INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS - Key Persons

Alan Sexton

Job Titles:

Chief Communications Officer of Balyasny Asset Management

Alan Sexton is chief communications officer of Balyasny Asset Management. He is responsible for leveraging the company's outcomes-focused Communications organization to generate competitive advantage for Prudential and its diversified businesses, while protecting and enhancing the company's reputation around the world. Previously, Sexton led communications for Prudential's domestic and international businesses, including its global asset management arm, PGIM, while also serving as head of strategy for the Communications function. Sexton spent almost twenty years as a communications consultant before joining Prudential, advising business leaders at Fortune 500 corporations across a range of heavily-regulated sectors, including the financial services industry. He was U.S. vice president at Burson-Marsteller, now Burson Cohn & Wolfe, where he led the firm's corporate and financial, technology, and healthcare practices in the U.S. market. Sexton also managed Burson's flagship office in New York. Before that, Sexton led the communications and digital team at Global Strategy Group (GSG), a leading public affairs and research consultancy, where he oversaw talent recruitment and development, client service, new business development and cross-practice integration. Prior to GSG, he co-founded and led the New York public affairs practice at Ogilvy, one of the world's largest branding, marketing and communications firms. Sexton graduated from the University of Dublin, Trinity College, with a B.A. in history and political science. He also holds a master's degree in international security studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.

Amy Jo Meyer

She is the founder and director of UGA‘s Go Global Choose China program. She also founded Grady College's Cooperative Education 3+1+1 programs with Shanghai Normal University and Shanghai International Studies University. Meng serves on the national advisory board of The Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations, Institute for Public Relations ELEVATE, and Ragan Communications and PR Daily. Meng served as the Research Vice Chair on the executive leadership committee of the Educators Academy at Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in 2022. She is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society. Since 2021, Meyer has led Medtronic Corporate Communications, where she is responsible for leading the intentional development and ongoing management of Medtronic's internal and external reputation globally; creating and executing communication strategies that build trust across targeted stakeholders and amplify the Medtronic strategic narrative. Meyer leads a team of strategic communications professionals that: Drive proactive and reactive earned media relations, reputational issues and crisis management, and financial communications. Provide strategic counsel and communications support to functional ExCom leaders and develop executive thought-leadership strategies. Lead enterprise-wide employee communication initiatives and channels designed to engage and activate Medtronic employees. Enable best-in-class communications by deploying resources to critical and strategic enterprise priorities; rapidly identifying best practices for internal and external communications and developing tools and training at scale to drive adoption across the enterprise. Meyer first joined Medtronic in 2017 as Sr. Director, Global Communications and Corporate Marketing for the Americas Region, and served as a member of the Americas Senior Leadership Team. In this role, she led public relations, internal communications, integrated marketing communications, sustainability communications, and social and digital content strategies for the company's Americas region, which was comprised of Medtronic's commercial operations for Canada, the U.S. and Latin America. Prior to Medtronic, Meyer worked at Johnson & Johnson where she served as Financial and M&A Communication Leader, as well as the Director of Corporate Media Relations. During her time at Johnson & Johnson, Meyer led communications to key financial audiences, employees and media regarding the company's strategy and performance, developed and managed a communication platform for the Chief Financial Officer, and led communications for several major acquisitions, including pharmaceutical company Actelion, the largest acquisition in Johnson & Johnson history. In her media relations capacity, she also managed significant corporate issues and served as a public spokesperson for Johnson & Johnson. Meyer also served in a variety of communication roles at St. Jude Medical over the course of seven years, including leading all external communications for the company as Director of Public Relations. While at St. Jude Medical, she led product launch communications, issues management, media relations, clinical trial support, and managed key internal initiatives including the launch of the company's first global intranet. Meyer began her career at Tunheim Partners, where she provided support and communication counsel to varied clients across retail, B2B, agriculture, fashion, entertainment and healthcare industries. Meyer is a Minnesota native and graduated from the University of Minnesota with both a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications, as well as a Master of Business Administration.

Angela Dwyer

Job Titles:

Director

Arati Randolph

Job Titles:

Executive Vice President at Truist

Arati is Executive Vice President at Truist. Previously, she was EVP, CEO & Corporate Communications for Wells Fargo. Arati was responsible for communications strategy, messaging content, storytelling, infrastructure and channels across the enterprise. She managed Wells Fargo's launch into brand journalism with the site wellsfargo.com/stories. Randolph also set strategy on managing content through social media and digital channels and manages key publications such as the company's Annual Report.

