Speakers

Michael Adams

Vice President, Innovation, Sustainability and Marketing, WinCup

Bradley Akubuiro

Partner, Bully Pulpit International

Lucy Baker

Creative Director, Earnies

Sylvia Banderas

Executive Vice President, People, Talent & Upskilling, 4As

Sylvia Banderas Coffinet is an award-winning, seasoned executive recognized for her unique ability to transform culture, build inclusive talent ecosystems, and drive organizational growth at scale.

As the 4As new EVP, Banderas Coffinet will focus on placing people at the center of the industry's transformation and will drive a bold, end-to-end talent and learning agenda that reimagines how the 4As equips agencies to support next generation talent. This includes expanding the impact of the 4As Foundation, elevating flagship programs such as MAIP and Vanguard and spearheading new learning and upskilling platforms designed for a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Prior to the 4As, Banderas Coffinet has held senior leadership positions at marquee brands including Town & Country, People en Español, Hello & Hola Media Inc. and the Vox Media portfolio and is a nationally recognized authority on multicultural and diverse market cohorts.

Kathryn Beiser

, Global Communications Leader

Jessica Berk Ross

Managing Partner, Public Affairs, FINN Partners

Jacqueline Bosselaar

CEO, Founder, Strategist, HPB | Het PR Bureau

Kristine Boyden

CEO, Americas, Burson

Melissa Brotz

Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and External Affairs, Abbott

Melissa is Abbott’s Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and External Affairs, serving as Abbott’s chief marketing, communications, and sustainability officer. She also serves as President of the Abbott Fund, Abbott’s philanthropic foundation.

Melissa was appointed to her current role in November 2024. She served as Vice President, Global Marketing and External Affairs beginning in September 2018. She joined Abbott in 1996, after several years with leading public relations agencies, and rose through a series of positions in its pharmaceuticals business and corporate office.

Shauna Brueggen

EVP, Golin

Josh Budd

CCO, Citizen Relations

Jano Cabrera

Chief Communications Officer, General Mills

Jano Cabrera is a triathlete in the world of communications, combining a senior background in government and public affairs, global consulting and in-house corporate relations. 

In 2021, he was inducted into the PR Hall of Fame. He has been repeatedly named among the most influential leaders in Public Relations today by PR Week in their annual Power List. Twice, both at McDonald's and General Mills, his team's PR work was recognized with the prestigious Cannes Golden Lion.

He is a trustee for the PR Museum and the University of Florida's School of Journalism and Communications.

Today, Jano is the Chief Communications Officer for General Mills where he oversees the entirety of communications for the company.

Previously, he served as Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations for the McDonald's Corporation where he focused on strengthening the company's brand reputation, driving consumer engagement and overseeing global media relations. Before McDonald's, Jano served as Worldwide Vice President for Burson. There, he worked across various offerings - global strategy, public and government affairs, crisis response and preparedness, advertising, digital and social engagement, messaging research and consumer brand marketing - to ensure the firm pursued new opportunities and serviced its existing clients in an integrated, strategic and ideas-driven way. 

Prior to Burson, Jano founded Carthage Group Communications, a strategic communications, government affairs and issue advocacy firm. The firm advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Grameen Bank and America Votes, the nation’s then largest political action organization.

In 2005, Jano lived in Baghdad, Iraq and through the National Democratic Institute worked daily with members of the Transition National Assembly on the Iraqi constitution and the historic purple-finger elections in December. 

During the 2004 campaign, Jano served as the Communication Director for the Democratic Party. During the primaries, he was the national spokesman for the Joe Lieberman for President campaign. He also served as a national spokesman for Vice President Al Gore from 1998 to 2002, working at the White House, on Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and for Gore’s political action committee during the 2002 midterms. Prior to presidential politics, Jano worked on Capitol Hill. 

Jano also advised the Recording Industry Association of America during the Napster trial and their transition into the digital marketplace. 

He is a graduate of Pomona College, a marathoner and a proud husband and father. And tolerant of his troublesome cat. 

Craig E. Carroll, PhD

Founder, Observatory on Corporate Reputation

JJ Carter

Global President and CEO, FleishmanHillard

Rod Cartwright

Founder, Rod Cartwright Consulting

Rod Cartwright is a highly-regarded independent, board-level advisor specialising in issues, crisis, reputation, risk and resilience.

He went independent in 2019, following an acclaimed 25-year global PR agency career, which encompassed UK, European and global leadership roles at agencies including GCI, Text100, Hill & Knowlton and Ketchum.

