Ann Barlow

As managing director for Ruder Finn’s industrial & manufacturing practice, Ann is on a mission to prove that manufacturing is important, relevant and cool. Over her career, she has worked with manufacturers of all sizes and sectors, helping them build reputation and relationships with their most important audiences. Her work has also included extensive crisis management support, ranging from product recalls to PFAS exposure. Ann was previously a senior partner and chief engagement officer at Peppercomm, where she led a number of Peppercomm’s b2b client relationships and the agency’s employee engagement work. She also founded GreenPepper, Peppercomm’s sustainability offering. In 2022, Ruder Finn acquired Peppercomm. Prior to Peppercomm, Ann was with IPG-owned TSI/Mindstorm as a senior vice president and head of Mindstorm’s New York office. She has had her own consultancy, was PR director for a large health system and worked at GCI in Toronto. Ann has been named PR Professional of the Year and one of the Top Women of the Year by PR News, one of San Francisco’s 100 Most Influential Women by the San Francisco Business Times, and a Make Her Mark award winner by Silicon Valley’s Watermark. She serves on the board of directors for Upward, a global nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of executive women; the College of Charleston’s Communications School Advisory Council; and the University of Southern California Annenberg School Advisory Council. Ann has spent nearly all of her adult life on the U.S. coasts, but she was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up mostly in Illinois. She’s proud to be a Fighting Illini with a degree in public relations from the University of Illinois. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and various animals. With any luck, her adult kids are living independently in Northern and Southern California.