Ariel Investments

Job Titles:

Patino Associate

Arielle Patrick

Job Titles:

Patino Associate
Chief Communications Officer at Ariel Investments

Arielle Patrick is Chief Communications Officer at Ariel Investments, a global investment firm with $18.3 billion in assets under management as of 12/31/21. Arielle sits on Ariel's Operating Committee and Risk Committee. She leads an integrated team that handles all communications for the firm and its private equity subsidiary, Ariel Alternatives. This includes: media relations, government affairs, philanthropy, marketing, internal communications, corporate and executive leadership communications, branding and creative. Arielle represents the firm on the Investment Company Institute (ICI) Public Communications Committee and is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). In her spare time, she is an investor in two early stage companies and an advisor to a venture capital firm. Arielle sits on the Board of Directors (Finance & Audit Committee) for Yellowstone National Park's foundation; the Board of Trustees (Nominating Committee) of the Institute for Public Relations; the Board of Directors (Chair, Development Committee) of The Harbor Sciences & Arts Charter School, and the Board of Directors of Chelsea Factory, an arts & culture organization founded by First Republic Bank (NYSE: FRC). She also volunteers on the Steering Committee for the Young Fellows of The Frick Collection Museum and the President's Council of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Arielle is a Founding Member of Chief. Arielle graduated from Princeton University, where she studied in the Department of Classics with a concentration on Ancient Greek and Latin language, literature and history.

Bill Chandler

Job Titles:

Vice President of Communications

Bill Chandler is the Vice President of Communications for global retailer lululemon. Mr. Chandler is a purpose-driven leader with a track record of enabling consumer brands to expand around the world and successfully navigate challenging situations. His responsibilities include consumer public relations, corporate communications and crisis management, executive communications, and employee engagement. He joined lululemon as a consultant in early 2018 and took his current role in July 2020. Prior to joining lululemon full-time, Mr. Chandler founded and led his consulting firm, Chandler Public Affairs, where he helped a range of companies and leaders successfully build and protect their brand and reputation. Previously, he led communications at Gap Inc. for more than a decade and held senior communications roles at Western Union and Charles Schwab. He began his career in public service as a top aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. He earned his B.A. from the University of Southern California and resides with his family in Palo Alto. He enjoys playing tennis and participating in 10K runs. Mr. Chandler serves on the Board of Trustees for the Institute for Public Relations, a non-profit organization.

Brendan Mullin

Job Titles:

Interim ) Chief Communications Officer

Brendan Mullin is (Interim) Chief Communications Officer at EY in the Americas. Reporting to EY's US Chair and Managing Partner and Americas Managing Partner, he is responsible for leading EY in the strategic development of effective audience-centric communication strategies that grow and protect the brand. Outside of the office, Brendan is an avid golfer and enjoys traveling, especially to see his extended family.

Brett Ludwig - Treasurer

Job Titles:

Treasurer
Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs for Lehigh University

Brett is Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs for Lehigh University, where he guides the creation and implementation of a strategic communication plan to demonstrate Lehigh's distinctive position within the higher education landscape. Formerly, Brett led the Communications function at W.L. Gore & Associates, a global materials science company dedicated to transforming industries and improving lives. In this role, Brett led a worldwide team of communications professionals and was committed to transforming the company's internal and external communications to enhance the company's 60-year reputation. Prior to Gore, Brett led Global Communications at Cardinal Health, a Fortune 21 global healthcare services and products company. In this role, Brett was responsible for corporate messaging, internal communication delivery, thought leadership and communication strategy. Brett previously held the role of VP, Public Relations at Cardinal Health, where he was responsible for external communication, crisis response, issues management and media relations. Brett has led corporate communications teams for a number of large companies, including AmerisourceBergen, Tyco International, Allstate Insurance and State Farm Insurance. He served as a reporter in the Chicagoland area early in his career. Brett studied Political Science and Spanish at Illinois Wesleyan University. He completed the Tuck School of Business Executive Program on Strategic Reputation Management. He is a founding member of the Reputation Leadership Network, is a Trustee of the Institute for Public Relations and a member of the Page Society.

Brian Grace

Job Titles:

Nationwide 's Chief Communications Officer

Brian Grace is Nationwide's Chief Communications Officer, leading the company's internal communications, public relations, and reputation management functions. Grace joined Nationwide from Progressive Insurance where he served in a similar capacity. Before joining Progressive's Marketing team, Brian led strategic communications at Target. Prior to that, he was a communications manager at NASA and Pentagon contractor, ATK. Earlier in his career, Brian honed his storytelling and relationship-building skills while working as a news reporter and anchor in his hometown of Minneapolis. He graduated from the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN and received a post-graduate certificate in Managing High-Performance Teams from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He is active in the community both personally and professionally. He is the incoming chairman of the board at Easterseals of Central and Southeast Ohio, he served as chair of judges at the 2020 PR Week Awards, served on the board of the Public Relations Society of America's Cleveland chapter and has provided pro bono marketing and PR counsel to Urban Ventures - an organization focused on breaking the cycle of generational poverty, MDI - a social enterprise empowering the career success of people with disabilities, and Toys for Military Kids.

