Draft:Munson Steed

Munson Steed Munson Steed is the CEO of the Steed Media Group and its flagship publication Rolling Out Urban Style Weekly. It is the largest Black-owned, free print urban publication in the country. Rolling Out has a monthly millennial readership of 2.8 million and a combined social media following of half-million. In addition to its massive readership, its online platform receives more than 2 million unique views a month.

The son of an Air Force pilot and a mother who worked as a federal civil servant, Steed shared during an interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution that his childhood was shaped by African American literature.

Over the last 20 years Munson has worked to build Steed Media from a single newspaper to one of the largest web destinations by a print publication. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia the Lifestyle and entertainment company distributes in over 19 cities across the country.

The internationally recognized publisher is a graduate of the historically black all-male Morehouse College, where he received his bachelors degree in political science.

In 2010 Rev. Al Sharpton, president and founder of the National Action Network, appointed Munson Steed as Director of the Madison Avenue Initiative (MAI), a program under NAN that addresses fairness in advertising.

In 2016 Steed’s Little Professor Skye children’s books and toys made their way to the shelves and received critical acclaim becoming the 2017 award finalist in the Best Book Awards and the American Book Fest.

The collection of children's books helped launch Playful Genius, an African-American-owned and operated company providing culturally relevant content to stimulate imaginations and inspire creativity for children of color ages zero to nine. Its accompanying line of adorable Plush Crew toys, stickers, and coloring books is also proving to be wildly popular with the zero- to four-year-old set.

Following the success of the Little Professor Skye Series, Munson set his sights on growing his media empire by announcing a partnership with the digital tech corporation Digital Remedy. Through the partnership, Munson extended Rolling Out's consumer reach to over 30 million digital consumers with a new television channel featuring millennial user-produced and independently produced series to be created by building a new state-of-the-art production facility.

In February of 2021, Steed secured a partnership with BlackBookStore.com and Penguin Random House called #AmplifyBlackStories to introduce more stories written by Black authors to a diverse group of readers.

In 2023 Munson Steed added to his legacy by teaming with Grammy Award-winning singer Koryn Hawthorne to create the hit song Look At God. The song peaked at number three on the US Gospel charts and received great reviews from the Gospel community.

In 2024 Munson hosted the First Black AI Conference with celebrities Van Lathan, Mario Van Peebles, and global tech giant Google on the Campus of Morehouse College to bring awareness and highlight Black representation in the AI industry.

As The CEO of Steed Media Munson has pivoted Steed Media by offering multiple programs and platforms that extend beyond branded publications, music, and entertainment to solidify itself as a lifestyle brand for the African American community. He has also continued to elevate and evolve the Rolling Out brand by placing it at the forefront of the digital age with television programming, production, internet properties, and multi-media content development.