Sheila Brooks, Ph.D.
Dr. Sheila Brooks is an accomplished entrepreneur, author, Emmy-award winning journalist, author and expert in marketing, communications and public relations. She is founder, president and CEO of SRB Communications, a full-service marketing, advertising and PR agency that specializes in creating campaigns targeted to the general market, underserved and underrepresented populations. Her more than four decades of trailblazing leadership in media and communications reflects the long track record of success in and commitment to Washington, D.C’s and this nation’s creative and entrepreneurial economy. The boutique agency has headquarters in Washington, D.C. with a satellite office in Baltimore, Maryland.
In her storied career as a TV anchor, reporter, executive producer and news director, she has received some of the most prestigious awards and recognitions in the industry. Among them are two Emmys and induction in the Mid-Atlantic region’s Silver Circle – an honor from the National Society of Television Arts and Sciences for 25 years of service. The Washington Association of Black Journalists created the Dr. Sheila Brooks Community Impact Award – presented each year to a local business leader or organization that demonstrates an outstanding dedication to community service. Dr. Brooks was inducted in the 2023 National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) Hall of Fame. She received the prestigious 2019 NABJ Ida B. Wells Award, 2017 NABJ President’s Award – a three-time honor and 2011 NABJ Pat Tobin Entrepreneurial Award.
One of the highest entrepreneurial accolades Dr. Brooks received is the 2022 Minority Business Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Hall of Fame from the Capital Region Minority Supplier Development Council. On behalf of her company, SRB Communications, she accepted the 2019 National Supplier of the Year Award from the National Minority Supplier Development Council. She also received the 2019 NAACP Image Award Nomination for her first book, Lucile H. Bluford and the Kansas City Call: Activist Voice for Social Justice.
Throughout her career, she been a dedicated advocate for minority and women entrepreneurs and small business. serving on numerous national and local nonprofit and university boards. Most notably, the Federal City Council as a board trustee and advisory board member for the Jim Vance Media Program at Archbishop Carroll High School. She serves as Chair of the President’s Club of DC, an organization of legacy African American entrepreneurs. Previously, she served as Chair of the Board of Visitors and a board member for Morgan State University’s Global School of Journalism and Communications, from 2015-2023.
As a mentor to hundreds of entrepreneurs and journalists across the country, she taught multicultural marketing in George Washington University’s graduate school’s Strategic Public Relations Program and journalism courses at Howard University and Texas A & M University.
Dr. Brooks has a Ph.D. and Master of Arts degree from Howard University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she was inducted in the department’s 2018 Hall of Fame.
