Leading & Celebrating our Profession<\/b><\/p>\n
25 years of Growth & Resilience<\/b><\/p>\n
Prof Justin Green, President & CEO,<\/b><\/p>\n
Global Alliance – Annual Report 2024<\/b><\/p>\n
29th April 2025<\/span><\/p>\n Dear Members,<\/span><\/p>\n As we enter our 25th year (marked as the \u2018silver jubilee\u2019 in some cultures), it is my great honour to present the 2024 annual report of your Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. With your steadfast support and active involvement, 2024 was another year of growth for our Alliance in terms of our membership, our service offering, and the reach and impact achieved through our global advocacy.<\/span><\/p>\n As I reflect on another year of accomplishment with your support, I am also reminded that it is now almost six years since I had the tremendous privilege of being elected Global Alliance President in 2019. You will recall that a global pandemic came into all of our lives soon after that. This meant my early months and years as President coincided with a major public health emergency that challenged all of us to think differently about how we lived and worked.<\/span><\/p>\n Global Alliance evolved our member offering to better reflect the new realities of global business and that journey continues.<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps the greatest change I have seen as President has been how we really have now put the \u2018global\u2019 into Global Alliance. New members have come onboard from countries where Global Alliance never previously had a presence and indeed some of those newer members are now among our most active champions.<\/span><\/p>\n This increasingly representative global perspective is also reflected in some of the locations where we have held our flagship events. For example, the World Public Relations Forum in 2023 was held in India while Indonesia hosted the WPRF in 2024. We have had Global Alliance AGMs in Peru, Zambia, Kenya and Turkey. This isn\u2019t just symbolic growth. Rather, it reflects a real and lasting sea change in how our profession looks and feels. There is an energy I feel during country visits now that I don\u2019t ever recall before.<\/span><\/p>\n To channel and support this rising, Global Alliance now has a network of six regional and continental offices around the world that bring us closer to members who we know are the lifeblood of our Alliance.<\/span><\/p>\n As our profession grows, it is important that it also continues to professionalise and that is reflected in the research, education, training and development activity that Global Alliance funds and promotes. I will return to artificial intelligence (AI) again later in this note but a great example here is how we have produced and adopted Global Alliance\u2019s \u2018Principles for Ethical & Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence\u2019 that offer a great roadmap for embracing AI\u2019s potential without being blind to its downside risks.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, the Alliance you are part of has over 360,000 members across more than 120 countries. This is a powerful network of professionals that gives us great leverage in our advocacy work for our profession where we continue to focus on responsible communications.<\/span><\/p>\n On the following pages you will find 25 membership highlights from 2024. I encourage you to read these as they offer a good snapshot of the work the Alliance does on your behalf.<\/span><\/p>\n As we reflect on 2024 and progress through 2025, it is also worth moving up a level and considering that we are now a quarter of the way through this 21st Century.<\/span><\/p>\n While some of the bleakest forecasts about how tech would fare during the Y2K transition from 1999 to 2000 didn\u2019t come to pass, it is fair to say that this century hasn\u2019t been one of unstoppable progress for humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n Indeed, we are living through turbulent times globally right now and our profession is certainly not immune from the whirlwind of economic uncertainty, societal divisions and cross-border conflicts that have shifted the slower moving but equally alarming climate crisis off our front pages.<\/span><\/p>\n How then do we as public relations and communications leaders respond to a time when mis- and disinformation are rampant? A time when none of us seem to know for sure whether AI agents are our newest hyper-efficient, undemanding colleagues or a genuine threat to our future livelihoods.<\/span><\/p>\n For me, grounded optimism is the way forward! What I mean by that is that while we can\u2019t ignore the very real difficulties that are all around us, neither can we sink into despair and give up hope. Indeed, if we slide into a sense of hopelessness, that can become self-fulfilling, and the outcomes may be every bit as bleak as we expect.<\/span><\/p>\n Looking at some of the most pressing challenges facing society, our profession has a very clear role to play in fighting back. I am thinking, of course, here of mis- and disinformation where distorted info can race around the world far faster than the truth can ever manage.