His frontline crisis experience includes advising the leadership of Malaysia Airlines following the disappearance of Flight MH370 in 2014.

He is also a Visiting Fellow at Cardiff University’s Centre for Media & Public Communication, Special Advisor to the CIPR Crisis Communications Network and CIPR Independent PR Practitioner of the Year 2025.

Rachel Catanach

Global Managing Director, Corporate Affairs, FleishmanHillard

Patrick Chaupham

Head of Applied Innovation + I/O Consulting, Weber Shandwick

Patrick brings to I/O clients 25 years of experience as an innovation strategist, fueled by a client-first mindset, emerging tech expertise and hacker orientation. He accelerates and activates Gen AI for Fortune 500 companies, deploying first-of-their-kind client pilots that drive business transformation. Recognized for his contributions to creativity and technology, Patrick served as a juror for the Cannes Innovation Lions and was named a Top 25 Innovator by The Holmes Report.

Nikki Collins

Founder, Earnies

Caroline Dettman

Chief Marketing & Head of Growth Operations, Interim, World Business Chicago

Caroline Dettman is a global marketing executive and “idea whisperer” who builds brands that drive fandom, cultural relevance, and commercial growth. She currently leads Chicago’s economic marketing strategy as Interim Chief Marketing & Head of Growth Operations at World Business Chicago, where she is focused on attracting businesses, talent, and tourism. Previously, as Chief Marketing & Creative Officer at The Female Quotient, she fueled 490% growth, doubled enterprise partnerships, and scaled the company into one of North America’s fastest-growing brands on social media. Over her career, her work for brands such as McDonald’s, LinkedIn, and Hyatt has been recognized by Fast Company—including honors such as Most Innovative Companies (2022) and Brands With Purpose (2024)—and has helped define how purpose-driven brands win in the modern economy.

Russell Dubner

Global Chief Communications Officer, Boston Consulting Group

Russell Dubner is the Global Leader of the Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Trust & Stakeholder Strategies business and the firm’s Global Chief Communications Officer. Russell's approach to client engagements includes a proprietary, diagnostic-led approach that positions trust not only as a risk-mitigation tool but as a source of competitive advantage.

In addition to his leadership in trust and stakeholder engagement, Russell also advices communications and corporate affairs functions in their GenAI transformation journey —helping leaders reimagine capabilities, processes, and impact through emerging technologies.

BCG’s Trust & Stakeholder Strategies leverages advanced diagnostics to assess trust health, prioritize risk, and align stakeholder engagement strategies across investors, employees, customers, lawmakers, media, and more. Russell has been instrumental in embedding this multi-stakeholder approach into clients’ enterprise agendas and value creation strategies.

He advises global CEOs and leadership teams at critical inflection points — from brand repositioning to operational transformation — guiding them on how to engage stakeholders with strategic precision.

Russell holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Franklin & Marshall College.

He currently sits on the boards of the Center for an Urban Future and is a member of YPO’s Gotham Chapter. Outside of work, Russell enjoys tennis, judo, and spending time with his family of five, including his wife of twenty years, Jessica.

Corey duBrowa

Global CEO, Burson

Corey duBrowa is the global CEO of Burson, the global communications leader purpose-built to create value for clients through reputation. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of Burson’s parent company WPP plc, the creative transformation company.

Corey brings a 30-year career at brands, technology companies and agencies to his role leading the flagship Burson and Burson Group of companies, which includes Axicom, earned-first global communications agency for tech brands and brands with a tech story; Burson Buchanan, the financial communications and capital markets advisory firm; GCI Health, the global healthcare specialty communications agency inspired by people; and Hill & Knowlton, the full-service global firm and proven partner for business and brand transformation, providing strategic communication, marketing and corporate affairs solutions.

Before Burson, Corey was Global CEO of BCW and the BCW Group of companies. He came to BCW after spending five years as Vice President of Global Communications and Public Affairs at Google and parent company Alphabet. Before his tenure at Google, Corey was Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Salesforce, and spent seven years at Starbucks as Senior Vice President of Global Communications. He has extensive agency experience from his time at Waggener Edstrom and Ketchum Public Relations, having begun his career in employee communications at Nike.

His multiple industry awards over the past 25 years include six SABREs, four PRWeek Global Awards and three PRSA Silver Anvils, and he has been inducted into the PR News Hall of Fame. He currently serves on the University of Oregon Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the PR Museum’s Board of Trustees. He was a trustee of the Arthur W. Page Society for five years and a founding member of the USC Annenberg School’s Board of Advisors. Corey was a music journalist for two decades, with more than a thousand bylines in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to GQ. In 2024, he published his first book, “An Ideal for Living: A Celebration of the E.P. – Extended Play.”

