A native of Cincinnati, Howard is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School, where he earned a master's degree in business administration. He was one of Crain's New York Business' "40 Under 40" business leaders.

Howard received his initial marketing training at Procter & Gamble in packaged soap and detergent brand management, after graduating magna cum laude in linguistics and psychology from Harvard College.

Howard was vice president/group account director at UniWorld Group, where he oversaw development of award-winning advertising and public relations efforts for Eastman Kodak.

He had risen to the post of vice president/account supervisor at Young & Rubicam New York, where his clients included Kraft Foods and AT&T International. For Kraft Foods, Howard handled the Bill Cosby Jell-O advertising, and he received a Clio award for his advertising work with AT&T.

Howard founded Prime Access in January 1990. Since that time, Prime Access has operated as a full service marketing communications firm, specializing in addressing Urban Majority^TM consumers: African American, Hispanic and gay/lesbian.