Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm.
The firm was named to Advertising Age’s 2019 A-List and was honored as “PR Agency of the Decade” by both Advertising Age and The Holmes Report.
Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs and family businesses in over 25 industries around the world. 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.
In 2020, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Fame. In 2019, he 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, he was inducted in the Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame. 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 Atlantic Council, the Children’s Aid Society, the Gettysburg Foundation, the 9/11 Museum and the National Committee on US 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.
Roberta (“Robbie”) Kaplan, the founding partner of Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP and a formidable litigator
with decades of experience in both commercial and civil rights litigation, has consistently been
recognized as one of the nation’s top litigators, including as one of Benchmark Litigation’s top ten
women litigators. In addition to receiving the Gold Medal Award from the New York State Bar
Association and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Law Journal, she has been named
“Litigator of the Year” by The American Lawyer, “Lawyer of the Year” by Above the Law, and the “Most
Innovative Lawyer of The Year” by The Financial Times, among numerous other honors. She is also a co-
founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
Ms. Kaplan is an expert in cutting-edge areas of law. As the ABA Journal has recognized, Ms. Kaplan is “a
specialist in emerging law. She litigates cases that shape the legal structure within which Americans live,
love, work and hail cabs.” Ms. Kaplan leads a high-stakes commercial litigation practice, representing
clients like Airbnb, Uber, Elysium Health, Columbia University, Brown University and Fitch Ratings in
their most high-profile and complex legal challenges. Although she is perhaps best known for
successfully challenging the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act before the United
States Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor thereby paving the way to marriage equality
nationwide only two years later, Ms. Kaplan has continued her deep-seated commitment to using the
law to advance the public interest. From launching a lawsuit against the neo-Nazis and white
supremacists who organized the racially-motivated violence that took place in Charlottesville in August
2017 to suing Donald Trump for defamation on behalf of her client E. Jean Carroll, high-profile public
interest litigation remains at the center of Ms. Kaplan’s practice.
Ms. Kaplan is a 1991 graduate of Columbia Law School, where she currently serves as an adjunct
professor of law. She holds an A.B., magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Harvard College.
Claudia Romo Edelman is an advocate for the inclusion equity and representation. Her mission is to
use her voice to build bridges and remind us that we are all human.
She is a Special Adviser for the We Are All Human Foundation; she is also the Co-Host of ‘Global
GoalsCast’, a podcast distributed by CBS News Digital, which highlights global progress through the
stories of champions making a difference. Claudia is the Editor at Large of Thrive Global and it was
recenly announced that she will step into the role of Editor in Chief of Thrive Hispanics. Prior to this,
the Mexican-Swiss diplomat was seconded to the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the
United Nations, to lead communications and advocacy for the Sustainable Development Goals.
Claudia is the former Chief of Advocacy of UNICEF. While living in Europe for 25 years, she
successfully led public relations and brand and marketing for global organizations including the
World Economic Forum, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB & Malaria.
A frequent public speaker on development and humanitarian affairs, Claudia holds degrees in
Communications, Philosophy and Photography as well as a Masters of Political Communications
from the London School of Economics. Claudia is married and has two children. She enjoys sports
and speaks six languages.