Corey earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Oregon.

Justin Eure

Senior Global Communications Manager, Lenovo

Lindsey Firth

UK Communications Lead, Uniper

Lívia Gammardella

Head of Marketing and Social Media, LatAm Intersect PR

Amanda Glasgow

Chief Communications Officer, Logitech

David Hallisey

Strategic Advisor & Consultant, Nepenthe Solutions

Matthew Harrington

Executive Vice Chairman, Edelman

Matthew J. Harrington is Executive Vice Chairman of Edelman. Previously, he served as the firm’s President and Global Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the firm's operating regions – the United States, Canada & Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa – as well as our People, Citizenship and Sustainability efforts. He also was responsible for our Solutions practices (Digital, Creative, Strategy & Planning and DxI) as well as our financial communications advisory, Edelman Smithfield.

During his four decades with the firm, Edelman has grown tenfold. Matthew has worked closely with the leadership teams of the firm’s largest clients, including several with 30+ year relationships and helped to elevate the role of communications. A trusted C-suite adviser, Matthew is a specialist in corporate positioning and reputation management initiatives across a range of matters, including crisis communications, M&A and corporate transformations as well as executive transitions.

He speaks regularly on Trust in institutions and the nature of today’s multi-stakeholder business environment and has been a participant of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos for more than a decade.

Matthew’s previous roles with Edelman include president of the U.S., and president of the Eastern and Western regions. He also led Edelman’s initiative to create a Code of Conduct, a first of its kind in the sector.

Matthew is a graduate of Denison University, where he serves on the Board of Trustees. He is an advisory member of the Marketing 50 and serves on the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication’s Board of Advisors and the Board of the 4A's. He also serves on the board of The Picturehouse Regional Film Center and the Emeritus Board of the Classic Stage Company.

Sebastian Hejnowski

Head of Eastern EMEA, SEC Newgate CEE

Paul Holmes

Founder & CEO, PRovoke Media

Mike Houston

Partner & US CEO, LLYC

As U.S. CEO of Lambert by LLYC, Mike Houston leads the firm’s U.S. operations, overseeing business strategy, financial performance, and growth across key markets. A visionary strategist at the intersection of data, creativity, and technology, Houston is guiding Lambert by LLYC through a period of rapid transformation—helping clients and teams alike harness the potential of artificial intelligence to elevate storytelling, marketing, and stakeholder engagement.

With nearly two decades of experience spanning investor relations, marketing, and product innovation, Houston brings a rare blend of analytical precision and creative insight to every challenge. He began his career at Lambert, later advancing into leadership roles in both public and private companies before returning to drive the firm’s integrated marketing evolution. Prior to rejoining Lambert by LLYC, he served as Vice President of Marketing for America Corporation, where he led global sales, marketing, and communications, and held senior investor relations roles at Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics.

Houston holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Utah and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. Passionate about the evolving relationship between human ingenuity and machine intelligence, he continues to explore how imagination and AI together can reshape the future of marketing.

Susan Howe

CEO, The Weber Shandwick Collective

Susan Howe is Chief Executive Officer of The Weber Shandwick Collective (TWSC), the leading earned-first strategic communications and consulting network spanning nearly 60 global locations.  

Under her leadership, TWSC serves Fortune 500 companies across every major industry sector, earning coveted recognition such as PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year and PRovoke’s Global Agency of the Decade, as well as being named to Ad Age’s Agency A-list and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, multiple times. TWSC has been awarded 250+ Cannes Lions and counting.  

Recognized as “the most powerful woman in the PR agency world” by PR Week, Susan has been a key driver of TWSC’s growth and continues to advise top partners like Kellanova, Nestlé and Anheuser-Busch. As CEO, Susan has led the expansion of the agency’s offerings, including Weber I/O, which integrates data, technology and AI into marketing and communications strategies; Weber Advisory, a unified approach to corporate and public affairs; and Weber Create, an influencer marketing platform that combines Acxiom data with cultural insight to drive commercial impact.  

Susan’s infinite optimism, passion for ideas and unmatched drive for impactful business results have earned her honors like being named an Ad Age Leading Women honoree, a PRWeek Global Agency Professional of the Year and to PRWeek’s Power List.  

