BCW Names Dan Doherty North America Public Affairs and Crisis Practice ChairNovember 18, 2019

NEW YORK, November 18, 2019 – BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), a leading global communications company, today announced that Dan Doherty, Executive Vice President, Managing Director in the firm’s Washington, D.C. market, has been named Executive Vice President, Global Public Affairs and Crisis Solutions, responsible for leading and building the practice in North America.

Doherty has led BCW’s Public Affairs and Crisis team in Washington since 2018, providing crisis and issues management, government affairs and media relations counsel to a wide variety of corporate, association and nonprofit clients. He also helped create and leads BCW’s Cannabis Consulting Unit.

“Dan combines a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges that clients face today in terms of policy, regulation, reputation and corporate citizenship with an entrepreneurial approach to business,” said Chris Foster, President, North America, BCW, to whom Doherty reports. “His substantial experience building strategic integrated communications programs for clients in both the public and private sectors, counseling c-suite executives on the most high-profile challenges of the day and building a business unit from the ground up make him the perfect choice for this important role.”

Doherty joined BCW predecessor company Burson-Marsteller in 2017 with 20 years of agency experience. Before that, he was President of TheWadeGroup, Inc., responsible for managing the agency's operations, marketing and business development, in addition to serving as client lead and senior public affairs and crisis counselor for corporate, association and non-profit clients, including an $8 billion consumer packaged goods company. His corporate communications experience spans counseling high-profile organizations on customer, investor, community, government and labor relations, including both union organizing and decertification campaigns. In addition, Doherty has extensive experience in food manufacturing, including market recalls and withdrawals in both the U.S. and Canada.

“We are in a new era in the public affairs space; it’s no longer mainly focused on issues mitigation, but on seizing opportunities to have an impact on issues that are important to a company or organization’s stakeholders and communities,” said Doherty. “With confidence in traditional institutions continuing to decline, businesses are increasingly stepping up to take stands and rally for change where others will not. What we do at BCW – I’d say better than anyone else – is help clients make those decisions and bring them to life through policy and regulation as well as storytelling across the entire communications ecosystem. I’m excited to lead BCW’s Public Affairs & Crisis Practice in this new era.”