About
Dr. Epstein is the founder and principal of Epstein & Associates, a boutique public relations consortium located in New York City, with cooperating partners world-wide.
As a communications strategist and consummate media relations expert, Eve Epstein has been responsible for refining the public image of some of the globe’s most prominent corporate and political leaders. She enables her clients to multiply their influence in the marketplace of ideas and secure the support of influential constituencies.
At the United Nations, Eve Epstein worked directly with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to launch his package of institutional reforms. Other work with U.N. leaders throughout the Secretariat included delicate and sensitive communications -- touching on issues of politics, human rights, international security, and diplomatic solutions. She was the Secretary General’s adviser on crisis matters, working with U.N. departments of public information and political affairs, as well as the office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the UN Staff College and the UN Foundation. In 2008, Dr. Epstein co-authored a media action guide for U.N. leaders, titled “Communication As A Reform Tool For The United Nations."
Kofi Annan summarized her contribution to the global organization as follows: “ She has shown a true artist’s sense of atmosphere and timing … navigating the complex politics of the United Nations … dealing with the governments of member states as well as non-governmental organizations and UN staff. And the persuasiveness of her work has always been underpinned by her strong moral compass.” Her professional relationship with the United Nations continued during the tenure of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Dr. Epstein has given similar support to the leadership of the New York Times during a succession crisis, to the Swiss government in handling problems arising from the record of Swiss banks during the Holocaust, and to a Prime Minister of Israel. Dr. Epstein was also the communications adviser for two leading candidates in their campaigns for Director General of the World Health Organization. She has advised diplomats from governments including Switzerland, Norway, Mozambique, Barbados, and Austria.
In corporate communications, Epstein & Associates has represented and advised world-renowned leaders and businesses, including VIACOM, Kraft, Estee Lauder, Spelling Entertainment, Telrad Telecommunications, the Four Seasons Hotel holdings, Paramount Pictures, Cathay Pacific Airlines and Ford Motor Credit.
Dr. Epstein has participated in frequent communications strategy meetings at the White House during the Clinton presidency, and has advised the Democratic National Committee.
In her capacity as executive coach for the Women’s Economic Summit and communications adviser to the National Association of Women Business Owners, she trained board members in techniques of message development, media relations, meeting facilitation and leadership.
Additionally, Dr. Epstein provides public relations advice to human rights organizations, and has lectured internationally on post-conflict reconstruction, using media education to promote tolerance and foster political and social cooperation
From 1997-1999 Dr. Epstein was Director of Media Strategy and Training for Ruder Finn Public Relations where she chaired in-house communication skills training for public relations account executives.
Dr. Epstein’s articles for clients have appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, the New York Daily News and New York Post, the Boston Globe, the Forward, FOXnews, the National Review, Washington Times, Jerusalem Post, Newsday, and the American Interest.
She has been the subject of feature articles in numerous publications, including the New York Times, and Crains Business Weekly.
Dr. Epstein's education in writing, rhetoric and public communications includes an M.A., M.Ed. and Ph.D. from Columbia and Temple Universities. She has held faculty appointments at Queens College, William Paterson College and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Dr. Epstein is the author of articles published in communications journals, has presented papers at national and regional communications conferences and was a Research Associate with the Communications Association of America.
Dr. Epstein was appointed by Governor Pataki to serve as a Commissioner for implementation of the New York-Israel Cultural Exchange Treaty from 1998-1999.
Dr. Epstein served as Vice-President of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and is on the NCAFP board of advisers.
Millicent Fortunoff has extensive experience managing global and national media relations campaigns.
Her non-profit clients include a range of interfaith, theological, social justice, education and women’s organizations, among which are Global Green (President Mikhail Gorbachev’s organization), the Family Violence Prevention Fund, The Afghan Women’s Summit and UNA-USA. She has been communications counsel to Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and has advised Ambassador Susan Johnson Cook, Global Peace Initiative of Women, and Intersections International.
