Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson is a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of experience as an agency senior leader, corporate communications executive, and reporter. He has worked across consumer, corporate, B2B and sports & entertainment marketing verticals running traditional media outreach, social media executions, issues and crisis response, executive communications coaching, as well as diversity & inclusion/internal communications efforts.

After starting his career in Chicago radio, Steve worked for BP in a variety of roles before moving to McDonald's Corp. for an internal communications role. Later, he moved to agency work joining MSL GROUP. There, he lead programs for General Motors, Nike and the U.S. Army's sports marketing efforts. With a move to Weber Shandwick, he continued to focus on consumer and sports marketing accounts for the U.S. Army, State Farm, and Polaris while broadening his role to include diversity & inclusion.

More recently, he brought all of his expertise to bear as vice president of public relations for sports marketing and media firm, Intersport. There he helped create the firm's communication architecture as well as drive visibility in key traditional media outlets and social media channels. Steve has been a member of award-winning teams as a reporter/documentarian (regional Emmy), on the client-side (NAIC investor relations award), and the agency side (PRSA Silver Anvils, Event Marketer Ex Awards and IT List, Tellys, Cynopsis Media, Sports Business Journal, PR Week, PCC Silver Trumpet).

A resident of Evanston, Illinois, Steve earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He and his wife have three boys – and a dog named Pablo Picasso.

Steve can be reached at sjohnson@wpntltd.com.