Brian Lott

Job Titles:

Executive Director of Group Communications
Mubadala Investment Company

Brian Lott is the Executive Director of Group Communications, responsible for stewardship of the Mubadala brand and for managing the Group's corporate communications requirements. Before joining Mubadala, Brian worked at global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, where he spent ten years providing strategic guidance to the firm's public affairs, corporate and technology clients. Brian has worked in the communications industry for over 25 years, beginning his career in Washington, D.C., where he served as chief of staff, spokesman and campaign manager for two members of congress. He is a published author and former journalist.

Cameron Batten

Job Titles:

Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Volkswagen Group of America

Cameron is the Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Volkswagen Group of America. He and his team are responsible for building belief and deepening trust in one of the world's most iconic automotive brands. He serves as the Group's U.S. spokesperson and leads public relations and stakeholder engagement for the Volkswagen brand across North America. Before Volkswagen, Cameron was the Vice President and Head of Communications for Samsung Electronics America. He led corporate communications, product public relations, risk, social media, internal communications, and citizenship. He was also on the Enterprise Diversity Council and also served as the executive sponsor of the company's Equality Alliance employee resource group. Cameron has more than two decades of experience leading public relations and corporate affairs functions across technology, healthcare, and financial service. He holds a degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a member of the Arthur Page Society Page Up Program and has taught New York University's Graduate School of Professional Studies.

Carol Carrubba

Job Titles:

Principal at Highwire

Carol Carrubba, principal at Highwire, is a business leader and communications expert with a deep focus on and passion for technology. For clients, Carol specializes in category design, strategic messaging, executive speaker coaching and thought leadership for midsized to Fortune 10 technology companies like AWS, Splunk, Intel, Western Digital, IBM and many others. Carol partnered with companies like Gitlab, Digital Ocean, Qualtrics, and others through their IPO processes, from developing corporate narratives and establishing their business-as-usual to C-suite speaker training and listing day media and digital activations. For the Highwire team, Carol oversees People and Culture with the highest priority on diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Highwire is committed to finding and elevating all voices as we nurture the next generation of communications leaders. Carol graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English, followed by Peace Corps service in Mali, West Africa, for more than two years. Carol began her career in tech at iPrint, the world's first online print shop. Before building Highwire PR with her two business partners, Carol held leadership positions at Porter Novelli, Fleishman Hillard, and Schwartz (now MSL). Carol's passion for technology transcends her professional career. She has been married for more than 20 years to one of the first engineers at iPrint. They live in San Francisco with three beautiful children and two dogs and spend as much time as possible at their home in the hills of Geyserville. Carol is a certified yoga instructor but enjoys vino as much as vinyasa.

Carreen Winters - Chief Strategy Officer

Job Titles:

Chief Strategy Officer
Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of MikeWorldWide 's Corporate Reputation

Carreen Winters is the Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of MikeWorldWide's Corporate Reputation practice. For nearly three decades, Carreen has served in an integral role building the agency's Corporate Reputation practice, including leadership of the firm's largest and longest standing client relationships. Carreen is recognized for her ability to develop insights swiftly in complex situations and for her strategic work for businesses in transformation, as well as deep expertise in crisis and issues management. As Chief Strategy Officer, Carreen leads thought leadership initiatives across the agency, evaluating new and emerging trends in business and society and their implications for communicators and the practice of public relations. She is the architect of some of MikeWorldWide's core methodologies, including the agency's CorpSumer TM philosophy, research, and thought leadership, which provides a roadmap for integration of Corporate Reputation and Brand Reputation. Additional noteworthy contributions include the development of MikeWorldWide's Crisis Action Protocol, with AI implementation for crisis planning and response, and creation of its CEO EquityBuilder and Social CEO programming which have been adopted across the agency's practices and categories. Carreen's expertise includes all aspects of corporate communications, including reputation management, corporate positioning, executive visibility, CSR and sustainability, issues and crisis management, labor relations, employer brand and employee communications, and change management. Carreen's industry experience is broad, from aviation and transportation, manufacturing, retail, and food and beverage, to financial and professional services. Carreen earned a B.A. from Villanova University, and was named to NJBIZ's 40 Under 40 for her expertise in crisis management and corporate restructuring. She was also named to PR News' inaugural Top Women in PR list and PR News' Blogger of the Year, and her client work has been recognized by every major award in the industry. A recognized author, blogger and speaker on reputation management, Carreen frequently provides expert commentary on reputation management, including serving as a regular commentator in The Wall Street Journal's "Crisis of the Week."

