Catherine “Cathy” Gay has a wide and deep network of contacts throughout the communications industries that increased exponentially during her ten-year tenure as executive director of the Center for Communication, a nonprofit organization headed by Frank Stanton, the former and legendary president of CBS, and Thornton “Brad” Bradshaw, former chairman and CEO of RCA.

Ms. Gay has been at the forefront of communications technology and event production. In 1987, she conceptualized and served as executive producer of the first large-scale “Spacebridge” (satellite teleconference) with the former Soviet Union; Peter Jennings moderated in San Francisco at the opening session of the American Society of Newspaper Editors Convention and Vladimir Posner moderated in Moscow, for an interactive, live exchange between the two nations focusing on issues of press freedoms and glastnost. Ms. Gay conceived the idea for the “Spacebridge,” raised the funds to make it happen, recruited all the participants, and oversaw the entire production, which won 1987 the Teleconferencing Association Gold Award.

In 1991, Ms. Gay produced the 200th Anniversary Celebration of the First Amendment for the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism – the event at which Salmon Rushdie made his first appearance outside Great Britain after the fatwah.

In addition to producing large-scale events, Ms. Gay has carved out a special niche as the creator and producer of senior level, thought leader conferences. Her work on the First Amendment Anniversary led to the First Amendment Leaders Series moderated by Floyd Abrams, which Ms. Gay conceived and produced for seven years on behalf of Columbia. Subsequently, Ms. Gay has developed and produced series focused on a wide variety of industries, including media, business and finance, science, cross border management, and global accounting, to name a few.

Ms. Gay has expertise in foreign affairs, having lived and worked in Venezuela, Spain, Israel and England. She began her career as a journalist and for six years was the publisher of four newsletters for business leaders doing work in Latin America.

Ms. Gay is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Century Association, and for eight years was a Trustee of Hurricane Island Outward Bound. She has a B.A. in journalism and political science from the University of Southern California and spent a year studying political science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Madeleine Cohen has worked in marketing and special event production in the U.S. and abroad for over 20 years.  From 1991 to 1995, Ms. Cohen organized trade shows in Mexico, including COMDEX/ComExpo Mexico – a joint venture between Reed Exhibition Companies and COMDEX, which at the time was the largest computer and software trade show.

Upon her return to the U.S., Ms. Cohen joined Violy, Byorum & Partners, a financial boutique specializing in Latin America.  In addition to her responsibilities overseeing all of the firm’s presentations, marketing materials and correspondence, Ms. Cohen produced the VB&P CEO retreat, in which 25 of Latin America’s most prominent business leaders and their spouses joined the firm’s bankers in Palm Beach for three days of conferences, meetings and entertainment.

Ms. Cohen first worked with Catherine Gay in 1998, when Ms. Gay was publishing four newsletters for business leaders doing work in Latin America.  Ms. Cohen was responsible for the roundtables held in association with the newsletters, as well as for the events produced for other clients, including AOL, Time Warner, and IBM.

In 2001, Ms. Cohen participated in the launch of a design firm specializing in presentation graphics, corporate identity packages and editorial services, managing the company’s business development.  Ms. Cohen re-joined Catherine Gay Communications in 2003.

Born in the U.S, and raised in Mexico, Ms. Cohen is bicultural and bilingual.  She received a B.A. in Latin American literature summa cum laude from Columbia University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.