Education and Programming to Meet Your Needs

During the 2024 election cycle, you helped demonstrate world-class engagement through groundbreaking advocacy campaigns and risk and reputation management strategies. Thank you for investing in the Council’s professional development and executive education to ensure that your teams were always equipped for both what’s happening and what’s coming. We were thrilled to welcome more than 9,000 members and customers to our webinars, workshops, compliance trainings and signature events in 2024 — a number that grows each year. We focused offerings on helping you succeed during times of political risk and uncertainty, and we made sure our signature events had the smart strategies most needed across all areas of public affairs.

At the STRIDE Social Impact Summit, for instance, we leaned into sessions focused on reputation management planning so that your civic and corporate engagement programming can continue to flourish. At the National PAC Conference, we helped prepare you for a presidential election year, and at the Digital Media & Advocacy Summit we prioritized data-driven advocacy tactics to leverage AI software, chatbots, video and other tools that have become imperative for success.

We continued to prioritize professional development and team learning through programs like Membership Plus, and you responded as we increased enrollment by 43% in 2024. This game-changing member enhancement option has helped organizations ensure that their entire staff has training opportunities.

A Focus on Thought Leadership 

Next-level training and education was just one priority. New research and benchmarking surveys helped us better understand the environment we’re working in and how we can thrive. The Council’s new Political Involvement Strategies Report showed us how direct lobbying, coalitions, PACs and stakeholder engagement are important and evolving strategies for you, and the Trends in European Public Affairs report, published by our team in Brussels, gave data-rich context to how global public affairs is adapting to changes in geopolitics, sustainability, technology and diversity. The Council’s annual public opinion poll, the Pulse Survey, reported on Americans’ concerns about increased disinformation and their growing support for corporate engagement in social and civic issues. Our research was reported in several political and business media outlets, including Axios, Politico, Forbes, CEO Update and Fast Company, among others.

Thought leadership was also seen in programs focused on workforce development. After a successful inaugural year, the Foundation for Public Affairs’ Hogans Fellowship, a program designed to provide skills training and mentoring for emerging public affairs leaders from diverse backgrounds, announced its 2024 cohort. The Fellows are embedded throughout our programming and community and have great success stories to tell. This month’s Member Spotlight is on 2023 Fellow Brooklyn Bass, which looks at the contributions she’s making on her executive journey.

A New Day

We’re off to a strong start to 2025, and I’m so excited about the new day before us. Council President Nneka Chiazor brings a wealth of public affairs and business leadership experience through her executive roles at Cox Communications and Verizon before that. Her business acumen will help the Council take important steps in demonstrating the value of public affairs to the business world. Just as important, though, is her commitment and connection to each of you. She is a leader, but she’s also a practitioner who rose through the public affairs ranks and who also happens to have a background in computer science and technology. She’s ready to lead us into the future on multiple levels.

And that future is bright. It’s clear that public affairs is having a moment, and we’re prepared to help you maximize this opportunity and tackle the complex but rewarding work before you. Your skills in negotiation, risk management, lobbying, grassroots, PAC management, policy development and more are more critical than ever. I promise that we will be forward-thinking and nimble in responding to your needs as we develop new initiatives and benefits to help you and your team do your jobs even better.

Some of the tools and resources coming your way in 2025 include the latest PAC benchmarking surveys for both corporations and associations; salary surveys for government relations, PAC and grassroots professionals; and our first Europe edition of the State of Corporate Public Affairs.

Look for more opportunities for professional development through our growing certificate programs and more ways to connect with the biggest and most important community of public affairs professionals. Gather with your friends and peers at signature events in D.C. and places like Fort Lauderdale, Austin, California and Brussels, as well as networking happy hours throughout the year. When you can’t gather in person, keep checking in on Council Connect, the online home for members where you can share ideas and resources, and find solutions through community. We’ve just updated the platform to make it more interactive and helpful. And remember, our staff of experts are just a phone call or email away, ready to provide free guidance to members on a wider range of public affairs topics.

You’ll be hearing more soon about how the Council will focus on new technologies and tactics under Nneka’s leadership, but for now be assured that we will equip you with the training and expertise to navigate a new administration, a new Congress and changes happening across many state legislatures and communities. Here’s to a great year!