Catherine Hernandez-Blades

With 25 years of professional success in optimizing operations, driving revenues, decreasing expenses, and building high-performing diverse teams, Catherine Hernandez-Blades is a metrics-focused strategist, marketer, tactician and leader who understands the business side of the business. She is currently Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at SAIC. An acknowledged change agent, she spent the last 15 years building organizations from the ground up and orchestrating and implementing large-scale turnarounds in highly regulated industries for international public companies in the Fortune 500. Hernandez-Blades was named one of the Top 10 Corporate Executives of the Year by LATINA Style magazine and a Top Latino Executive in Corporate America by Latino Leaders magazine. Hernandez-Blades was recognized by PRWeek as a 2018 Outstanding In-House Professional. In 2017, she was inducted into the PRWeek Hall of Femme and the PR News Hall of Fame. She also won the World Communications Forum Davos "Relations of the Future" award. Under her leadership, Aflac's award-winning CSR program has also received top honors from the 2018 Public Relations Society of America's Silver Anvil Awards, The Holmes Report's 2018 SABRE Awards and PR News' 2018 Platinum PR Awards. Aflac also has been named PR News' Top Places to Work in PR for four consecutive years. The immediate past chair of Operation Homefront's board of directors, Hernandez-Blades is an officer with The Seminar, a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and an Institute of Public Relations Trustee. A past member of the Marketing 50/M50, she is currently a member of the Communications 50/C50 and serves on the Communications Advisory Board for the Ethisphere Institute. The co-author of three books, she has been recognized by ExecRank as a Top 30 CMO and is an Accredited Business Communicator. Hernandez-Blades earned a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is a Loyola University Environmental Communications Fellow.

Catherine J. Mathis

Job Titles:

Chief Communications Officer for McGraw - Hill

Catherine J. Mathis serves as Chief Communications Officer for McGraw-Hill, joining the company in May 2015. She is responsible for creating and executing corporate communication strategies targeted to critical business, media and education policy-related audiences, and also leads the company's influencer and stakeholder management efforts. Prior to her arrival at McGraw-Hill, Catherine served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. She was also a member of the Standard & Poor's executive committee. Before that, Catherine was Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for The New York Times Company, where she served as Chief Spokesperson. In 2006, Catherine was named Communicator of the Year by the New York chapter of International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Catherine serves on the Board of Overseers for the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, the Board of the Corporate Communication International Center at Baruch College, the Advisory Board of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms and the Board of Trustees of Hartley House, a New York-based social services organization. Catherine graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in business administration and an M.B.A. with a concentration in marketing and management information systems.

Charlene Wheeless

Job Titles:

C - Suite Leader
Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Page Society
Communications Expert

Charlene Wheeless is a renowned communications expert, author, and speaker with more than three decades of experience in business, corporate affairs, and communications. She leads her namesake communications and business advisory firm, Charlene Wheeless LLC and is the senior advisor for equity and justice at APCO Worldwide, a global advisory and advocacy communications consultancy. In this global role Wheeless is a senior leader and advisor to both APCO and its clients on issues of equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion. She also mentors, trains, and leads both internal and client-facing teams on these issues, as well as works directly with APCO clients on corporate purpose, crisis and issues management, internal communications, organizational change and diversity, equity and inclusion. Wheeless is a member of the APCO Worldwide International Advisory Council. Additionally, she partners as a senior counselor with Gagen MacDonald, a strategy execution firm and a longstanding APCO partner. A key voice in shaping the future of the communications profession, Wheeless is the chairman of the board of trustees for the Page Society, the world's leading professional association for senior public relations and corporate communications executives. Earlier, Wheeless served as the principal vice president of global corporate affairs for Bechtel Corporation, one of the leading engineering and construction companies in the world. Responsible for global communications, issues and reputation management, sustainability, stewardship, and public affairs, she is credited with transforming reputation and brand of the 120-year old, multi-billion-dollar global corporation. At Bechtel, she also served on the boards of the company's philanthropic foundation and political action committee. Wheeless is a true corporate athlete - one who strives for consistent, excellent performance over a long span of time and ready to take on any challenge. Throughout her career she has put her broad skillset to work to collaborate on corporate real estate deals, run a 700k sq. ft manufacturing facility, work with the DoD security service, develop employee morale programs and lead financial and M&A communications for publicly traded companies. Wheeless's business acumen has helped her develop a track record of successfully operating in large, complex organizations. As a C-suite leader, Wheeless has lived the experience of being a Black female executive at several global organizations. The accumulation of her skills and experiences has positioned her as a cornerstone in ensuring anti-racist practices, inclusivity, and diversity in corporate environments. Wheeless combines her extensive knowledge of leadership and communications, along with her skill in managing adversity to help others learn to retain authenticity in business and in life. A gifted speaker, Wheeless has presented at global business and industry events about societal issues, empowerment in corporate America, her "a-ha" career moment, the importance of being authentic, diversity beyond inclusion and much more. Most recently, Wheeless has appeared in several broadcasts and publications on the topic of social and racial injustice, including Chief Executive, Business Insider, Chief Learning Officer, CCO Podcast, and Thrive Global. Wheeless has been named by PR Week magazine as one of the 50 most influential PR professionals in the industry for five consecutive years. She was also named to the PR Hall of Femme, the PR Global Power Book and the 2017 Network Journal's "25 Influential Black Women in Business." In addition, she was named a Woman Worth Watching" by the nationally known Profiles in Diversity magazine and a "Women Who Mean Business" honoree by the Washington Business Journal. Her debut book, "You are Enough! Reclaiming your Career and Your Life with Purpose, Passion and Unapologetic Authenticity" is slated for publication in early 2021. The book details her experience as a Black, female executive and her courageous fight with cancer. The book features practical strategies for overcoming adversity from her lecture "Lessons from Being Invisible." Equally as committed to the community, Wheeless has served on regional and statewide councils focused on economic development, health and education. Currently, she is chair of the Board of Trustees for the HCA Reston (Virginia) hospital, a member of the Board of Trustees for the Institute for Public Relations and board member for the Page Center. She is the past chairman of the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and former board member for the George Washington University Virginia Campus, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Governor's Council on Early Childhood Education, and a former commissioner for the Virginia Economic Development Authority, among other organizations. Wheeless graduated from New Mexico State University with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and public relations. She earned a master's degree in public communications at American University in Washington, D.C., and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. She resides in Northern Virginia with her husband of 29 years with whom she shares two adult daughters.

