Edelman reported its 2020 financial results yesterday. Our revenue shrank 5.7 percent to $840 million, down from $892 million in 2019. At our low point in June, we were down 14 percent, as clients in several sectors cut spending in the wake of Covid-19.

We have rallied, as our revenue in November, December and January is at or above the level of the prior year. The comeback has been sparked by growth in Healthcare, Brand and Financial Communications. Our Racial Justice Task Force has supported more than 400 clients in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in May.

We provided much needed insight to our clients in a deeply confusing time. This encompassed issuing 11 Edelman Trust Barometer special reports in the past twelve months coupled with briefings for clients and our people on Covid-19 alongside Dr. David Nabarro, World Health Organization Special Envoy for Covid-19.

Our work this past year has been stunning, as clients have granted us permission to think big and act aggressively. We helped IKEA announce #BuyBackFriday, which saw the retailer buy back old IKEA furniture from people to give it a second life. Along with Good Humor and the RZA, founder of the Wu-Tang Clan, we replaced the longstanding ice cream truck jingle Turkey in the Straw, which had its origins in racist minstrel shows, with a new song created by the legendary producer. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, we did Stronger than Violence to stop a rise in domestic abuse cases during quarantine. And for Ajinomoto, we helped Asian restaurants combat racism stemming from Covid-19 through the #TakeOutHate campaign. My profound thanks to each of our clients who enable us to push for change in this most challenging period.

We have continued our evolution of the firm. We hired our first global chief Innovation and Strategy Officer, Lee Maicon, from McCann, Kirsty Graham came from Pfizer to run the global Health practice, and Dave Samson joined as vice chairman, Corporate Affairs, from Chevron. We have a powerful Purpose and ESG unit led by Helga Ying, former Levi Strauss, Heidi DuBois, former ESG Director for the Society for Corporate Governance and Chuka Umunna, former Labour MP in the UK. And we have relentlessly pursued our goal of a more diverse enterprise, with women now constituting 50 percent of senior leadership, and in the U.S. our diversity numbers rising to 27 percent of total workforce up from 24 percent in the prior year.

None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary dedication and determination of our people. They have continued to excel in the face of lockdowns, health concerns and hours of video conferences. I pay tribute to them as the invaluable partners for our clients. I announced that we would give each of our account executives and account supervisors a special bonus of 5 percent of salary in the coming weeks.

We are in no way declaring victory as there remains much uncertainty in the market. But we move forward into 2021 with a strong sense of confidence in the firm and the industry.

Richard Edelman is CEO