Mike Fernandez is U.S. CEO for Burson-Marsteller. Prior to his role as CEO, Fernandez served as chair of Burson-Marsteller’s global corporate and financial practice, focused on spearheading client development, strategy, and new offerings for the group and reporting to global CEO Don Baer.
Before joining Burson-Marsteller, Fernandez led Cargill’s global corporate affairs activities, including government relations, global issues management, corporate communications, brand and marketing services, and corporate social responsibility; and is a member of the company’s Corporate Center.
He has served as the chief communications officer for four Fortune 500 companies (State Farm, ConAgra Foods, Cigna, and US West) and was a senior aide to a United States Senator.
Fernandez is listed on PRWeek’s Power List of the top 50 PR professionals in the U.S. and the Holmes Report’s Influence 100 list of the top 100 PR professionals in the world. He serves on the boards of two professional organizations: the Institute for Public Relations (where he is a former co-chair) and the Arthur W. Page Society. In 2013, Fernandez was honored with the “Milestones in Mentoring” Corporate Award from The Plank Center.
Through the years he has worked with a number of boards and organizations in support of food security, sustainability, economic development and education. He currently serves on the boards of TechnoServe, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, Immigration Works USA, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and is on the advisory council of the Latino Donor Collaborative and the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He also serves on the board of advisors for communications schools at the University of Florida and the College of Charleston, and lectures on reputation management, crisis management and leadership communications at his alma mater and at New York University.
Fernandez received a bachelor’s in government and a master’s in accounting both from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
More from Mike Fernandez:
- Plank Mentor Speech
- Legacies from Legends in Public Relations
- Speech: Six Ways PR Leaders Can Improve Diversity