Six-Member External Board to Advise on Evolution of the Firm
Edelman today announced the formation of a global advisory board that will counsel the firm’s senior management and clients on geopolitical and industry issues. The board, whose members bring diverse backgrounds spanning media, technology, finance, business and government, will meet twice a year and work with local leaders as the firm looks to diversify its revenue globally.
“As we continue to reinvent ourselves and redefine the category to help solve the challenges facing business today, we are investing in new areas like creative, digital, performance marketing and C-suite consulting,” said Richard Edelman, president and CEO of Edelman. “The wide-ranging, global perspective of this group will help ensure we are making the right investments and maximizing value for our clients.”
The six-member advisory board will include:
- Sandra Fuentes-Berain — Ambassador Fuentes is Ambassador Emeritus of Mexico, a distinction awarded only to five of the highest-ranking diplomats in its Foreign Service. As Head of Mission to the European Union she made Mexico one of its strategic partners. As Ambassador to Canada, she negotiated NAFTA. While Ambassador in Paris, she dealt with the French participation in the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. During her tenure at The Hague, she was responsible for Mexico joining the International Criminal Court. Ambassador Fuentes was also in charge of Mexico's opening to the Pacific area in the early ‘90s and its membership in APEC while Consul General in Hong Kong.
- Rodney Goldstein — Goldstein is Co-Managing Partner, Wealth Strategist Partners, Chicago, an investment advisor to selected families and entrepreneurs. Prior, he spent over 30 years with Frontenac, a Chicago-based private equity firm that serves as financial and strategic partner to family owned businesses, including 22 years as the firm’s Chairman and Managing Partner. He has served on the board of directors of several private and public companies, and presently serves as an independent director or advisory board member of three large, privately owned companies.
- Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg — Guttenberg is the Chairman of Spitzberg Partners LLC, an international corporate advisory and investment firm headquartered in New York. He served as German Federal Minister of Defense and as Federal Minister of Economics and Technology under Chancellor Merkel and was a member of the German Parliament (Bundestag) from 2002-2011. As minister of defense, he led the most significant structural reform of the German armed forces since the Bundeswehr’s founding in 1955. He spearheaded the effort of transforming the Bundeswehr from a conscription-based army to an all-professional military. He is a Distinguished Statesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
- Joe Hurd — Hurd is a non-executive Independent Director of GoCompare.com Group, a financial services, utilities and home services comparison website. Before that he was the Director, Emerging Businesses at Facebook, where he led a team responsible for go-to-market monetization planning and operations for many of Facebook’s new platforms and services, such as messaging, virtual reality, and e-commerce. Prior to that, he ran business development and strategy for Gannett Broadcasting (now TEGNA), was on the management teams at Friendster (social networking) and VideoEgg (video advertising) and ran business development in Japan and Australia for AOL Time Warner.
- Lord Paul Myners — Lord Myners currently sits as a Crossbencher in the House of Lords. He has served as a minister in the UK Treasury and on the Court (Board) of the Bank of England. Lord Myners is also chairman of Edelman UK, chancellor of the University of Exeter, General Partner of Cevian, the largest ‘activist fund’ in Europe, Managing Partner of Autonomous Research LLP, a member of the Court of the London School of Economics and an Executive Fellow of London Business School. He has held numerous financial sector roles including directorships at NatWest, Coutts, Lloyd’s of London, the Bank of New York and served on the board of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
- Takumi Shibata — Shibata is Representative Director, President & CEO of Nikko Asset Management where he holds overall responsibility for the group’s business worldwide. Prior to joining Nikko AM, he was Group COO of Nomura Holdings. Before that, he was responsible for Nomura’s European business from its London subsidiary, and then oversaw global investment banking, global wholesale, global administration and global asset management operations. During his time at Nomura, Shibata spent 20 years with the business in Japan, and 17 overseas.
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. Among its many honors, the firm was awarded the Cannes Lions Grand Prix for PR, named one of 2018 “Agencies to Watch” by Advertising Age and “Global Agency of the Year” by both the Holmes Report and PRWeek, and cited five times by Glassdoor as one of the “Best Places to Work.” Edelman owns specialty firms Edelman Intelligence (research) and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, lifestyle).