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DC appoints first Managing Director, Kumi Croom

A game changer since her arrival six years ago, Kumi will lead account and project management and continue to shape DC’s culture and client relationships.

Image of an African American women smiling, sitting behind a table.

Kumi Croom, Duncan Channon’s first Managing Director, will oversee the account and project management teams, and will continue to lead the company’s EDI efforts.

During her nearly six years at Duncan Channon, Kumi has served as a champion for equity and representation, reimagining the agency’s recruitment, retention and EDI consciousness by creating its EDI Group, which she has led since 2019. The group includes staffers who are passionate about driving change in the agency’s BIPOC talent recruitment and retention efforts, as well as its culture and ways of reflecting diverse perspectives. Croom operationalized a culturally sensitive approach to ensure representation in the agency’s creative work, and built a Black/African American Culture Practice. In addition she has led the roll out of EDI training programs for the agency.

She served as Group Account Director beginning in 2017, leading the California Department of Public Health Tobacco Control Program account. In this role, she helped drive the work’s breakthrough success in changing perceptions about vaping and the use of flavored tobacco among the state’s multicultural residents. In the peak of the pandemic, she also assembled an integrated cross-agency team to win the California Department of Public Health business, and develop a campaign to build trust in COVID-19 vaccines.

“I’m honored to take on this role and look forward to working with a larger cross section of team members,” said Croom. “Being an independent shop allows us to make meaningful changes and take risks. I welcome the opportunity to join the partners in helping to sculpt the culture of the agency and add my ideas as we continue to grow.”