About Mike & John Burns
John Burns, Co-founder
John Burns is a gifted attorney, tv/radio personality, host, legal analyst, and community activist who has over 20 years of experience in cultural marketing and communications, event activations, multicultural engagement, and brand positioning.
In 2019, John co-founded The Burns Brothers, Inc., a culture-driven, full-service, integrated agency that designs data and insights-driven strategies and solutions that create long-lasting impactful change. The Burns Brothers deliver across six business lines that include hospitality, event production, marketing and communications, and talent and culture with a global reach that extends from the United States to Africa.
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Prior to starting The Burns Brothers, John was a partner at the law firm of Krooth & Altman LLP where he practiced for 14 years. His work focused on providing legal counsel to clients who are active in a broad array of matters relating to the entertainment and publishing industries. John represented artists, musicians, and industry executives and established himself as a prominent attorney in the entertainment and media space advising clients in areas including music and film. John also assisted in complex real estate finance transactions, contract negotiations, and advised and counseled clients as to copyright, trademark and service mark protection and litigation. Mr. Burns was also a seasoned civil litigator and represented clients in complex corporate litigation and civil rights matters, employment disputes, including employment discrimination actions, wrongful discharge, retaliation and Title VII actions, and EEOC matters.
John also co-founded Icon Talks in 2013, which is a traveling speaker series bringing together icons from various walks of life, including entertainment moguls, professional athletes, CEOs, actors, and activists, to provide a platform for them to discuss and share their inspirations and paths to success. As a moderator, he has interviewed prominent individuals including Chaka Khan, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Cathy Hughes, Congressman John Lewis, Sheila Johnson, Omari Hardwick, Tip “T.I.” Harris, and Common to name a few. The organization has honored celebrities and community leaders such as Senator Chris Dodd, Ludacris, Brian Michael Cox, Cee-Lo, Jason Taylor, Fabolous, Quincy Brown, Harry Belafonte, Robert Townsend, and Kenny Lattimore amongst others. Icon Talks has partnered with several notable companies and organizations including AT&T, Porsche, Comcast, Motion Picture Association, Warner Media, Aston Martin, NFLPA, Northwestern Mutual, and T Mobile.
John is also a noted philanthropist, community leader, and passionate advocate for a variety of important causes and organizations. He is one of the co-founders and serves as secretary of the Icon to Ican Foundation, which is a non-profit organization created to provide mentorship, exposure, and inspiration to disadvantaged children. He is also a former Executive Board member of the D.C. Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, sits on the Mid-Atlantic Board of the US Fund for UNICEF and is active with the American Diabetes Association, National Association of Black Journalists, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A frequent lecturer and panelist discussing topics around law, entertainment, mentorship, and civic engagement, John is also a contributor on the Karen Hunter SiriusXM radio show and appears regularly on TV One and Black Entertainment Television.
In addition, John is a professor at the Omega School of the Applied Arts and Sciences, has been profiled in and recognized by Washington Life Magazine and Smart CEO as one of DC’s most prominent and powerful young people. He was also honored by Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Push Coalition as a Top Inspirational and Engaged Leader.
John studied Economics and International Affairs at the University of Westminster in London, England and graduated from Tufts University in May 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts. He later received his Juris Doctorate degree in May 2007 from Georgetown University Law Center.
Mike Burns, Co-founder
Mike is a seasoned executive, coach, and former Army Officer who has over 30 years of experience in strategic leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion, self-assessment, culture-shifting, and organizational behavior.
He is the co-founder of The Burns Brothers, Inc., a culture-driven, full-service, integrated agency that designs data and insights-driven strategies and solutions that create long-lasting impactful change. The Burns Brothers deliver across an enterprise of six businesses that live at the intersection of hospitality, marketing and communications, event production, and talent and culture — specializing in creating programs that move the needle for their clients from the United States to Africa.
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Prior to The Burns Brothers, Mike served as the Chief Diversity Officer of Conduent, a $5B technology-focused services business. He also had the privilege of running the company’s largest business line, managing a P&L with revenues of almost $1B generated by the organization’s 25,000 employees across North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean Islands.
Before Conduent, Mike served as the Chief Diversity Officer of Citigroup and led the global diversity function for all of its Wall Street businesses, where his mission was to drive diversity and inclusion for one of the world’s largest banks. He also served as the COO of the technology company, Medical Information Records LLC, named the 2014 Dell-Intel healthcare start-up company of the year.
Mike joined Corporate America after serving 13 years in the US Army, initially as a helicopter pilot and then as a civil-military advisor with the 101st Airborne Division in support of operations in both Afghanistan and Iraq. In these roles, he had the privilege of leading over 100 brave and motivated American and Iraqi Soldiers on difficult, yet incredibly impactful missions. He concluded his military career as the Head of Diversity Recruitment and Enrollment for the United States Military Academy at West Point.
His corporate and military journeys have directly shaped Mike’s approach to leading, learning, and living. He is passionate about helping people and organizations successfully maximize their skills, passions, brands, and networks to accomplish tough and complex problems. He feels that true value is only realized when WHO you are and WHAT you do coexist.
Mike has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Business Management and Leadership from Webster University, a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, and is a Columbia University trained Executive Coach.
