Melissa Agnes

Founder and CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute, Melissa Agnes is a recognized leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is the creator of the Crisis Ready® Model and author of "Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World." She is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today's leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.

As a strategic advisor and keynote speaker, Melissa Agnes has worked with NATO, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, financial firms, technology companies, healthcare organizations, cities and municipalities, law enforcement agencies, global non-profits, and many others, helping them understand risk and build invincible brands that can withstand even the most devastating of events. Agnes differentiates critical strategies for managing issues versus crises, providing actionable insights for enhancing organizational resilience.

A university guest lecturer, Agnes teaches crisis management in university courses around the world, including at NYU, Columbia, and McGill. Her book and Crisis Ready® Model are globally recognized as having elevated industry best practice and are currently taught in dozens of higher education courses around the world, including at Harvard University. She also delivers keynote presentations on various topics related to crisis management, such as crisis communication, leadership, and building an invincible brand.

Agnes is proud to sit on the Police Professional Standards, Ethics and Image Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP); she sat on the panel tasked with developing the International Standard for Crisis Management— Guidelines for developing a strategic capability, ISO 22361; and she is a member of the Global Advisory Council for The Institute for Strategic Risk Management (ISRM), an entity established to help world leaders understand, evaluate, and strategically prepare for rising global risks.

In 2015, Agnes gave a TEDx talk in Los Angeles where she discussed the secret to successful crisis management in the 21st century. She is also the editor of the Crisis Ready Blog, the host of the Invincible Brand Podcast, a contributor to Forbes, and a go-to source for the press, with recent coverage including the Wall Street Journal, VIBE Magazine, USA Today, and many others.