1990
With a “Women at Work” shingle hung in its basement office at the St. Augustine Ecumenical Center, McKinney & McDowell Associates is born. It is the first African American woman-owned PR firm in the nation’s capital that expressly promotes social justice advocacy.1991
The Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO awards annual retainer to raise the voice of public service workers. Mc & Mc moves from the church basement to the lower lobby of Wider Opportunities for Women at 1325 G Street, N.W.1991
The firm orchestrates a communications
campaign
for the First National People of Color Leadership
Summit on the Environment,
signaling the beginning of the
environmental
justice movement.
1991
For his second visit to the United States, South
African President Nelson Mandela engages former
anti-apartheid campaigners Gwen McKinney and
Leila McDowell to arrange a Newsmaker’s
Luncheon at the National Press Club.
1993
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF),
the nation’s preeminent civil rights law firm,
taps McKinney & McDowell as agency of record.
Under the leadership of LDF’s newly appointed president, Elaine R. Jones, the partnership
solidifies our brand as a racial justice
communications specialist.
1994
McKinney & McDowell join
President Jéan Bertrand Aristide on his
return to Haiti after serving as his government’s
agency of record during his exile in the
United States (1992–1994).
1996
Alarmed over the treatment of women in
U.S. prisons and the growing use of stun
technology, Amnesty International USA (AI)
retains us to create Human Rights—Not Just
a Foreign Affair. The campaign enlists
Muhammad Ali and his daughter Laila,
and helps establish AI’s
U.S.-focused program.
1997
McKinney & McDowell supports LDF in
a three-year public education campaign for
Hampton University student Kemba Smith,
wrongfully jailed for drug trafficking. Our efforts
brought international attention to unjust drug
sentencing laws, and led to President Clinton
granting Smith clemency in 2000.
1997
Now well established in the D.C.
communications landscape, McKinney moves
to the K Street corridor—at the very center
of Washington’s leading think tanks,
lobbyists and advocacy groups.
1998
On a tip from the firm, New York Times
columnist Bob Herbert spurs national media
coverage for Lacresha Murray, sentenced at
age 11 to 25 years in an Austin prison.
Under the glare of national attention,
Murray is ultimately cleared by the
Texas Supreme Court.
2000
Death row inmate Gary Graham is executed
by the state of Texas after an unprecedented
media push focused on his innocence.
The McKinney-supported campaign gained
international attention that helped move
the national debate on the death penalty.
2001
McKinney & McDowell joins the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to publicize
hearings and release a groundbreaking report
on Florida’s 2000 presidential election,
which documented election irregularities
and Black voter disenfranchisement.
2002
McKinney & McDowell becomes
McKinney & Associates. The name
has changed, but the passion and mission
remain the same: Public Relations
with a Conscience.
2003
McKinney's national media campaign in
support of The Murder of Emmett Till,
by acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson,
helps reopen the investigation into the
horrific murder that ignited the
20th century civil rights
movement.
2004
McKinney marks the 50th anniversary
of the historic Brown v. Board of Education
ruling ending school segregation. In addition
to nationwide communications activities,
we arrange coast-to-coast screenings of
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise,
a PBS documentary by Stanley Nelson’s
Firelight Media.
2006
In the run-up to New Orleans’ municipal
elections, McKinney partners with LDF and the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for
a multi-tiered media campaign upholding
voting rights for displaced Hurricane
Katrina survivors.
2006
McKinney leads communications efforts
for a Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
coalition that culminates in reauthorization of
the landmark Voting Rights Act, extending
protection to minority voters for 25 years.
2006
Gwen McKinney receives an
Outstanding Public Service Award from the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
for her commitment to ending
capital punishment.
2007
Foreshadowing the national health care
debate, McKinney manages communications
for California Newsreel’s acclaimed four-part
PBS documentary series Unnatural Causes:
Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
2008
McKinney begins a long run as the
managing firm among five communications
agencies supporting the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation’s Human Capital Portfolio, providing
strategic management and grantee support for
the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated to
improving the health and health care
of all Americans.
2009
McKinney develops an unprecedented
campaign to reach and mobilize Black
women of childbearing age for the Maternal,
Child & Adolescent Health division at
the California Department of Public Health.
The federally funded education campaign
supports infant health centers and
Black women’s health across the state.
2010
Reflecting on 20 years of progressive
communications advocacy, support and service,
McKinney marks the anniversary with a
renewed commitment to grow, thrive and
respond to the challenges and opportunities
of the new decade.
2012
The firm wins a Silver Inkwell Award
from the International Association of Business
Communicators, DC Metro Chapter, for our
NAACP voting rights communications
campaign, Stand for Freedom.
2012
Gwen McKinney is one of three finalists
for the Washington PR Woman of the Year
award from Washington Women in PR.
