Marek Petruš is an external relations consultant with deep expertise in financial and economic policy communications. He has worked closely with top monetary policymakers as a strategic advisor to governors in the Czech Republic as well as more than a dozen low-to-middle income developing countries. He has been affiliated with the International Monetary Fund as a short-term expert for central bank communications, advising central banks across Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa to make their policies more transparent and on modernising their communications. His expertise and experience stems from an assignment as Director of Communications and later chancellor at the Czech National Bank (CNB), preceded by a career with the world’s leading news media companies, including Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. During his tenure, the Czech central bank upgraded its policy communications and brought its transparency and communication toolkit into line with global best practices. These advances helped solidify the CNB’s standing as one of the world's most transparent and best communicating central banks.

Tony Morrison, Director of Communications at Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), is now a veteran and award-winning central bank communicator with nearly 20 years of central banking experience that began in the latter part of the Greenspan era.

His recruitment by BOJ in 2001 interrupted a near-seven year stint as a multiple award- winning investigative journalist who specialized in covering crime, politics, business and the economy in general and tourism in particular. The competitive advantage that he brought to tourism reporting, of understanding the local industry and knowing the major players, evolved from the fact that he became a journalist (by accident) after leaving a job as a resort entertainment manager after an intensive six-year career in tourism.

Bank of Jamaica’s communication output has slowly but steadily and significantly increased and improved on his watch because of his work behind the scenes to push the envelope, and his strategic advice has at critical stages helped successfully guide Jamaica through its current highly acclaimed but difficult economic reform programme. His communication advice guided two successive governments (in 2010 and 2013) through the potential minefields of two debt exchange programmes, and he piloted the smooth 2017 introduction of BOJ’s ongoing FX market reform programme. 

In 2018, however, he was forced into the spotlight as a thought leader by becoming an ‘overnight sensation’ in central banking and wider circles. His revolutionary, ground-breaking, and reggae music-infused communication campaign to sensitize the Jamaican population to BOJ’s policy switch to formal inflation targeting is like nothing ever seen before in central banking circles, and has taken the world by storm, producing viral videos and attracting coverage from over 30 international media houses plus the public commendation of the IMF, IDB, and a plethora of fellow central bank communicators, central bankers in general, economists, business journalists, local and international politicians, and the wider public.

What is lesser known is that simultaneously, he is also the full-time personality and strategist behind BOJ’s critically acclaimed and highly engaging Twitter account, which in just over two years of existence has rapidly and emphatically earned the undisputed status of the best central bank Twitter account in the world, and earned BOJ the title of ‘coolest central bank in the world.’ There are no prizes for guessing that he is also the mad genius behind BOJ’s new virtual spokesperson, the James Bond inspired/BOJ logo derived ‘Secret Agent Croc. O. Doyle,’ who has a licence to target (what else?) inflation!  

Mr. Morrison is no stranger to Central Banking Publications, as, in addition to his communication programme attracting its coverage on several occasions and earning BOJ the award for best communications initiative for 2019, he was a course attendee in 2002, course chairman in 2003, and wrote the article “How a central bank should talk” for Central Banking Quarterly Journal also in 2003.

Marek Petruš is an external relations consultant with deep expertise in financial and economic policy communications. He has worked closely with top monetary policymakers as a strategic advisor to governors in the Czech Republic as well as more than a dozen low-to-middle income developing countries. He has been affiliated with the International Monetary Fund as a short-term expert for central bank communications, advising central banks across Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa to make their policies more transparent and on modernising their communications. His expertise and experience stems from an assignment as Director of Communications and later chancellor at the Czech National Bank (CNB), preceded by a career with the world’s leading news media companies, including Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. During his tenure, the Czech central bank upgraded its policy communications and brought its transparency and communication toolkit into line with global best practices. These advances helped solidify the CNB’s standing as one of the world's most transparent and best communicating central banks.

Niko Herrala works as a Head of Division in the Market Operations Department at the Bank of Finland. He is also a member of ESCB's Working Group on Monetary Policy Implementation.

Oda Faremo Lindholm is an economic historian and works as a senior advisor and community manager in Norges Banks department of communication and external relations. Prior to working in Norges Bank, she worked as a journalist in several different Norwegian newspapers, and as a researcher at Norway’s public broadcaster, NRK. At NRK she also worked extensively with content production to some of NRKs biggest social media profiles. She has also published a successful book (in Norwegian) about critical interaction with social media, called “Bullshitfilteret” (The bullshit filter) .

Karen Branding is the St. Louis Fed’s senior vice-president for public affairs, overseeing the Bank’s external and internal communications, industry and government relations, public outreach, economy museum and creative services.  She is a member of the Bank’s Management Committee.

Before joining the Bank in 2011, she was the associate dean of marketing and communications for Washington University’s Olin Business School. She was with Anheuser-Busch for 15 years, serving as chairman, president and CEO of its Busch Creative Services subsidiary; corporate vice president of Busch Entertainment Corporation; and director of corporate communications for the parent company. Her early career was in Washington, DC, where she was a public policy analyst at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and U.S. Department of the Treasury.  She entered the federal government as a presidential management fellow.

Ms. Branding earned her bachelor's in public administration from Drake University, masters in public affairs from Indiana University and MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Ms. Branding is active in the community, with current or past board service at Drake University, United Way of Greater St. Louis Executive Committee and chair of its Public Affairs Committee, St. Andrew’s Resources for Seniors, Eden Theological Seminary, Unleashing Potential/Neighborhood Houses, St. Louis Regional Chamber, and others. She is the recipient of Washington University’s Emory Award for leadership and scholarship, YWCA’s Leader of Distinction Award, and Drake University’s Alumni Loyalty Award.