Chris Foster

Job Titles:

CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group

Chris Foster is CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group. Prior to his current role, Chris was President of North America for BCW Global. He was also previously Burson-Marsteller's Worldwide Executive Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer. Chris worked with the agency's CEO and regional leaders on strategic growth initiatives, executive-level client counsel, and business development across the global enterprise. Chris has led national and global public awareness and communications campaigns for organizations such as the U.S Department of Defense, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Social Security Administration, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Amgen and Intel. He specializes in working with the federal government and private companies on understanding reputation risk and leveraging communications analytics to drive enterprise wide strategy. Prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, he was Senior Vice President & Partner at Booz Allen Hamilton, working in both the firm's government and commercial market sectors. Chris is on the Board of Directors of a variety of organizations, including The International Association for Measurement of Communications (AMEC), Inroads, INC., The LAGRANT Foundation, The Institute for Public Relations (IPR), and Burgundy Farms Country Day School. He is also a current member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC). Chris was on PRWeek's 40 Under 40 list in 2008, and he has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University School of Continuing Studies, University of Maryland, School of Journalism and Western Kentucky University.

Chris Talley

Chris Talley was chief communications officer and senior vice president of Corporate Communications at USAA. He led USAA's communication strategy, reputation management, and internal and external communications. Chris holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Baylor University and an MBA from the Colorado campus of the University of Phoenix.

Christine Elliott

Job Titles:

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Moody's
Moody 's in 2021 As a Managing Director and Global Head of Communications and Branding

Christine Elliott is Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Moody's Corporation - she is also a member of the Executive Leadership Team. In this role, Ms. Elliott is primarily responsible for leading a team focused on evolving, advancing, and fortifying the Moody's brand globally with key stakeholders, including customers, employees, policymakers, regulators, and the media. Her team includes Communications & Brand Management, Corporate Social Responsibility (including The Moody's Foundation), as well as Government Relations & Regulatory Affairs. The Global Corporate Affairs function aligns Moody's internal and external voice, brand, and relationships to deepen understanding of the company's unique value proposition as a global integrated risk assessment firm in addressing corporate, financial, and economic challenges. Ms. Elliott joined Moody's in 2021 as a Managing Director and Global Head of Communications and Branding. Prior to Moody's, Ms. Elliott was Executive Vice President, Worldwide Communications at Mastercard and Chief Communications Officer at S&P Global. She has also held senior communications roles at American Express, including as Chief Communications Officer for American Express Global Business Travel. Earlier in her career she was a journalist for ABC News, where she earned an Emmy award. Ms. Elliott earned a B.A. in Communications and Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Cortney Stapleton

Job Titles:

CEO and Owner of the Bliss Group

Cortney is CEO and owner of The Bliss Group, a mid-sized marketing communications firm. She works with companies in technology, healthcare, financial and professional services; using data and analytics to understand what is moving clients' prospects to action. Cortney's passion is supporting brands in their journey towards identifying and fulfilling a core purpose that drives change in the world. Her background in issues management has rendered her adept at marketing people, ideas and expertise. Cortney has provided senior counsel to Fortune 50 companies looking for full funnel marketing programs as well as start-ups transforming their industries and middle market companies who want to use AI and analytics to tell meaningful stories. Cortney also helped launch Bliss Impact, representing one of the founding members of purposewerx, the first collective of marketing and consulting firms focused solely on purpose-driven solutions for clients. Bliss Impact helps companies understand their purpose and how to have a more positive impact on the world. Cortney, with several of her trusted industry colleagues and former clients, started Exponent Women over five years ago, an overt networking organization for senior women in the merger and acquisition community. Prior to her career in marketing and PR, Cortney worked in the non-profit sector and for the state government of Vermont. She held board positions for the Council on Accreditation, which accredits thousands of health and human services organizations in the US, Social Current, focused on setting DEI standards for the social sector nationally, Alliance for Strong Families and Communities and Red Light Children, an anti-child trafficking organization. She has done pro-bono work with universities and the United Nations. Cortney has been named to PR News' Top Women in PR list. She graduated magna cum laude from New York University with a MS in international relations and earned a BA in political science and environmental studies from St. Michael's College. Her studies brought her to three continents. She resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two sons.

