CEO, W, UK

Rachel Friend is CEO of W which she joined in July 2020.

Prior to this she was the CEO of Weber Shandwick’s London office where she led a team of 230, with deep expertise in core specialisms of consumer, corporate, health, technology, financial and public affairs, as well as London’s planning, creative, digital and production studio capabilities, the largest in the EMEA region.

CEO Australia & Chief Growth Officer, Asia Pacific

Edelman Australia

Michelle Hutton is the CEO of Edelman Australia and Chief Growth Officer in Asia Pacific having recently moved there from London where she was Managing Director, Global Clients.  Prior to this she was Chief Officer of Edelman Europe and before this,  Michelle led Edelman’s Global Consumer Marketing team creating Edelman’s Earned Brand Series of Consumer IP and chairing Edelman’s Global Brand Council.   Before relocating to Europe, Michelle ran Edelman’s operations in Australia, as CEO, where she led an international award-winning team. Prior to joining Edelman, Michelle was the chief executive, Australasia of Hill & Knowlton Strategies and ran the firm’s consumer marketing practice across Asia Pacific.   Michelle was a PR juror at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. She has an interest in supporting female leaders.  Michelle leads Edelman’s Global Women in Leadership program in Europe and was previously a Board Director of The Communications Council in Australia serving on the diversity and inclusion committee.

Director General, PRCA

CEO, ICCO

Francis Ingham is Director General of the PRCA, and Chief Executive of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO).  Ingham’s background is in politics and public affairs. He is External Examiner to the American University at Richmond and Trustee of The Speakers’ Corner Trust.  He was educated at Oxford University, where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He appears in both the UK and the Global editions of PR Week’s PowerBook.

Director of Client Development

North America, Ketchum

Denise returned to the US in 2018 having led the London office as Managing Director since 2013.   Throughout the course of her Ketchum career spanning three continents, she has run several of the firm’s largest global client engagements, including spending 10 months seconded with a client’s in-house team. In her new role, she will focus on providing the highest level of client counsel for the firm’s North America-based clients.