Richard Stephenson

Civil Aviation Authority

Communications Director

Richard Stephenson joined the CAA in January 2015 as Communications Director. Prior to joining the CAA, Richard held senior communications roles in high profile and leading FTSE businesses, including as Group Strategic Communications Adviser at Centrica plc, Corporate Affairs Director at AXA and Director of Public Relations at Royal Mail Group. A postgraduate of Cardiff Journalism School, Richard is non-executive chairman of a fledgling public relations agency, non-executive director of Coventry University London Campus and a Director of County Hall Management Company Ltd. He has been a prolific charity fundraiser, climbing Kilimanjaro and traversing New Zealand and the Arctic for good causes, is currently chairman of a youth charity and has undertaken political work, in four continents, for over 20 years.

Patrick Jephson

Former Chief Of Staff To Princess Diana

International Reputation Expert, New York Times Bestselling Author & Consultant, Netflix's "The Crown"

Patrick is a consultant, journalist, broadcaster and New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author, based in Washington DC.  His byline has appeared in every major UK newspaper and international titles as varied as TIME magazine, People, The Spectator, Paris Match, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the National Catholic Reporter.  He is a published authority on corporate and personal branding, addressing conferences worldwide as well as events at the US State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

He also writes, presents and advises on factual and drama programs, appearing on every major US network as well as British and international platforms.  His two decades of news and current affairs assignments have included on-screen conversations with figures such as David Frost, David Dimbleby, Barbara Walters and Larry King. 

He is founding partner in JephsonBeaman, a boutique communications consultancy specializing in international high-profile, sensitive and UHNW services.  With more than twenty-five years’ experience in the government, luxury and family office sectors, Patrick’s portfolio has included Ferrari, Harrods, Beretta and Hawker Beechcraft as well as national agencies and NGOs.  He has also worked on reputation and legacy briefs with European, Middle Eastern and Asian families, including royalty. 

Patrick owes much of his practical communications experience to Princess Diana, who chose him to be her equerry and only private secretary/chief of staff.  He served the Princess for eight years (1988-96), responsible for every aspect of her public life, worldwide humanitarian initiatives, and private organization.  Under relentless media scrutiny, his tenure covered the period of Princess Diana’s greatest popularity as well as the constitutional controversy of her separation from Prince Charles.  In recognition of his service, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.

Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Cambridge University.  As an officer in the British Royal Navy he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty.  In March 2015 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Mary Jo Jacobi

Former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, Former Assistant US Commerce Secretary for President George H.W. Bush, British Civil Service Commissioner

Former Senior Executive, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell And BP America

Mary Jo Jacobi Jephson is a renowned expert in reputation, brand and crisis management drawn from her extensive experience at senior levels of the corporate, public and voluntary sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Most recently, Mary Jo was Executive Vice President of BP America during its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Previously she led reputation management for Royal Dutch Shell, Lehman Brothers, HSBC Holdings and Drexel Burnham Lambert. She also devised and executed the award-winning global brand strategies for Lehman and HSBC, including the first-ever use of airport jetties for brand projection and thought leadership. She is a non-executive director of the Weir Group PLC, Mulvaney Capital Management and Panafsat and a member of the advisory board of Fink Africa. She is also a Visiting Fellow of Oxford University'ss Centre for Corporate Reputation. Mary Jo was the first woman to chair the board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and subsequently served on the board of the Ladies European (Golf) Tour. She is a frequent broadcast commentator, lecturer and public speaker around the world.

Donald Steel

Former Chief Communications Advisor, BBC

Vice President, Crisis Communications, Kenyon International Emergency Services

Donald Steel has built a global reputation as a crisis communicator.  For more than 25 years he has given strategic counsel to organisations and high profile individuals in a range of serious situations, including aircraft incidents, terrorism, kidnapping, serious accidents, executive and personal misconduct, fraud, litigation and inquests and serious regulatory and diplomatic issues.

He was for 11 years, the chief media spokesman of the BBC.

