Sonya Askew

Sonya Askew is the Memberships & Academic Partnerships Director at Music Business Association. Sonya has over 20 years of experience in the music industry, working with some of the biggest names in the business.

Sonya started their career working as a liaison between Universal Music Group and their distributed record labels. In this role, they supported the label in achieving their sales goals as well as assisting in the execution of their marketing goals. Some of their responsibilities included attending all marketing strategy meetings and New Release calls for labels, providing field staff and executives with all pertinent information, and communicating streaming playlist priorities to Commercial Partnership Team.

After a few years with Universal Music Group, Sonya moved on to GLG where they worked as a Senior Director. In this role, they were responsible for developing marketing and advertising plans for artists’ in-store appearances and managing execution. Sonya also handled all independent retail accounts, including development, marketing, and execution of in-store artist events.

Sonya is known for their creative solutions to problems and their ability to negotiate win-win scenarios. Sonya is also a mentor to young people, helping to integrate millennials into a veteran workforce and grow their careers.

Sonya Askew has a Bachelor of Science In Journalism from Ohio University and a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.

A direct report to Sonya Askew is and Jessicca Garcia - Membership & Events Manager. Sonya Askew reports to Portia Sabin, President. They are on a team with Nicole Hennessey - VP & Director of Communications, Kenya Nelson Stevens - Bookkeeper, and Aaron Tochini - Director, Events.