7.08.2003 ET

(CSRwire) NEW YORK, NY – Edelman has appointed Steven Voien to launch First&42nd, Edelman’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) and management consultancy firm in the United States.

Mr. Voien’s appointment represents a significant expansion of Edelman’s CSR practice, which has been growing rapidly and includes dedicated specialists in key markets around the world, including Dublin, London, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, and Washington, D.C., and which represents clients such as Kraft, The Gap, Orange, and TotalFinaElf.

Mr. Voien, who will report to Edelman Vice Chairman Leslie Dach and will begin on July 14, said, “Edelman is at the forefront of helping companies understand and address central CSR issues, from ethical labor and sourcing practices, to the use of genetically modified organisms, to sustainable agriculture. I’ve been very impressed with the firm’s demonstrated commitment to CSR, and its first-rate Corporate Governance practice. I’m looking forward to building on Edelman’s leadership in this area.”

Mr. Voien adds, “It’s increasingly clear that embedded CSR practices create fundamental and enduring competitive advantage, by strengthening corporate financial performance, and improving brand and reputation, customer loyalty, employee performance, and access to capital.”

Before joining First&42nd, Mr. Voien was Director Corporate Social Responsibility Services at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), the premier U.S. not-for-profit organization in the rapidly growing CSR field. In that capacity, he provided strategic counsel to Fortune 500 companies on global CSR strategies, stakeholder assessment and engagement, corporate governance, business ethics and compliance, sustainability reporting, and other areas.

“We are thrilled to have someone of Steven’s caliber leading our CSR practice and establishing the U.S. office of First&42nd,” said Mr. Dach. “Steve will help us continue to advocate and address CSR issues and help our client companies’ with their ‘triple bottom line,’ which is increasingly important to them.”

At BSR, Mr. Voien also directed its Global Resource Center, serving as managing editor of BSR’s award-winning Web site, as well as of its signature publication, the weekly electronic News Monitor. He launched BSR’s innovative Conversations with Newsmakers series, in which leading corporate figures, at companies such as Baxter International, Chevron, Citigroup, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Merck and Rio Tinto, discuss fast-breaking CSR issues, including globalization, CSR standards, bioethics, and privacy. He has written and edited a number of BSR reports, including Corporate Social Responsibility: A Guide to Better Business Practices, Measuring and Reporting on Corporate Human Rights Performance, Guide to Engaging With NGOs, and Working with Multilaterals.

From 1989 to 1994, Mr. Voien was a political-economic reporting officer with the U.S. State Department, serving in Washington D.C., the Ivory Coast (West Africa) and Bulgaria.

He wrote high-impact reports on political and economic trends, as well as sustainable development issues including deforestation, biodiversity, and the economic impact of HIV/AIDS. He also served as counselor to the U.S. ambassador on human rights, labor, environment, ethnic minorities, political organizations, and multilateral organizations, including the United Nations.

Mr. Voien has published two political-environmental novels, In a High and Lonely Place (HarperCollins, 1992), and Black Leopard (Knopf, 1997). His novels have been translated into Japanese, German, and Dutch. Mr. Voien received a Bachelor of Arts in Literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

About First&42nd

First&42nd is Edelman’s management consultancy that helps senior managers build ‘non-traditional’ competencies and turn them into measurable commercial assets. These include the ability to balance stakeholder interests, align internal and external goals and expectations, understand and empathize with critics outside the corporation, generate credibility and trust, act with honesty and integrity, be transparent, manage new categories of risk, make intuitive decisions, move quickly, rapidly assimilate information, become knowledge-driven, compete for ever-decreasing resources, and develop sustainable businesses and business practices. First&42nd was acquired by Edelman in 1999. With offices in London, Paris and Mumbai, India -- and now San Francisco -- it focuses on corporate social responsibility as well human resources management, risk management and strategic communications planning.

About Edelman

Edelman is the world's largest independent public relations firm with 1,700 employees in 38 offices worldwide. In 2003, The Holmes Group named Edelman "Agency of the Year," and PRWeek voted its work for CIT "Best Campaign of the Year," the industry's most prestigious award for client programming. Edelman's network includes four specialty firms - Blue (advertising), First&42nd (management consulting), StrategyOne (research) and BioScience Communications (medical education and publishing) - making it possible for us to offer clients a comprehensive spectrum of communications. Visit www.edelman.com for more information.

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