Born in London, Samantha ‘Sam’ grew up in Kenya, East Africa where she learned, first- hand, the challenges of poverty.
Sam has more than 15 years of for-profit and non-profit marketing and community development experience having worked in both agency leadership and corporate marketing roles within the financial services sector.
Sam founded Reputation Dynamics (RD) in 2005 to provide for-profit and NGO/academic organizations with local and global citizenship development.
RD mobilizes collective action to address critical social justice, humanitarian and conservation issues with a focus on inclusive partnership development between corporations, foundations, and non-profits.
An advocate and speaker of ‘Aligning Profits with Purpose,’ Sam advises a diverse range of organizations on long-term approaches for improving the well-being of communities. Her key sectors span poverty, wildlife, and environmental conservation, youth education in developing markets, women’s economic empowerment. Sam is an early innovator in business and social innovation development.
Formerly, Sam was the Chief Marketing Officer of GMHC, the nation’s oldest non-profit HIV/AIDS care services provider where she spearheaded a once-in-27-year rebranding initiative. Prior agency posts included, Managing Director at Bozell Worldwide, and Director at Kreab Gavin Anderson. Sam started her career at The Press Association in London.
Sam’s speaking representation includes diverse forums such as The American Marketing Association, The Corporate Council on Africa, PRSA, Africa Travel Association, InterAction, ExecuNet, The CMO Club, Diversity Best Practices, Columbia and Texas Christian Universities and the UN Youth Assembly. In partnership with Working Mother Media, she co-chaired an educational symposium – ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and Women’ – convening 120 representatives from the corporate, NGO and academic sectors. Other example topics include ‘The Nuts and Bolts of Corporate Partnerships’ for InterAction’s Private Sector Working group, ‘Regional Integration in Africa’ at Columbia University’s, African Economic Forum and ‘Building Partnerships for Community Impact’ for Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship.
Sam, a former member of the Board of Advisors for Indego Africa, has a documentary film credit for THE UNCONDEMNED, a courtroom drama, turned upside down, when three brave Rwandan women came forward to tell their stories during the Rwandan genocide. Sam’s personal storytelling platform, Elephant Art enables her to illustrate the hope and spirit of the endangered elephant species and people of Africa.