50 Game-Changers of PR

PR News' Game Changer

Perhaps the most potent symbol of PR's evolution in recent years is the seeming scarcity of "public relations" and "PR" in job titles. The growth of PR itself is to blame. The term "PR" hardly encompasses what brand communicators are now asked to do by their organizations or clients. If you're charged with building brand awareness and you're not placing ads in print publications—I saw one of those just last week—or working with an ad agency on a TV campaign, you're doing some form of PR, whether you're aware of it or not.

The PR pro of 2000 had to master media relations, crisis communications, internal communications, media training and change management. The brand communicator of 2017 very likely must master those same areas, as well as social media, data and analytics, visual storytelling, influencer marketing, SEO, content marketing and even advertising. This expansion of PR has been driven by technology, of course, but also by  the communicators themselves, each of whom must be a jack of all trades and master of all.

PR News recently asked its community to tell us who should be listed among the top game-changers of PR in the last few years—individuals who have been accelerating the expansion and growth of brand communication. Here is our list of 50 Game-Changers of PR, culled from our community's submissions. (We'll soon be publishing profiles of all the Game-Changers.)

Jim Abernathy
Executive Chairman
Abernathy MacGregor

Kara Alaimo
Assistant Professor of Public Relations
Hofstra University

Lubomir Alamanov
Managing Partner
SiteMedia Consultancy

Maria Benvenuti
President
Benvenuti Public Relations

Melissa Brotz
Divisional Vice President, Head of Public Affairs
Abbott

Natalie Boden
President
Boden

Nikki Carlson
Co-Founder
ChicExecs PR & Branding, Chic Blvd. Inc.

Bobbie Carlton
Founder
Innovation Nights and Innovation Women

Steve Cody
CEO
Peppercomm

Lauren de la Fuente
VP, Marketing + Communications
Boingo Wireless

Jamie Diaferia
CEO
Infinite Global

Serge Dumont
Vice Chairman, Chairman Asia Pacific
Omnicom Group Inc.

Judy Evola
Director of Community Relations and Marketing
Walled Lake Schools

Erin Flior
Senior Director, Digital Communications
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Patricia Green
Founder & Chief Strategist
The Patricia Green Group

John Guilfoil
Principal
John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC

Tahoma Guiry
CMO
K9s For Warriors

James F. Haggerty
President & CEO
PRCG | Haggerty

Joy Hays
Chief Storyteller & Social Strategist
AT&T

Bruce Hennes
Managing Partner
Hennes Communications

Kathleen Henson
Founder & CEO
Henson Consulting

Catherine Hernandez-Blades
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications
Aflac

Ahmad Itani
COO
Cicero & Bernay

Katie Keating
Global Social Brand Strategy Lead
IBM

Melissa Keklak
CEO/Founder
MMKpr

Anastasia Khoo
Chief Marketing Officer
Conservation International

Malorie Lucich
Product and Tech PR
Pinterest

Josh Martin
Senior Director of Social Media Marketing
Arby's

Beth Monaghan
CEO & Co-founder
InkHouse

Cooper Munroe
CEO
The Motherhood Inc.

Philip Nardone, Jr.
President & CEO
PAN Communications

Crosby Noricks
Founder and Director
PR Couture

Joshua Peck
Senior Manager, Media Relations
Duane Morris

Allen Plummer
Content Marketing & Social Strategist, Institutional Business
Vanguard

Karen Raskopf
Chief Communications Officer
Dunkin’ Brands

Kelly Rossman-McKinney
Principal and CEO
Truscott Rossman

Nicole Rodrigues
Founder & CEO
NRPR Group

Gloria Rodriguez
President and CEO
Comunicad LLC

Alyson Roy
CEO/Co-Founder/Partner Publicist
AMP3 Public Relations

Steven Shapiro
Founder & President
Communications Strategy Group

Morris Silver
Founding Managing Partner
Finn Partners/M. Silver

Dan Simon
CEO and Co-Founder
Vested

Elizabeth Sosnow
Managing Partner
Bliss Integrated Communication

Xurxo Torres
CEO
Torres y Carrera

Cindy Villafranca
Senior Communications Specialist
Southwest Airlines

Lars Voedisch
Managing Director & Principal Consultant
PRecious Communications

Larissa von Lockner
PR & Social Media Manager
PwC

Vanessa Wakeman
Founder and CEO
The Wakeman Agency

Heather Whaling
Founder/President
Geben Communication

Anna Ruth Williams
Founder + CEO
AR|PR