Educating and Uplifting with a Public Affairs Strategy Around Delicate Subjects

Toni-Anne Blake is the director of communications for the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC). She specializes in media strategy and management, as well as in public affairs strategy. She previously was a strategic communications consultant who designed strategic and integrated communications plans, including content for print, web and social media while also coaching for public speaking engagements and media appearances. Before that, she served as the director of corporate communications at Antronix, where she directed national B2B integrated marketing efforts, served as the organization’s communications counsel and press contact, and developed and managed coordinated programming of media relations, thought leadership, marketing and advertising. She also recently served as an adjunct professor at Mercer County Community College, where she instructed in communications, public speaking, speech writing and mass media.

James Shackelford, APR is head of global communications and content for Aon’s Digital Client Solutions business. He is responsible for ensuring all communications reflect the firm's core values and drive business strategy for digital client solutions. James leads public relations, media relations, internal communications & colleague engagement, executive communications, issues management, corporate messaging, thought leadership, events, social media and content. Prior to joining Aon, Shackelford served as chief executive officer of SomaComm, a public relations, marketing and creative consultancy that served Walmart, Sam’s Club, Honeywell, UNICEF, Be The Match, AARP, Salesforce, Microsoft and others. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the American Classical Orchestra and on the advisory board of the St. John’s University Public Relations Program. He is also a member of the National Press Club of D.C., the Chartered Institute for Public Relations (United Kingdom), the Institute of Internal Communication and the World Communications Forum Association Davos.