Susan is a member of Fortune’s CEO Initiative and the CNBC CEO Council. She also serves on Northwestern University’s Board of Trustees, Northwestern Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Sheppard Pratt Foundation Board. She is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. 

Susan and her husband live in Chicago where she is a devoted aunt, certified yoga instructor and avid baseball fan.  

Dr. Chevy Humphrey

President and CEO, Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

Chevy Humphrey, DBA, has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry (Griffin MSI) since January 2021. In this role, she oversees all aspects of executing the strategic vision of Griffin MSI, including guest experience, transformational exhibits, education programming, community engagement, and financial sustainability and growth.

Dr. Humphrey is an international leader in the field of informal science education. Before joining Griffin MSI, she served for 15 years as CEO of Arizona Science Center. She serves as the Past Chair of the Board of the American Alliance of Museums, the world's largest museum association, serving 35,000 members. She is Past Chair of the Board of the Association of Science and Technology Centers, which serves more than 500 science centers in more than 50 countries and has also served as the Chair of the Selection and Annual Review Committee for the National Science Foundation's then-largest informal science initiative, Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE-Net).

Dr. Humphrey has a long history of serving on a wide variety of boards. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory, a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by U-Chicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. She also serves on the Economic Club of Chicago, Choose Chicago, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, the Sandra Day O'Connor Institute, Helios Education Foundation, and Education Forward Arizona. She is Director and Chair of the Compensation Committee for Grand Canyon Education, Inc., a $3.2B market cap education services company that provides a full array of services in the post-secondary education market (NASDAQ: LOPE).

A compassionate business leader and mentor, Dr. Humphrey has been named a Visionary Leader by the Women's National Basketball Association. The Phoenix Business Journal named her one of its Most Admired CEOs and she was their first awardee in 2017 as its Mentor of the Year. She also received the ATHENA award from the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Humphrey was named to Crain's Chicago Business's 2023 Notable Women in STEM list and its 2023 Who's Who list; she participated in Leadership Greater Chicago's Daniel Burnham Fellowship, and she has received numerous awards from Chicago community organizations, including Girls Inc. Chicago's 2023 Strong Smart Bold award and the Illinois Black Chamber, Cook County Black Chamber and Garfield Park Chamber of Commerce's 2022 Business Leader of the Year award.

Dr. Humphrey is originally from Houston, Texas. She earned a Doctorate in Business Administration from Grand Canyon University and an honorary Doctor of Science and Technology degree from the University of Advancing Technology. She holds a Master of Business Administration—with specializations in innovation entrepreneurship and marketing—from Northeastern University and a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Marketing from the University of Phoenix. Dr. Humphrey also received Executive Education certifications from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and Yale School of Management.

Dustin Johnson

Global Chief Commercial & Innovation Officer, Weber Shandwick

As the Global Lead of Weber I/O, Dustin oversees the agency’s analytics, data science, performance media, experiential technology and AI advisory capabilities. With over 20 years of experience across industry, agency and management consulting, Dustin is recognized for driving digital transformation and operational excellence for Fortune 500 clients. He has held senior roles at PwC, Microsoft, Cision and Edelman, consistently delivering innovation and measurable growth.

Nina Kalos

EVP, General Manager, Veritas Communications

Christopher Krautler

Head of Consumer Communications, Grubhub

David Krejci

Partner, FINN Partners

David is a digital innovator and crisis expert leading FINN Partners' Media Forensics group, specializing in narrative manipulation and modern media challenges.

His 30-year career uniquely bridges crisis management and digital strategy. He's guided major clients including Pepsi, Google, the U.S. Army, Microsoft, Abbott Industries, Royal Caribbean, and the Federal Reserve through complex technology and information landscapes.

After spending a decade leading digital communications and managing 30+ creative professionals, a 2009 Twitter attack on his client, the U.S. Census, pivoted his career focus. Since then, David has pioneered solutions for disruptive technologies: creating the industry's first crisis simulation tool (2010), introducing Media Forensics methodology to combat misinformation (2015), and developing AI-augmented solutions Canary and AIristotle (2025).

His innovations have earned multiple industry awards, including PR Innovation of the Year from PR WEEK and Social Media Innovator of the Year from Bulldog Reporter.

