Randi Berris is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Business Leaders for Michigan, the state’s business roundtable, which is dedicated to making Michigan a Top 10 state for jobs, education, widely shared prosperity and a healthy economy. The organization is composed exclusively of the executive leaders of Michigan’s largest companies and universities. Members drive 40% of the state’s economy, employ more than 540,000 people in Michigan, generate over $1 trillion in annual revenue and serve more than half of all Michigan public university students.
An award-winning communicator skilled in storytelling, crisis communications and leadership, Berris is responsible for managing all strategic communications, including public relations/media relations, Board communications, social media, advertising and sponsorships.
Berris previously served as director of corporate communications at TCF Bank prior to its merger with Huntington National Bank and played a critical role through the transition. She later became director of external communications at Huntington, where she served as strategic advisor and counselor to the bank and its executives and was responsible for directing the development, implementation and management of external communications strategies, reputational risk management and crisis communications. Berris also spent a number of years at DTE Energy in a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in corporate communications.
Berris started her career as a journalist and was the long-time news editor at the Associated Press bureau in Detroit, including guiding coverage in Michigan through the Great Recession. She directed a large team of reporters covering the state’s business sector, multiple administrations, the state legislature, and the state’s political landscape.
Berris has a degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University and serves on the Board of Advisors of Vista Maria.