Company: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Bellevue, Washington
Company Description: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide is a multiservice global public relations agency. Founded in 1983 and independently owned, the agency has more than 800 employees, 16 offices around the world and six global practices - Consumer Marketing, Corporate Communications, Environment, Healthcare, Public Affairs and Technology.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Executive in North America

Nomination Title: Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President and Founder, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide

   1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

          Under Melissa Waggener Zorkin’s direction, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide has grown
          from a two-person agency in 1983 to a company that has more than 800 employees
          globally today. Broadly recognized for innovating now-standard approaches to
          the field of public relations, Melissa has focused her energy and vision to
          propel a wide range of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide clients to the forefront of
          every technology wave over the past two and a half decades.

          A hands-on leader, Melissa has, along with the agency leadership team,
          continued to expand the agency with new practice areas serving global
          healthcare, consumer PR and marketing, environment, corporate communications,
          technology and public affairs clients, as well as guiding global growth in the
          Asia Pacific (APAC) and the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

          Melissa’s vision and leadership are pivotal to Waggener Edstrom Worldwide’s
          international reputation as an innovative and premier strategic communications
          agency. She has provided strategic counsel to major brands including Microsoft,
          IBM, Intel, Abbott Labs, SAP, AT&T, The Walt Disney Company, Dell, EMI Records,
          Virgin Interactive, Sega and Scientific American, and has helped guide emerging
          brands to success through the initial public stock offering (IPO) stage.
          Melissa also serves on the creative councils for a number of worldwide brands.

          In 2007, under Melissa’s leadership, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide remained at the
          forefront of innovation, leading and executing some of the most impactful
          global business and social campaigns, including the Microsoft Office and
          Windows Vista launches; the United Nations Stand Up, Speak Out global social
          activism campaign against extreme poverty; the launch of Microsoft HealthVault;
          and the positioning of GlaxoSmithKline vaccines firmly on the world stage. 
          Melissa’s vision and leadership were also instrumental in securing significant
          new business wins for Waggener Edstrom in the past 12 months, including such
          industry leaders as Amazon.com, Hitachi Data Systems, Interwoven, Rosetta
          Stone, Shopzilla, Trubion and Yankee Group.

          Furthering Melissa’s vision to leverage Innovation Communications to benefit
          clients and positively impact business, WE rolled out a series of patent-
          pending products and services in the past year, namely Narrative Network, Brand
          Mapping and Innovation Impact Index, specifically focused on research,
          measurement and digital communication.

          Melissa seeks to enrich the PR profession and is a member of the Arthur W. Page
          Society.  In addition, Melissa and Waggener Edstrom Worldwide are longtime
          supporters of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Susan G. Komen
          Breast Cancer Foundation’s Race for the Cure, believing that through discovery
          and innovation, a cure for cancer will be found in our lifetime. From 2005–
          2007, Melissa served on the board of trustees of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
          Research Center, and continues to serve on the Hutch Board of Ambassadors. Most
          recently, Melissa started her newest board membership on the Mercy Corps Board
          of Directors.

          Melissa was cited as one of the 100 Most Influential PR People of the 20th
          Century and one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in PR by PRWeek in 1999.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

          http://www.WaggenerEdstrom.com  
          http://www.waggeneredstrom.com/who_we_are/leadership/melissa_waggener_zorkin.asp
          http://www.waggeneredstrom.com/who_we_are/news_recognition/agency_news.asp  
          http://www.waggeneredstrom.com/who_we_are/news_recognition/default.asp

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about this nominee:

          Melissa Waggener Zorkin is CEO, president and founder of Waggener Edstrom
          Worldwide (WE). Melissa’s vision and leadership are pivotal to WE’s
          international reputation as an innovative and premier strategic communications
          agency by communicating world-changing innovations that influence markets,
          inspire people and improve lives. 

          Throughout Waggener Edstrom’s 25-year history, the investments have had a
          singular objective: to innovate and advance our field of communications to
          benefit our people, clients, industry and society.  WE lives and executes
          Social Innovation initiatives to make a positive impact on our society and
          environment. 

          Melissa currently serves on the Mercy Corps Board of Directors.