In his own practice, based in London, he worlds with a range of corporate, government, NGO and individual clients across the UK, Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, North America and Asia Pacific and Australasia.   His clients includes airlines, hospitals, universities, hotel groups, UN agencies, orchestras, the Eurovision Song Contest, arts venues and high profile artistes.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations in London and of the Royal Society of Arts.  He is a regular guest lecturer at the London School of Economics and the China Media Centre of the University of Westminster.

Alongside his own practice, last year he was appointed Vice President, Crisis Communications at Kenyon International Emergency Services, the worlds longest serving and most admired responder to incidents involving fatality and injury.  Based in Houston, Berkshire (UK), Beirut and Santo Domingo, Kenyon’s clients range from leading airlines, cruise companies, hotel groups, governments, police forces, local authorise and companies across the world who work in high risk situations.  In this role, Donald leads a team of senior crisis communicators based around the world, ready to respond to clients.

He was a member of Aviation Futures, a recent think tank of the UK Civil Aviation Authority supporting the CAA on planning the regulation of future developments in aviation.

Shafiq Jamal

Principal, Jamal Communications Inc.

Senior Strategist, Weber Shandwick

With over 23 years’ experience in the corporate sector, Shafiq has garnered extensive experience in crisis, issues, and reputational risk management. He has worked with clients on crisis planning and preparedness, crisis and earned media training, crisis communications strategy and execution, reputation recovery, real-time hands-on and virtual situation room support, cybersecurity issues and threats, business continuity, as well as disaster preparedness and recovery.

Shafiq has also worked closely with C-suite executives, mid-level management, and front line workers, on preparing and rolling out communications strategies and plans on issues of corporate restructuring, operational efficiency, mergers and acquisitions, hostile takeovers, change management, name and identity changes, and on conveying new company visions and directions.

He has provided counsel on issues that have included data and security breaches, global disease and virus outbreaks (including COVID-19, Ebola and SARS), real estate project opposition, healthcare issues, loss of life, employee misconduct, weather disasters, labour contract disputes, community opposition, product recalls, product tampering, hostile takeovers, insider trading, hazmat situations, land rezoning and bomb scares.

Sectors he has worked in extensively include oil and gas, technology, telecommunications, retail, real estate, healthcare, transportation, life sciences, financial services, marine transport, hospitality, and consumer goods and services.

Prior to starting his own independent consulting practice, Shafiq held the position of Senior Vice President & Managing Director of Weber Shandwick’s (Weber) Vancouver office. Under his watch the Vancouver team doubled in size and added strength at every level. Shafiq was instrumental in fostering relationships with new clients and was a force in raising brand awareness and recognition for the agency in the local market. He now acts as a Senior Strategist for Weber, alongside being the principal of hos own firm, Jamal Communications Inc.

Shafiq has also held senior positions with Edelman Worldwide, the Retail Council of Canada, as well as Best Buy Canada Ltd., in their corporate office.

Early in his career, Shafiq was selected as one of the Top 100 Young Canadian Leaders by the Jeanne Sauvé Youth Foundation. He speaks regularly on reputation management at industry events and provides ongoing mentorship to aspiring PR and communications professionals. Shafiq is a graduate of York University, with a double degree in Mass Communication and International Relations, along with a Certificate in in Radio and TV Broadcasting in Canada from Seneca College.

Outside work, his other passions include studying and enjoying wine, striving to find time with his family, watching tennis and soccer, and collecting Dame Agatha Christie and Sir Conan Doyle memorabilia related to their greatest fictional detectives – Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes respectively.

Sao Bui-Van

Channel 4

Communications Director

Brad Ross

City of Toronto

Chief Communications Officer

Brad Ross has been the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Toronto since January 2019. He rejoined the City (he was with the City from 2000-2008) after almost 11 years at the Toronto Transit Commission where he led employee and public communications, including reputation management, which included developing strategies around transparency and accountability to mitigate crises. Brad has embraced social media as a critical channel for communicating and engaging with the public during good times and bad. As a public servant, he embraces the concept of being HOT – honest, open and transparent – as a key element of public accountability.