Twenty-year Industry Veteran to Lead Edelman’s Corporate Social Responsibility Offering
Edelman has named Bob Knott global chair of its Business + Social Purpose (B+SP) practice, effective Monday, August 3, 2015. Knott, most recently senior managing director and head of the corporate communications practice in the Americas for FTI Consulting, will lead Edelman’s global network of 150 B+SP professionals. He will report to Ben Boyd, president of practices, sectors and offerings, and will be based in the Washington, D.C. office.
“Bob’s more than 20 years of experience in the corporate social responsibility and sustainability space will bring huge benefits to our clients, the firm and the practice,” said Boyd. “This is important work for our clients that also plays a central role in our ambition to be a leading communications marketing firm, especially in how we can help our clients evolve by ensuring they take action before communication, based on a clear sense of purpose.”
Knott, a returning 13-year Edelman veteran, will be charged with making purpose a key offering across the entire agency by scaling B+SP not as a vertical, but as a cross-practice offering spanning consumer and corporate communications to issues management and public affairs. Over his 20 year career he has developed and executed some of the most high-profile CSR-focused communications campaigns, including GE’s ecomagination. While previously at Edelman, Knott held a number of senior leadership positions and played a key role in the establishment of the B+SP practice in 2010. He has also led award-winning client engagements for the American Wind Energy Association, Chevron, DuPont, Environmental Defense Fund, Monsanto, The Nature Conservancy, The United Way of America, The International Emissions Trading Association, Veolia Water, Walmart and Waste Management.
“It’s great to be back. Edelman’s strategic and creative vitality is a source of boundless inspiration, as is the opportunity to work with such great people and clients and on such consequential assignments,” said Knott. “True to our practice’s name, we work with clients to achieve both their commercial and societal objectives, which are interdependent, not either or.”
Knott is currently a trustee of Wheeling Jesuit University and a board member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He was formerly a board member of the Audubon Society Maryland/Washington, D.C.
About Edelman
Edelman is a leading global communications marketing firm that partners with many of the world’s largest and emerging businesses and organizations, helping them evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. Edelman was named one of Advertising Age’s “Agency to Watch” in 2014; one of Forbes’ “14 Most Influential Agencies of 2014”; and The Holmes Report’s “2013 Global Agency of the Year.” Edelman was awarded the Grand Prix Cannes Lion for PR in 2014 and was among Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” for the third time in 2014. Edelman owns specialty firms Edelman Berland (research) and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, experiential), a joint venture with United Talent Agency. Visit http://www.edelman.com for more information.
For more information contact
Michael Bush
michael.bush@edelman.com