Kelli Richardson Lawson
Founder & CEO of the JOY Collective and The SonRise Project
Kelli Richardson Lawson is an Emmy Award-winning creative visionary.
Categories :
Full Bio
Kelli Richardson Lawson is an Emmy Award-winning creative visionary and purpose-driven business leader with over 30 years of global experience in brand-building. As founder and CEO of JOY Collective, Lawson believes her company is “inspired and committed to creating JOY for our clients, our community, and the world.” JOY Collective’s current clients include Dove, where she leads the execution of The CROWN Act to “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” WW (formerly Weight Watchers), the U.S. Naval Academy, Ford, and many more
Lawson’s distinguished career spans multiple industries, including Consumer Packaged Goods, Media and Entertainment, Book Publishing, and Technology. Her leadership across consumer insights, marketing, advertising, communications, special events, public affairs, and sales translated to exceptional results for powerhouse brands including Procter & Gamble (P&G), BET Networks (Viacom), and Dell. In addition to driving volume, share, and rating increases for P&G and BET, respectively, Lawson created multiple award-winning creative campaigns.
As BET’s first senior executive head of marketing and communications, Lawson co-created and led all non-production elements of the biggest tentpole events in the country, including the BET Awards, Celebration of Gospel, Hip Hop Awards, BET Honors, and more. Lawson and her teams received hundreds of awards, including Telly, Promax, BDA, NAMIC, CTAM, CTPAA, and NAACP Image Awards, for their work on multiple shows and tentpole specials.
Lawson has a passion for serving her community with work that positively impacts people of color. In that vein, she proudly created BET’s Emmy Award-winning HIV/AIDS program called Rap-It-Up; and the BET Foundation, a 501(c)3 focused on obesity and other health-related issues that disproportionately affect the African American community.
In 2020, Lawson launched The SonRise Project, a safe space for parents of children who struggle with mental wellness. A proud mother of two teenaged sons, Lawson has experienced these challenges first-hand. Driven to make a difference, she hosts weekly calls on Sundays at 9 am ET to allow experts to share knowledge with parents who can listen and learn from one another. Registration is free and confidential.
Lawson is from Cleveland, Ohio (an unwavering Brown’s fan!) and is a proud graduate of Howard University. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Jack and Jill of America, and is a generous mother, wife, and friend. She lives in Bethesda, MD, with her husband Keith and her two sons, Kyle and Kristopher.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
An Evening With Kelli Richardson Lawson
Videos
Kelli Richardson Lawson My Sonrise Project Heals Families
S1:EP4 OWN PODCAST:"THE SONRISE PROJECT" Kelli Richardson Lawson "LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS" w/TRB
Books
News
Testimonials
GET IDEAS
1 HOUR OR LESS
