PR Masters Series

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for  more than two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Jeffrey Sharlach, Founder and Chairman of JeffreyGroup

Jeffrey Sharlach is Chairman of JeffreyGroup, the Latin America public relations, marketing communications and public affairs agency he founded in 1993. Prior to moving to Miami to launch JeffreyGroup in 1993, Jeffrey held senior management positions during a 15-year career in New York at top international agencies. He was Executive Vice President for International Operations at the Rowland Worldwide division of Saatchi & Saatchi, Vice President and Client Service Manager for Burson-Marsteller, and Vice President and Worldwide Creative Director for Carl Byoir & Associates. Trained as both a journalist (B.S.J., Northwestern) and an attorney (J.D., New York University) Jeffrey has developed and managed marketing and communications programs for global clients throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.   Since 2007 he has also been an Adjunct Associate Professor of Management Communication teaching in the MBA program at the New York University Stern School of Business specializing in corporate communication.  

JeffreyGroup is the leading marketing, corporate communications, and public affairs consulting firm in Latin America, with a successful 30-yeartrack record advising multinational companies across a broad range of industry sectors.  With more than 330 employees, JeffreyGroup has offices in Mexico City, Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires, supported by a network of local agency partners across the region. JeffreyGroup is proud to serve some of the world’s largest companies and best-known brands, including Airbus, Amazon, American Airlines, BlackRock, BMW, Citi, Marriott International, Mastercard, PepsiCo, Salesforce, and Walt Disney World Resorts, among others.  In 2022, the firm was acquired by WPP.  For further information visit www.jeffreygroup.com.  

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for  more than two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Robert L. Dilenschneider, Founder and Principal of The Dilenschneider Group.

Robert L. Dilenschneider formed The Dilenschneider Group in October, 1991. Headquartered in New York and Chicago, the Firm provides strategic advice and counsel to Fortune 500 companies and leading families and individuals around the world, with experience in fields ranging from mergers and acquisitions and crisis communications to marketing, government affairs and international media.

Prior to forming his own firm, Mr. Dilenschneider served as president and chief executive officer of Hill and Knowlton, Inc. from 1986 to 1991, tripling that Firm’s revenues to nearly $200 million and delivering more than $30 million in profit. Mr. Dilenschneider was with that organization for nearly 25 years.

Mr. Dilenschneider started in public relations in 1967 in New York, shortly after receiving an M.A. in journalism from Ohio State University, and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.

Experienced in a number of communications disciplines, Mr. Dilenschneider is frequently called upon by the media to provide commentary and strategic public relations insights on major news stories. He has counseled major corporations, professional groups, trade associations and educational institutions, and has assisted clients in dealings with regulatory agencies, labor unions, and consumer groups, among others.

In 2001 he established The Borromean Lecture at St. Charles Preparatory School of Columbus, Ohio. The annual event attracts a nationally renowned speaker to talk on the topic of morals and ethics in business and government.

In 2012 The Dilenschneider Group established the Civility in America Lecture Series, which features many of the nation’s leading thinkers from a wide variety of professions and provides a perspective on what must be done to restore civility in our Country.

Mr. Dilenschneider serves as a Trustee of the Institute of International Education and is a member of the North American Advisory Board of The Michael Smurfit School of University College Dublin. He serves as a judge for The Olin Award, a program of the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Clubs of New York and Chicago, Mr. Dilenschneider has also served on numerous corporate boards.

A former member of the Board of Governors of the American Red Cross, Mr. Dilenschneider also served on the advisory board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Board of Governors of the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and The Bretton Woods Committee. He is a former member of the U.S. Japan Business Council and the Florida Council of 100.

In 2001, he received an honorary Doctorate of Public Service degree from Muskingum College, and in 2012 he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of New Haven.

Mr. Dilenschneider is a Knight of Malta.

Mr. Dilenschneider has been called the “Dean of American Public Relations Executives” and is widely published, having authored 18 books, including Power & Influence, A Briefing for Leaders, On Power, The Critical 14 Years of Your Professional Life, Moses: C.E.O, The Critical 2nd Phase of your Professional Life, 50 Plus!—Critical Career Decisions for the Rest of Your Life, A Time for Heroes, Power and Influence: The Rules Have Changed, The AMA Handbook of Public Relations, Decisions, Nailing It:  How History’s Awesome Twentysomethings Got It Together, and the Fifth Edition of The Public Relations Handbook.    

He has lectured before scores of professional organizations and colleges, including the University of Notre Dame, Ohio State University, New York University and The Harvard Business School.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for  more than two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Ben Chodor, pioneer of online communications resources.

Entrepreneur, Author, Founder of Stream57 acquired by West Corp, Happtique acquired by SocialWealth, Fmr President of Notified and current Advisory Board Member, Selected to PR Weeks 25 Leaders of PR Tech 2022.

Always one to think outside of the box, Ben Chodor has established himself as a pioneer of online communications Through PR, IR, interactive & streaming content. He is a leader with 20+ years of experience in enterprise communications, social video, and digital health.

