Search Results for: purpose

Kelly Barnett is senior manager of corporate communications at BNSF Railway, a role that puts her favorite skill to work: connecting people. During her 21 years with BNSF, she has worked across communications, technology, customer experience, revenue management, customer support, and human resources. Kelly uses that cross-functional experience to bridge perspectives, build trust, and create communication strategies that help employees understand change, see the bigger picture, and connect their work to purpose.

Kristen Cusato is a storyteller, communicator, and advocate who believes we can change lives by sharing our stories.

Kristen spent more than two decades in television news as an anchor/reporter in Connecticut, San Diego, Texas, and upstate New York. Her career took a profound turn more than 15 years ago when her mother was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia. A new purpose and profession was born: teaching caregivers the language of dementia.

Today, Kristen works for the Alzheimer’s Association and collaborates with researchers, caregivers, and people living with all forms of the disease to help them feel empowered. She did a TEDx talk in early 2026, has authored chapters in three Chicken Soup for the Soul caregiving books and hosts an award-winning podcast.

Kristen is equally passionate about helping others find and use their voice, by coaching TEDx speakers and guiding others in shaping their personal stories.

With more than 25 years of experience, Stephen provides executive leadership and subject matter expertise on reputation at the RepTrak Company. He joined the company in 2015. As a catalyst for growth, his responsibilities include being a champion of reputation intelligence, strategic thought leadership, and long-range strategic planning. Prior to RepTrak he was Chief Strategy Officer, purveyor of insight, and practitioner of integrated communications at leading agencies, namely — Leo Burnett, Mullen, Doner, and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Stephen is often cited as a reputation expert — and has been quoted in leading media sources including Harvard Business Review, Forbes, WSJ, CNBC, NPR, Associated Press, NY Times, Adage, PR Week, and FT. Of note, he has contributed to published content including the following books — Chutzpah & Chutzpah, Reputation Management, Brand Activism, and Activate Brand Purpose. Additionally, he has publicly spoken at key industry events including the Conference Board, Bloomberg, Sustainable Brands Conference, ESOMAR, TMRE, and 4A’s Strategy Fest. His academic credentials include an Executive MBA in Management from Stern, NYU (2000).

In his spare time, he continues to actively cultivate his academic interests, in having lectured on the topics of reputation, marketing, branding, sales, and advertising at major universities including Northeastern, USC, NYU, Michigan State, Babson, Rice, and American University. When taking a break from reputation, you’ll find him either playing, coaching, or watching soccer — or otherwise exploring far flung places in the world.

Stacey Zolt Hara is a corporate affairs strategist and former journalist, who leads Burson’s Workplace + Purpose practice, focused on unlocking the power of people and build reputation from the inside out. Stacey has spent the past 25 years helping some of the world’s largest organizations support business goals through purpose-driven communications and stakeholder engagement. Prior to joining Burson, Stacey served as Head of Global Corporate Affairs at Airwallex, a fintech company redefining financial services to meet the needs of the global digital economy. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Communications at Udemy, an edtech empowering individuals and organizations through reskilling and upskilling; and served as Visa’s Global Head of Employee and Executive Communications, and, previously, as Visa’s Global Head of Corporate Reputation and Public Affairs. Earlier, she held a variety of leadership roles at Edelman, Ogilvy Public Relations and Quintiles, including several years based in Asia Pacific.

Stacey began her career as a reporter covering the United States Congress and went on to serve as a communications advisor to several politicians, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and then-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She serves on the board of The Red Tent Fund and the Berkeley High School Development Group. She lives in Berkeley, CA with her children, partner and goofy labradoodle, Corduroy

Ali Amphlett is the Senior Director of Internal Communications at Newell Brands, a global consumer goods company behind iconic brands including Rubbermaid, Sharpie, Graco, Coleman and Yankee Candle, with approximately 22,000 employees globally. In her role, Amphlett leads internal executive, enterprise, strategic and events communications for the organization — partnering with the CEO, Chief HR Officer, Chief Strategy Officer and senior leadership team to shape the narrative and drive alignment, while also owning communications for programs that reach employees at scale.

Her portfolio spans CEO and executive communications, all-employee town halls, earnings communications, the company’s annual Leadership Summit, and strategic initiatives including Newell’s AI transformation communications. With nearly 20 years of experience working across communications at various levels of seniority, Amphlett brings a practitioner’s perspective to creating internal communications that drive business performance — equipping managers and leaders with the tools and confidence to communicate effectively, connecting employees to the strategy and the work that matters and fostering culture through purposeful communications.