About Program

Speakers

Edwin Eisendrath
Chief Executive Officer
Chicago Sun-Times
@SunTimes

Edwin Eisendrath is the CEO of the Chicago Sun-Times and led the effort to save the organization. He brings a lifetime of civic engagement, a deep understanding of the city, and a passion deliver news that matt

ers to the people of Chicago to his new role. A life-long Chicagoan, Eisendrath is a creative leader who gets things done. He has successfully innovated across the public, private, and independent sectors to create value-social as well as economic.

Prior to taking the helm at the Sun-Times, Eisendrath was Managing Partner of StrateSphere, LLC, a firm that specializes in design and implementation of complex and fit-for-purpose public private partnerships in the areas of education, innovation, and economic transformation. He previously led international consulting engagements for Huron Consulting Group, focusing on the GCC. That practice took on transformational engagements using novel tools, such as offset credits from military contractors. Across four continents he has helped clients achieve diverse missions: a national library, an international bank, major research universities, and governments.

Previously, he was the Federal Administrative Receiver who led the turnaround of several troubled public housing authorities, including the nation’s worst in Chicago.  He served as regional administrator for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, as a Chicago alderman, and as a teacher in Chicago’s schools.

Eisendrath is a member of the Writers Guild of America. He received his bachelor of arts at Harvard University, and went on to get his Master of Arts in Teaching from the National College of Education in Chicago.

Eisendrath lives in Bucktown with his wife Jennifer Schulze, former News Director at WGN, where they raised their three children.

Jay Porter
President
Edelman Chicago
@EdelmanCHI

A 10-year Edelman veteran, Jay currently leads the firm’s Chicago office, overseeing 650+ employees delivering award-winning communications marketing work for clients in the food and beverage, CPG, health, industrial, tech and financial sectors.

His career path reflects passionate engagement and inspirational leadership around the most important trends in communications and marketing over the past two decades: the empowerment of consumers as drivers of brand value, the democratization of media and influence, the rise of social media, and the rapid convergence of consumer brands and corporate reputation. These shifts have created challenging opportunities for my clients and agency teams. He works to unlock value by championing breakthrough insights and optimizing talent and process to solve business and marketing problems.

Previously, he served as Global Client Relationship Manager (GCRM) for Edelman’s Starbucks account, overseeing work in more than 20 Edelman offices around the world. As GCRM Jay provided C-level counsel on market entries in India and Vietnam; multiple product launches; issues related to food safety, global tax and gun control; and the acquisition and integration of Teavana. He also led in-depth strategic planning efforts around the company’s community outreach efforts in China, its wellness platform and its approach to in-store marketing.

Prior to that, Jay led Edelman San Francisco to become the fastest-growing office in the Edelman network, winning clients including eBay, Levi Strauss & Co. and Shutterfly. He also led Edelman’s PR and social media AOR assignment for Axe (Unilever). He originally joined Edelman Seattle in 2005 as the head of the consumer team.

Prior to joining Edelman, Jay was West Coast head of planning for NY-based integrated marketing firm SS+K and a brand strategist at design consultancy Landor Associates, working with Xbox, Nike, Isilon Systems and numerous startups.

Questions? Email Lanie Friedman or Kayee Ip, Programming co-chairs.

Program Details

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