Thom M. Serafin

With a distinguished career spanning three decades, Thom M. Serafin is a communications strategist and public affairs counselor who, with his deep knowledge of the Illinois business and government landscapes, shaped and implemented successful public affairs strategies for hundreds of corporations and other organizations over the last three decades.

An insightful strategist, Thom is well known in the business arena for his ability to identify and effectively deliver a message; he is the go-to guy when a crisis warrants strong leadership. Thom has an innate ability to defuse potentially damaging crisis situations. His calm demeanor and methodical business sense make him the ideal adviser and spokesperson when corporate reputations are at stake.

As founder and CEO of Serafin & Associates, Inc., Thom leads a powerful communications team, providing strategic counseling on public relations initiatives, public affairs campaigns, and crisis and reputation management. The diverse Serafin client list ranges from local and state businesses and associations to multi-national corporations.

Thom's expertise as a political communications analyst follows years of hands-on experience, first as a network radio political correspondent, later as press secretary for three U.S. Senate campaigns, a U.S. Presidential campaign, and on the Washington D.C. staff of U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon. Over the years, he has served as a strategist for some of the country's most high-profile politicians.

Thom formed Serafin & Associates, Inc., in 1987 as a fully integrated communications management consulting firm. He assembled a high-performance, results-driven team of communications professionals with a single focus: deliver results for the firm's clients.

Rooted in media and politics, the public affairs firm is uniquely qualified to develop, manage and execute successful and effective communications strategies. Serafin and Associates, Inc., serves a range of clients, from major corporations to government agencies and nonprofit organizations, with constantly evolving communications needs in this world of change.

An independent thinker, Thom is widely sought after as a public affairs analyst with his familiar face and voice on Illinois and Chicago network television and radio stations. His in-depth knowledge of the political scene, along with an affable manner and great sense of humor, makes him a regular on PBS, WGN and Chicago's ABC, NBC and Fox network affiliates. He has also appeared on NBC's Today Show.

Thom received his Master's degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois-Springfield under the direction of his long-time friend and mentor, the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon. While not too many Americans have supped with Fidel Castro, Thom spent a day with the dictator and Sen. Simon when he served as Director of Operations and Media for Sen. Simon's humanitarian mission to Cuba in 2001.

Thom serves on the Communications Advisory Board of the Salvation Army, Chicago, the Board of Directors of the West Suburban Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Vice Chairman of the University of Illinois-Springfield Alumni Board, and a charter member of the University of Illinois' Leadership Roundtable. An avid sportsman and baseball coach, Thom lives with his wife and two sons in LaGrange Park, Ill.