Andy Polansky

Andy Polansky is Chief Executive Officer of Weber Shandwick, a leading global public relations agency with offices in 82 countries around the world. Andy was named CEO in November 2012 after serving as global president since March 2004.

Andy has a long track record of outstanding client and business results. Under his direction, Weber Shandwick was named to the prestigious Advertising Age Agency A-List in 2014 and 2015, appearing for two consecutive years as the only PR firm on the list. Weber Shandwick was also named PRWeek’s 2015 PR Agency of the Year and The Holmes Report‘s 2014 Global Agency of the Year, in addition to being recognized as a Best Place to Work by Advertising Age in 2014 and PRWeek in 2013 and 2014.

Over the past few years, Andy has guided Weber Shandwick to an industry-leading position in digital, social media and content marketing. The firm also has been recognized as the top Corporate Responsibility Advisory Firm by CR Magazine. 

Andy has a deep passion for client service and collaboration. He led the development of Weber Shandwick’s Client Relationship Leader (CRL) program, which has been featured as a Harvard Business School case study. He serves as a senior strategist on a number of corporate client engagements, and programs Andy has developed have won numerous industry awards. In 2010 he was named to the PR News Hall of Fame.

Andy received the prestigious Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations’ Milestones in Mentoring Award in October 2014. This reflects his people-centric leadership and long-standing personal commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Andy spearheaded the development of the firm’s global Making An Impact program, which encompasses pro bono community outreach programs that Weber Shandwick supports. In addition, Andy serves on the Board of Directors for The Ad Council, a private, nonprofit organization that produces, distributes and promotes public service campaigns on behalf of nonprofit organizations and government agencies in issue areas such as improving the quality of life for children, preventive health, education, community wellbeing and strengthening families.

From 2010 to 2012 Andy served as chair of the Council of Public Relations Firms, the U.S. trade association for public relations agencies. He sits on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Public Relations (IPR), an independent foundation in the field of public relations focusing on research and education. Andy also is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and The Seminar.

Andy has served as a non-executive director of Freeplay Energy, a global supplier of clean, off-the-grid energy products.

Prior to joining Weber Shandwick (as a member of a firm then known as Bozell Public Relations), Andy was a municipal reporter for the Bucks County Courier Times in Levittown, PA, a business and feature writer for the Princeton Packet in Princeton, NJ, and a sportswriter at The Trentonian in Trenton, NJ.

Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and sits on the TCNJ Foundation Board of Directors.

Social Media:

Website - webershandwick.com

Twitter - @andypolansky @WeberShandwick