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The IARCC Team


The IARCC Board Members

The IARCC Board is elected every three years and consists of volunteers with many years of experience in the field, often specialising in Emergency Risk and/or Crisis Communication. They come from academia, the private and public sectors and non-profit associations and represent the diversity of IARCC members from around the world.

Dr. Herbert M. Koch LL.M.

President & Founder

Herbert Koch founded the International Association of Risk and Crisis Communication in May 2013.

As president of the Association he commissioned and led research projects in cooperation with the French engineers school Arts et Métiers ParisTech, gave lectures and presentations at various conferences such as the Chosun Forum on Crisis Management in Seoul, South Korea or at the Emergency, Rescue and Safety Management Exhibition and Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

He published the online publication The Journal of Risk and Crisis Communication.

Herbert Koch started his career in communication as Senior Consultant and owner of de concert communication, a communication agency founded and domiciled in Paris, France, from 2004 until 2014.

Since 2014, the agency has been based in Zurich, Switzerland.   Parallel to his activities in communication, Herbert Koch works as an independent legal consultant for HMK Law in Zurich, Switzerland. 

Philippe Borremans

Vice President

Philippe Borremans is an independent Emergency Risk & Crisis Communication Consultant specialised in epidemic & pandemic preparedness.

He works on strategic communication projects with organisations like the World Health Organization, the European Union, and the West African Union.

For ten years, he held several Public Relations positions at IBM, including Corporate and Online Communications on national and European level. Philippe started his career at Porter Novelli International in Brussels.

He is a regular guest lecturer at universities and business schools across Europe and North Africa. Philippe is Board Member of the European Association of Communication Directors (EACD) and a former President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA 2021).

Philippe previously lived in Casablanca, Morocco and is now based in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal.

Sheena Thomson

Member of the Board

Sheena Thomson is an accomplished issues and crisis communications speaker, advisor, trainer and entrepreneur who helps both public and private organisations to plan and manage their communications efforts when under intense scrutiny and pressure.  

Based in the UK, Sheena specialises in high risk events, situations and issues. Through her consultancy and international associate network Conduit Associates Ltd (UK), Sheena provides crisis response support during complex events, missions, projects and situations, as well as preparedness training.  

Sheena draws upon substantial crisis communications experience, which began in the early 1990s with her role as a Royal Navy Media Operations Officer.



Thomas Brun

Member of the Board

Thomas Brun is a corporate communications consultant who has been advising companies and public administrations for over 15 years. He assists them in the development and management of their communication strategies, including reputation management, CSR and crisis communication.

Thomas is based in Casablanca, Morocco, where he develops consulting and training activities with large organisations (OCP Group, Johnson & Johnson, Ministry of Agriculture, Casablanca Stock Exchange etc.) and throughout the African continent (Central Bank of West African States, Ministry of Economy of Cameroon, etc.).  

He also teaches in several international institutions (emlyon business school, Toulouse Business School, Com'sup, etc.)

Deborah Hilleman

Member of the Board

Deborah Hileman, SCMP is CEO of the Institute for Crisis Management, a crisis management and communications consulting firm based in South Bend, Indiana USA.

Deborah is a business leader and globally certified strategic communication management professional with more than 35 years’ experience in public and private companies and non-profit organizations.

She is a longtime member of the Public Relations Society of America and the International Association of Business Communicators, where she was a member of the international executive board from 2018-2021.

She is a past chair of the Global Communication Certification Council, the only ANSI/ ISO accredited worldwide certifying body for communications professionals.  







Jon Goldberg

Member of the Board

Jon Goldberg is the founder and Chief Reputation Architect of Reputation Architects Inc., a strategic communications and reputation risk management advisory firm dedicated to building, protecting and restoring reputations in a world of diminished trust and unprecedented stakeholder power.

He founded the firm after more than 25 years as a strategic advisor to top executives, boards and governments, a senior leader at some of the world's most prominent communications firms and a front-line spokesman for major corporations and non-governmental organizations.  

 He is a past chair of the Public Relations Society of America’s prestigious Counselors Academy, an executive board member of the International Association of Risk & Crisis Communication and a member of the Crisis Communication Think Tank housed at the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.