Kelvin Lee

Thomson Reuters

Director, Social Media Marketing

Kelvin Lee is Director of Social Media for the global Financial & Risk division at Thomson Reuters, where he leads social media strategy, including the content marketing and social selling campaigns. Schooled in Singapore and Rotterdam in business management, Kelvin has been based in London and Singapore for the last 11 years, creating and project-managing a trail of B2B and B2C online and offline customer experiences for the financial technology, telecommunications, FMCG and entertainment sectors throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

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.

Maksimilian Kallhed

The Pop Up Agency

Founder, Director

Maksimilian Kallhed is a strong believer in the impossible. With the right tools and mindset you will get further than you could ever imagine. As a co-founder of The Pop Up Agency, Maks has traveled to over 30 countries and 48 cities with the mission to re-define how we use creativity in business. He has worked for some of the most innovative companies in the world, Coca Cola, Facebook and Conde Nast to mention a few. He is a frequent speaker at global creative festivals such as Cannes Lions, Eurobest, Dubai Lynx and Golden Drum. Maks is also a lecturer at two of the most progressive creative schools, Hyper Island and Central Saint Martins. In February 2016, Maksimilian was nominated for influencer of the year by Creative Pool Networks.

Tom Webster

CISCO

EMEA Paid Social Media Manager

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.

Abraham Abbi Asefaw

The Pop Up Agency

Founder And Director

Abraham Asefaw has a natural interest and sees potential in almost everything. People and culture are his main interest, which might come from the fact that he lived in three countries before the age of seven. This exposure to different cultures continued as he grew up in a very multicultural part of Sweden. Today he says that ‘no brief is harder than some of the things I had to handle growing up,’ which explains his calmness both towards teams and clients. Working globally is a must as he believes that constant exposure to new things makes you smarter, faster and more interesting.

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.

Bart De Vries

IPRA- International PR Association

President

Bart de Vries is the 2016 President of IPRA and general manager of PR/PA agency HvdM in the Netherlands. He is experienced in and advises clients on corporate reputation, government and labor relations and issues and influencer campaigns. Bart has also created Corporate Social Responsibility programs. He runs workshops and training sessions in communication management, crisis preparedness and crisis communications. In one-on-one sessions, Bart works with seasoned communication consultants to enhance their personal and professional insights and skills. Bart has been Board Member of IPRA since 2009 and is a member of the European Association of Communication Directors. In 2004, he was the co-editor of a widely used handbook on public relations in the Netherlands.

Cynthia Gutierrez-White

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Senior Director, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs

Cynthia Gutierrez-White is the Senior Director of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs for Johns Hopkins Medicine. She leads the media relations, public relations, corporate communications, and internal communications for Johns Hopkins Medicine, the $7.7 billion system that unites the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the Johns Hopkins Health System. The Johns Hopkins Health System includes six academic and community hospitals, including Johns Hopkins Hospital in East Baltimore, four suburban health care and surgery centers, nearly 40 primary health care outpatient sites, as well as programs for national and international patient activities.
Prior to joining JHM in 2016, Cynthia was the Senior Officer of Hispanic PR and Communications member of the American Red Cross National Communications and Public Affairs team. During her eight-year tenure she served as the chief spokesperson and point-of-contact for Spanish-language media; promoted the organization’s humanitarian mission and developed comprehensive strategies to drive earned media visibility on Spanish-language media outlets both nationally and internationally. Cynthia participated in several national bilingual satellite media tours and numerous national TV interviews with Univision, Telemundo Networks, CNN and others. In addition, Cynthia was a member of the Celebrity Affinity Team, the co-sponsor of Corporate Diversity’s Latino Team Member Resource Group and was the founder and chair of Nuestro Orgullo, a national program recognizing the good work of Latinos of the American Red Cross.
Cynthia has 22 years working in the field of public and media relations for a variety of establishments ranging from Telemundo Network to Miami Children’s Hospital (MCH). She served as subject matter expert in communications for the Florida Department of Health Preparedness Committee and was awarded the Florida Hospital Association’s “Mark of Excellence” in Crisis Communications in 2006. She also featured the hospital in ABC’s Oprah’s “Big Give,” “Miracle Workers,” and “Shaq’s Big Challenge,” TLC’s “Miami Ink” and on the Discovery Channel with several documentaries.
Cynthia received her bachelors’ degree in communications from Appalachian State University (NC) and her master’s degree in management from St. Thomas University (FL). 
Cynthia recently traded Colombian food for crabs, moving from South Florida to Baltimore. She lives with her über-techie husband Jeff, their music.ly-loving twelve-year-old daughter Isabella, their precocious four-year-old son Beckett, three dogs, three parrots and one beta fish.