Erin Lanuti

Chief Innovation Officer, Omnicom Public Relations Group

Kayla Marrero

Account Executive, Adfero

Michael Maslansky

CEO, Maslansky + Partners

Ammie Matte

Creative Strategist, TurboTax

Philips McCarty

President, The Mental Health Coalition

Philips McCarty has more than two decades of leadership at the intersection of social impact, brand innovation, and institutional advancement. As President of The Mental Health Coalition (MHC), he leads a national movement uniting brands, nonprofits, and cultural leaders to end stigma and expand access to mental health care through creative collaboration, strategic partnerships, and advocacy. Under his leadership, MHC is redefining how industries work together to advance mental health equity and build a culture of openness and support.

Previously, McCarty served as Vice President for Advancement at the Fashion

Institute of Technology (FIT) and Executive Director of the FIT Foundation, where he led transformational growth in philanthropy, sustainability, and social impact

investment. He launched FIT’s first Social Justice Center. Prior to FIT, McCarty served as Executive Managing Director of The Elizabeth Taylor Trust, where he oversaw the strategic rebranding and evolution of the organization into House of Taylor, revitalizing one of the world’s most iconic personal brands to align with Elizabeth Taylor’s legacy of advocacy and style. Earlier, he led Corporate Alliances at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and is the Founder and CEO of Good Scout Group. He is also a certified leader in Sustainable Capitalism and ESG through UC Berkeley School of Law, McCarty also serves on the advisory board of the Biophilic Institute, reinforcing his commitment to sustainability and human-centered design.

Philip McGowan

Partner, FINN Partners

Doug McGraw

Chief Communications Officer , JetBlue

Doug McGraw is JetBlue’s chief communication officer, overseeing the company’s internal and external communications strategy, including crewmember communications, media relations, reputation management, leader engagement, and business communications.

Doug joined JetBlue in 2014 as director, corporate communications, leading media relations and external communications, and in 2016, he assumed responsibility for the airline’s frontline crewmember operational communications. In 2018, he was promoted to vice president, corporate communications.

Prior to JetBlue, Doug spent 15 years at FleishmanHillard, where he most recently served as senior vice president and partner in the New York office counseling a range of clients and sectors.

He is a graduate of St. Louis University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Elsie Merhi

Independent Consultant, Digital Transformation & AI, Accenture Alumni

Elsie Merhi is a recognized PRovoke Media Young Changemaker and a Top 50 Marketer in the UAE, shaping the next decade of communications. As a Digital Transformation Consultant and AI Growth Strategist, she has guided strategies for some of the world’s most influential brands across leading agencies such as OMD and JWT. Her AI expertise, honed through focused training at Accenture, enables her to simplify complexity and translate digital roadmaps into human-centered strategies that deliver measurable global impact.

Blending empathy with strategic acumen, she thrives in high-stakes environments, leading multidisciplinary teams and leveraging her expertise at the intersection of communications, governance, and business strategy to deliver measurable impact and elevate customer experiences. Her work has powered results for global brands including PepsiCo, HSBC, Expo 2020 Dubai, and the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Passionate about building a better future, she mentors the next generation, serves as a judge for programs like Technovation Girls, and is Vice President on the Rotaract board - consistently championing diverse voices and purpose-driven leadership to create more connected and compassionate communities.

Gulden Mesara

Founding Partner, M&D Advisors

Gulden Mesara is a Founding Partner of M&D Advisors, a boutique advisory firm she co-founded in 2025 with Nina DeLorenzo, specializing in public affairs, communications, and reputation management.

Gulden is an award-winning C-Suite executive, Board member and a change agent who excels at counseling leadership and influencing business strategy to reinvent how companies communicate to build and manage reputation with numerous stakeholders.

She has successfully led high-performing communications, public affairs, branding, and marketing organizations at global Fortune 100 companies and has held senior roles at Pfizer, Abbott, AbbVie, and Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). She serves on the Board of Directors of a privately held car parts company and on the Boards of several other organizations.

She was named as a ‘Marketer of the Year’ by PM360; as a ‘Top Women in Retail’ by Mass Market Retail; as a ‘Top Women in PR’ by PRNews; as a top 30 Health Influencer by PRWeek, among other awards and accolades she has received over the course of her 25 + year career.

Kathryn Metcalfe

Visiting Professor, New York University, Trustee, Page Society

Kathryn Metcalfe is a visiting professor at New York University. She left her chief communications officer role at CVS Health® for academia to shape the next generation of marketing and communications leaders.  Kathryn has diverse experience across communications, reputation management, crisis and issues management, as well as government affairs, marketing and M&A. Kathryn spent a total of six years at CVS Health, helping the Fortune 4 company transform to a health-driven powerhouse. She returned to the company after a stint at Bristol Myers Squibb where she led corporate affairs.

