Diana Marszalek 01 Dec 2022 // 3:00PM GMT
NEW YORK — With demand for executive counsel on the rise, the Weber Shandwick Collective has created a new business advisory service pooling experts from across the agency brands.
Business & Society Futures includes specialists from Weber Shandwick’s corporate & public affairs practices, Powell Tate, United Minds, and KRC Research who will be working with C-suite leaders on the likes of business strategy, stakeholder expectations and societal impact. The group will offer counsel on pressing issues facing business including talent, new technology, inflation, communications, employee engagement and DEI.
The agency has also pooled a group of senior leaders from outside the agency to bolster the new offering. The long list of Collective Senior Advisors includes Bipartisan Policy Center energy program leader Sasha Mackler; former Yum Brands CCO Jerilan Green; Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights president Kerry Kennedy; former Kamala Harris comms head Ashley Etienne; and National Minority AIDS Council executive director Paul Kawata.
The new advisory services will be led by Chris Deri, Weber Shandwick’s chief corporate affairs officer and president of TWSC’s C-suite advisory business. United Minds CEO Kate Bullinger and Powell Take president Paul Massey, who is also Weber Shandwick’s global lead of social impact & sustainability, will serve as co-chairs. Weber Shandwick chief public affairs officer Pam Jenkins will partner with Deri on the effort.
“Understanding and managing social and political polarization, environmental challenges, misinformation and disinformation are now required leadership skills for CEOs and other executives to ensure organizational resiliency, drive commercial performance and deliver growth,” said Weber Shandwick CEO Gail Heimann. “The formation of Business & Society Futures and the addition of The Collective Senior Advisors enables us to more seamlessly and nimbly provide clients a range of expertise and capabilities related to their company’s business performance, stakeholder expectations and societal impact.”