Weber Shandwick Names Chris Deri Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & President, C-Suite Advisory 

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Weber Shandwick today announced the appointment of Chris Deri to chief corporate affairs officer and president, C-suite advisory. In the new role, Deri will focus on maximizing the firm’s ability to deliver both communications and business strategy solutions to the increasing number of clients whose needs require integrated consultative thinking. Deri joins Weber Shandwick from Teneo, a global CEO advisory firm, where he served as president of the firm’s Digital Advisory for the past eight years.

Weber Shandwick Names Chris Deri Chief Corporate Affairs Officer & President, C-Suite Advisory

Deri joins from Teneo to lead global Corporate Affairs offering and stand up C-Suite Advisory

 

Deri will lead the global Corporate Affairs offering, which includes corporate positioning, crisis & issues and capital markets and partners with key practices such as public affairs, geopolitical strategy, social impact, sustainability and healthcare. Deri will also be responsible for building a dedicated C-suite advisory to align and grow consultative services across The Weber Shandwick Collective brands. The new unit will partner with United Minds, Weber Shandwick’s existing organizational transformation and DEI consultancy.

 

“In today’s complex landscape, we know that the integration of communications and business strategy is key to driving reputation and ultimately, growth,” said Gail Heimann, CEO, Weber Shandwick. “We’re forming a C-suite advisory within The Weber Shandwick Collective to leverage and enhance the power of our corporate consulting expertise and marry it with strategic communications. We are thrilled that Chris is joining to lead the effort. His experience across C-suite consulting and communications, coupled with our deep bench in corporate affairs will deliver powerful results for our clients.”

 

At Teneo, Deri advised Fortune 500 CEOs on formulating and implementing their objectives related to corporate reputation, organizational transformation and financial performance. He also helped establish Teneo’s digital practice which advised clients on content and engagement strategies, using data and analytics to produce insights specifically designed for the C-Suite.

New expectations of brands and companies – many ESG-related – present a new set of requirements for leaders across the C-suite to maintain both credibility with all stakeholders along with strong commercial positioning. Purpose-focused employees, capital market complexity, geopolitical risks and growing societal expectations of business are all inter-connected and requires even further fusing of a company’s public positioning with its business strategy. I’m excited to join Weber Shandwick and work with the 400+ professionals across the Corporate Affairs group and United Minds, as well as recruit new talent, to design a set of consultative capabilities and advisory expertise that address our clients’ most pressing needs across business strategy, societal engagement and communications.

Deri has over 20 years’ experience advising corporate, NGO and government leaders in markets across the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East involving corporate and executive positioning, public diplomacy, organizational design, digital strategy, crisis & issues management, sustainability & ESG. Prior to joining Teneo, he held executive positions in the US and China at several communications agencies in consulting, corporate responsibility and sustainability.

 

Earlier in Deri’s career, he served as regional finance director for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee and was the director of institutional affairs at the National Minority AIDS Council, a national training and advocacy organization. Upon graduating from college, Deri taught English at Shandong University in China.