Previously, Kathryn served as the Aetna chief communications officer during its historic deal with CVS Health She served as chief communications officer of Deloitte® and held senior communications roles at Pfizer and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Kathryn started her career working for communications consultancies in the biotechnology and health care industries.

Kathryn is passionate about unleashing the power of her function and best known for helping companies accelerate change during transformation. She has received many awards for her work. Most recently, Kathryn was elected to the PRWEEK Hall of Femme and was recently recognized with a SABRE for her lifetime achievements. Kathryn holds a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. She served on the board of the Boise Urban Garden School (BUGS) and built a park in her hometown of Boise, Idaho. Kathryn has three children.

Jan Mróz

VP Communications and Public Affairs, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery

Tamara Norman

U.S. CEO, Ketchum

Jim O’Leary

CEO, Weber Shandwick North America

Jim O’Leary advises CEOs on how to navigate complex challenges at the intersection of business, society, culture and policy. As CEO of The Weber Shandwick Collective, North America, and Global President, he has oversight of all major global markets including North America, EMEA, APAC and LATAM. 

Prior to joining Weber in 2023, O'Leary spent 15 years at Edelman, where he served in a number of U.S. and global leadership roles with escalating responsibility, including U.S. Chief Operating Officer, Global Corporate Affairs Practice Chair, Global Chair of Impact and Global Client Relationship Manager. 

O'Leary is a longtime counselor to CEOs and their boards in business-critical situations. His clients have included Mars, Walgreens, PayPal, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and Raytheon.

Prior to joining Edelman, Jim served as a communications leader and spokesperson for Honeywell. He has been recognized in PRWeek's Dashboard 25 as one of the industry's most innovative professionals and was previously named to PRWeek's "40 Under 40". He sits on the Foundation Board at Lurie Children's Hospital and is the founder of the CP4C, Cystinosis Parents for a Cure, a rare disease patient advocacy organization

Erin O’Malley

Executive Director, Coalition for Trust in Health & Science

Erin O’Malley joined the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science (CTHS) in January 2024. In this role, she leads the daily advancement of CTHS’ mission, vision, and values and works with the CTHS Board to develop and execute strategies for the organization's continued growth. Before joining CTHS, O’Malley served as senior director of policy at America’s Essential Hospitals. She oversaw all federal public policy initiatives to protect safety net hospitals’ interests and support their mission to provide equitable care to all. Her focus included policy development and analysis, regulatory advocacy, and safety net financing.

She has more than two decades of experience in health policy and has deep expertise in strategic planning, public-private partnerships, advocacy initiatives, and public health engagement. While serving as a health policy consultant, O’Malley designed and executed legislative and regulatory health policy initiatives and advised clients on policy issues impacting their communities and businesses. In that role, she also led a public health campaign for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She began her health policy career at the American Hospital Association, where she served as a project manager on the public policy team and was instrumental in developing and supporting the association’s health care reform policy platform.

O’Malley holds a master’s degree in legislative affairs from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree in public communications from American University. She is an avid reader and enjoys hiking with her husband and their rescue dog.

Jess Odonohoe

Managing Director, Earnies

Meredith Owen

Practice Leader, Integrated Intelligence, Real Chemistry

Meredith is focused on driving the evolution of new analytical and strategic models in digital and social media. Since starting her career, Meredith has been focused on the need for new analytical and strategic models in digital and social media. In her current role, Meredith is responsible for leading analytics strategy primarily for healthcare clients, including Takeda and Genentech. Her cross-functional role requires both the technical skills to work alongside data sciences teams in addition to experience in digital and social marketing and communications execution.

Prior to joining Real Chemistry, Meredith was the Director of Communications for an e-commerce company, where she developed new models for harnessing internal data as a communications tool. Meredith started her career at a global public relations firm at a time of dramatic change in the industry and had the opportunity to design and pilot social media issues monitoring, digital influencer engagement, and community management programs for major brands like Hewlett-Packard, Rackspace, and SXSW. Meredith holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Miami.

Maja Pawinska Sims

Global Head of Features; EMEA News, PRovoke Media

Nedra Pickler

Partner, FGS Global

Nedra brings deep perspective from inside the media after nearly two decades at The Associated Press and as a commentator on television and radio. She co-leads the firm's North American crisis practice and frequently trains executives for media interviews and public speaking.

