Overview

Gender

male

Walter Jennings is a seasoned global public relations professional with over 30 years of experience in Greater China, Southeast Asia, Australia and the United States. He is Vice President, Corporate Communications at Huawei Technologies LTD based in Shenzhen, China. There he is leading a global transformation project focused on all aspects of corporate communication that influence corporate reputation. He manages agency relationships, and is tasked with messaging and brand positioning. As a corporate communications expert hs is an advisor to top management on issues, positioning, messages and brand.Prior Huawei, he was Managing Partner for Greater China at Kreab Gavin Anderson, a boutique financial, corporate and public relations consultancy. He led client teams for The Wall Street Journal, the World Health Organization, United Nations Water and more. The focus was on strategic positioning, issues management and communications in Greater China, Asia Pacific and worldwide. Earlier, Walter led the Australian operations of a global public relations firm. His core expertise is in financial services public relations and corporate communications. For five years he led global communications at Ford Credit, the US$210 billion finance arm of Ford Motor Company. There he managed communications for the complete restructuring of the US business, the largest case of identity theft at that time, credit rating downgrades and the abrupt departure of the CEO. Walter has in-depth crisis and issues management expertise gained managing high profile national and international issues. In Asia Pacific he advised the Government of Macau in the lead-up of the transition of sovereignty from Portugal to China. This included crisis media relations during widespread Triad warfare on the island enclave. He advised The Coca-Cola Company when dealing with complex regulatory, trade and social issues as they expanded manufacturing across China. For the US State Department he was spokesperson and media advisor to three high-profile clerics as they toured China to prepare a report on religious freedom for the US Congress. Walter is a qualified executive coach and has led dozens of influential and presentation skills workshops with Fortune 500 companies designed for executives who represent the public face of their companies in large- and small-scale settings. A frequent blogger, Walter is adept at business-to-business social media and advises companies in ways to leverage social media. You can read his blog at www.FacingChina.me. Walter is a dual-national American-Australian. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French from St Lawrence University in New York, and is fluent in French and conversational in Mandarin.