Gainsville, Fla. – The Institute for Public Relations welcomes SVP and Head of Global External Communications for Experian, to its Board of Trustees.

In his current role, Gerry is responsible for global external communications for the world’s leading information services firm.  He leads a team of communications professionals from all major regions for Experian, including United Kingdom & Ireland; North America; Latin America; Europe Middle East & Africa; and Asia Pacific. His responsibilities include public relations, crisis communications and social media; he serves as chief media spokesperson.   He works closely with government affairs, investor relation, legal and risk management.  In addition to his role as Head of Global External Communications, he also serves as Chief Communications Officer for North America, with direct oversight of external and internal communications in North America.

Gerry joined Experian North America in October 2010, and is based in the North American headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif.

With nearly 30 years of public relations experience, Gerry’s background is diverse, having worked in the automotive industry, consumer goods and the quick service restaurant industry.  Prior to joining Experian, Gerry served as Executive Vice President and Deputy General Manager for the Los Angeles office of Edelman Public Relations, the largest PR firm in the world.  While there, he held multiple roles including Global Client Relationship Manager for the Nissan account, group head of the Consumer Marketing practice and manager of the office’s multicultural practice.  Before joining Edelman, Gerry worked at Burson-Marsteller PR and Y&R Advertising, serving as the Client Relationship Manager for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury.  Gerry also worked in-house for Nissan North America as manager of corporate news and issues, and had stints at both Porter Novelli and Hill & Knowlton.

Gerry is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) with a degree in Journalism and Public Relations, and a minor in Marketing. He serves on the Journalism & PR Advisory Board at CSULB, and mentors seniors in the CSULB School of Business.  He’s a huge Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Broncos fan, and lives in Orange County, Calif., with his wife and two boys.

Follow Gerry on Twitter @gerrytschopp.

About the Institute for Public Relations
The Institute for Public Relations is an independent, nonprofit research foundation dedicated to fostering greater use of research and research-based knowledge in corporate communication and the public relations practice. IPR is dedicated to the science beneath the art of public relations™. IPR provides timely insights and applied intelligence that professionals can put to immediate use. All research, including a weekly research letter, is available for free at www.instituteforpr.org.

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Contact:
Nikki Kesaris
Communications and Marketing Manager
nikki@instituteforpr.org

Heidy Modarelli handles Growth & Marketing for IPR. She has previously written for Entrepreneur, TechCrunch, The Next Web, and VentureBeat.
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