Author: iankstewart

Mr. Stewart has more than 25 years experience in public affairs, leading the development of global government affairs campaigns, strategic communications efforts, legislative and regulatory strategy and enterprise-wide sustainability. As President of Affinity Public Affairs, Ian helps clients across a broad spectrum of public affairs initiatives, including government affairs, public outreach, coalition development, strategic messaging, public relations and sustainability. Prior to creating Affinity Public Affairs, Ian spent more than 17 years with Sempra, a Fortune 250 energy infrastructure company. During that time, Ian held numerous positions of ever-increasing responsibility. After first joining the company in 2005, Ian served as the National Government Affairs Manager, with responsibility for managing all aspects of the company’s government affairs efforts, including political and legislative strategy at the local, state and federal levels for project permitting, expansion, and management. Ian also managed the Regional Public Affairs Department at San Diego Gas & Electric, a Sempra utility, where he was responsible for leading the Company’s public affairs activities and strategies in its operational areas by working closely with cities and counties, community-based organizations, environmental and business organizations to enhance customer loyalty, environmental leadership, community engagement, and enable infrastructure development. Additional responsibilities included working with state leadership, at both the legislature and Public Utilities Commission to advance efforts around rooftop solar, electric vehicle charging infrastructure and utility-owned battery storage. Ian also served as Director of Issues Management, responsible for identifying, prioritizing and proactively addressing public policy and reputational issues that could affect Sempra and its various business units at the local, state and federal levels, as well as globally. Over his final five years at Sempra, Ian served as the Director of Corporate Sustainability. In this capacity, Mr. Stewart directed and managed the corporate sustainability reporting function at Sempra Energy, including the company’s strategy around sustainability, production of the company’s annual corporate sustainability report and management of responses to a wide range of investor surveys, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and CDP. Additionally, he worked closely with investor relations to ensure proper representation to the investor and analyst communities related to the company’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Prior to joining Sempra Energy in 2005, Mr. Stewart’s career included positions in Government Affairs and Public Relations as a consultant to companies such as SBC Communications, former Presidential candidate Ross Perot and Perot Systems. Mr. Stewart has served on several Boards and Committees, including the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, Pro Kids | The First Tee of San Diego, San Diego Rotary 33 and the Hubbs Sea World Research Institute. He is also active in several volunteer efforts throughout the community.