Kenneth Mitchell (basketball)

Kenneth Mitchell
Born	(1975-10-01) October 1, 1975 (age 48)
Nationality	American
Citizenship	USA
Alma mater	Dartmouth College
Occupation	CMO at Levi Strauss & Co. (since June 5, 2023)
Known for	NCAA Division I men's basketball season assists leader (1997)

Kenneth Mitchell (born October 1, 1975) is a former American basketball player who was recognized by The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I as the basketball player with the highest assists per game average in a 1996–1997 season.^[1] He is inducted into Dartmouth’s Sports Hall of Fame.^[2] He also held senior positions at Gatorade, NBC Sports, NASCAR and McDonald's. In 2019-2023, he was the Chief marketing officer (CMO) at Snap Inc.^[3][4][5][6] In April 2023, Levi Strauss & Co. named Mitchell its senior vice president and chief marketing officer starting June 5, 2023.^[7]

Early life and education

Kenneth Mitchell was born on October 1, 1975, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was raised in Philadelphia, Flint, Michigan, and Wilmington, Delaware.^[8]

In 1993, he graduated from Sanford School in Hockessin, Delaware.^[9] In 1997, Mitchell received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College.^[10] In college, while playing basketball for Dartmouth, Mitchell led NCAA Division I in assists per game as a senior in 1996–97.^[11] In 26 games, he had 203 assists – the Dartmouth Big Green single season record.^[12][13] Mitchell is inducted into Dartmouth’s Sports Hall of Fame.^[2]

Career

Mitchell's first executive position was Director of Business Development at TMP Worldwide.^[8] Later he worked as vice president and top manager at NBC Sports Group,^[14] NASCAR,^[15] Gatorade, a division of PepsiCo,^[16][17][18] and McDonald's.^[19][20][21] In June 2019, Mitchell joined Snap as its first CMO,^[22][4][3] having become the first African American corporate officer of the company.^[23] In 2023, Levi Strauss & Co. named Mitchell its senior vice president and chief marketing officer starting June 5, 2023.^[7]

In 2019, Mitchell was included into the Forbe's “CMO Next” list of marketing executives.^[24] In 2019,^[25] 2021,^[26] 2022^[27] he was recognized by global business magazine Campaign within Power 100 ranking. In 2022, Forbes included Mitchell into the list of 50 the Most Entrepreneurial CMOs.^[28]

References

1. "Leading the Nation - DartmouthSports.com - Official Web Site of Dartmouth Varsity Athletics". 2016-10-30. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
2. "Kenneth D. Mitchell Jr. (2004) - Wearers of the Green". Dartmouth College Athletics. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
3. Hof, Robert D. (2016-04-04). "As Messaging Apps Boom, Brands Tiptoe In". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
4. Swant, Marty. "Snap CMO Kenny Mitchell Says New B2B Campaign Targeting Advertisers Highlights The 'Snapchat Generation'". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
5. Dua, Tanya. "The 25 most innovative CMOs in the world in 2020". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
6. Dua, Tanya. "Insider's 27 most innovative CMOs in 2021". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
7. Clark, Evan (2023-04-20). "Levi Strauss Names Snap's Kenny Mitchell Chief Marketing Officer". WWD. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
8. Siber, Kate (May 28, 2014). "Playing a New Game". www.tuck.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
9. "Welcome Back Alumni!". www.sanfordschool.org. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
10. "Speakers: Kenny Mitchell". www.brand-innovators.com. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
11. "Leading the Nation". DartmouthSports. 2016-10-30. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
12. "Leading the Nation". Dartmouth College Athletics. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
13. Reddy, Srikanth. "Dartmouth's Kenny Mitchell leads nation in assists". www.thedp.com. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
14. "Archive of Award Winners | Kenny Mitchell". www.oneclub.org. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
15. "NASCAR Appoints New Managing Director, Kenny Mitchell". Black Enterprise. 2013-11-19. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
16. "Gatorade's Kenny Mitchell Uses Snapchat to Reach Teen Athletes". Fast Company. 13 February 2017.
17. Moynihan, Tim. "A New VR Experience Puts You in Bryce Harper's Mind and Cleats". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
18. White, John. "How Gatorade and Snapchat Are Leveraging the Power of Mobile to Inspire Athletes". Inc.
19. Spangler, Todd (2019-04-25). "Snap Taps McDonald's Marketing Exec Kenny Mitchell as First CMO". Variety. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
20. Rooney, Jenny. "CMO Next 2019: 50 Game-Changing Marketing Leaders". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
21. McGloin, Matt (2019-04-18). "Avengers: Endgame Assembles With McDonald's, Coke, Geico, Audi, Hertz | [current-page:pager]Cosmic Book News". Retrieved 2023-04-05.
22. Jefferson, Michaela (2022-07-18). "Snap's first CMO on transforming marketing in a product-led business". Marketing Week. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
23. "Snapchat Gets Its First Black C-Suite Executive". Black Enterprise. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
24. "Forbes Announces Its Second-Annual "CMO Next" List, A Definitive Lineup Of Marketing Executives Who Are Redefining The Role". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
25. "Power 100 2019: Kenny Mitchell". www.campaignlive.com. July 18, 2019. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
26. "Power 100 2021: Kenny Mitchell, Snap". www.campaignlive.com. September 27, 2021. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
27. "Power 100 2022: Kenny Mitchell, Snap". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
28. Matlins, Seth. "The Forbes Entrepreneurial CMO List: 2022". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-04-05.