Elise James-DeCruise
Chief Culture and Community Officer
Elise is an award-winning learning and development professional with over 20 years of global experience in designing and delivering programs and experiences through the four lenses of workforce, workplace and marketplace and community.
She serves as the Chief Culture and Community Officer at the Ad Council, a national nonprofit that works across advertising, tech, media, marketing and philanthropy to address the country’s most pressing issues. In her role, Elise champions a positive work environment by fostering employee engagement, cultural awareness and purposeful collaboration to shape the organization’s culture.
Prior to joining the Ad Council, she played a pivotal leadership role at Marcus Thomas, LLC, where she guided major initiatives to strengthen talent development, enrich organizational culture, and drive multicultural marketing strategies across the company.
Elise previously led global multicultural marketing initiatives at MediaMath for over eight years. She also founded the award-winning New Marketing Institute at MediaMath, where she oversaw internal and external training initiatives, certification, enterprise education and global program development.
Elise is the L&D strategic advisor for GoCoach, and she maintains an active presence on boards and advisory committees including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the Startup Institute, NYC Tech Talent Pipeline, IAB’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, American Society of Training & Development’s 2019 Program Advisory Committee and the ATD Forum Advisory Group.
She was recognized by Chief Learning Officer magazine for launching the New Marketing Institute and has received multiple industry awards for excellence in education and her dedication to innovation. Forbes also named her as a top female tech leader to watch.
Elise earned a bachelor’s in communications, PR and advertising and a master’s in instructional leadership and business communications from Robert Morris University. A former Division I student athlete who led the nation in rebounding, she remains committed to the development of student athletes both on and off the court.
Elise is an award-winning learning and development professional with over 20 years of global experience in designing and delivering programs and experiences through the four lenses of workforce, workplace and marketplace and community.
She serves as the Chief Culture and Community Officer at the Ad Council, a national nonprofit that works across advertising, tech, media, marketing and philanthropy to address the country’s most pressing issues. In her role, Elise champions a positive work environment by fostering employee engagement, cultural awareness and purposeful collaboration to shape the organization’s culture.
Prior to joining the Ad Council, she played a pivotal leadership role at Marcus Thomas, LLC, where she guided major initiatives to strengthen talent development, enrich organizational culture, and drive multicultural marketing strategies across the company.
Elise previously led global multicultural marketing initiatives at MediaMath for over eight years. She also founded the award-winning New Marketing Institute at MediaMath, where she oversaw internal and external training initiatives, certification, enterprise education and global program development.
Elise is the L&D strategic advisor for GoCoach, and she maintains an active presence on boards and advisory committees including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the Startup Institute, NYC Tech Talent Pipeline, IAB’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, American Society of Training & Development’s 2019 Program Advisory Committee and the ATD Forum Advisory Group.
She was recognized by Chief Learning Officer magazine for launching the New Marketing Institute and has received multiple industry awards for excellence in education and her dedication to innovation. Forbes also named her as a top female tech leader to watch.
Elise earned a bachelor’s in communications, PR and advertising and a master’s in instructional leadership and business communications from Robert Morris University. A former Division I student athlete who led the nation in rebounding, she remains committed to the development of student athletes both on and off the court.