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.

Nancy Bistritz-Balkan

Purchasing Power

Senior Director Corporate Communications

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.

Amanda Coleman

Former Head of Communications, Greater Manchester Police

Crisis Communications Consultant, AMANDA COLEMAN LTD

Amanda is the director of the crisis communication consultancy Amanda Coleman Communication Ltd. Based in the UK, she has 20 years’ experience in emergency services communication and leading law enforcement communication at a time of crisis.

In 2017, Amanda led the law enforcement communication response to dealing with the Manchester Arena terrorist attack. She has more than two decades of experience in managing crises.

She is the author of Crisis Communication Strategies published by Kogan Page in May 2020. It brings together advice for preparing for a crisis, dealing with it and moving effectively into the recovery phase. Amanda has worked as a journalist and is a Chartered PR Practitioner as well as a Fellow of both the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and the Public Relations and Communication Association. She is an international speaker on crisis communication. Her blog can be found here https://amandacomms1.wordpress.com/

Matt Lindberg

ICR

Managing Director

Brittany Bevacqua

Affect

Senior Vice President