Ambassador Karen Hughes serves as Burson-Marsteller’s Worldwide Vice Chair. She is a trusted counselor to corporate, nonprofit and political leaders providing strategic communications, corporate positioning and messaging advice.
She has also been described as "the most powerful woman ever to serve in the White House" (Dallas Morning News) and "the most powerful public diplomacy czar in decades" (The Boston Globe). As Under Secretary of State, she traveled to more than 50 countries, meeting world leaders and reaching out to international audiences.
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The 5 C's of Successful Communication
The Diplomacy of Deeds
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Volunteerism and Public Service
From Your House to the White House
The Future of the GOP
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Global Business Strategist
Ambassador Karen Hughes serves as Burson-Marsteller’s Worldwide Vice Chair. She is a trusted counselor to corporate, nonprofit and political leaders providing strategic communications, corporate positioning and messaging advice.
Since joining Burson-Marsteller in 2008, she has brought to the business world her unique expertise honed over more than 30 years of public policy, communications and political experience, from helping lead winning presidential campaigns to serving at the highest levels of government.
Amb. Hughes' work as a global leader was also clearly represented in her accomplishments as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy from August 2005 to December 2007. As one of the highest ranking officials at the U.S. State Department, she dramatically reshaped the State Department’s communications efforts, rebuilt an agency demoralized by years of budget cuts, launched a new focus on America’s “diplomacy of deeds” and made public diplomacy central in the development of foreign policy. Described as the "most powerful public diplomacy czar in decades" by The Boston Globe, Amb. Hughes traveled to more than 50 nations as part of her government service and personal humanitarian activities.
Former President George W. Bush's "Most Essential Advisor"
A longtime advisor to President Bush, Amb. Hughes traveled at his side during both his presidential campaigns and served as Counselor to the President for his first 18 months in the White House. As Counselor, she worked on major domestic and foreign policy issues, led the international communications effort in the first year of the war against terror, and managed the White House offices of Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting and Press Secretary. Amb. Hughes returned to Texas in 2002 so her son could attend high school there, but continued to serve as an informal advisor to the President and traveled with him as a communications consultant during his 2004 re-election campaign. She is the Author of the New York Times Bestseller Ten Minutes from Normal, a book about working for President Bush and her decision to leave the White House to return with her family to Texas in 2002.
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