Communicator Spotlight: Mame Annan-Brown of Kontoor Brands
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Mame Annan-Brown serves as executive vice president of global communications and public affairs at Kontoor Brands, the apparel company behind denim staples Wrangler and Lee.
Why it matters: Annan-Brown sits on the company's executive team — where she is the only woman and only person of color — and is responsible for "seeing around corners" to protect and guide the business.
- "I think the benefit I've brought to the role is that I have worked in finance, global development, private equity and nonprofits, so I can speak to these issues with credibility at the table. And that's, I think, where communications is ultimately going," she told Axios.
📍 How she got here: She is originally from Ghana and studied in the U.S., Europe and Canada before taking a job on Wall Street at JPMorgan.
- From there, she served in leadership roles at United to End Genocide, Results for Development, and the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.
👖 How it’s structured: She oversees global corporate communications, government relations and ESG, and serves as president of the Kontoor Brands Foundation.
🍎 Mentorship: "I've had incredible women leaders around me in all of the various industries that I've worked in, who I've watched and who have also lifted me up."
- Yes, but: Annan-Brown is personally focused on sponsorship, "which is having someone talk about you when you're not in the room."
- "It's the game changer because it's how you propel people who might not have a voice at the table. And I think as those who are less represented in corporate boardrooms, we need people who are influential in the room to advocate for us."
📈 Trend spot: The global communicator.
- "Geopolitics and the global market dynamics are affecting apparel companies ... and if we want to help corporations make decisions by leveraging communications, then we really have to understand what's happening across the globe."
🌅 Morning ritual: She starts her day around 5:30am with a quick Peloton ride before packing lunches for her two kids and zipping out the door to Kontoor Brands headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.
🎨 De-stress routine: Art. Her favorite galleries are the Louvre and the MoMA.
🎶 Content plate: Listens to Fela Kuti, Leon Bridges and The 1975 on rotation and is watching "Yellowstone" — "which gives a lot of airtime to Wrangler denim."
🗞 News diet: The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Women's Wear Daily.
✈️ Travel recs: According to Annan-Brown, Indonesia is a must-see, and Accra, Ghana, should be on everyone's bucket list.
- And her bucket list trip? Antarctica.
🧠 Best advice: Be a lifelong learner.
