Senior Vice President, U.S. Public Affairs Practice Leader
Torod Neptune has spent the past 15 years in Washington, D.C. , directing high-profile public affairs, public policy, regulatory and crisis communications strategies for a broad range of trade associations, industry issue coalitions, corporations and nonprofits. He currently leads the Waggener Edstrom Worldwide U.S. Public Affairs Practice.
Before joining Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, Torod was the chief communications strategist for the U.S. House of Representatives, responsible for developing the first post-Sept. 11 and anthrax crisis communications programs in the U.S. Congress. He also led the House's organizational communications program, overseeing the primary communications processes, channels and tools used to communicate to the more than 11,000-employee House staff.
Before going to Capitol Hill, Torod was senior vice president for corporate communications and public affairs with Bank of America Corp., responsible for providing strategic counsel and management of corporate communications and public affairs resources, including directing the teams responsible for internal and external communications, charitable giving and community relations, government relations, issues management, and public policy for the company's Worldwide Consumer Products Division. He was also responsible for overseeing headquarters communications and geographic public relations for the company during its brand transition from NationsBank Corp. to Bank of America - the largest corporate brand transition in U.S. business history. Torod also served on the Chief Public Affairs Officers' Council of the Financial Services Roundtable, directing industry issues management and public policy positioning efforts for numerous high-profile legislative and regulatory issues.
Before joining Bank of America, Torod held several senior-level positions at public affairs agencies. Most recently he was practice group director at Powell Tate, the Washington, D.C., flagship public affairs unit of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, where he managed high-profile public affairs and public policy campaigns and provided regulatory and legislative counsel to Fortune 100 companies and industry coalitions undergoing profound change in environments of intense public and regulatory scrutiny. He also directed issues management campaigns for the financial services industry and for some of the world's leading brands including DuPont, Nike, General Mills, Delta Air Lines, MCI, KPMG and Nasdaq.
A frequent speaker on crisis and issues management in the public policy arena, Torod is a member of the board of directors of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) and HOPE worldwide. Torod began his career as a reporter with The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., and obtained a bachelor's degree in international relations and journalism from the University of South Carolina.
