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Susan Davis International

Gold Stevie Award Winner 2012, Click to Enter The 2013 Steve Awards for Women in Business

Company: Susan Davis International, Washington, D.C., USA
Company Description: Susan Davis International (SDI) is a full-service, woman owned/operated boutique public affairs/strategic communications firm with a 25-year history of producing award-winning campaigns and events. SDI, with more than 68 agency partners worldwide, services clients including multinationals, the U.S. and foreign governments, federal agencies, non-profit organizations, NGOs, and trade associations.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Management Team of the Year – More Than 10 Employees

Nomination Title: Small Firm, Great Impact: All Work, Lotsa Play

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated management team since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

Headquartered in the nation’s capital and celebrating our 35th anniversary, Susan Davis International (SDI) has earned a global reputation for strategic communications and production of high profile large-scale events of worldwide significance. SDI’s senior management team has worked together for more than 25 years and includes three women: Susan Davis, Chairman; Judy Whittlesey, Executive Vice President; and Vice Presidents Lisa Miller and Tom Davis. All are recognized as leaders in our profession and our community. Team members have received numerous honors including the Washington Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” award and the Washington, D.C. PRSA Hall of Fame award.

In a time of reduced resources, we are the agency of choice for clients as diverse as DOD, national health care organizations, foreign governments, associations, and foundations. In 2011 SDI was tapped to manage the logistics and extensive media outreach for the six-day, 10-event Dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. An earthquake and hurricane interrupted the August dedication Week, requiring an overnight change of venues and the last minute postponement of the actual dedication ceremony for six weeks. SDI’s senior leadership team not only led the media and event production, but also the crisis management required to support the challenging dedication week and the rescheduled October event. This was the seventh national memorial or museum that selected SDI for its public worldwide introduction. SDI’s work ranges from helping build the largest lung cancer support organization, advising the Irish Prime Minister, and providing counsel and services to the military and military support organizations. We are heavily engaged in efforts to protect the employment rights of service members and the mental health of service members and their families.

SDI’s leadership team encourages creative approaches to client challenges with an emphasis on donated media and building powerful relationships. Our executive team is noted for our ability to create successful, high profile campaigns on limited budgets, stretching client resources as far as possible through creativity and innovative campaign elements and inspiring our young creative team to adopt that philosophy in all of our client work. We develop specific growth plans for our employees, assigning them to key pro bono accounts and encouraging them to develop new profit centers, such as video editing or graphic design.

Our senior executives take pride in mentoring staff and encouraging employee involvement across the community and throughout the world. The executive team provides pro-bono assistance to non-profits in the nation’s capital that focus on women’s empowerment around the world, hunger issues throughout the U.S., education and cancer. And, SDI supports the Zabuli Education Center outside of Kabul, Afghanistan through funding for daily breakfast and lunch for 350 young schoolgirls, often their only meals that day. Our executive team also mentors aspiring young women leaders from Northern Ireland, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Afghanistan, Vietnam and China. And, to promote esprit de corps our senior team hosts an annual SDI sail, a holiday employee “roast,” cooking classes, happy hours, and family-style lunches in our corporate kitchen.

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated management team (up to 100 words):

Susan Ann Davis, founded Susan Davis International (SDI), the global strategic communications agency headquartered in Washington, D.C. An industry icon, Davis opened SDI 35 years ago when relatively few women were successful in the business world; fewer still owned their business. SDI has grown into a strategic communications powerhouse with a diverse client base that has included nonprofits, associations, the White House, government agencies and 12 foreign governments. Two decades ago, she was among the founding partners of IPREX, and now has 63 agency partners worldwide. She also chairs Vital Voices Global Partnership, training emerging women leaders across 144 countries.

The CEO (or other principal manager) of this company is a woman, and at least 40% of the management team is comprised of women.