Page 23 - BEQ Pride Magazine Iss 21 Winter 2021 v01012022

Agent of By MELISSA LOWERY

Change B the world, literally, as a lobbyist for the environmental community. Instead, he fell

en Finzel knew he was bound for Capitol Hill when he graduated from college. After
working in two congressional offices, the Washington, D.C. native wanted to save

in love with communications and public relations.

Now a PR veteran, Finzel is the president and tration, Finzel has spent the past 25 years working at
founder of RENEWPR, a communications consulting global, national and boutique communications firms.
firm that provides senior-level advice, counsel and He has counseled Fortune 500 companies and major
outreach on strategy, messaging, media and partner- businesses, U.S. government agencies, industry trade
ships to alliance, association, coalition, corporation, associations and non-governmental organizations on
foundation and non-governmental clients tackling public affairs and consumer education campaigns,
energy, environmental and equity issues and oppor- media outreach and partnership development pro-
tunities. grams and stakeholder relations strategy and out-
We met up for a conversation in November, reach.
squeezing in a call first thing in the morning before
the long Thanksgiving weekend. I expected him to “I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO
be a good interview in the sense that, as a PR man, TALK ABOUT THIS”
he would know how to stay on message and give me
useable quotes. What I did not expect was someone Saving the world is still what drives Finzel. In 2004,
who is challenging his own white cis male privilege he helped launch FH Out Front at FleishmanHillard, BEN FINZEL,
Founder and
before breakfast. the first global LGBTQ communications practice at President,
a global PR and marketing agency. Just having the
RENEWPR |
“PR WAS NOT ON MY RADAR” opportunity to work on the project was hard-won. CREDIT: JOEL
“Not only was it not easy being openly gay when I SHEAKOSKI
Finzel earned a degree in history from Texas Tech started in this industry, it was a challenge to get the
University in 1989, then moved back to D.C. where he opportunities to do the extra work required to help
served in legislative and communications staff posi- build out an industry around LGBTQ communica-
tions for two Democratic members of the U.S. House tions,” he recalls. “I worked nights and weekends with
of Representatives (North Carolina’s Tim Valentine my FleishmanHillard colleagues around the globe to
and New Mexico’s Bill Richardson). In 1995, he was build out that communications practice. It was my
ready to explore other opportunities when a former second job.”
mentor, Neal Flieger, invited him to interview at Edel- Here Finzel calmly begins challenging centuries
man, a global public relations firm. of privilege, beginning with discrimination against
“I hadn’t even thought about PR as a career, it was LGBTQ people.
not on my radar,” Finzel says. “I took a few classes “There’s still a pink ceiling or a purple ceiling,
in college but it’s not what I thought I wanted to do. whatever color you want to use, there’s a ceiling for
But hey, it was an interview. I ended up getting the LGBTQ people in the PR industry,” he says. “This is
job and once I got there, I realized it took skills I had still a very straight white male industry. If you’re a
been learning in college and my years on the Hill and lesbian or non-binary or queer or a person of color,
brought them all together. I really liked it, I thought it it’s still tough.”
was fun. It was that experience at Edelman that made Finzel is quick to acknowledge that while he has
me want to keep going in PR.” faced challenges as an out gay man, he is a cisgender
And keep going he has. Other than a little over a white male himself and lives with a vast amount of priv-
year working for the U.S. Department of Energy as a ilege. This, he says, is exactly why he should be talking
presidential appointee during the Clinton adminis- about issues of diversity and equality and inclusion.

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