William Reed

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William Reed is a media entrepreneur. He is publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America” as well as president of the Black Press Foundation, the Business Exchange Network and Outreach Coordinator for the Africa-focused Coalition to Give Peace a Chance. His “Business Exchange” columns have appeared in over a hundred African-American oriented weekly newspapers for the past 25 years. Through his reports and network of publications, Reed is considered one of the leading authorities on marketing, advertising and media directed to the African-American market.

Reed has won numerous media awards for reports and commentaries on Black economic development. He has served as Business Editor for Washington, D.C.’s Black-oriented Capital Spotlight, News Dimensions and Eagle News newspapers. He serves as a consultant to the Washington Informer, the KingMaker Magazine and is on the Advisory Board of the World Media Association.

In the 1970s, Bill Reed was among the initial wave of African-American executives in Corporate America, advancing to third level management in the Bell System. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bill Reed served as Director of Communications and then Executive Director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) – aka The Black Press of America. He co-founded the Black Exchange Network in 1980 as a networking group that recognizes managerial and business achievements of African-American professionals and business owners. He has served as a scriptwriter for the D.C. Chamber of Commerce’s “Building Bridges for Business” television show and co-hosted- and-produced Eagle News Forum television shows and programs on the “Talk America Network.”

In 1995, Reed was named the National Association of Black MBAs’ “Communicator of the Year.” In 1990 he was a BET “Businessperson of the Month”. Reed served as Census 2000’s National Capital Area Media Specialist. He has distinction of having been a National Press Club Fellow, Gannett-sponsored Paul Miller Fellow and an Atlantic-Bridge Fellow. He is co-founder of the Give Peace a Chance Coalition and has interviewed numerous African leaders and authored publications on that continent since the early 1980s.

As president of the Black Press Foundation Reed assists businesses, government officials, associations and embassies in designing and distributing messages targeted toward African-American audiences. The Black Press Foundation provides news services and workshops, conferences and seminars targeted to minority media and publishers and serves business clients with marketing data and information about reaching diverse communities with creditable messages. As publisher of “Who’s Who in Black Corporate America,” Reed has chronicled the careers of corporate and black business leaders since 1982.

A Washington, D.C.-based marketing communications consultant, Reed works with businesses, individuals and coalition groups toward effective input on pubic policy and legislative issues. Reed has been associated with D.C. Republican leadership coalitions since the Ronald Reagan Era. A political communications strategist, Reed has served on the District of Columbia Republican Committee’s (DCRC) Executive Committee and as DCRC’s Ward 6 Chair.

Business address: 405 16th Street, Southeast Washington. Telephone: 202.547.4125 – Web-site: BlackPressInternational.com – e-mail busxchng@his.com.