Sonia Sroka Joins Edelman as EVP and Group Head, Multicultural Marketing

Edelman announced that Sonia Sroka joined the public relations firm as executive vice president and group head in the New York office. From this position, Sonia Sroka leads a team of 15 specialists helping clients to reach diverse multinational and multilingual audiences. Unilever, American Heart Association, Kimberly-Clark, AstraZeneca and Darden Restaurants are some of the important clients the Edelman multicultural marketing team in New York provides services to. Sroka will also be part Edelman’s US Multicultural and Diversity Task Force.

“As the so-called ‘general market’ becomes more and more culturally diverse, our goal is to make multicultural marketing a more integral part of our communications and consumer engagement strategies,” explained Adrienne Hayes, general manager of consumer brand marketing, New York. “Sonia has the perfect mix of expertise, passion and vision to help us propel this practice into the future. It’s no longer a nice to have for brands, it’s a must have.”

Prior to Edelman Public Relations, Sroka served as Senior Vice President at Porter Novelli where she established the multicultural marketing group, mostly focused on the Hispanic market. Procter & Gamble’s Gillette, Crest, Sony PlayStation, Hewlett Packard, Bayer, Microsoft and McDonald’s are some of the companies she managed during her time at PN.

Sroka was recently named one of PR Week’s “40 Under 40: Rising Stars” and served two terms as the national chair of the PRSA’s Diversity Committee and sat on Omnicom’s Diversity Development Advisory Committee. Other distinctions include being included in Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 2013 Women Worth Watching list, and named a CSR Professional of the Year by PR News, and a 2011 LATINA Corporate Executive of the Year by LATINA Style magazine. Sroka also received the “2012 Multicultural Leadership Award of the Tri-State Area” from the Tri-State Diversity Council.

“I am very excited to join the Edelman family for its innovative nature and rigorous focus on identifying the next economic growth opportunity for clients,” said Sroka. “The potential for brands to expand their offerings to the multicultural market is great. I look forward to working with our clients to help them engage these communities at the strategic level in order to establish loyalty and lifelong relationships.”