STEPHEN CROPPER
senior associate, asia-pacific

Steve Cropper started his career in journalism, politics and public relations before specialising in crisis and issues management. Steve is one of the region's leading media interview skills trainers for business leaders. Through the 1980s, he was a reporter and newsreader for Australia's prestigious National Nine News, Sydney Radio 2UE and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He also worked for Independent Radio News in the UK.
In 1990, Steve joined the Government of Nick Greiner in the Australian state of New South Wales as an adviser in the Premier's office. He was then recruited to the position of Communication Manager in the Liberal Party's Federal Headquarters in Canberra.

Steve moved to Britain in 1993 where he worked with global firm Burson-Marsteller on a range of pan-European corporate accounts including General Electric and Motorola. Clients included the Australian High Commission and Embassies in London, Bonn and Paris as well as Austrade in Britain and France. In Europe he worked on issues management and crisis preparedness for organisations such as Johnson&Johnson and BAA.

Back in Australia, Steve joined the Federal Airports Corporation as Manager, Media and Corporate Relations to manage issues surrounding the privatisation of Australia's airports.

For 5 years from 1998, Steve was a director of the multinational PR company Hill & Knowlton, leading the crisis and issues management team for Asia-Pacific. In that time, he was engaged in crisis preparedness and response for companies such as Pfizer, Novartis, ExxonMobil, adidas, Caltex, GlaxoSmithKline, The Malaysian Government, Unocal, Teekay Shipping and Heinz.

Today, Steve counsels companies in Australia and overseas such as Cathay Pacific Airways worldwide, Novartis, Aventis, Henkel and MIA on their issues and crisis management. He also acts as a management coach for business leaders, providing an independent perspective on their performance as leaders and supporting their professional development.Steve is 42 and lives in Sydney with his wife Carol and two sons.