New Leaders Named for Advisory Board

Four leaders from media and public policy have joined the advisory board of the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.

The new board members are Ina Coleman, managing director of the Feminist Majority Foundation; Clothilde Hewlett, a partner in the San Francisco office of Nossaman LLP; Gary Pruitt, chairman of the board, CEO and president of the McClatchy Co.; and Robert H. Tuttle, former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.

“Each of these board members will make an important, substantive contribution to our work,” said Geoffrey Cowan, USC University Professor and director of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy. “We look forward to their insights and guidance as we confront some of the most challenging issues in the world of communication.”

The advisory board of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy meets regularly and is co-chaired by Mickey Kantor, a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Mayer Brown and Norm Pearlstine, chief content officer for Bloomberg News.

Coleman is managing director in the Los Angeles office of the Feminist Majority Foundation, where she provides leadership in strategic planning, budget management, marketing and operations management. She directed the launch of Ms. in the Classroom, a digital version of Ms. magazine for use as an educational tool at colleges and universities across the country. She also implemented the organization’s social media initiatives using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to engage national and global online communities. In addition, she is a member of the advisory council for Stanford University’s School of Humanities and Sciences.

Hewlett is a partner based in the San Francisco office of Nossaman LLP. She focuses on public policy and is a national leader on diversity. She assists clients with policy issues in California and at the federal level. She also helps clients to obtain government funding and facilitates the creation of public-private partnerships in the areas of transportation infrastructure and real estate. Hewlett has served as an assistant district attorney and as a San Francisco police commissioner for the City and County of San Francisco. She has served under California governors George Deukmejian and Gray Davis as a member of the California Council on Criminal Justice and as interim director of the Department of General Services. Among her many community leadership positions, she serves on the boards of the San Francisco 49ers Foundation and the University of California, Berkeley Alumni Association.

Pruitt is the chairman, president and CEO of the McClatchy Co. Headquartered in Sacramento, McClatchy is a leading newspaper and digital publisher with 30 daily newspapers and 43 non-dailies in 15 states. Pruitt joined McClatchy in 1984 as general counsel. He was named publisher of the Fresno Bee in 1991, vice president of operations and technology in 1994, president and chief operating officer in 1995, chief executive officer in 1996 and chairman in 2001. He is a former chairman of the Newspaper Association of America, a former chairman of the James Irvine Foundation and a former vice chairman of the Associated Press board of directors. He continues to serve on the Associated Press board of directors.

Tuttle served as U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James’ from 2005 to 2009. A businessman with extensive experience in the private sector, he is co-managing partner of the Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, one of the nation’s largest retail automotive companies. He co-chairs the Pacific Council on International Policy and has served on the boards of several prominent civic organizations, including the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, where he was chairman from 2001 to 2004. He joined the White House staff in 1982 as special assistant to President Reagan. In 1985, Reagan appointed him director of presidential personnel, a position he held until the end of the administration. By presidential appointment, Tuttle served on the board of directors of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars for four years.