Dave Scholz

Job Titles:

Chief Strategy Officer and Member of Leger's General Management Team and Responsible for Leger 's US

Dave Scholz is an Chief Strategy Officer and member of Leger's General Management Team and responsible for Leger's US offices. Leger is the largest Canadian-owned research company with offices across Canada and the US. For more than 25 years Dave has specialized in reputation and communications research and created Leger's public relations research practice. Dave is also an Adjunct Professor at McMaster University's Master of Communications Management program for the past sixteen years, a Past-President of the Canadian Public Relations Society's Toronto Chapter and a Board trustee at the Institute for Public Relations.

Deidre H. Campbell

Job Titles:

Global Chair of Edelman Smithfield 's Financial Services Sector

Deidre H. Campbell is the Global Chair of Edelman Smithfield's Financial Services Sector, comprising 350 executives in 33 offices. Focused on building trusted relationships with key stakeholders, the team partners with financial services companies around the world to evolve their communications and marketing. For the last 25 years, Deidre has designed results-oriented programs encompassing traditional/social media relations, executive communications, social impact, stakeholder mapping, content creation and digital activations.

Diana Littman

Job Titles:

Vice Chair

Diana Littman is on a personal mission to reimagine what public relations can accomplish - especially when data, culture and creativity are at its core - and what a communications agency looks like. As CEO of MSL U.S., Diana leads the award-winning agency known for its sophisticated earned and influencer engagement work and world class client roster including Procter & Gamble, GM, Lilly, J.M. Smucker, Lilly, Gilead and KitchenAid to name a few. With deep expertise in corporate and brand communications alike, MSL is a fundamental part of Publicis Groupe's integrated model and sits on key executive teams within Publicis U.S. She works closely with the Publicis Groupe executive team and reports to Arthur Sadoun, global chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe. Since joining MSL two years ago, Diana and her teams have pushed category boundaries, changed conversations and culture, and delivered meaningful reputation and business growth through marketing driven communications and communications driven marketing. From its Leadership Index that help propel executives into industry visionaries to its investment in a fluid and advanced tech stack for real impact to its commitment to improving diversity and inclusion in the influencer marketing space, Diana's entrepreneurial spirit and obsession with accelerating transformation runs through the agency's DNA. MSL was recognized as PRovoke's North America Consumer Agency of the Year in 2020 and for two consecutive years Diana was named to PRWeek's Power List. She is a two- time honoree on the PRWeek and MM&M Health Influencer 50, has been on PRovoke's 15 to Watch List and was a PRWeek 40 Under 40 in 2010. Her clients and work have been widely recognized in the industry with SABRE Awards, Effie Awards, Cannes Lions, PRWeek Awards, MM&M Awards and many more. Prior to joining MSL, Diana was Chief Integration Officer (a first-in-the-industry role that is now ubiquitous) at Marina Maher Communications/Omnicom focused on reinventing the way public relations works with marketing, data, digital and creative driving her passion for delivering bigger programming and bigger impact. She also spent a decade at Cohn & Wolfe/WPP (now known as BCW global).

Diane Schwartz

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer of Ragan Communications

Diane Schwartz is the Chief Executive Officer of Ragan Communications, a media company that serves communicators with best-in-class events, training, peer-to-peer gatherings and award-winning service journalism via the Ragan and PR Daily brands. Signature conferences cover topics ranging from crisis management to internal communications to PR measurement to employee experience. The Ragan Communications Leadership Council is the premier membership organization for internal communications leaders; and Ragan Training is one of the most-used online training portals for communicators. She joined Ragan after 23 years at Access Intelligence, where she was senior vice president and group publisher of the Media Communications Group. She led the group to unprecedented growth, overseeing brands including PR News, Cynopsis, AdExchanger, Admonsters, Social Shakeup and Folio. Diane has launched more than 100 conferences, web sites, publications, awards programs, books and e-media ventures. Her board experience includes The Institute for Public Relations, the Alliance for Women in Media, the Specialized Information Publishers Association and American Business Media. She is a volunteer for Make-A-Wish and Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County. She lives in Wilton, Connecticut, has two children, a dog and one husband. Check out Ragan Communications at www.ragan.com

Doug Pinkham

Job Titles:

Patino Associate

Dr. Bey-Ling Sha

Job Titles:

California State University, Fullerton

Dr. Cen April Yue

Job Titles:

Chief Research Editor

Dr. Chuck Wallington

Job Titles:

