Purpose under pressure: Navigating real-world decisions about sustaining and communicating corporate purpose. 

Please join us for a reception on Alumni Plaza beginning at 5 p.m. PT, followed by the program at 6:30 p.m. PT. The program is scheduled to run for 100 minutes.

Featured speakers and panelists: 

• Purpose Award presentation to Ronald McDonald House
• Jon Banner, executive vice president and global chief impact officer, McDonald’s, and Joanna Sabato, global chief marketing and communications officer, Ronald McDonald House, in conversation with Willow Bay, Dean, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
• Fred Cook, professor and director, USC Center for Public Relations, sharing the results of the 2026 Global Communication Report
• Jean Guerrero, visiting professor, “Our Unsilencing” project, USC Annenberg, panel moderator
• Janet Clayton, senior strategist, VectisDC public affairs, and two-time Pulitzer prize-winning former editor at the Los Angeles Times

More information on panelists is forthcoming. 

Note: This event has reached in-person capacity, but those interested in attending virtually can RSVP below to request livestream information. 

Thank you to our sponsor, Golin.

This program is open to all eligible individuals. USC Annenberg operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.