Renetta was honored with an ADCOLOR Lifetime Achievement Award and the Sheldon J. Levy Leadership Award. In 2020, she also received the Chicago Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award. In April 2023, the American Advertising Federation inducted Renetta into the Advertising Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest recognition. At the same time, she received the David A. Bell Award for industry service.
Along the way, Renetta has been an active volunteer and contributor to various industry and civic organizations. Currently she serves on the Executive Committee of the Chicago Community Trust; the Board of the Marcus Graham Project (emeritus); The American Advertising Foundation Board; the 4A’s Foundation Board; The She Runs It Foundation Board; and the Board of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Renetta also served as a Corporate Director of Tribune Publishing.
After nearly 30 years of communications management and leadership, she explored her interest in life-long learning, earning an M.S. in Learning and Organizational Change from Northwestern University. She worked as an executive coach and organizational change consultant before rejoining Burnett in the fall of 2012. Currently, she is an adjunct lecturer in the MSLOC program, co-teaching courses on organizational design as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.
She lives in Chicago with her husband Kevin and is the proud mother of Ella and Alexander.