Partner
JOHN CONNOLLY
John is one of the world’s most experienced public relations professionals with 40 years consulting to and working for some of the world’s largest companies and organisations.
Prior to establishing John Connolly & Partners in June 1992, John was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Pacific operations of the world's largest public relations firm. He was a member of the board of directors and the five-person executive committee of the New York based worldwide firm.
Faced by severe constraints on their ability to operate because of growing community pressure and the emerging environmental movement, in the early 1990s some of the world’s largest companies funded him to research new approaches to rebuilding trust and credibility and to increasing organisational autonomy. Through this work he has developed a unique approach around rebuilding and restoring corporate reputation and the development of the corporate brand concept.
That has now been applied in the US, Canadian and Australian financial services sector, with corporations rebuilding after serious financial and operational crises and with retail investors in major proxy fights.
As a result, John was the only non-US citizen to be a member of an internal committee of the New York Stock Exchange advising the Exchange committee on corporate branding and implementation for 10 years. He moved from the NYSE to become a member of the global branding committee of Bristol Myers Squibb in New York. He was a founding member of the branding committee of the Australian Stock Exchange and acts as an independent expert on the subject in litigation, including recently before the Federal Court of Australia.
His work in public affairs and investor relations is recognised internationally. He was the first non-US citizen to address the National Investor Relations Institute of the United States and he has worked on some of the most difficult issues in financial and public relations for a range of US, UK and Australian corporations. These include advising both sides on mergers leading to the creation of two of the world's largest mining companies, the head office relocation from Australia to the US of the world's largest media group, leading global communications for one of the world’s largest hostile takeovers and the acquisition of NYMEX by a US private equity group.
He is the only non-lawyer regularly to address the International Bar Association and has been a keynote speaker at the IBA biennial conferences in New York and Cannes. He speaks internationally on investor relations and financial markets. In June 2009 he was a guest speaker at the Public Relations Society of America Counsellor Academy in Palm Springs. He spoke at the first Brazilian Companies in the Global Market conference in Rio de Janeiro, he wrote and delivered the initial Securities Institute of Australia course on Corporate Strategy and its impact on Equity Analysis which was the highest ranked component of any part of the curriculum. He has been a contributing editor to a range of publications and currently writes a weekly column for The Weekend Australian.
John is a director of Sydney Theatre Company, a member of the national council of Australia's largest music organisation, Musica Viva, the council of leaders of the US based Issues Exchange, on the committee of the Bondi Longboard Club and was a member of the council of the International Public Relations Association.
He is a member of the American Association of Trial Consultants, the Public Relations Society of America, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK), the Securities Institute of Australia, the National Investor Relations Institute of the USA, the Chester A. Arthur Society, the American Association of Political Consultants the Australian Racing Drivers Club and Aspen Rugby Club.
Partner
GABRIELLE NOTLEY
Ms Notley has over 20 years experience in public affairs and crisis communications at some of the world’s largest companies.
Gabrielle started her public affairs career at BHP where she was responsible for employee and union communication initiatives in Newcastle. Soon after, she was appointed to the company’s head office in Melbourne, responsible for investor communications and media relations for the Steel business. She was also heavily involved in the company’s crisis management response program and a member of the frontline team that responded to crisis situations.
Gabrielle was recruited from BHP to join Australia’s largest food distribution group as part of a new management team. She managed communications during a takeover bid, as well as a food contamination and extortion attempt affecting customers throughout Australia.
Since joining John Connolly & Partners in 1997, Gabrielle’s speciality has been in corporate communications, often working ‘on-site’ with clients on major issues and projects.
In 2008 she was seconded by the US Democratic Party to work on the successful Barack Obama 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism), Securities Institute of Australia Diploma in Financial Products and Diploma in Photography and Design.
Senior Associate
JULIE COOPER
Ms Cooper is a senior associate of John Connolly & Partners Pty Ltd.
She holds Bachelor of Economics and Master of Commerce degrees from the University of New South Wales and has nearly twenty years’ experience in investor relations.
After beginning her investor relations career at one of Australia’s largest multinational companies she was appointed Investor Relations Manager for Westfield Trust designing and launching the first IR program for the newly listed trust.
She was promoted to become Group Investor Relations Manager for the Westfield Holdings Group overseeing Westfield’s relationships with the global investment community.
Julie managed the launch of the separately listed Westfield International, pioneered a range of initiatives in investor relations and managed all the group’s shareholder communications including annual reports, internal communications and customer relations.
She joined John Connolly and Partners in 1995. Her work there has included the design of major investor relations programs, overseeing research in financial markets and advising clients on difficult issues involving the relationship between shareholders, staff and customers.
Senior Consultant
MARSHA JACOBS
Marsha joined John Connolly & Partners from the Australian Financial Review. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Notre Dame, Australia.
Marsha’s role with the Australian Financial Review was primarily covering major litigation including commercial disputes, matters involving regulators, corporate collapses, workplace issues, corporate crime and tax disputes. She also wrote significant legal analysis and features. In 2010, she was awarded the Sir Owen Dixon prize for legal reporting for her coverage of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission case against directors of James Hardie in the NSW Supreme Court.
Marsha began her career with WA Business News where she wrote the paper’s weekly property section as well as general business news. In 2005 she was awarded the prize for Best Newcomer in WA media. She was recruited by the AFR’s Perth bureau in 2006 and moved to Sydney in 2007.
Analyst
ALEXANDER LYNCH
Prior to joining John Connolly & Partners, Alex worked in the national security community. His responsibilities were varied and included analysing emerging strategic trends and tracking the underlying drivers behind the evolution and power of nations, ideas and social movements.
Alex joined the intelligence community after working at the Bank of New Zealand, where his work included quantitative analysis of market trends as well as product and competitor analysis.
He holds a BSc and is completing a Master of International Relations.
