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Who We Are

CEO Leyla Turkkan

For nearly 4 decades, Leyla Naile Turkkan has channeled public relations as a catalyst for cultural advancement and social change – from the groundbreaking protest rap of Public Enemy, through the Beastie Boys’ watershed Tibetan Freedom Concerts to leading media strategy for artist-activists such as KRS-One and Ice Cube.

Leyla’s ability to craft memorable, iconic and surgically precise PR campaigns has elevated a wide array of entertainment clients, non-profits and executives from the underground to the mainstream, securing for them continued relevance and career longevity in a fickle and chaotic media environment.

In this vein, Leyla has formed The Catalyst Group – a collective of highly skilled and seasoned publicists with diverse expertise. Together, they conceive of and execute custom-tailored, impactful campaigns for a select group of clients across the entertainment and pro-social spectrum.

Leyla Turkkan, Chuck D and Grand Master Flash

Leyla with Chuck D and Grandmaster Flash

Recent campaigns include:
  • Grandmaster Flash’s “Birth of a Culture”
  • “Resident Punk”
  • “When Rock Met Hip-Hop”
  • “Mogul: The Life and Death of Chris Lighty”
  • “We Are Not Afraid”
    Spearheading the “We Are Not Afraid” campaign to raise funds and awareness for the refugee crisis in partnership with Human Rights Watch and the International Rescue Committee. The resulting video includes 150 artists [Article] ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Pussy Riot to Public Enemy’s Chuck D.
  • “I Am a Muslim Too”
    Partnering with Russell Simmons’ Foundation for Ethnic Understanding to lead the media campaign and rally in Times Square against Islamophobia titled “I Am a Muslim Too”. The event received an enormous amount of coverage [Article] and momentum, with Simmons featured on a wide variety of national TV, print and online outlets.
  • A Tribe Called Quest’s final album
    Powering the headline-grabbing release of A Tribe Called Quest’s triumphant final album, “We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service.” The album’s undeniable single, “We the People,” became an anthem for the resistance, highlighted by a breakthrough performance at the 2017 Grammys and appearances on “Saturday Night Live” [Video], “CBS This Morning” and “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.”
  • “Class Divide”
    Serving as production consultant on various projects, such as the recent HBO feature documentary “Class Divide”, director Marc Levin’s meditation on gentrification in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.

SET TO RUN - The beginning
Before launching The Catalyst Group, Leyla founded the groundbreaking PR and marketing firm “Set to Run”. In short, when hip-hop and alternative music were born, Leyla was in the delivery room. In addition to the aforementioned hip-hop artists, STR repped David Bowie, Slayer, New Order, The Cure and The Breeders, among many other legendary artists. She held executive positions at Columbia Records, The Atlantic Group, EMI Records, Rush Communications, and BET Networks. She also helped launch and promote the iconic Def Jam Records.

The Roots Before “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”
Upon its founding, The Catalyst Group built a credible brand for The Roots and Questlove, leading to their anointment as the house band for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and, later, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”

Grammy Awards Nominee & Winner Raphael Saadiq
TCG (The Catalyst Group) also led the campaign for Raphael Saadiq and his critically acclaimed 2008 album “The Way I See It,” which earned three Grammy nominations.

Other career highlights include:

Background
Leyla currently sits on the Marketing Committee for the Institute for Humane Education’s Solutionary School [Website], helping increase its visibility. She also advises the New York Civil Liberties Union [Website] on visibility campaigns.

A first-generation Turkish-American of Muslim descent, Leyla received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College, where she majored in Music & Psychology. She also completed postgraduate studies in Fiction & Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence. She resides in New York City.