Gelasia Croom, MSPR

With nearly 20 years of journalism, marketing and communication experience, Gelasia Croom joined Prevent Child Abuse America as Chief Communications Officer in April 2022. In this role she works to serve families by creating visibility for the agency’s programming, fundraising and advocacy work.  

Prior to joining PCA America, Gelasia served as lead communicator at Children’s Home & Aid Society of Illinois where she oversaw internal and external communications, mobilized staff and program participants to examine their roles through the lens of racial and social justice, developing successful marketing campaigns for their home visiting, fatherhood, foster care and doula programs to name a few. As a result, the work of the agency was featured nationally and statewide in outlets including The New York Times, ABC Chicago, CBS Chicago, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Times-Dispatch, Belleville News-Democrat and numerous other media outlets. 

Gelasia served as a regional communications manager and associate director at The Nature Conservancy where she was also appointed as a charter member of the League of Employees of African Descent (LEAD). In that role, she worked to connect global conservation challenges to the localized issues in communities that felt the greatest impact of climate change, flooding, diminishing canopy cover and more. There, she organized and led an effort to engage community leaders and partners in a project that successfully brought diverse youth to the conservation industry, providing them a voice and career opportunities that also improve their own community environment.  

Gelasia has an MS in Public Relations from S.I. Newhouse School of Communication at Syracuse University and a BA in Mass Media Communication from Hampton University (Va.). She currently lives in Chicago with her two children and enjoys exploring the city, traveling and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.