Sarah Hanel, APR, MBA

Canadian PR Society (CPRS)

President

Sarah Hanel is the President of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and has served on its Board of Directors since 2014, working to drive membership growth and satisfaction while helping to advance the profession of public relations. In her professional capacity, Sarah is responsible for global public relations for VASCO, which delivers trusted identities, devices and transactions in the digital world, and has spent most of her nearly 15 years in public relations focused on the technology sector.

Sarah has her Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from CPRS, a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialty in Leadership from Royal Roads University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and a Public Relations Certificate (PR Cert.), both from the University of Victoria.

Chris Albert

Ketchum

Senior Vice President of Digital Research & Analytics

Chris is Senior Vice President of Digital Research & Analytics for Ketchum, a role he has held since November 2015. He is a strong strategic, results oriented leader of cross-functional teams with experience in online strategy, marketing, analytics, product and project management. Chris is an aggressive self-starter that breaks through corporate silos to produce effective measurement plans, new web products and improved online customer experiences.

Talia Beckett Davis

Women in PR Canada and Women in PR USA

President

Talia Beckett-Davis (Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA) is the President and Founder of the Organization of Canadian Women in Public Relations. She is the Owner of Pink Pearl PR, an agency that specializes in baby and kid’s products, beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands. Beckett-Davis is a Women in Business Judge for the Stevie Awards and serves as Communications Chair for the Women in Leadership Foundation. She holds a Masters’ Degree in International Relations from the University of London, England, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Royal Roads University.

Sheri Morgan

PepsiCo Foundation

Senior Director, Global Communications and Engagement

Daniel Tisch

Argyle Public Relationships

President & CEO

Daniel Tisch is widely known as an international public relations professional, speaker, writer and industry leader. He is the CEO of Argyle Public Relationships, one of Canada’s largest independent PR firms, a Fellow of the Canadian Public Relations Society, and the 2011-2013 chair of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, the confederation of the world’s major PR and communication professional associations.

Since Daniel became Argyle’s CEO and owner in 2003, the firm has grown from 10 employees in Toronto to more than 120 across eight major North American cities today. Argyle has earned more than 300 awards in that period, including twice being named IABC Global Mid-Sized Agency of the Year (2017 and 2018), and two Canadian Agency of the Year honours (PRovoke Media in 2020, Canadian Public Relations Society in 2021). Since 2015, Argyle has appeared six times on lists of Canada's fastest-growing companies in the Globe & Mail and Canadian Business magazine.

As a consultant, Daniel has advised a long list of Global 500/Fortune 500 companies as well as both Canadian and international government leaders. He is particularly well-known for expertise in reputation, issues and crisis management, serving in 2009 as the lead communications advisor to an industry affected by the largest food recall in North American history. Daniel’s other areas of practice include reputation management strategy, stakeholder engagement, governance and executive leadership communications.

As Global Alliance chair, Daniel led the organization to unprecedented growth, chaired a process to develop an international consensus on the roles and responsibilities of twenty-first century public relations, co-chaired the two largest World Public Relations Forums in history, launched a “best-of-the-best” global awards program and an international research study on the state of public relations with the University of Southern California, and represented the profession on the International Integrated Reporting Council.

Earlier in his career, Daniel held senior communications roles in the Canadian government, including serving as Senior Policy Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the latter role he was a member of the Canadian delegation to the G7 Economic Summit.

Daniel has spoken at conferences on every continent, lectured on public relations at Queen’s University at Kingston (Canada) since 1996, and contributed to leading PR and marketing textbooks. He appears regularly in broadcast, print and online media, including recent comments in the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Reuters, CBC Television, Global News, PR Week and Strategy. He is a member of CPRS, the IABC and the Arthur W. Page Society.

Born in Madrid, Spain, and raised in Toronto, Daniel speaks English, French and Spanish. He holds two degrees from Queen’s University — a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and a Master of Business Administration. Daniel is the Vice Chair of the Queen’s University Board of Trustees, a leader in the international Scouting movement and a board member of Social Venture Partners International.

Dimah Khalili MBA, MA

Strategic Communications and Corporate Partnerships Advisor

Dimah has over a decade of professional experience in PR, Communications and Strategic Planning in cross-functional and multi-national environments. She has worked for World Leaders in the public and non-profit sectors; the late King Hussein of Jordan, King Abdullah of Jordan, and The Crown Prince of Wales. Dimah has also worked for the private sector, where she was responsible for building from inception the Media, Communications & PR Division for a private-equity firm with a portfolio value of over USD$6.5 Billion. Earlier in her career, she worked for two of the top PR, Communications, and Advertising Agencies in the world: M & C Saatchi and FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding). Dimah holds three international academic and professional awards; and obtained three degrees, where the last one was an MBA from Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto in 2013.