Cone Health
Member of Our Enterprise Leadership Team

Chuck Wallington, Ph.D., is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Cone Health.. In this role, Chuck is now a member of our Enterprise Leadership Team, partnering to set the strategy for Cone Health and serving as one of our system's key senior leaders. The elevation of this role reflects the strategic importance of marketing and communications to the achievement of our purpose, vision, and strategic priorities. He and his team continue to differentiate Cone Health and build awareness of our services by providing strategic marketing and communications support for our key priorities related to people, culture, patient value, access, and growth. Since joining Cone Health in April 2011, Chuck has built a talented team of professionals focused on providing strategic marketing and communications support for our sites, service lines and key initiatives such as Reinventing Care. Under Chuck's leadership, this team has launched award-winning advertising campaigns, including one focused on sharing our patients' stories of exceptional care. Chuck brings more than 30 years of marketing and communications experience in a variety of sectors, including health care, consumer packaged goods and financial services. Prior to joining Cone Health, he was a vice president at American Express. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Chuck has a master's degree in communications management from Syracuse University and is pursuing his doctorate in leadership studies at North Carolina A&T State University. He is a trustee of the national Institute for Public Relations, a board member of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, a leader at St. James Presbyterian Church, and a member of two fraternal service organizations, Sigma Pi Phi and Alpha Phi Alpha, for which he serves as president of the local chapter.

Dr. Damion Waymer

Damion Waymer, a native of Orangeburg, SC, is the Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina. Prior to this appointment, he held varied administrative roles including the Senior Associate Dean of the College of Communication & Information Sciences as well as the as Department Chair of Advertising & Public Relations at The University of Alabama. Waymer is a scholar and administrator who is committed to access, advancement, and faculty development. Waymer led aggressive faculty recruitment and retention initiatives in his role as Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, Development & Diversity at the University of Cincinnati. He spearheaded new faculty development opportunities, and he created annual university-level awards such as the Provost Exemplary Department Award where top departments were recognized for their excellence in a pre-determined area. Additionally, while at the University of Cincinnati, he managed signature faculty recruitment and retention initiatives such as the Dual Career Assistance program-a program designed to help the partners of recruited faculty members find employment within and outside of the University; the Strategic Hiring Opportunity Program-a program designed to purposefully increase the gender and racial and ethnic diversity of the University's faculty; and the Cluster Hiring Initiative-a cross-disciplinary faculty recruitment initiative designed to harness the power of faculty members in targeted areas in an attempt to help solve the world's biggest challenges through leading-edge research and interdisciplinary collaborations. In sum, Waymer successfully led these initiatives, with an annual budget of approximately $7 million. Waymer is a seasoned communication researcher and practitioner who has conducted, for nearly two decades, high quality, internationally respected research in the contexts of public relations, crisis communication, corporate social responsibility (CSR), branding, and strategic communication. He earned his BA degree in Corporate Communication from the College of Charleston and MA and Ph.D. degrees from the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. Waymer has held faculty appointments at leading research institutions such as Virginia Tech, University of Cincinnati, and Texas A&M University. He and his family currently reside in Columbia, SC.

Dr. Don W. Stacks

Job Titles:

Communication Consultant

Don W. Stacks, Ph.D., is Professor Public Relations in the School of Communication at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL. He served as program director from 1995 to 2009. As director he took the program into the top 25 undergraduate and top 15 graduate public relations programs in the United States with a focus on strategic communication and research. He served as Associate Dean for Research from 2009 to 2011. Dr. Stacks received his B.A. ('71) from Northern Michigan University, M.A. (‘75) from the Auburn University, and Ph.D. ('78) from the University of Florida. Prior to receiving his M.A., he spent three years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Alexandria, VA, and Washington, DC. His first academic posting was at the University of South Alabama in 1978. Stacks then moved to the University of Alabama in 1985, and his present position at the University of Miami in 1990. Stacks spent one term and the University of Georgia during the 1984-85 academic year and another at the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 1989-1990 academic year. He has written more than 150 scholarly articles and papers. His awards include the Ralph Nichols Award for research in Listening (1984); the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education awarded Stacks its 1999 "Pathfinder Award." He was selected as the recipient of the University of Miami's "Provost's Award for Outstanding Research and Theory" in 1999. The Public Relations Society of America named him Outstanding Educator in 2003 and the recipient of the Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize in 2005. In 1992 he was named "Outstanding Professor" by University of Miami students. In 2007 he was elected as an Eastern Communication Association "Distinguished Research Fellow" and "Distinguished Teaching Fellow" in 2008. Dr. Stacks was recently elected to the first class of the Institute for Public Relations' Research Fellows. He was selected as a "Senior Fellow" in 2010 of the Society for New Communications Research. He was awarded the National Communication Association's 2011 PRIDE award (his second) for his co-authored with David Michaelson text, A Practitioner's Guide to Public Relations Research, Measurement and Evaluation, the top textbook for that year. He was recently awarded the PR.PRO Award for Excellence for his work in supporting and advancing public relations practice in Southeast Europe. Most recently, Dr. Stacks was inducted into the PR News' Measurement Hall of Fame. Dr. Stacks has been an active communication consultant for over 30 years. His areas of expertise include organizational systems assessment, sociological/psychological organizational analysis, media relations, internal organizational communications, leadership, as well as serving as a trained listening specialist. His clients include a variety of organizations, to include School Employees Trust, Allstate Insurance, Columbia Energy Group, Energy Automation Services, Broward Public Schools, American Electric Power, and the University of Miami. Dr. Stacks has authored or coauthored seven books on communication topics, to include the award winning Primer of Public Relations Research, the National Communication Association's PRIDE award and was named the Measurement Standard's "measurement tool" for 2003. He edited the 2002 and 2007 Dictionary of Public Relations Research and Measurement. Dr. Stacks served as Vice President for Research for Market Analysis Research of Mobile, Alabama, from 1979 to 1980. MAR's clients included First Alabama Bank, for which MAR conducted the initial research on customer perceptions of the use of ATM machines, marketing surveys for a variety of clients in south Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi, and conducted internal corporate research for Federated Stores. MAR employed a variety of communication research methods and was one of the first research firms to include sociometric analysis in its toolbox. He is a member of The Arthur W. Page Society, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the International Listening Association, International Public Relations Association, and the National Communication Association. He serves on the editorial boards of most premier communication and public relations journals and directs the annual International Public Relations Research Conference, the only research conference focusing purely on public relations research. Stacks serves as trustee for the Institute for Public Relations, and is on the Boards of the International Public Relations Association, the Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation, and served for 10 years on the Commission on Public Relations Education's board.

