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.

Gary Hernandez

Saudi Aramco

Head, HR Communications

Gary is currently Head of HR Communications at Saudi Aramco. Prior, he worked at BP in several communication functions during his 20 year tenure. Gary’s experience is sharply focused on internal and executive communications. He believes that good communications are pragmatic and support clear business objectives. He also believes good communicators must be proficient in both formulating and executing strategy.  

Gary has taught writing at various universities in the United States, and is an accredited business communicator with the IABC. He has degrees from Baylor University, George Mason University, and Utah State University.

James Gregson

Lego

Head of Social Studio

James began his career in ‘non-traditional’ brand strategy and through his experience has built a combination of technical understanding and conceptual creativity to craft effective, measurable programs for clients and brands alike.

Currently, James is a senior leader within The LEGO Group’s internal creative agency. As the Head of the LEGO Social Studio, leading a team of digital content strategists, creative designers, producers, and video editors. Responsible for creating best-in-class digital content for LEGO social media channels.

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.

Greg Vanier

Edelman Canada

VP, Crisis and Reputation Risk & National Lead of Data Security and Privacy

Greg Vanier is Senior Vice President, Crisis & Risk, and National Lead of Edelman Canada’s Data Security and Privacy practice.

Greg has a deep understanding of the complexities associated with data security and privacy communications and has helped both Canadian and foreign companies respond to breaches of personal information, ransomware attacks, corporate espionage and security vulnerabilities.

Greg represents clients across many industries and sectors including mining, transportation, financial services, accommodation and hospitality, consumer packaged goods, food manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, and agriculture. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, non-profits and government agencies, and regularly presents on the topic crisis and risk communications at universities, conferences and within corporate boardrooms.

Greg has spent the entirely of his career working as a crisis communicator, helping clients respond to a variety of challenging issues, including acts of domestic terrorism, industrial emergencies, oil spills and pipeline ruptures, food borne illness outbreaks, product recalls, labour disruptions, workforce reductions, hostile takeovers and trade disputes, animal welfare issues, and staff misconduct.

Nancy Bistritz-Balkan

Purchasing Power

Senior Director Corporate Communications

Sandra Fathi

Gregory FCA

Chief Strategy Officer

Sandra Fathi is Chief Strategy Officer for Gregory FCA, a B2B technology and financial services public relations and marketing firm. She has spent the last 25 years helping technology, healthcare and professional services companies achieve their goals. Sandra founded Affect in 2002, a public relations, marketing and social media agency, for nearly two decades prior to being acquired by Gregory FCA in the Spring of 2021. 

Sandra started her career as a reporter for a division of Ziff Davis and IDG Tech Network. She went on to work at a number of leading technology firms and one of the top global PR agencies. Her clients have included Apple, EDS, Ericsson, Nokia and Microsoft, as well as innovative start-ups.

Sandra is also active in the communications industry and professional community. She has served on the board of the PR Council, as Chair of PRSA’s Tri-State District, President of PRSA-NY and President of the PRSA Technology Section. She is a sought-after speaker for conferences and events and her expert commentary has appeared in business and industry outlets such as CNN, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., Huffington Post and U.S. News & World Report.  Adding to her accolades, Sandra has been recognized as one of PRNews’ Top Women in PR, a PRNews PR Professional of the Year finalist, and a Bulldog PR Agency Professional of the Year.

In addition to her professional pursuits, Sandra is a wife and mother of two children and one demanding dog. She is passionate about philanthropic work and serves on the board of directors of HavServe, a nonprofit organization focused on community-led development in Haiti.

nonprofit organization focused on community-led development in Haiti.

Cam Gordon

Twitter Canada

Head of Communications

An experienced communications practitioner with 15+ years working in Canadian and global markets. A confident, well-spoken media relations expert with a deep knowledge of the Canadian print, broadcast and online media landscapes. A senior project lead with vast experience managing colleagues and agency teams. An issues management expert with experience working with top brands and top executives on reputational management, product recalls, user safety issues and other crisis situations. A veteran of policy communications, working with government officials at federal, provincial and municipal levels on a variety of campaigns and support programs.