Christine Faulhaber

Faulhaber Communications

Founder & CEO

Christine has been a force in marketing and public relations for over two decades. The refined FAULHABER brand and impressive client roster demonstrates deep expertise in fashion, beauty, health, hospitality, travel & tourism, food & wine, real estate, design and baby care. FAULHABER has grown to include the FSHOPPE product showroom, a strong national, bilingual team that’s always growing, and robust social channels.

Always in pursuit of excellence, Christine knows her hands on approach drives success. She was one of PROFIT/Chatelaine W100 Canada's Top Female Entrepreneurs 2015, named Canada’s Top Business Woman by Women’s Post, a LOULOU magazine 'It Girl,' and cited as a communications force to be reckoned with by FLARE, HELLO!, FASHION Magazine, Globe and Mail, ELLE Quebec, Toronto Life and PR Couture. She most recently showcased her expertise on Slice Network’s Hockey Wives.

Christine is a CPRS and Soho House Every House member. Her charitable initiatives include TFI and Dermalogica’s JoinFITE, and she proudly supports Rethink Breast Cancer. Christine unwinds through international “workcations” and being an at-home saucier.

Daniela Kelloway

Clutch PR

Founder

A PR veteran and entrepreneur with 20 years of public relations experience and business building. Kelloway has been a featured speaker at PodCamp, Startup Fashion Week, Sundance Film Festival, TIFF, and Kochi Film Fest (India). Startup mentor and supporter. Lover of film. Champion of Canadian arts. Columnist and writer. Board member for the Regent Park Film Festival. 

Her agency ClutchPR has worked with some of the the most well-known brands in the world providing senior, hands-on communications counsel, marketing and high impact results. They  serve three pillars: creators (film, TV, arts); innovators (tech startups) and adventurers (travel, food & beverage and hospitality).

Helping tell people's stories and elevating brands and projects is her passion. Kelloway ran a burger joint for 7 years, launched a tourism business in the West Indies, project managed the public opening of TIFF Bell Lightbox and her newsletter 'Dear Daniela' (an AMA for all things PR and marketing related) is read by thousands of people weekly. Sign up for it here: http://eepurl.com/cB4Yib 
 

Maliha Aqeel, PMP

Director of Global Communications, Fix Network World

Director of Global Communications

Maliha Aqeel is an award-winning senior communication professional. She is currently a Director of Global Communications at Fix Network World . She serves on IABC’s international executive board and is a past president of IABC/Toronto. 

Her accomplishments include developing ICD’s new brand and revamping ICD’s Director Journal magazine, which earned IABC Gold Quill awards of merit and IABC Canada Silver Leaf awards of excellence. She also led EY’s Tax Canada Bot-a-thon campaign, which won several awards in internal communication and employee engagement including a Gold Quill “Best of the Best”, which represents the very best entries seen from around the globe.   

Previously, she spent several years in agency and led the financial communication practice for APCO Worldwide’s Dubai office. She is a Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP) and a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Bjorn Trowery

Meta

Consumer Communications & Brand PR

Brian Rosevear

Edelman

Senior Vice President, Brand Practice

Brian joined Edelman Canada’s Consumer Marketing Practice in 2014 to help clients win consumers’ hearts and minds. Since then, he has worked with brands such as Starbucks, Kraft Dinner, MiO, SodaStream, and AXE to create culturally and socially relevant marketing campaigns that have earned more than their share of attention.

With more than 20 years of agency experience in Canada, Brian’s early career centered around lifestyle brands that define categories and defy conventions. His most notable work includes creating a week-long Toronto arts festival to celebrate the culture of Cuba for Havana Club’s; working with artists and influencers to create an underground pop-up art installation to bring Absolute Vodka closer to the arts community in Canada; a 4-day, 19 act, music festival on a streetcar in Toronto for MiO at NXNE to reengage the brand with lapsed customers; and an award winning campaign with Michael Bublé for SodaStream.

Most recently Brian has been working with Edelman Canada’s larger clients to help them manage complex, multi-stakeholder communication, often within regulated industries. Recent client experience includes overseeing work in the logistics, telecom (healthcare, infrastructure development, B2B, consumer and regulatory) and beverage alcohol sector. He has also been a critical part of Edelman Canada’s own business transformation processes successfully supporting role definition and technology implementation projects.