Nedra advises Fortune 500 companies, philanthropies, media companies, policy advocates and others looking to influence internal and public conversations. She led the firm’s pro-bono support for the prosecution of George Floyd’s murder, which won the Public Relations Society of America’s top honors, the Best of Silver Anvil Award, and the SABRE Award for best in crisis management. She also led the team that won the 2025 SABRE Award for Best in Crisis Management for World Central Kitchen's Feeding in Gaza. She compiles the FGS Capital in Context weekly newsletter and annually addresses students at Harvard’s Kennedy School on media interview techniques.

Nedra is a proud native of Flint, Michigan, and a graduate of Michigan State University’s Journalism School. Upon graduating, she was hired by the AP’s Detroit bureau to cover breaking news and later moved to Lansing to pursue her dream of covering politics before transferring to Washington in 2000. She covered the Obama and George W. Bush presidencies and was part of an election team nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She also previously covered the auto industry and federal courts, including legal disputes and criminal investigations involving corporations and prominent figures.

Julie Poirier

Director, Country Marketing, Home & Commercial, Newell Brands

Sherry Pudloski

Group President, Corporate Affairs, Real Chemistry

Steven Restivo

Vice President, Global Corporate Communications, United Airlines

Steve Restivo is vice president of global corporate communications at United Airlines. In this role, Steve drives the development and implementation of proactive communication strategies to advance employee communications, media relations and the global response team. He also continues to shape United’s public image.

Before joining United, Steve served as vice president of corporate communications for Comcast Corporation. He led external communications for the company’s business and residential lines of business. Steve has established a successful track record over his career of directing national media relations activities, consumer marketing strategies and public affairs initiatives, as well as employee, influencer and grassroots campaigns.

Prior to Comcast, Steve was the senior director for corporate communications at Walmart, where he directed reputational campaigns aimed at expanding the company’s retail footprint within major U.S. cities. While there, he served as a national and local spokesperson on a wide range of issues including economic development, philanthropy, diversity, environmental sustainability and health care.

Steve has a degree from James Madison University and resides in the Chicago suburbs with his family.

Jennifer Risi

Founder and President, The Sway Effect

Jennifer Risi leads The Sway Effect, one of the fastest-growing marketing and communications agencies today. At the heart of The Sway Effect’s work, the agency is focused driving brand reputation while putting diversity, equity, and inclusion at the center of everything that we do. Risi is a seasoned executive with more than 20+ years of experience in strategic global media relations, CEO positioning, investor relations and issues management. Risi was named a PR News Top Women in PR for three years in a row. The Sway Effect was named 2025 PRNews Women Owned Agency of the Year and 2024 PRovoke Media North American Boutique Agency of the Year.

Paige Robinson

SVP Corporate, Zeno Group

Linda Roth

Chief Communications Officer, World Central Kitchen

Juan Salgado

Chancellor, City Colleges of Chicago

Chancellor Juan Salgado has focused his career on improving education and economic opportunities for residents in low-income communities. As Chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago, he oversees Chicago's community college system, serving more than 73,000 students across seven colleges, more than three-quarters of whom are Black or Latine students.

Under his leadership, City Colleges of Chicago has achieved a post-pandemic enrollment recovery surpassing state and national averages, increased four-year student outcomes to the highest on record, launched an unprecedented systems-level partnership with the Chicago Public Schools, serves as a go to workforce partner across the region and state, has expanded relationships with four-year universities, seen exponential growth of a nationally-recognized engineering program, eliminated a legacy structural deficit, and re-energized fundraising contributing to historic investments in student supports, among other accomplishments.

From 2001 to 2017, he served as CEO of Instituto del Progreso Latino, where he worked to empower residents of Chicago’s Southwest Side through education, citizenship, and skill-building programs that led to sustainable employment and economic stability.

Chancellor Salgado is a community college graduate himself, earning an associate degree from Moraine Valley Community College, prior to earning a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with honorary degrees from DePaul University and University of Illinois at Chicago. Chancellor Salgado has been nationally recognized for his work, including as a 2015 MacArthur Fellow. Among his civic commitments, he serves as board chair of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a board member of the Obama Foundation and a Class C Director for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Chris Samuel

Chief Impact & Corporate Affairs Officer, , Viridian Ecosystems

Patrick Sandusky

Communications and External Affairs Leader, Chicago Bulls

Patrick Sandusky is an award-winning communications and public affairs executive with two decades of experience as a frontline global spokesperson and strategist. 

