Mr. DeFazio is the president of DeFazio Communications, LLC, a Conshohocken, PA-based public relations agency that specializes in generating media exposure for corporations and emerging growth businesses. The firm provides publicity and media relations services that help companies improve market share, strengthen brand position and increase competitive strength.
Over his accomplished 20 year public relations career, Mr. DeFazio has developed public
relations programs for the nation's leading brands including Kodak, AOL, Sprint, Cigna and
AccuWeather, Inc. as well as quickly growing companies Cadient Group, O'Neill Properties and
American Financial Realty Trust (NYSE:AFR). During that time, Mr. DeFazio has cultivated
an extensive network of media contacts that include journalists and producers at The Wall Street
Journal, The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Business Week, Investor's Business Daily,
Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, The Philadelphia Business Journal, The Philadelphia
Inquirer, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business News, CNN, and other high profile media.
Prior to founding DeFazio Communications, Mr. DeFazio served as director of public relations
for American Financial Realty Trust from May 2005 until April 2008. There, he developed and
managed the real estate investment trust's first public relations department, responsible for all
internal and external communications including community and media relations; advertising and
promotions; special events as well CEO, Board of Trustee and employee communications.
From 1991 through 2005, Mr. DeFazio served as account executive, vice president and executive
vice president and equity partner of Gregory FCA Communications where he directed the
agency's marquee accounts. As the second hire, Mr. DeFazio helped grow the business from
$250,000 in sales to more than $3.5 million. During his tenure, he helped establish the
company's reputation as one of the leading media relations firms in the country placing more
than 1,000 stories in high-profile media ranging from ABC World News Tonight to Newsweek.
Mr. DeFazio began his career in the late 1980s as an account executive with the Wayne Smith
Group in Washington, D.C. where he managed governmental relations programs for trade
associations. Before that, he served as a community organizer and fundraiser with Common
Cause and Clean Water Action in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, PA.
Mr. DeFazio graduated from Ithaca College in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.
He serves as president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the International Association of Business
Communicators (IABC) and is a member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
He is also active in the community. Mr. DeFazio formed the Riverwalk Tenants Association to
aid tenants of Riverwalk Apartment Homes affected by the devastating fire in Conshohocken,
Pa. He also volunteers for The Lymphoma & Leukemia Society and American Red Cross.
Mr. DeFazio resides in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.