Chryssa Zizos

From Benghazi to business strategy, from cybersecurity to psychiatric counseling, Chryssa Zizos has counseled clients on a broad range of critical public relations issues and has emerged as the go-to source on how the 2016 U.S. presidential candidates are using the media and social platforms to persuade and influence the public. Her clients reach to the highest levels of business and government.

As founder and CEO of Live Wire Media Relations, LLC, Zizos has been at the epicenter of some of the country’s most recognizable public affairs campaigns, including the merger of MCI-WorldCom; Girl Power, the national award-winning public education campaign established to raise young girls’ self-esteem; and the launch of the influential Princeton Project on National Security led by the Director of Policy Planning under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In the wake of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, Zizos provided guidance and counsel to the president of Bechtel Corporation’s nuclear power division in preparation for briefings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the White House.

Zizos’s firm, Live Wire Media Relations LLC, has been ranked among Washington, DC’s top 25 for revenue growth for the past 10 years by Washington Business Journal. Founded in 1998, Live Wire serves diverse ranges of clients including business organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, Fortune 100 companies, and elected officials. Zizos’ expertise in branding and business development is the foundation on which Live Wire’s successful coaching programs in media, persuasive selling and presentation skills and leadership communications are built.

Zizos is a sought-after expert commentator on the 2016 presidential race and has appeared on numerous television news programs. Her in-depth analysis explains how candidates are harnessing their personalities and images to shape the coming election.

In 2007, Zizos was named one of the top 25 Women Who Mean Business by Washington Business Journal. From hundreds of qualified nominees, she was chosen for her unquenchable drive, infectious passion, business savvy and, valuable contributions to the greater Washington business community. Zizos’s business acumen reaches beyond public relations and into client board rooms, where she facilitates and participates in strategic planning with clients ranging from technology startups to multinational institutions, among them The Carlyle Group, Bechtel Corp., Raytheon, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and CSC.

Zizos is a member of the advisory board for Eastern Kentucky University’s College of Business and Technology and funds two scholarship endowments for students pursuing degrees and careers in journalism. She was also selected as EKU’s 2004 Distinguished Alumna. Zizos is an adjunct professor at American University as well as George Mason University, where she also served as the chairperson of the advisory board for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Zizos began her career on Capitol Hill, for the Chairman of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition and at Ketchum and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She has also worked as a freelance journalist, writing for publications such as Sports Illustrated, Shape Magazine, and Women’s Sports and Fitness.