He currently serves as Vice President of Communications for the Chicago Bulls, overseeing all basketball, business and internal communications for one of the most iconic global sports and entertainment organizations. A lifelong Bulls fan and Chicago native, he joined the franchise in a newly created role in 2023, directing a team responsible for protecting and elevating the organization’s reputation, culture and brand narrative across global audiences. 

Before joining the Bulls, he worked as the Senior Vice President and Head of Global PR and Communications at PointsBet, where he oversaw all external communications, led responsible gaming initiatives and was a member of the leadership team that guided the publicly traded, Australian-headquartered PointsBet, through its high-profile acquisition by Fanatics.

Prior to that role, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of PR for Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., directing all communications and digital media for the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and MSG’s esports organizations. 

From 2009 to 2019, Sandusky worked at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee as the Chief External Affairs and Communications Officer. In that role, he served as lead spokesperson, oversaw government affairs and managed multinational campaigns that promoted U.S. athletes and the Olympic Movement in key global markets.

Earlier in his career, he spent a decade at Hill & Knowlton, leading consumer and sports communications campaigns across Chicago and London for clients including Nestlé, Gillette, Allstate, Miller Beer, the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid, the Beijing 2008 Games and London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Sandusky has been recognized as a “Communications Power Player” by Sports Business Journal and was selected to both the Sports Business Journal and PRWeek “40 Under 40” lists. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Northern Illinois University, where he was a member of the Huskies football team.

Liyana Shirin

Group Communications Manager, Brambles

Shannon Thornton Susko

Former Chief Communications Officer, Centene Corporation

Shannon Susko is a seasoned communications professional with more than two decades of strategic, corporate, financial and crisis communications experience. She advises management and boards of public and private companies on communications that impact valuation and reputation, developing successful communication strategies for transactions; advising on financial media, special situations and investor relations; supporting crisis and issues management; and using strategic storytelling and thought leadership to build and maintain trust and credibility with stakeholder audiences - from employees to investors, industry partners to regulators and beyond. 

She most recently served as Chief Communications Officer (CCO) for Centene Corporation (Centene), a Fortune 22 company that provides access to quality, affordable care to more than 28.6 million people. As CCO, she was responsible for Centene's enterprise communications function, leading the development and execution of internal and external communications, overseeing corporate reputation and advancing communications strategy in support of the company's business objectives for Centene, health plans in more than 30 states, two national lines of business and dozens of subsidiaries. 

Prior to Centene, Shannon was Managing Director and Co-Head of Strategic Situations and Investor Relations for Edelman Smithfield – the financial communications boutique within global communications firm Edelman. As a strategic advisor to boards and management teams of public and private companies, Shannon guided communications strategy during both normal course and transformative situations. She previously served as Vice President of Communications at Global Strategy Group, where she advised clients on strategic communications, mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism, CFIUS, and issues and reputation management. Shannon is also the founder of Susko & Co, a consulting firm that advises clients on strategic communications, business development and market strategy. She spent a decade at TriWest Healthcare Alliance, a Department of Defense managed care support contractor responsible for the administration of the military's healthcare program – TRICARE. 

Shannon is a member of 100 Women in Finance, the American College of Healthcare Executives, World 50, the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association, CHIEF and the Arthur Page Society. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Shannon is also a trained Lean Six Sigma Green and Black Belt.

Melissa Waggener Zorkin

Global CEO and Founder, We. Communications

Ed Whitehead

Advisory Director, Ipsos

Kim Windon

VP of Communications, Bridgestone

Kimberly Windon is Vice President of Strategic Communications for Bridgestone Americas and Bridgestone West, which encompasses the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In this role, she leads executive, internal, merger and acquisition, and sustainability communications. She also oversees public relations, influencer and stakeholder engagement, issues and crisis management, as well as corporate philanthropy and volunteerism.

Before joining Bridgestone Americas in 2023, Kimberly served as Senior Director of Corporate & Stakeholder Communications at LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB), a global leader in the chemical industry focused on sustainable solutions for everyday living. In this role, she led global communications efforts spanning executive, external, financial, stakeholder, and M&A communications, as well as issues and crisis management. Kimberly brought strategic clarity and cultural insight to high-stakes challenges, helping build trust and strengthen connections across the industry.

Prior to joining LyondellBasell, Kimberly held a series of progressively complex communications roles across diverse industries—including oil and gas, manufacturing, media, casino gaming, and legal services. Her portfolio spans public and media relations, change management, organizational development, project management, negotiations, advertising and promotions, marketing strategy, new business development, transformational initiatives, and issues and crisis management.