Edelman Trust Barometer 2025
Thursday May 1, 2025
POSTPONED: Richard & Amanda Edelman: Edelman Trust Barometer 2025
Crisis of grievance puts pressure on trust
The 25th-anniversary edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer has revealed a profound shift to acceptance of aggressive action, with political polarization and deepening fears giving rise to a widespread sense of grievance.
About Richard Edelman, AB’76 & MBA’78
Richard Edelman is the CEO of Edelman, a global communications firm, and Chairman of Daniel J. Edelman Holdings, the firm’s holding company. Founded in 1952 by his father Dan, Edelman remains independent and family-owned with more than 6,000 employees in 66 offices across 28 countries.
The firm boasts an array of accolades, including PRWeek’s Agency Dynasty of the Past 25 Years, and Global Agency of the Year (2023), and Cannes Lions Independent Agency of the Year for the Good Track (2024 & 2022). Recognized as a standout agency by Ad Age (2023) and honored with multiple Cannes Lions, including Titanium, Grand Prix, and seven Gold Lions since 2021, Edelman consistently sets the industry standard.
Richard was named CEO in 1996 taking over for his father, who remained Chairman until he passed away in 2013. Now in his 26th year as CEO, Richard is one of the longest-tenured agency leaders in the marketing services industry. During that time, he’s guided the firm’s entry into Digital, Creative, Performance Marketing, and Advisory. Under Richard’s leadership, Edelman’s revenue increased 11.5 times enabling it to become the largest communications firm in the world surpassing $1 billion in revenue. DJE Holdings’ revenue increased 14 times during that same period making it the largest independent communications holding company. He also serves as Chair of Edelman’s sister agency Zeno, which was named large agency of the year in 2021 and 2022 by PRWeek. Zeno employs 730+ people across 18 offices.
Richard has extensive experience in marketing and reputation management, having led assignments with major corporations, NGOs, and family businesses. He has advised senior executives through significant disruptions within their organizations, including Samsung, Starbucks, and United Airlines, and worked on the largest professional services merger in history of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. Richard works with numerous clients including Unilever and Chobani. He has counseled countries in every region of the world on economic development programs. As the creator of the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, Richard has become one of the foremost authorities on trust in business, government, media, and NGOs. Now in its 22nd year, the Edelman Trust Barometer is widely recognized as the leading piece of research on trust with its cross-cultural insights regularly cited in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Economist, Fortune, Forbes, and other media. The survey also informs academic studies on trust and provides insights to thought-leaders and opinion-shapers around the world.
In 2022, Richard was inducted into the American Advertising Hall of Fame, the first PR executive to ever earn this honor. In 2019, Richard was named the PR Agency Professional of the Past 20 Years by PRWeek and was inducted into the publication’s Hall of Fame; in 2014, Richard was inducted into the Arthur W. Page Society’s Hall of Fame; Advertising Age named him Agency Executive of the Year in 2008. Richard is regarded as an industry thought leader and has posted weekly to his blog since 2004.
He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ad Council, the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), the Atlantic Council, Project HOOD, P33, and the 9/11 Museum. He is a member of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, World Economic Forum, and PR Seminar. Richard earned his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School in 1978 and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College in 1976. He and his wife Claudia live in New York City, and he has three daughters, Margot, Tory and Amanda.
About Amanda Edelman, MBA’22
Amanda Edelman is the Deputy General Manager for Edelman Chicago, overseeing the Chicago client portfolio for Edelman, the world's largest independently held communications agency. Amanda also serves as the Chief Operating Officer of Edelman’s Gen Z Lab, an offering she co-founded within Edelman in 2022 that lends expertise to businesses looking to effectively engage Gen Z. In this role, Amanda has counseled over 60 businesses across five different continents on strategies to communicate with and attract Gen Z. Previously, she served as Edelman's EMEA Client Portfolio Deputy Lead, advising Edelman’s portfolio of EMEA-based clients across B2C and B2B audiences such as DP World, Decathlon, Arla, Starbucks, Banking Circle, Samsung, and others.
Amanda’s prior work includes Pursuit, a social enterprise focused on increasing inclusion within the tech sector; Grameen America, a microfinance nonprofit that provides small business loans to underserved women in the United States; and the Boston Consulting Group.
Amanda is a 2022 Atlantic Council Millennium Leadership Fellow, a member of Extraordinary Women on Boards, and sits on Rockefeller Capital Management’s Next Generation Advisory Council, advising the organization on next generation cultural and financial trends. She graduated from Stanford University, where she was Student Body Vice President, and Harvard Business School, MBA’22.
She is a native New Yorker but just moved to Chicago in March 2025, after living in London since 2022.
EVENT DETAILS - NEW DATE & TIME:
Date: TBD
Time: TBD Central
Location: Edelman Office: 111 N. Canal St., Chicago, IL, 60606
Cost:
HCC members $20
Harvard alumni $25
General $30
CLICK HERE for tickets or click the red button below