As the head of Ruder Finn’s Asia Pacific operations, Elan Shou leads a team of over 550 individuals across 23 offices in Greater China, South East Asia and India. Elan has transformed Ruder Finn’s Asia Pacific business from a US$10 million traditional public relations agency in 2013 to the US$50 million communications powerhouse it is today. Elan specializes in corporate reputation management, brand building, issue and crisis management, media training, agency operations and team building. The clients she represents include Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Tencent, Amazon, IKEA, MHD, Hermes, Montblanc, Emirates, Shanghai Disney Resort, Singapore Tourism Board, Twitter, Roche, Abbott, GSK, Dyson, and McDonald’s.
Elan was selected as the PR Agency Head of the Year at the 2020 PR Awards Asia, and as one of China’s first “Women to Watch” by AdAge in 2012. Her commitment to community development is evident in her work for the Shanghai Haihui Community Livelihood Development Center, where she used to serve as Chairman of the Board to implement charity initiatives to alleviate poverty.