Ms. Fortunoff handled media relations for The Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, which was held at the United Nations, as well as The Earth Charter, The Afghan Women’s Summit, The Museum of World Religions, Liz Claiborne Inc. (teen dating violence initiative), Safe Horizon, UNIFEM and The Department of Justice/Office of Violence Against Women. She was part of a team that the government of Ethiopia turned to for a crisis media relations program in its war with Eritrea. Ms. Fortunoff’s work has been recognized with numerous awards within the public relations industry.
Ms. Fortunoff has more than 20 years’ experience working with a diverse range of corporations, institutions and government agencies with one common factor: complex issues that present unusual communications challenges. She has developed and managed corporate reputation programs and issues management programs for clients such as
Ford Credit, Norsk Hydro in Norway, TV Azteca in Mexico and Pertamina in Indonesia, among many others.
She has worked on communications initiatives for a range of United Nations agencies including the largest UN agency, The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and The United Nations Fund for Women, as well as bilateral agencies including USAID, and the Japanese External Trade Organization
Ms. Fortunoff’s work has appeared in every major newspaper in the United States and many abroad, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune.
Ms. Fortunoff began her career as a journalist, working as a television reporter and anchor before moving into public relations. From 1999-2009, Ms. Fortunoff was a Senior Vice President in the Global Issues Communications Group at Ruder Finn (Finn Partners).
Millicent Fortunoff is a Trustee of Union Theological Seminary in the city of New York and serves on the advisory councils of the American Friends of the Parents Circle-Families Forum and the Of Many Institute for Multifaith Leadership at NYU. She is a graduate of Penn State University with a degree in Speech Communications and History. She lives in New York City with her husband and two young children.
Miri Segal-Scharia has 18 years of experience working with international companies, ranging from mature startups to publicly traded companies, in a variety of industries. She successfully managed the IR strategy of several IPOs and capital raises of global companies led by Deutche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, Needham, Oppenheimer, Canaccord Genuity, William Blair, Nomura and others. In her capacity as the owner and founder of MS-IR, a N.Y based Investor Relations firm, she advises Epstein & Associates on select financial PR projects.
Prior to MS-IR, Segal-Scharia served for 3 years as a Vice President at Strategic Growth International (SGI), a global Investor Relations boutique, focusing mainly on U.S and Chinese companies. Before living in NYC, she was a partner in the leading Israeli Investor Relations firm KM/KCSA IR, successfully managing IR accounts of companies with market capitalization ranging from $20 million to over $1 billion, including Lipman, M-Systems, Fundtech, Internet Gold, XTL Bio Tech, and many others.
Ms. Segal-Scharia has provided strategic Investor relations consulting to American, Chinese, European, Singaporean, Israeli and Australian companies, initiating relationships that resulted in M&A opportunities, new client introductions, analyst coverage, nomination of board members etc. She has extensive experience in formulating client IR strategies, including positioning, perception analysis, road shows, IPOs, crisis management etc.
Miri Segal-Scharia holds a Masters in Business Administration (specializing in Marketing) from the University of Manchester and a BA in Communications and French Literature from Tel Aviv University.
Phyllis Lee is an expert in working with individuals and groups to promote causes, whether at the local or international level.
During a 30 year career at the United Nations, she led strategic communications teams and served as spokesperson on a range of policy issues, from forgotten emergencies to sustainable development. As the chief architect of the advocacy and strategic communications plan for humanitarian action across the globe, she successfully raised both media coverage and millions of dollars of donor funding for the world’s most needy citizens. She has written and placed op-eds in major publications, including the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune. Phyllis has also developed and organized, from conception to execution, summit-level events and conferences with world leaders.
Phyllis is a linguist, with a deep appreciation of the nuances of cross-cultural communication.
She specializes in working with people whose native language is not English to help them communicate effectively with audiences and in writing.