Leading nonprofit marketing strategist and executive consultant Katrina McGhee has joined the American Heart Association’s nationwide leadership team as executive vice president of marketing and communications.
McGhee, who worked previously for the Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health and one of the world’s leading voluntary health organization brands, returns following notable career success in marketing and executive consultation.
“With this hire, the American Heart Association acquired the best of all worlds. Katrina is a transformative brand strategist and innovator. Everywhere she’s gone she has created measurable value by unlocking insights to connect the dots that orchestrate authentic consumer brand experiences,” said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO. “Additionally, Katrina is uniquely qualified as an experienced marketing veteran with a proven track record of understanding the singular complexities and communications challenges of the nonprofit sector. We’re excited by the potential Katrina brings and how it will translate on behalf of the American Heart Association and its lifesaving mission.”
In her new role, McGhee will serve as the American Heart Association’s chief brand ambassador, responsible for enhancing brand relevance, promoting the organization’s mission, and communicating its rich, lifesaving content to consumers and stakeholders across the United States and around the world. She will lead the development and execution of integrated program marketing strategies and community outreach, consistent with the Association’s long-term health impact and fundraising goals. She will also help ensure good stewardship through her attention to the most effective and efficient alignment of marketing and communications resources across the charitable enterprise.
McGhee is a global marketing executive with more than two decades of experience in leading brand-building for world-class social purpose organizations. She began her career with the American Heart Association as marketing director, where she created national social marketing programs such as Take Wellness to Heart, Cholesterol Low Down, Covering the Bases, and Choose to Move – a 13-week physical activity program that more than 100,000 women completed to go from sedentary to active lifestyles. While with the Association, she also launched several multicultural marketing programs and developed public-private partnerships that generated millions of dollars in annual revenue.
McGhee later served as the executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, where she was responsible for global marketing, business development and cause marketing along with oversight of more than 200 corporate partnerships, more than 140 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® Series events and more than $350 million in annual revenue.
Most recently, she worked as an independent consultant and launched the Loving on Me Career Success Academy, helping empower women to take charge of their health, lives and careers. She has also served as a business adviser to corporate executives in the areas of strategic planning, brand building, fundraising and career development, with an emphasis on transforming underserved communities and impacting the lives of women, children and minorities. McGhee is a noted speaker and the author of two books: “Loving on Me!: Lessons Learned on the Journey from MESS to MESSAGE” and “BE BOLD BE BRILLIANT BE YOU: Lessons from the C-Suite to Accelerate Your Career.”
“The American Heart Association is emphasizing transformational communications and marketing in order to make a difference, and also leveraging the organization’s brand as its most valuable asset,” said McGhee. “Few nonprofits enjoy both the scale and vision to go to market in the most relevant and contemporary ways. It is a privilege for me to be able to return to the American Heart Association and work again – literally – to save lives.”
McGhee will operate from the American Heart Association’s National Center in Dallas.
