News Room and Speakers Bureau

Do You Need an Expert Speaker for Your Meeting or Conference?

ICM’s Expert Consultants are available as subject matter experts and keynote speakers on a variety of topics related to issues, reputation and crisis management, public relations and communications.

CONTACT:

Deborah Hileman, SCMP FCSCE CAICP CCMC
President and CEO
+1.502.587.0327
DHileman@CrisisConsultant.com

ICM’s senior consulting team can deliver powerful presentations for your next event! Among recent topics we have covered:

ESG, Health and Emergency Preparedness
15 Timeless Principles of Crisis Management
Assessing Reputational Risks and Vulnerabilities
Attorneys as Allies: Balancing Stakeholder Needs with Legal Concerns in a Crisis
Business Crisis Planning and Preparedness or… Why it’s better to prepare and prevent than repair and repent
Confident Crisis Response: Aligning Words and Actions to Diverse Stakeholder Expectations
Crisis Management Crash Course: Ten Steps to Preparedness
Disaster and Emergency Communications Plans: Preparedness a Year-Round Priority
Emotional Intelligence and Effective Crisis Leadership
How to Deliver Bad News (and Protect Company Reputation)
Lessons from the Pandemic and Other Crises
Measuring Your Crisis Response: Leveraging Opportunity within the Crisis
Not Every Issue Makes the Headlines: Managing Issues to Prevent Damage to the Brand, Reputation and Bottom Line
Prepare, Prevent & Manage: Mitigating the Impact of a Smoldering Crisis
Smoldering Crises: How Bad Behavior Impacts Reputation and the Bottom Line

Recent News

ICM News- For Immediate Release

Institute for Crisis Management Releases 36th Annual Crisis Report

South Bend, Ind. (July 6, 2026) –In its just-released annual report, the Institute for Crisis Management® (ICM) tallied 1,232,103 crisis news items in 2025, a decrease of about eight percent from 2024. As expected, the crisis news statistics for 2025 revealed some consistent and some surprising results.

The 2025 ICM Annual Crisis Report is a compilation of news, trends and highlights of business crises, offering business leaders valuable insights into the impact crises can have on the organization and its stakeholders. According to the report, news items about Cybercrime dwarfed every other category at 25.44% of news items tracked. Mismanagement, a perennial category leader, ranked second at 19.03%, followed by Sexual Harassment at 15.26%, Discrimination at 8.59% and Labor Disputes at 7.46%.

The highest ranked categories represent smoldering crises and accounted for a predictable 65% of all news items tracked. A business problem or issue ignored or left unresolved by management often explodes into what ICM calls a smoldering crisis, one that is both predictable and preventable.

“When looking at trends over the past six years, many categories seem to have settled into pre-pandemic levels, ” noted Deborah Hileman, ICM’s CEO. “ However, some categories prove unpredictable. The cybercrime category increased exponentially from about 13% in 2024 to a staggering 25% of this year’s total. Surprisingly, the sexual harassment category rose even more dramatically to 15.26% from 2.08% in 2024, in large part due to more commonplace use of the #metoo tag.”

Hileman urges boards and executives to invest immediately in comprehensive crisis management and communication planning and training to prepare, prevent and mitigate the kinds of crises that can adversely impact an organization’s reputation, brand, business and financial performance. “ The investment in preparedness is pennies compared to the cost of failure to manage crisis effectively,” she said.

About the ICM Annual Crisis Report

ICM was founded with the principle that research is a vital foundation to effective crisis management and communication. The firm has produced this annual report since its founding in 1990. The report is a popular tool with professionals ranging from executives to academics, and has been cited in numerous reports, articles and white papers over the years.

Visit the ICM website at ICM Annual Crisis Report for a free report download and to register for an upcoming online Crisis Communication Management Course. ICM is offering its popular flagship online crisis communication certification course in July and October.

For more informaGon, please contact:
Deborah Hileman
Email: dhileman@crisisconsultant.com
Phone: +1 502.587.0327

ICM News- For Immediate Release

Deborah Hileman Named CSCE Fellow for Four Decades of Strategic Leadership and Global Contribution to Crisis Communication

The Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence (CSCE) has named Deborah Hileman SCMP, GCSCE, CCMC a CSCE Fellow – the highest honour awarded by the CSCE. The Fellowship recognises her enduring impact on the global communication profession, her leadership in crisis and risk communication, and her unwavering commitment to mentoring and ethical practice.

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Deborah has influenced how organisations prepare for and navigate complex challenges. Her work has shaped professional standards, elevated the practice of crisis communication, and helped strengthen the credibility of the profession worldwide.

CSCE co-founder Sia Papageorgiou FRSA, FCSCE, SCMP said:

“Throughout her career, Deb Hileman has built trust in moments that matter most. She’s shaped how leaders navigate uncertainty, how communication professionals grow in confidence, and how ethical standards become embedded and sustained. Her leadership is steady and grounded, anchored in service and substance over visibility. Whether guiding organisations through crisis or quietly mentoring the next generation, Deb’s influence endures – a reflection of deep intention, care, and a strong sense of humanity. Recognising her as a CSCE Fellow acknowledges not just her achievements, but the thoughtful, values-driven way she’s elevated our profession – one conversation, one commitment at a time.”

A longtime advocate for certification and professional development, Deb served as Chair of the Global Communication Certification Council (GCCC) and currently serves as Vice Chair. She was among the first professionals globally to earn the SCMP and CMP designations and has played a central role in shaping global standards in strategic communication.

Deb has led complex communication efforts in both corporate and consulting environments, including her current role as President and CEO of the Institute for Crisis Management®. Her leadership has helped organisations through IPOs, restructuring, and reputational recovery, while consistently advancing the role of communication as a strategic function. She has contributed extensively to the profession’s knowledge base through thought leadership, publishing an annual crisis communication report since 2014 and writing widely cited chapters and articles on stakeholder engagement and crisis response. She has also guest lectured at leading universities and spoken at major conferences around the world.