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.

Andrea Lanthier-Seymour

The City of Ottawa

Chief Communications Officer

As a Director of Public Information and Media Relations at the City of Ottawa, Andrea provides leadership, direction and strategic guidance for the incredible team that is responsible for the City of Ottawa's external communications.

With previous experience as a reporter, as Press Secretary for a Canadian Federal Cabinet Minister and as Director of Communications for an international aid and development organization, Andrea has a strong background in crisis and emergency communications. This experience has served her well since she joined the City of Ottawa 10 years ago. Since that time, Canada’s capital city has experienced an array of emergencies that required communications support, including two “100-year floods”, devastating tornados, a major sinkhole in the city’s downtown core, a shooting near City Hall and on Parliament Hill, and more.

Jordan Redshaw

NATIONAL Public Relations

Director

Lisa Gibson

Microsoft Canada

Head of Communications / Business Manager

As Head of Communications, Lisa leads a team of professionals focused on building and protecting the company’s reputation, reinforcing Microsoft as the leader in trust and innovation and driving employee engagement across the country.

With more than 25 years of experience, Lisa has led communications at a number of high-profile retail and technology brands including Canadian Tire, Shoppers Drug Mart and Target. Over the course of her career, she has built a reputation for solving complex business problems through strategic communications and delivering best-in-class public relations and executive communication programs. Passionate about the role communications plays in driving digital transformation, Lisa meets regularly with customers to share best practices and insights.

Lisa has a degree in Criminology/Psychology from the University of Toronto and a certificate in Public Relations from Ryerson University. She is passionate about mentorship and volunteers her time to coach new and budding PR talent. When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, travelling, and listening to podcasts.

Kate Murphy

Avision Young

Global Director of External Communications

Kate Murphy joined Avison Young as the Global Director of External Communications in October 2019. Kate oversees the firm’s communications efforts, including media relations and social media engagement, to grow Avison Young’s visibility as a leader in the commercial real estate industry. She works closely with teams across North America, Europe and Asia to drive brand communications strategies forward.

Kate joined Avison Young from Bank of America, where she led communications for the bank’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives that drive social and economic progress in communities around the world. As part of this work, she was responsible for developing and implementing strategic communications plans that reached key audiences, including employees, influencers and media.

Kate’s background began with leading global communications firm FleishmanHillard. In her eleven years with the firm, Kate rose from intern to senior vice president, ultimately leading brand and corporate communications work on behalf of clients such as Bayer, McDonald’s and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She spent nine years in the firm’s Chicago office and two years in the firm’s London office serving a diverse range of clients on global campaigns.

Kate holds a Masters of Science in Public Relations from Syracuse University, and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of Iowa.

Sheryl So

Shopify

Head of Public Relations

Sheryl is a Senior Communications Professional with experience leading corporate, product, consumer, crisis and executive communications. Over the course of her career she has worked with consumer brands as well as large enterprise tech companies and startups in the U.S./Silicon Valley, Canada and beyond. She also spent a couple of years as the San Francisco contributing writer for @BetaKit and @Techvibes (now Digital Mag) covering tech trends and new startups. 

Candice So

Shopify

Communications Manager

Cara Inglis

Microsoft Canada

Consumer and Modern Work PR Lead

Jennifer Stein

APEX Public Relations

Senior Vice President

I have a true passion for the PR profession and have worked across the board on consumer, corporate, and technology accounts − which has given me an opportunity to be very versatile. I strive to really “know” my clients’ businesses and to stay on top of key industry trends. My determination to get the right results for my clients, as well as my ambition when setting goals, makes me loved (and sometimes hated : ) ). I love a good challenge − give me a story that you think you can’t place, and I will do my damnedest to find a place for it!