An avid wildlife and outdoors lover and storyteller, Jill Allread is CEO of Public Communications Inc., a national public relations (PR) and communications agency headquartered in Chicago. She counsels various clients to enhance their brand and reputation and strengthen their internal and external communications by more effectively telling their stories through strategic analysis, leadership coaching, and spokesperson training. Her previous jobs included working 12 years in newsrooms of daily newspapers, including as metropolitan editor for The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. Many of Jill’s clients are in conservation, health care, not-for-profit and education, building on her wildlife experience gained as Director of Public Affairs and PR at the Chicago Zoological Society.
A frequent national speaker and author of articles on crisis and issues management and communications campaigns, her client work has earned more than 150 national and regional public relations awards, including distinguished leader for PRSA and the lifetime achievement award from the Publicity Club of Chicago.
Respecting the land and caring about wildlife began in childhood for Jill, who grew up on a sheep and grain farm in northeast Indiana. From the farm, her interests and passion for nature expanded in wildlife conservation, and she continues to educate and advocate for the protection of cranes through service on the International Crane Foundation board and strategic communications.
Jill is an active civic leader and advisor and was past Illinois Nature Preserves Commission chair. She also serves as past chair and board member of Openlands, one of the nation’s oldest and most successful Chicago-region conservation organizations. She is a founding board member and former chair of Girls in the Game, a non-profit helping girls ages 7-17 build self-confidence and a healthier lifestyle. She earned accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America in 2000. She was elected to the PRSA College of Fellows in 2021, joining an elite group of national PR leaders representing less than 4% of North America’s PR practitioners.