As President of Notified, he ran the world’s only communications cloud for events, public relations, and investor relations, Ben continues to transform the way people connect and share information. Ben has always worked to consistently raise the bar when it comes to virtual, hybrid or in-person events as well as public relations, investor relations and digital health.

Previously, Ben served as Co-Founder & CEO of Happtique, the first digital health mobile application marketplace. He was also Founder & CEO for digital media and webcasting company Stream57, and the former Global Head of Streaming & Virtual Events at InterCall. Ben acts as a mentor for startup accelerator Blueprint Health, is an active investor and board member for digital startups, hosts the podcast Insights with Ben Chodor, and is a member of the Forbes Communications Council he is also a frequent speaker on digital media and technology.

Ben is the author of Transitioning to Virtual and Hybrid Events: How to Create, Adapt, and Market an Engaging Online Experience, a new book that provides expert advice and real-world instructions for delivering engaging hybrid, virtual, and streaming events and webinars for companies of all sizes. When not working in one of his many business roles, Ben enjoys spending time with his family, boxing, yoga, traveling and training for his first triathlon.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Richard Edelman, CEO of Edelman.

If the word “legend” applies to anyone at all in the world of public relations, it truly applies to Richard Edelman.  His agency has taken the world of public relations by storm during the past thirty or so years, and has led the way in growth, innovation, a vision for the future and extraordinary results for its long list of global clients. 

Under Richard’s leadership the agency now does more than one billion dollars a year in revenues, the first ever PR agency to do so. It has set the standard for the PR agency business and the bar is exceedingly high.  Richard is the son of Daniel J. Edelman who founded the firm in 1952.  Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013.  Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry.

Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm, and Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, the firm’s holding company. Founded in 1952 by his father Dan, Edelman remains independent and family owned with more than 6,000 employees in 66 offices across 28 countries.

The firm was named to Advertising Age’s A-List in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2019 and was honored as “PR Agency of the Decade” by both Advertising Age and PRovoke. At the 2021 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Edelman became the first PR Agency to win a Grand Prix as lead agency in the Entertainment Lions for Sport and was named Independent Agency of the Year in the Entertainment Track.

Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013. Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry. During that time, he’s guided the firm’s entry into Digital, Creative, Performance Marketing and Advisory. Under Richard’s leadership, Edelman’s revenue increased 11.5 times enabling it to become the largest communications firm in the world surpassing $1 billion in revenue. DJE Holdings’ revenue increased 14 times during that same period making it the largest independent communications holding company. He also serves as Chair of Edelman’s sister agency Zeno, which was named large agency of the year in 2021 and 2022 by PRWeek. Zeno employs 730+ people across 18 offices.

Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs and family businesses. He has advised senior executives through significant disruptions within their organizations, including Samsung, Starbucks and United Airlines, and worked on the largest professional services merger in history of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. Richard works with numerous clients including Unilever, Dairy Management Inc. and Chobani. He has counseled countries in every region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media and NGOs. Now in its 22nd year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is widely recognized as the leading piece of research on trust with its cross-cultural insights regularly cited in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes and other media. The survey also informs academic studies on trust and provides insights to thought-leaders and opinion-shapers around the world.

In 2022, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame, the first PR executive to ever earn this honor. In 2019, Richard was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publication’s Hall of Fame; in 2014, Richard was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame; Advertising Age named him Agency Executive of the Year in 2008. Richard is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004.

He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), the Atlantic Council, Project HOOD, P33, the Gettysburg Foundation, the 9/11 Museum and the National Committee on U.S. China Relations. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World Economic Forum and PR Seminar.

Richard earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976. He and his wife Claudia live in New York City, and he has three daughters, Margot, Tory and Amanda.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Barbara Way Hunter, Founder of Hunter Public Relations.

Barbara Way Hunter was founder of Hunter Public Relations, a New York firm, from March 1989 to December 2000.  She is now retired, but the firm continues as Hunter:, currently with more than 200 staff members.

Ms. Hunter was formerly president of Dudley-Anderson-Yutzy, one of the earliest PR firms, founded in 1908.  She joined D-A-Y as an account executive in February 1956 after earlier experience as as a staff member of Food Field Reporter, a trade publication for the food industry, publicist for Sealtest products at  National Dairy Products Corp. and account executive at Sally Dickson Associates. In 1969, after two of D-A-Y’s partners died, Ms. Hunter and her sister, Jean Schoonover, bought out the remaining partner and grew the business 500% in the next 12 years. When D-A-Y was acquired by the advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather, in 1983, she became vice-chairman of its public relations department.

She left O&M at the end of 1988 and, joined by two partners, formed Hunter MacKenzie Cooper in March 1989. McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco Sauce, was its first client. When the two partners departed, she continued the firm as Hunter Public Relations until 2000 when she sold it to five of her top staff members

Ms Hunter. Graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell University in 1949.  While there she was women’s editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, president of her sorority (Kappa Kappa Gamma), and was elected to Mortar Board, a senior honorary society. A trustee of the university from 1980 to 1985, she also served on the advisory council of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences :,d is a lifetime member of the Cornell Council.  For five years she was president of her alumni class.  She is a former director of the YMCA of Greater New York.  After retirement and relocation to Walpole, NH, from 2004 to 2008 she served as president of the Point O’Woods Association, a community on Fire Island, NY, and president of the Walpole Historical Society.

