Keith Dawkins is a strategic, creative, award-winning Chief Executive Officer with 25+ years of experience in the media/entertainment, professional sports, and philanthropic industries. Keith is a results-oriented executive with a global business acumen evidenced across all operations; setting company strategy; leadership and management; deal negotiations; international sales; P&L oversight; and driving revenue growth. He has a strong background in marketing, content strategy and creation, and forging strategic partnerships with high-profile brands. Keith is recognized for his energetic, pro-active and collaborative leadership style and for his ability to motivate and galvanize diverse teams in ways that generate ideas, drive growth, and yield results. He is a proven leader with a strong executive presence and the dexterity to lead across a variety of business environments. He is committed to making diversity, equity, and inclusion a vital part of all of his business dealings. Keith is an executive who blends big-picture, creative thinking with strategy and discipline in order to inspire, motivate, and usher in ideas that have a lasting impact.

Keith is the Chief Executive Officer of Rock Hill Media Ventures (RHMV), a media company which he founded in December of 2018. He brings three decades of media experience to RHMV, a business built around curating, incubating, and cultivating ideas for mass consumption. The company is led by its deep commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (I.D.E.A) and focuses on three specific concentrations within that frame: media/entertainment, sports, and social impact, with a particular expertise in business strategy, marketing, and content creation. RHMV counts the National Basketball Players Association, award winning production companies like Believe Entertainment Group and 9 Story Media Group, global distributors such Sutikki and Toonz Media Group, Battat Entertainment Group – a division of Battat toy company, former NFL player, Rashad Jennings, a variety of social impact partners and many more as clients and strategic partners.

Previously, Keith was in the social impact and professional sports arenas as the Chief Executive Officer of The First Tee, a non-profit organization that annually reaches five million young people; impacting their lives by providing programs that build character, instill life-enhancing values and promote healthy choices through the game of golf. Partnering with The First Tee’s Founding partners, LPGA, the Masters Tournament, PGA of America, PGA TOUR and the USGA, as well as former President George W. Bush, who serves as honorary chair, The First Tee uses the values inherent in the game of golf to positively impact the lives of young people while also aiming to grow and diversify the sport. As the CEO, Keith was responsible for the overall day to day operations of the organization, which includes 150 domestic chapters, six international chapters, 1200 golf courses and a National School Program that puts content from The First Tee in 10,000 elementary schools. He strategically directed The First Tee in order to evolve the company, expand its reach and build its national and global prominence.

Keith has spent most of his career in the media and entertainment space. Prior to The First Tee, he worked for 17 years at Viacom where in 2003 he joined Nickelodeon to become the very first General Manager of Nicktoons Network. Over the years he rose in the ranks to Executive Vice President where he oversaw the TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick Jr. and NickMusic channels. He was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the networks, including programming, marketing, digital/social media and on-air promotion. He also launched key programming and marketing initiatives including Nickelodeon Sports, which included a primetime programming block and on-the-ground marketing activations, in partnership with professional sports leagues including, MLB, MLS, NASCAR, NFL, and the PGA TOUR and TeenNick’s The Splat, a multiscreen content destination for millennials who love 90s Nickelodeon.

He is viewed as an industry leader and expert in this sector of the media business. Keith originally joined Viacom as a supervising producer for VH1 News where he oversaw numerous long-form programs and spearheaded the channel’s short-form news coverage.

Prior to Viacom, Keith was a producer at Fox News Channel where he was part of the network’s original launch team, producing a variety of daily and live event coverage such as Super Bowl XXXI and the Clinton impeachment proceedings.

Throughout his career, Keith has received numerous leadership and industry expertise awards. In addition, he has been involved in various boards including the Board of Advisors for Calyx Peak Companies, the Board of Governors of Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he also serves as an Adjunct Professor, a former board member of the NY chapter of “Reach Out and Read,” and the inaugural President of the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association.

A graduate of the CTAM Executive Management Program at Harvard Business School and the NAMIC Executive Leadership Program at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, Keith also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from Ramapo College. He currently resides in Ridgewood, NJ, with his wife and two sons.

Speaking on: Trend report: what’s hot with kids now