Very early in his career — while still a broadcasting and communications major at Norfolk State University — Roi Ewell worked in television production and as an on-air personality for a jazz station in Hampton Roads, Va. “During a shift, I was doing the popular Top 40 technique of talking over the beginnings and endings of songs when going from tune to tune or in or out of a commercial break,” the New Jersey-raised Philadelphia native recalls.

“And the music director at the station practically yelled at me to never, ever step on the intros and outros of those recordings. He told me that with jazz music and with other genres, intros and outros are personal statements, and you must respect every note of the musicians’ story before and after the melody.”

The council’s new chair, elected at the Fall Board Meeting, Oct. 16-18, learned a lot about effective communication and role clarification from the early days in his career. “I learned that, with jazz, my role was to be a knowledgeable facilitator of content,” Ewell says. “Being an on-air personality needed to be secondary to the presentation of the song, the artist’s story and the era of the music.

“The other learning from my time in radio was understanding the need to deliver value in that case, based on the ‘ears’ of the audience. When programing jazz, you must know what you are talking about, because if you get anything wrong — like exactly when the recording was made or who, maybe, were the personnel on a particular track — jazz fans will call you on it. Knowing your subject matter and your audience has been a foundational thread in all my endeavors and roles. I also learned to respect what the musicians put down, to listen to others, and to respect what they know. I learned that real influence and leadership impact is not about what you know or what you happen to be responsible for at any given point; rather, it should be about delivering the best outcomes based on your station at the time.”

Engagement and Integration

The founder and principal of Ewell & Associates, an Orlando, Fla.-based consulting firm specializing in business strategy, organizational effectiveness and reputation management, Ewell begins his term as Council chair at what he calls “an exciting time for the profession — one in which the very definition of what we do as public affairs professionals is broadening and deepening.”

As companies and associations face greater reputational and political risks, Ewell says, “our work now includes government affairs, policy communications, risk management and social impact. This is a challenge that calls for an integrated approach to managing issues, engaging stakeholders, advocating on policy matters and serving the public interest.”

Recognizing this reality — and embracing the opportunities it offers — doesn’t mean all public affairs executives “need to redo their organization structures,” Ewell says. “But it does mean we need to make sure we are taking an integrated approach to these functions that all too often can seem separate rather than connected.”

Deep Connections

Ewell, who for 25 years held senior leadership positions with Anheuser-Busch Cos. and SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment Inc. before forming his own firm, emphasizes the importance of striking key alliances and partnerships with leading industry associations.

“In 2010, a colleague suggested I attend the Council’s [Public Affairs] Institute, and I was immediately impressed with the credentials of the presenters, the nonpartisan nature of the Council and the caliber of the participants. The three-year program offered an atmosphere for the free exchange of ideas and the development of deep connections between the other participants, so that in future years — when facing similar challenges — you can draw on each other’s insights, experience and wisdom. Fourteen years later, I am still in touch with some of those people, and those relationships have been immensely rewarding personally and professionally.”

In the intervening years, aside from his work at Anheuser-Busch and SeaWorld and his busy client roster, Ewell has been a longtime trustee for Golden Gate University in San Francisco — where he earned his master’s degree in personnel administration — and has taught business leadership courses at the University of California San Diego and media-related courses at Hampton University.

He has also served as co-chair of the Council’s Social Impact Committee, which was established over a year ago to provide “counsel and programmatic guidance on business sustainability and social equity frameworks in support of membership needs and interests,” as its charter reads. In that role, Ewell has seen participating business leaders reach a deeper understanding of the issues involved, which he calls “very encouraging.”

As chair, he looks forward to applying his 10 years of direct experience with the Council to help amplify the expertise and insights of membership to position the Council for the future.