SHOW NOTES

Matthew is the Director of Communications for WhiteWave Foods, a leading consumer packaged food,
and beverage company that manufactures, markets and sells branded plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages, premium dairy products, and organic produce.

As the Director of Communications, Matthew oversees and is directly responsible for the company’s communications programs around crisis and issues management, financial communications, M&A/integration, employee & executive communications and corporate marketing and thought leadership.

Prior to joining WhiteWave, Matthew was the General Manager of Olson PR, an award-winning marketing, and communications agency based out of Chicago, IL. At Olson, Matthew was General Manager of the company’s Western Division which included offices in San Francisco and Denver, and he managed communications campaigns for a wide variety of national and international Fortune 500 companies including SABMiller, AB InBev, Heineken, Carlsberg, Belize Tourism Board, Fitbit, Wrigley, and a variety of others.

One of Matthew’s longest serving clients at Olson was a coalition of the world’s four largest global brewers and brewing industry associations that he helped collaborate on issues of shared importance including excise tax, commercial freedom, reputation and global stakeholder engagement. He also ran the company’s crisis and issues management practice including managing all crisis and issues for the Belize Tourism Board and Fitbit, and he created and executed holistic consumer and business-to-business marketing communications strategies for a wide variety of Olson clients including TiVo, Wrigley, and Cool Planet.

Before joining Olson, Matthew worked at Weber Shandwick Worldwide where he led the issues and crisis management programs for the U.S. Dairy Industry and the U.S. Pork Industry and counseled a variety of major global companies through both large and small-scale crises, including Mars Incorporated, SC Johnson and Son, and Kraft Foods.

Earlier in his career, Matthew spent five years working at various levels of state and federal government including the Wisconsin State Governor, The U.S. Department of Education, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner and the White House. He graduated from George Washington University with B.S. in Political Science.