CSCE co-founder Adrian Cropley OAM, FRSA, IABC Fellow, GCSCE, SCMP added:

“Deb Hileman is the definition of what it means to be a strategic communication leader. With four decades of impact, she has shaped the field through her thought leadership in crisis communication, board service, and unwavering commitment to ethical practice. Her influence spans the globe – from mentoring hundreds to advancing global certification standards and transforming organisations during times of crisis. Deb’s integrity, servant leadership, and generosity as a mentor embody the very spirit of the CSCE Fellowship. Celebrating her enduring contributions to our profession and the countless communication professionals whose lives she has touched is a privilege.”

Deb’s influence is felt not only through her professional achievements but in her deep commitment to service. She has mentored hundreds of professionals and volunteered her time on boards, in classrooms, and across the communication community – always with a focus on lifting others.

As a CSCE Fellow, Deb joins a select group of professionals whose work has helped shape the future of strategic communication through meaningful, measurable, and lasting impact.

About the Centre for Strategic CommunicaGon Excellence:

The Centre for Strategic CommunicaWon Excellence (CSCE) is a global leader in strategic communicaWon management. Headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, with senior faculty members found on six conWnents, we build communicaWon capability in organisaWons by:

Developing strategic communicaWon professionals.
Building the communicaWon capability of leaders.
Building the communicaWon skills of employees.

For more informaGon, please contact:
CSCE Public RelaWons Team
Email: csce@thecsce.com
Phone: +61 414 436 147

ICM News- For Immediate Release

Institute for Crisis Management Expands Consulting Team

South Bend, Ind. (February 10, 2025) – In response to fast-growing demand for highly skilled crisis management and communication experts across numerous industry sectors, the Institute for Crisis Management® (ICM) announces the addition of three senior crisis management executives to its team of high caliber, battle-tested professionals with decades of collective crisis management experience.

“As one of the first firms in the U.S. to focus its practice on issues and crisis management, ICM has the deep expertise to help organizations effectively plan, prepare for and mitigate crises of all kinds,” said Deborah Hileman, SCMP, GCSCE, CCMC, president and CEO. “With our newest team members, we’ve partnered with individuals that can deliver the insight, skills and judgment our clients need, honed through decades of direct experience.”

Based in Nashville, Tenn., Jenny Barker, APR, Fellow PRSA is a seasoned public relations counselor with over 20 years of hands-on experience in crisis management, reputation protection and strategic communications. She has a proven track record of guiding Fortune 500 companies, startups, nonprofit organizations and government agencies through high-pressure challenges.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Dianne Lynn Chase offers expert strategic communication services for corporate, non-profit, and government clients. Her areas of expertise include media relations and media training, crisis communication training and management, spokesperson training, issues management, strategic business storytelling, and executive communication consulting and training.

Based in St. Louis, Mo., Byron E. Johnson is a strategic communications professional specializing in crisis management and public affairs. With two decades of experience creating and implementing comprehensive campaigns, he helps organizations navigate complex challenges while protecting their reputation and stakeholder relationships. His expertise spans legislative and regulatory engagements at the local, state and federal levels, advancing and protecting the interests of brands across business sectors.

About the Institute for Crisis Management®

Founded in 1990, the Institute for Crisis Management was one of the first U.S. consulting firms to specialize exclusively in crisis management. ICM’s planning, training and consulting services help leaders and organizations through all phases of an issue or crisis, from assessing risks and preparing for them, containing a crisis and mitigating damage with effective communications, learning from the event and seizing opportunities that arise from the crisis. Learn more about ICM at https://crisisconsultant.com.

A Tribute to Larry Smith, ICM President Emeritus

Larry L. Smith 1944- 2022 ICM President Emeritus

By Deborah Hileman, SCMP, ICM President and CEO

I lost a dear friend and mentor, and the communications profession lost a true leader in November. I first met Larry Smith when I attended the ICM Crisis Communication Certification Course in 1998. I was a freshly minted VP and needed to get quickly up to speed with crisis communication skills. Larry taught the program back then. I not only learned a great deal about crisis communications, I made a new friend and gained a mentor.

I put those new skills to use soon after that, and when I moved to a new job and needed crisis expertise, he was the first person I called. Both of us “Hoosiers”— folks from Indiana, we had much in common. Our friendship is something I valued more than I can say. Larry was what I might call a pragmatic optimist. He spent much of his career as a reporter, news director and leader in print and broadcast. He did a stint in Washington D.C. as then-Senator Dan Quayle’s press secretary. Ultimately he landed at ICM and as the company’s second owner, shepherded the firm through more than a decade of dedicated client service, honest advice and principled leadership.

You might think all those years working as a journalist would have made him a pessimist. But his enduring faith in people, his big heart and his down-to-earth approach to every challenge made him one of the best crisis communications professionals out there.

I miss him more than I can say. I would not be where I am today without his profound influence on my career and my life. “Thank you” does not begin to cover it.

Rest in peace, dear friend, valued mentor.

Testimonials for Deborah Hileman, SCMP and the Institute for Crisis Management®

Deborah Hileman, SCMP
ICM President and CEO

CEO Expertise for Every Client

Deborah Hileman, SCMP, President and CEO. A globally-certified strategic communication management professional (SCMP), business leader, coach and consultant with more than 35 years’ experience in public and private companies and non-profit organizations, Ms. Hileman has led high-performing teams in health care, manufacturing, insurance and financial services, nonprofits and higher education. Her most significant areas of expertise include strategic communications planning, reputation and crisis management, change management, employee engagement, media relations and communication training.