Chirlane McCray, a Strategic Partner with MCG, has a passion for social justice and a unique perspective on the political world gained, she explains, “from almost 20 years of living with a campaign in my house.” Acquired from her work with a number of elected officials and central role in her spouse’s campaigns for office, Chirlane has an impressive range of experience with strategic messaging, publication design and online communications.
She served as a speechwriter for New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins, City Comptroller William C. Thompson and State Comptroller, Carl McCall. And while able to write on any subject, Chirlane finds special satisfaction in preparing speeches in policy areas that include health, housing, education, the arts and the environment. Chirlane was also a presidential appointee during the Clinton Administration at the New York Foreign Press Center.
Chirlane spent five years at Maimonides Medical Center, a not-for profit, academic hospital in Brooklyn, New York. There she worked to re-brand the medical center and increase the hospital’s visibility city-wide and in ethnic communities. Chirlane developed marketing plans and strategized with vendors to create culturally sensitive messages for diverse communities in multiple languages for radio, cable TV, community and mainstream papers. During her tenure at the hospital, Chirlane piloted a successful direct mail program and paved the way for innovation in online communications.
At the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Chirlane branded the agency with collateral materials designed to explain and promote the Human Rights law, working with graphic designers and translators to produce issue sensitive materials in appropriate languages.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Chirlane is a graduate of Wellesley College and the renowned Radcliffe Publishing Course, and spent nearly a decade in magazine publishing as a writer, editor and marketing research analyst.
Chirlane and her husband, Bill de Blasio, met in New York's City Hall. They live in Brooklyn, NY with their politically active children, Chiara and Dante.
e-mail: cmccray_at_mackcrounse.com
