Shaila Manyam is a Senior Director and head of international public affairs at Burson-Martseller. She is a strategic communications expert with significant experience in public affairs/crisis management, national security, foreign policy and counterterrorism. In her role, she advises clients ranging from global organizations to national governments/world leaders and foreign companies on strategic communications, how to manage changing political and trade environments, finding the right people and methods to connect with audiences and how to overcome reputational challenges.

She joined Burson-Marsteller’s Washington office following a 12-year career as a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, in both policy and spokesperson roles covering Haiti, the Middle East (including Iraq, Syria, and regional security), and the United Nations.  The recipient of multiple awards for service, including five Superior Honor Awards from the State Department, Shaila served as a spokesperson on behalf of U.S. embassies and missions and the President’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has advised Cabinet-level national security officials, journalists and Members of Congress on Middle East bilateral and regional security and political strategy, multilateral diplomacy, international organizations, refugee and migration issues. She has also represented the United States at UNESCO on communications, press freedom and technology issues, served as the Special Advisor to the Under Secretary of Political Affairs on International Organization issues, and served as U.S. Treasury Department’s representative to the Government of Israel.

Prior to joining the State Department, Shaila was a Partner and Global Communications Director at Ogilvy, focusing on strategic communications, youth marketing and interactive media.

Shaila was born in Canada and grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. She graduated from Smith College with honors, double-majoring in Economics and Government and received a Masters’ of Science from the London School of Economics. Shaila speaks six languages, including French, Arabic and Spanish. 

Twitter: @ShailaManyam

LinkedIn: /shailabmanyam