Diane Primo

Diane Primo is the CEO of Purpose Brand Agency, an award-winning, Chicago-based public relations, branding and digital marketing firm. She is the only African American female CEO of a purpose-driven communications agency. Diane’s focus on impact marketing stems from the belief that brands must be relevant, purpose-driven and committed to consumers to be successful today. Consumers’ demand for meaning, transparency and authenticity has changed the nature and raised the stakes in all communications.

As founder of Purpose Brand, Diane builds on a groundbreaking 30-year career leading some of the top marketing organizations in the country. She served as general manager at Quaker Oats, president of product management at Ameritech and SBC (currently AT&T), chief marketing officer of CDW and CEO of a Kleiner Perkins-backed e-commerce startup in the home services sector. A communications innovator, Diane was recognized as such with Ragan Communications’ 2020 Top Women in Communications Trailblazer Award. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Smith College.

Diane is currently a board member for Call One, a telecommunications company, and P33, the private sector initiative to promote Chicago’s standing as a technology center. She is also a committee member of World Business Chicago’s ChicagoNEXT, the Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Network and the Business Leadership Council. She is a national influencer on purpose-focused issues, now as a member of the Forbes Agency Council and previously as a contributing columnist for Huffington Post.

Diane’s personal public service record reflects her personal commitments to eradicating homelessness, helping underserved populations and furthering gender equality. She is a recipient of the Hassenfeld Family Humanitarian Award and was a presenter at the G8 UK Deauville Partnership Summit. She is currently co-chairman of the nationally recognized Primo Center, Chicago’s largest center for homeless families, an organization she also co-founded. Most recently she co-founded SOAR, an organization that focuses on empowering, connecting and growing the number of women of color in media.