
David St. John has more than 30 years of experience as a public relations executive at the national and international levels. As principal of St. John Communications, he serves a range of national and international clients in the private, public and non-profit sectors. As a strategic communications partner he has helped companies, trade associations and international organizations strengthen their public outreach.
Prior to founding the firm in 2006, David served nearly four years as Chief of Advocacy and Outreach at the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where he coordinated issue campaigns, special events, report launches and media outreach. At the ILO, David helped lead efforts to increase the organization's visibility in the global media while expanding campaign activities on issues such as child labor, workplace health and safety, and the extension of social security.
Before heading to Europe, David spent nearly 20 years in Washington, DC, where he held a variety of positions meeting the communications needs of high-profile businesses, organizations and public figures. From 2000 to 2002, he directed the technology practice in the Washington office of the public relations giant Burson-Marsteller, where he served on the leadership committee of the Accenture account, one of the firm's largest. From 1998 to 2000, he was Director of Executive and Internal Communications at Iridium LLC, a global satellite communications company.
From 1996 to 1998, David worked in the Clinton Administration, first as chief speechwriter for Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and then for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol Browner. Prior to that, he spent seven years as speechwriter and communications aide to AFL-CIO President Lane Kirkland. From 1983 to 1987, he worked on the Democratic staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where he wrote speeches and handled media activities for the Chairman, Ernest Hollings, and other senators on the committee.
A 1980 graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, David began his career as a reporter and editor at KMOX/CBS Radio in St. Louis. His reporting on the dioxin contamination of Times Beach, Missouri, earned the station a Peabody Award in 1983.