Uncrowned Community Builders

We are updating Ms. Toney's biography, but have retained the original bio that she submitted in 2002. The purpose of this historic archive is to document the histories of community builders and to allow for updates and changes that take place over the years.


Renata Toney is a marketing communications professional with years of progressive experience designing and managing marketing and public relations campaigns, national and local media relations, and coordinating large-scale events for non- profits and major U.S. corporations.

Born in Albany, NY, to James and Geraldine Robinson, she relocated to Buffalo at age four after her mom transferred her position through the state looking for a fresh start. A City Honors School graduate, she attended Buffalo State College majoring in public communication with a minor in African-American Studies and anthropology.

Renata's public affairs background includes serving as publications editor at Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. After several years with the pharmaceutical manufacturer, she left corporate America with a passion to lend expertise to help people in need. To that end, she accepted a position with AIDS Community Services as marketing and public affairs coordinator. Renata gained invaluable experience in issues management, significantly increasing visibility of the agency while broadening awareness of the epidemic throughout the eight counties of Western New York.

She ventured on to new frontiers to the Buffalo Museum of Science, appointed as the natural history institution's first African-American public information officer. Her innovative strategies resulted in promotions to a number of increasingly responsible positions in communications and advancing to director of marketing & public affairs. In this role she managed branding efforts, media relations, community relations and supported special events and business outreach.

A professional goal to, at some point, enter the consulting arena motivated a career shift to broaden her public relations know-how. She joined Eric Mower and Associates as account supervisor in public relations and public affairs services designing and implementing strategic public relations programs for a wide variety of agency clients. Renata also managed the firm's own public relations initiatives.

Her background also includes Fisher-Price as an associate manager of consumer advertising professional contractor responsible for the account management of advertising titan Young & Rubicam creating national kid and mom-directed print and TV campaigns to various markets.

A Leadership Buffalo graduate, Renata was awarded the 2000 Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Minority Fellowship and 2002 Business First 40 under Forty honor for her professional and community achievements.

Membership affiliations have included the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Renata has also partnered with IPREX, a worldwide public relations network with over 800 professionals, servicing international clients where she managed a professional development training series.

Renata is also deeply involved in the projects she designs and is often found volunteering. Her spare time is spent actively donating the gift Time. A number of community organizations have benefited from Renata's expertise including the Michigan Street Preservation Corporation, Campaign for a Greater Buffalo, YWCA, Leadership Buffalo, Langston Hughes Institute, Dr. Lydia T. Wright School of Excellence and William-Emslie YMCA. Renata was also a member of the dynamic public relations dream team that successfully promoted and built excitement about the renowned Harlem Book Fair's first stop in Buffalo to commemorate the Niagara Movement Centennial celebration in 2005.