Kirk
Stewart

Kirk Stewart is the founder and CEO of KTStewart, and is former executive director in APCO’s New York office. He has more than 35 years of experience in public relations and public affairs and played a leading role in serving APCO’s corporate clients and helping to broaden and expand the firm’s corporate communication practice.

Mr. Stewart previously served as global vice president of corporate communications for Nike, Inc. He joined Nike in 1997 after a 16-year career with the global public relations firm Manning, Selvage & Lee (now MSL Group), serving in his last four-and-a-half years as its chairman and chief executive officer. During his eight years with Nike, Mr. Stewart was responsible for corporate media relations, brand communication, crisis and issue management, internal communication, community affairs, sustainable development and stakeholder engagement. He also co-led the global corporate responsibility team and helped Nike become recognized as a leading corporate citizen.

Previously, Mr. Stewart held the positions of director of public affairs for the then-information services division of TRW and senior account executive at the public relations firm Burson-Marsteller.

He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America, The Arthur W. Page Society and the Conference Board’s Council on Corporate Communications Strategy; a board member of the PRSA Foundation; and a trustee of the Institute for Public Relations.

He was named an agency management all-star by INSIDE PR, recognized as one of the 15 most influential leaders in public relations by PRWeek and received the distinguished journalism alumni award from the University of Southern California’s school of journalism.

Mr. Stewart received a Bachelor of Arts in political science and a Master of Arts in public relations from the University of Southern California, where he was an instructor in the school of journalism for six years.