Donald Steel is Vice President, Crisis Communications at Kenyon, based in the UK. Alongside co-Vice President Susan Brown in California, they lead a formidable team of crisis communications directors based round the world, ready to respond rapidly to clients remotely or on the scene.
Donald began his media career as a radio presenter and producer in UK commercial radio and the BBC, working on a wide range of shows including news phone-ins, religious programmes, programmes for the South Asian community and special programmes responding to weather emergencies.
He later joined the BBC Press Team as a publicist, working in a range of roles before being appointed the BBC’s chief media spokesman in London, a position he held for 11 years. In this role he dealt with the communications response to the most serious incidents involving the BBC, including terrorist attacks, kidnapping, the murder of BBC employees and major political and diplomatic issues.
On leaving the BBC, he set up his own practice, at the same time joining the Kenyon crisis communications teams, where he has been a member of teams responding to major aviation incidents, the aftermath of terrorism, the Covid-19 epidemic and security events.
He began his working life training as a Registered Nurse in Britain’s National Health Service, working in regional neurosurgical units before moving to broadcasting.
Donald is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and of the Royal Society of Arts. Whilst at the BBC, the BBC Academy, Europe’s largest broadcasting training facility, made him the first Associate Fellow. He is a regular speaker at executive and professional events, including Chicago, Doha, New York, Las Vegas, Ottawa, Singapore and Zurich.
