Colleen Harris

Former Press Secretary To Princes Charles, William And Harry

Former Adviser, World Health Organization, Elton John Aids Foundation

With more than 25 years’ experience ranging from the British Royal Household, via Downing Street, to international NGOs, Colleen Harris has a strong track record of working in high-profile media and communications roles. This professional experience is complemented by a broad portfolio of trusteeships and non-executive director roles in the arts, education and health. Colleen held a senior communications position in the Prime Minister’s Office before being appointed Press Secretary to HRH the Prince of Wales, and was the first Black member of the Royal Household. She handled the media for The Prince of Wales during some of the most turbulent years, and also media-managed the emergence of Princes William and Harry into the public eye. Her career has included senior posts in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, and the Cabinet Office as well as in non-departmental Public Bodies. She has worked in Britain and abroad as a consultant with private companies, non-profit organisations and UN agencies, including the World Health Organisation. Colleen’s work in a wide variety of contexts has taught her about managing individual reputations, as well as how to use brand-development techniques to help clients identify and take full advantage of their strengths and skills – equipping them to define their own public profiles, and achieve personal and business success. Colleen’s board-level and executive experience has given her a good appreciation of how to inspire and lead teams, as well as insight into the qualities that CEOs and boards look for in high-level executives.

Jon Meakin

Clarity PR

President, North America

Jon has 25 years’ public relations and communications experience, encompassing consumer, corporate, business-to-business and crisis and issues management.  He is currently President, North America at Clarity PR, responsible for the strategic direction and growth of Clarity's North American business.

Previously, Jon ran Grayling’s global Strategic Services team, which encompassed research, insights and evaluation; creative and content solutions through the agency’s GMint offer; and Grayling’s proprietary online reputation management tool, GCore. He also overseed the firm’s global marketing efforts and consults on key international clients.

Jon’s career has seen him develop and run successful international campaigns for clients including PayPal and Shell, and UK programs for clients in food and drink, travel and tourism, publishing, property and other sectors.

Jon is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK and has previously judged several PR industry awards, including the CIPR Excellence Awards, PRCA Awards, the PRWeek Awards and the Romanian PR Awards. British born, Jon is currently resident in San Francisco.

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.

Katie Creaser

ICR

Senior Vice President

Katie Creaser is Senior Vice President, Technology PR at ICR where she specializes in emerging tech, cybersecurity and IT solutions/services. Katie is passionate about helping brands tell their story through a thoughtful, holistic and measurable corporate communications strategy.

During her 15-year PR career, Katie has managed communications campaigns that have earned accolades from PRSA, Hermes, PR News and BtoB Magazine/Ad Age, among others. She regularly speaks at industry conferences and events and her commentary has appeared in publications including Entrepreneur, Forbes, Huffington Post, Inc., PR News and PR Daily. In 2016, Katie was recognized by the New York Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA-NY) as one of its 15 Under 35, an award highlighting the most promising young leaders working in communications in the New York metro area. She recently served on the PR Council’s PRC Next Board, comprised of 12 rising leaders tasked with bringing the perspective of the next generation to current industry challenges. Prior to joining ICR, Katie was senior vice president at Affect, a NYC-based PR agency specializing in technology.

Katie holds a BA in Public Relations from Marist College. She lives on Long Island with her husband and spends her free time trying to keep up with their two young sons.

Vanessa Bouffard, APR

Brambles

Senior Manager, Corporate Communications

Vanessa is the Americas regional lead of Corporate Communications for Brambles, a supply-chain logistics company operating in more than 60 countries, primarily though the CHEP and IFCO brands. She joined Brambles in May 2010 and has held a several roles in marketing, communications and digital marketing strategy. In her current role, she oversees internal and external communications for the businesses in the region and the Global IT, Health and Safety, Procurement, Compliance and Innovation functional communications.  

Prior to joining Brambles, Vanessa held positions of increased responsibility in local government where she led re-branding and reputation efforts, developed a social media strategy and was responsible for large public education campaigns. She has a Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree from the University of Central Florida and is certified in Investor Relations and accredited in Public Relations.