Dr. Donald K. Wright

Job Titles:

Consultant With Many Fortune 500

Donald K. Wright, Ph.D., is the Harold Burson Professor and Chair in Public Relations at Boston University's College of Communication, the world's first degree-granting institution in public relations. He is one of the most published public relations scholars in the areas of ethics, employee communication and social media, and is an internationally known professor, author, speaker, researcher, advisor, and corporate communications consultant. In addition to teaching, conducting scholarly and applied research, and lecturing in more than 30 countries on five continents, Professor Wright has worked full-time in corporate, agency and university public relations, and has been a communications consultant for more than three decades. PR Week magazine has recognized him both as one of the Top 10 public relations educators in the United States and as one of the "15 Leading Lights" in US public relations. He is a long time member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Public Relations, an independent foundation dedicated to exploring the science beneath the art of public relations. Since 1989 he has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arthur W. Page Society, a select membership organization of senior-level public relations and corporate communications executives who seek to enrich and strengthen their profession. Dr. Wright is one of only two full-time academics ever elected President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), a professional society with members in more than 100 countries. He is past chair of the Institute's Commission on Public Relations Measurement and Evaluation and the founding Editor of Public Relations Journal, the world's first quarterly open-access peer reviewed electronic research journal published by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). He is active as a consultant in public opinion research, employee communications, organizational ethics, professional development as well as management and structure of the corporate communications function. Dr. Wright has worked as a consultant with many Fortune 500 clients including Bayer, Ciba-Geigy, Deer & Company, FedEx, Fidelity Investments, Florida Power, Fluor, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, International Truck and Engine Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Miles Laboratories, Nortel (Northern Telecom), Siemens, U.S. Postal Service, United Technologies and Westinghouse. A former daily newspaper reporter, weekly newspaper editor and broadcast journalist, Dr. Wright is a member of the Advisory Board of Echo Research Ltd., one of the world's leading providers of reputation analysis and stakeholder research. Since 1992, Dr. Wright has directed the Chicago-based Public Relations Executive Forum, a highly successful, annual, professional development seminar program designed especially for high-performing, mid-career corporate communications and public relations managers who report to senior corporate communications officers. The Executive Forum is cosponsored by the Institute and the Page Society and more than 400 aspiring public relations executives have attended this seminar program from about 150 different companies including Aetna, Allstate, AT&T, Ameritech, Bank of America, Boeing, Cephalon, Chrysler, DuPont, FedEx, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, McDonnell Douglas, Motorola, Philip Morris, Praxair, R.J. Reynolds, Rockwell Automation, Sears, Swiss Re, Tellabs, Unisys, UPS, USG, Whirlpool and Xerox. He now also directs the Public Relations Leadership Forum, a similar seminar program cosponsored by the Institute, Page and the Council of Public Relations Firms. Dr. Wright also directs the annual Summit on Corporate Communications and Summit on Measurement for the Institute for Public Relations. He has received numerous awards including the Distinguished Service Award from the Arthur W. Page Society, the Pathfinder Award for research excellence from the Institute for Public Relations and both the Outstanding Educator Award and the Jackson Jackson & Wagner Behavioral Science Prize from PRSA. Dr. Wright holds a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota. His M.A. is from California State University, Fresno, and his B.A. degree was awarded by Washington State University. He is a Research Fellow of the Institute for Public Relations, an accredited member of PRSA, a PRSA Fellow, an IPRA Fellow and an IPRA Member Emeritus.