Andy Polansky is president of Weber Shandwick, a leading public relations agency with more than 80 offices in major media, business and government capitals around the globe. Andy has been with the agency for more than 20 years, and was named to his current global role in March 2004, after leading the firm’s North American business.
Andy has extensive experience in a broad range of communications disciplines, including business-to-business and consumer product marketing, corporate communications and issues management. Andy led the development of Weber Shandwick’s Client Relationship Leader (CRL) program, and he serves as a senior strategist on a number of client engagements.
PRWeek U.S. in January, 2005 featured Andy in its “Who to Watch” issue. Earlier in his career he was named “All Star of the Future” by Inside PR magazine, and programs he has developed have won numerous industry awards.
Andy has particular expertise working with corporate and business-to-business clients, and he has developed client strategies for consumer electronics, financial services, consumer products, telecommunications and technology companies as well.
He sits on 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 serves on the Council of PR Firms Client Advisory Committee. In addition, he is a member of the McCann WorldGroup board and sits on the executive committee of Interpublic's Constituency Management Group.
Andy serves as a non-executive director of Freeplay Energy, a leading 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., and a business and feature writer for the Princeton Packet in Princeton, NJ. He began his career as a sports writer at The Trentonian in Trenton, NJ.
Andy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from The College of New Jersey.