<\/span><\/p>\n Much of this accelerator effect stems from technology, whether that be social media that helps \u2018facts\u2019 spread unchecked at an unprecedented pace or AI which enables malicious individuals or organisations \u2013 including governments \u2013 to cheaply produce authentic-looking communications materials that act like rocket fuel for the disinformation they want to spread.<\/span><\/p>\n This then has very real consequences, helping distort public opinion and pollute the information ecosystem. The reduced strength and influence of traditional mainstream media outlets further exacerbates the problem as they are under increased pressure to prioritise speed over accuracy and to do more with less.<\/span><\/p>\n Turning to AI specifically, I think it is now clear that this technology is already having a huge disruptive impact on how we communicate but also how clients see public relations and communications.<\/span><\/p>\n My advice to professionals who haven\u2019t yet adopted AI in your daily work is to do so right now. I heard an excellent quote about AI recently from a leader at Google who spoke about the one risk greater than the risks of misinformation, misuse and mistakes is the risk of missing out.<\/span><\/p>\n Used ethically and with appropriate safeguards, AI can help you as a leader to move up the value chain so that you provide strategic counsel at the highest level of your organisation. I also encourage you to put the time freed up by AI to productive use by upskilling and keeping up-to-speed on new trends and emerging opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n With a growth mindset and a positive attitude, I have no doubt that great professionals can still build hugely rewarding careers in the new world of work. Indeed, communications and change management are often cited by tech leaders as some of the \u2018secret sauce\u2019 that determine whether projects flourish or fail. So, armed with AI, why not challenge yourself to lead rather than follow in terms of how your organisation navigates new technologies.<\/span><\/p>\n I also encourage you to surround yourself with other positive people as those we spend the most time with have a tremendous influence on our wellbeing but also on how we deal with change and periods of flux like the one we are all living through. Be a good friend and ally to others and ensure you have those people in your life.<\/span><\/p>\n To close on one more piece of advice \u2013 and it\u2019s probably not a very surprising one from me \u2013 I urge you to stay connected with other professionals in our great global industry. We are immeasurably stronger together and at times of turbulence like those we are experiencing now, it was perhaps never more important that we stay close to, learn from and support each other.<\/span><\/p>\n Think of Global Alliance as yours, make your membership work for you \u2013 whether that\u2019s by availing of our varied educational offerings through the year, attending some of our online or in-person events or otherwise engaging with our community.<\/span><\/p>\n We have lots to offer each other and our impact is magnified by collaborating. Throughout 2024 and continuing now in 2025, Global Alliance has continued to advocate for an increased focus by world leaders on responsible communications. The movement we lead is gaining real traction and we have been positively received by organisations as diverse as the United Nations; World Bank; African Union; European Commission; ASEAN and others.<\/span><\/p>\n I mentioned \u2018grounded optimism\u2019 earlier. The calibre of people I meet through Global Alliance is one of the main bases I have for being optimistic about our profession\u2019s future. Indeed, I already see organisations increasingly rely on our guidance as they grapple with what can seem like a state of perma-crisis where each day brings at least one new challenge or threat. Our work is arguably ever more important.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s enjoy it, together.<\/span><\/p>\n Thank you for your continued support,<\/span><\/p>\n Prof. Justin Green,<\/span> 25 Global Alliance Membership Highlights 2024<\/b><\/p>\n Congratulations to the <\/span>Public Relations Society of America (USA); Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK); Universidad San Mart\u00edn de Porres (Peru); European Institute of Communications (Belgium & Ireland); School of Communications & Reputation (India); University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (Bangladesh); and Socially Mobile Community Interest Company (United Kingdom)<\/b> who each received platinum standard accreditation for their outstanding programmes.<\/span><\/p>\n Ends.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span>President & CEO, <\/span>
\n<\/span>Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management.<\/span><\/p>\n\n
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