Melea McRae

Founder + CEO, Crux KC // Co-Founder + CEO, Crux-Xcelerate

Melea McRae is a marketing strategist with 25+ years of B2B and B2C experience leading client-facing marketing departments, where she earned the reputation of an insightful brand strategist. Formerly the SVP and CMO at the Greater KC Chamber, she led the organization’s marketing and business development efforts. In July 2016, Melea made the entrepreneurial leap and launched her own marketing firm, Crux KC, a certified WBE providing in-house marketing, outsourced –the “un-agency” –for her small to mid-sized B2B clients. As founder and CEO, she builds marketing, communications and business development strategies for her clients, while positioning them for sustainable growth. And as Co-Founder of sister company Crux-Xcelerate, Melea focuses on accelerating revenue for emerging and small businesses.

Melea holds an Executive MBA from Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management and serves on multiple boards in the region, including the Kansas City Repertory Theatre board of directors, executive committee and chairs the governance committee; the board of trustees for the National MS Society Mid-America Chapter; the CX Women to Watch advisory board and peer group; the marketing committee for the United Way of Greater Kansas City; the patron’s committee for the Women’s Foundation of Greater KC; and is a member of CEOs for Real World Learning, a collaboration among the Civic Council, KC Chamber, Aligned, Kauffman Foundation and KC Rising.

Melea is also a member of Kansas City Business Journal’s 2021 Women Who Mean Business class and was a recipient of Enterprising Women Magazine’s 2021 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. Crux KC was honored as a Greater KC Chamber of Commerce Top 10 Small Business for the last two years, was named one of the Best Places to Work in Kansas City in 2021 and was ranked as an Inc. 5000 company in 2022.