2015
Returning to our labor roots, McKinney reunites with longtime friend, actor and activist Danny Glover for a campaign to help the American Postal Workers Union launch A Grand Alliance to Save Our Postal Service.1990
With a “Women at Work” shingle hung in its basement office at the St. Augustine Ecumenical Center, McKinney & McDowell Associates is born. It is the first African American woman-owned PR firm in the nation’s capital that expressly promotes social justice advocacy.1991
The Metropolitan Washington Council AFL-CIO awards annual retainer to raise the voice of public service workers. Mc & Mc moves from the church basement to the lower lobby of Wider Opportunities for Women at 1325 G Street, N.W.1991
The firm orchestrates a communications
campaign
for the First National People of Color Leadership
Summit on the Environment,
signaling the beginning of the
environmental
justice movement.
1991
For his second visit to the United States, South
African President Nelson Mandela engages former
anti-apartheid campaigners Gwen McKinney and
Leila McDowell to arrange a Newsmaker’s
Luncheon at the National Press Club.
1993
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF),
the nation’s preeminent civil rights law firm,
taps McKinney & McDowell as agency of record.
Under the leadership of LDF’s newly appointed president, Elaine R. Jones, the partnership
solidifies our brand as a racial justice
communications specialist.
1994
McKinney & McDowell join
President Jéan Bertrand Aristide on his
return to Haiti after serving as his government’s
agency of record during his exile in the
United States (1992–1994).
1996
Alarmed over the treatment of women in
U.S. prisons and the growing use of stun
technology, Amnesty International USA (AI)
retains us to create Human Rights—Not Just
a Foreign Affair. The campaign enlists
Muhammad Ali and his daughter Laila,
and helps establish AI’s
U.S.-focused program.
1997
McKinney & McDowell supports LDF in
a three-year public education campaign for
Hampton University student Kemba Smith,
wrongfully jailed for drug trafficking. Our efforts
brought international attention to unjust drug
sentencing laws, and led to President Clinton
granting Smith clemency in 2000.
1997
Now well established in the D.C.
communications landscape, McKinney moves
to the K Street corridor—at the very center
of Washington’s leading think tanks,
lobbyists and advocacy groups.
1998
On a tip from the firm, New York Times
columnist Bob Herbert spurs national media
coverage for Lacresha Murray, sentenced at
age 11 to 25 years in an Austin prison.
Under the glare of national attention,
Murray is ultimately cleared by the
Texas Supreme Court.
2000
Death row inmate Gary Graham is executed
by the state of Texas after an unprecedented
media push focused on his innocence.
The McKinney-supported campaign gained
international attention that helped move
the national debate on the death penalty.
2001
McKinney & McDowell joins the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to publicize
hearings and release a groundbreaking report
on Florida’s 2000 presidential election,
which documented election irregularities
and Black voter disenfranchisement.
2002
McKinney & McDowell becomes
McKinney & Associates. The name
has changed, but the passion and mission
remain the same: Public Relations
with a Conscience.
2003
McKinney's national media campaign in
support of The Murder of Emmett Till,
by acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson,
helps reopen the investigation into the
horrific murder that ignited the
20th century civil rights
movement.
2004
McKinney marks the 50th anniversary
of the historic Brown v. Board of Education
ruling ending school segregation. In addition
to nationwide communications activities,
we arrange coast-to-coast screenings of
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise,
a PBS documentary by Stanley Nelson’s
Firelight Media.
2006
In the run-up to New Orleans’ municipal
elections, McKinney partners with LDF and the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for
a multi-tiered media campaign upholding
voting rights for displaced Hurricane
Katrina survivors.
2006
McKinney leads communications efforts
for a Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
coalition that culminates in reauthorization of
the landmark Voting Rights Act, extending
protection to minority voters for 25 years.
2006
Gwen McKinney receives an
Outstanding Public Service Award from the
National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
for her commitment to ending
capital punishment.
2007
Foreshadowing the national health care
debate, McKinney manages communications
for California Newsreel’s acclaimed four-part
PBS documentary series Unnatural Causes:
Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
2008
McKinney begins a long run as the
managing firm among five communications
agencies supporting the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation’s Human Capital Portfolio, providing
strategic management and grantee support for
the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated to
improving the health and health care
of all Americans.
2009
McKinney develops an unprecedented
campaign to reach and mobilize Black
women of childbearing age for the Maternal,
Child & Adolescent Health division at
the California Department of Public Health.
The federally funded education campaign
supports infant health centers and
Black women’s health across the state.
2010
Reflecting on 20 years of progressive
communications advocacy, support and service,
McKinney marks the anniversary with a
renewed commitment to grow, thrive and
respond to the challenges and opportunities
of the new decade.
2012
The firm wins a Silver Inkwell Award
from the International Association of Business
Communicators, DC Metro Chapter, for our
NAACP voting rights communications
campaign, Stand for Freedom.
2012
Gwen McKinney is one of three finalists
for the Washington PR Woman of the Year
award from Washington Women in PR.