Kirsty Graham named CEO of Edelman’s U.S. operation

Kirsty Graham has been named CEO of Edelman’s U.S. operation, effective February 1. Graham, currently Global President of Edelman’s Practices and Sectors, will oversee the firm’s largest region comprised of nearly 2,500 people in 12 offices.  Graham will continue to serve on the firm’s Executive Leadership Team and will report to Matthew J. Harrington, Global President, Chief Operating Officer, and acting U.S. CEO.

Graham succeeds D.C.-based Lisa Osborne Ross, Edelman’s former Chief Executive Officer, who left the agency in October after taking a leave of absence from her role leading the agency’s largest operation in September.

(Prior to Edelman, Ross served as managing director of APCO Worldwide’s flagship office for more than two years, arriving there after a 15-year career at Ogilvy Public Relations. During her tenure at Ogilvy, she was founder of the agency’s multicultural practice, head of the public advocacy group and practice, and head of the public affairs division. Earlier, Ross held several roles in the Clinton Administration, reported PRovoke Media.)

According to Edelman, Graham, who will be based in NYC, has lived in the United States for 24 years and “has engaged with business, government, media and civil society in the course of her career. Prior to Edelman, Graham spent 10 years at Pfizer Inc, where she served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs for their Biopharmaceuticals Group. In that role she oversaw policy, public affairs and communications for Pfizer’s medicines business, operating in more than 125 countries with a portfolio of more than 600 products generating approximately three-quarters of the company’s revenue. Graham was previously SVP, Global Policy and International Public Affairs at Pfizer.

“Earlier in her career, Graham spent 16 years in the New Zealand Foreign Service working on a wide range of economic, security and trade policy issues with responsibilities spanning bilateral relations with China, Japan, and the United States. Her diplomatic assignments included a five-year posting to Washington, DC (1996-2000) and five years as New Zealand’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations (2006-2010).”