Alexandria Johnson Boone is President and CEO of GAP Communications Group, full service public relations, advertising, marketing and special events firm based in Cleveland, Ohio. Under her leadership, GAP has gained local, regional and national recognition for its quality public relations, publicity and marketing services and its signature special events. She is also widely recognized and respected in the communications and public relations industry as the architect of the LeBron James media persona.
Boone is also the Chairwoman and Founder of the Women of Color Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the education, empowerment, training and leadership development of women and girls of all colors. Over the years, the Foundation has produced several annual personal and professional development retreats, conferences, awards luncheons, and other special events across the region.
She is a graduate of the Cleveland Public Schools. She also holds a master’s degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University; a Certificate from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; and was a 1997 National Fellow at the Boston University School of Public Health’s Join Together Program. She was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 1988.
In 2014, Boone founded C L Magazine, a career and lifestyle digital magazine for women and girls of color. The magazine has been continuously in publication since that time.
Some of her community involvements have included serving as a member of the Board at The Club at Key Center; The SHINE Foundation; The Urban League of Greater Cleveland; the Community Advisory Board of The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women; The Visiting Committees at the Weatherhead School of Management & the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Case Western Reserve University; and the Board of Directors of the Greater Cleve- land Partnership, all located in Cleveland and the Urquhart Memorial Foundation located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Boone has also received several awards for her business and professional achievements and community service. Her 2016 awards and recognitions include the following: Recipient of the “National Col- orComm Circle Award” for Outstanding Achievement by a Woman of Color in the Communications Industry; Trailblazer of the Year by the Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council at their Annual Regional Conference; Business Trailblazer of the Year by the Christian Business League; Recipient of the Greater Cleveland Community Service Award by the Gloria Pointer Foundation; and the 2015 recipient of the Elite Women Around the World’s Women Who Changed the World Award.
During 2018, Boone was selected for inclusion in the Inaugural “Women WELDing the Way” Business Success Calendar by the Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD), Cleveland Chapter, and was included in a local PBS television mini-documentary, high lighting Cleveland Black professional women and their success in spite of facing racism during their careers. She was a featured presenter at the Northeast Ohio Women’s Leadership Conference; was featured in an article in the March issue of Cleveland’s Smart Business Magazine, high lighting her work with the Women of Color Foundation. The Women of Color Foundation was recognized as the “2018 Organization that Empowered Women” at the Smart Business Magazine Annual Smart Women’s Awards Breakfast. She also began hosting the radio show “C L Magazine LIVE!” on Cleveland’s WOVU-FM Radio, 95.9.
In 2019, Alex was tapped as a “Smart Women” guest columnist in the May 2019 Issue of Smart Business Magazine; was invited to attend the prestigious WELD Leadership Conference and Corporate Board Track Program in Columbus, Ohio; was a keynote speaker for the Bowling Green State University, Women in Leadership Conference, hosted by their College of Business; was a keynoter at the Cleveland WELD Diversity & Inclusion Workshop; selected to receive the first- ever, Cleveland Realtist Association’s Community Service Award; and was named a “Sheroe” by the MetroHealth System for her work on behalf of women and girls of color in Northeast Ohio.
During 2020, Boone was named one of the Women You Should Know by The Cleveland Women’s Journal Magazine and was again invited to participate in the prestigious WELD Leadership Conference and Corporate Board Track Program.
2021 yielded two other significant awards for Boone. She was nominated for The Soul of Philanthropy Legacy Award, given by the Cleve- land Foundation and was included in their photo exhibit along with other nominees. Boone was honored at a luncheon hosted by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) during their 74th National Convention in Cleveland, where she received the prestigious Achiever Committed to Multiple Excellence (ACME) Award from NA- REB’s National Women’s Council.
For information about the Women of Color Foundation and their programs, please visit www.womenofcolorfoundation.com.
