Biography
Adrian J. Hopkins is an internal communications and culture leader with more than 15 years of experience in the media and creative industries. In September 2022, he joined Grey New York, an award-winning advertising studio within Grey Group, as their first-ever Senior Vice President of Internal Culture and Communications. At Grey, Adrian is focused on creating content and experiences that help employees feel connected to agency strategy and to each other in a hybrid working environment. Previously, he was Senior Director of Internal Communications at General Assembly, a global education company and leading provider of tech talent to Fortune 500 corporations.
Earlier roles in human resources, strategy, branding, and business development have shaped Adrian’s approach to people-focused transformation. Before General Assembly, he led several culture change initiatives at The New York Times. There, he created the company's first global employee mentorship program, which produced higher promotion and lower turnover rates for its participants, particularly for employees of color. He also led the strategy to provide on-demand professional coaching to 4,700 Times employees and, as co-chair of the Black@NYT employee resource group, advised the development of the company’s inaugural diversity report. For his impact at The Times, Adrian’s received the Publisher’s Award--the company’s highest employee recognition--twice during his five-year tenure.
Before The Times, Adrian held strategy roles at a boutique branding agency and television networks. Adrian has also been a career coach and writer whose career advice and personal narratives have been published in outlets such as The Daily Muse, TIME, and Forbes. In 2023, Adrian launched a fashion art project called Trophe, which resurfaces bold ideas from the past.
Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Adrian earned a B.A. in History from Yale and an M.A. in Media Studies from The New School. At Yale, he was Political Action Chair of the Black Student Alliance at Yale, a staff member at the Afro-American Cultural Center, and founder of Sphere Magazine, which published for 8 years.
He lives in Brooklyn, New York with his wife and rescue dog.