Ms. Hunter was the 1984 national president of the Public Relations Society of America and prior to that president of the New York Chapter. She is a member of the PRSA College of Fellows and is a former trustee of The Institute for Public Relations Research and Education.  She is the recipient of numerous presidential citations from the Society, the John Hill award from the New York Chapter and the 1993 Gold Anvil from the national society.  She was chairman of the 1989 PRSA national conference in Dallas,  and founded the PRSA Food and Beverage Section in 1992, She served on the boards of The Advertising Women of New York and the Women Executives in Public Relations.

Ms. Hunter received the Matrix Award from the New York Women in Communications in 1980, the Entrepreneurial Woman Award from the Women Business Owners of New York in 1981, and the national Headliner Award from Women in Communications in 1984,   She was a charter member of the Committee of 200 and is a member of the YMCA Academy of Women Achievers.  In 1976 Business Week named her as one of the 100 outstanding women in business.

Ms. Hunter was born in Westport, New York, on July 14, 1927, the daughter of Dr. Walter and Hilda Way.  She attended The Westport Central School and was valedictorian of her graduating class in 1945. After graduation from Cornell, she moved to Manhattan where she lived for the next 50 years.  In 1953 she married Austin Hunter, and they subsequently had two daughters, Kimberley and Victoria. Their marriage lasted 60 years.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Grace Leong, CEO & Partner, HUNTER.

Grace Leong is a passionate advocate for the modern practice of integrated marketing communications.  Recently named a “Champion of PR” by PRWeek magazine, Grace elevates the role of PR in the marketing mix among Hunter’s best in class clients in consumer products and services by infusing programs with new technologies, resources and solutions that drive business results.

In a career spanning 30 more than years, Grace has conceived and led of dozens award winning communications programs and initiatives for Fortune 100 consumer products companies including 3M, Johnson & Johnson, Church & Dwight and Pompeian. Classically educated and credentialed as both a public relations professional and marketer, Grace embraces her role as the female lead of a diverse communications consultancy which is driven by creativity, exceptional client service and a dedication to achieving measurable business results.

Inspired by a foundation in earned media, Grace has driven the evolution of HUNTER into new services, new territories, and new industries through her ability to recognize the sweet spot between her client’s evolving communications needs and staff’s talents, and funneling investment into their development, while delivering best in class results for the clients that partner with Hunter.  

Not a fan of the spotlight herself, Grace believes doing great work every day sets the best leadership example, and is most often found in the “brainstorm room” driving the next big idea or and at the IMC table contributing best-in-class PR strategy.  Her skills as a communications expert come in handy at home as well, as the mother of four young adults who enjoying challenging their parents with their own academic and athletic objectives.

An accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Arthur W. Page Society, Grace has served the public relations and marketing industry in numerous leadership positions. In 2016, she was awarded the PRSA-NY John W. Hill Award for lifetime achievement in public relations. Grace earned a BA from the University of Delaware and an MBA from Rutgers University. She was named the Delaware’s outstanding alumni in 2013 and inducted in to the University’s Alumni Hall of Fame in 2016 for lifetime professional achievement and service to the Blue Hen Community.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now.  This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession.  Today’s special guest is Jim Weiss, Chairman + Founder, Real Chemistry.

When Art Stevens headed LobsenzStevens, a top independent New York PR agency in the nineties, his firm selected an up and coming young man as an intern.  That young man was Jim Weiss.  Jim was assigned to work on a healthcare account and that started his career in healthcare.  The rest is history.

Jim Weiss is the Chairman and Founder of Real Chemistry, a global health innovation company that uses real-world data, proprietary technologies and analytical insights to solve the health care industry’s most significant challenges. He also serves as an Executive Advisor to New Mountain Capital, Real Chemistry’s investment partner. 

Jim evolved Real Chemistry from a one-person consultancy to a team of 1,800+ people who partner with clients at the highest levels of organizational decision-making. A pioneer in the application of analytics, data and precision targeting, Jim learned early in his career to follow the data to get to the right outcome. 

He is also passionate about improving diversity, inclusion and health equity to make the world a healthier place for all.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now. This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession. 

Today’s special guest is John D. (Jack) Bergen Managing Partner, The Bergen Partnership.

The Stevens Group has been presenting the PR Masters Series Podcast for two years now. This series is part of the ongoing partnership between The Stevens Group and CommPRO to bring to PR, digital/interactive and marketing communications agencies the wisdom of those who have reached the top of the PR profession. 

Today’s special guest is Margery Kraus, Founder & Executive Chairman, APCO Worldwide. Ms. Kraus has deep expertise in providing strategic counsel on issue based communication, crisis management, market entry, and corporate  reputation across diverse industry groups. The range of her experience is  reflected in APCO’s industry practice groups. In addition, she pioneered  one of the industry’s earliest practices in corporate responsibility and the  development of public/private partnerships. Ms. Kraus is a true PR master and business pioneer.