WCG Gets Edelman's Grates

Grates

Gary Grates, president/global managing director of Edelman Change and Employee Engagement and one-time VP corporate communications at General Motors/North America, has taken a senior management post at WCGC, parent company of San Francisco-based independent firm WCG.

He is to tackle change management, corporate positioning, strategic development, mergers & acquisitions and global expansion.

Jim Weiss, CEO of WCGC, called Grates’ recruitment a “game-changing hire” that will spur the next phase of evolution and growth of the firm.

At GM, Grates also served as global process leader for internal communications and was a member of the teaching staff of its university.

Earlier, he was president of GCI BoxenbaumGrates and executive VP/managing director of GCI Consulting, a unit of GCI Group Public Relations.

In his more than 25-year career, Grates has counseled, PepsiCo, Volvo, Kraft, Nissan, Caterpillar, Shell, Starbucks, Visa International, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, GE and British Airways.