Group Black, the home for Black-owned media properties, announced today the expansion of its leadership team with the addition of Kerel Cooper as President of Advertising and Laura Summers as Chief Sales Officer. Both Cooper’s and Summers’ hiring signals Group Black’s commitment to building strong and everlasting relationships with the media industry. Their addition to the Group Black team will ensure pledges made by brand marketers will reach Black-owned media and diverse creators.
Cooper is an award-winning executive with more than 20 years of digital media experience building advertising operations, account management, and marketing teams. Before joining Group Black, Cooper was the Chief Marketing Officer for adtech company LiveIntent. He is the co-founder and co-host of the Minority Report podcast which highlights people of color, women & LGBTQ+ leaders within business, media, and technology. Cooper has also held positions at Advance Digital as the Senior Director Ad Platform Strategies and at JupiterMedia as Director of Advertising Operations.
In his role at Group Black, Cooper will lead Group Black’s advertising revenue & operations team including sales, ad operations and customer success. He will work closely with the executive team to deliver seamless experiences for both clients and customers.
Laura Summers brings over two decades of leadership experience. Prior to Group Black she held the position of Vice President of Global Advertising Sales at CBS Interactive. Her work has run the gamut, from retail to gaming, with deep insight into print, television, audio and digital advertising. She brings strong relationships within the advertising industry where Group Black is looking to build, create and manage strong relationships. Working for companies such as Hearst, Condé Nast, Ziff-Davis, TechTV, and CNET, Summers is an expert on branded content and advertising which will play a crucial role in showing Group Black’s value as an advertising medium.
In her role at Group Black, Summers will be responsible for developing a world-class revenue generation team that optimizes the sales functions to drive revenue and growth. She will implement, assess, and report on sales strategies that are designed to bring in more clients, enabling Group Black to grow and scale.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kerel Cooper and Laura Summers to the Group Black team,” said Mark Larkin, president & COO of Group Black. “Both bring a wealth of experience that is unmatched. Their passion for promoting inclusion and equity in the media industry will provide tremendous support for our mission to dramatically transform the face of media ownership and investment.”
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