LONDON—The public relations profession in the Middle East has been progressing by leaps and bounds in recent years, and while many individuals have made their contributions, few have played a leadership role greater than that of Brian Lott, chief communications officer of Mubadala Investment Company—the sovereign-owned business development giant and one of the region’s most sophisticated users of PR.

He will receive a SABRE Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement at our awards ceremony at the Roundhouse in London next week.

At Mubadala, Brian is responsible for stewardship of the brand and management of the Group’s corporate communications requirements, and has also focused on recruiting and developing local public relations talent to manage the reputations of the company and its various portfolio companies.

And beyond Mubadala, Lott has served as chair of the Middle East Public Relations Association—from 2015 until January of this year, helping define the organization’s mission and vision and spearheading its contribution to professional development in the region—and as a member of Zayed University’s International Advisory Board

Brian has more than 30 years of experience in public relations. He joined Mubadala in 2012 after serving as executive director of communications at the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), a Mubadala-owned business created in 2008 to make significant investments in the semiconductor industry.

Prior to ATIC, he worked at Burson-Marsteller, where he spent 10 years providing strategic counsel to the firm’s public affairs, corporate and technology clients. In his last four years at the firm, Brian led a global team of 150 professionals across 25 markets. He was also the co-chair of Burson’s key client relationship program, a portfolio of the firm’s 20 largest blue-chip accounts.

Lott began his professional career in Washington, DC, working for two Members of Congress and serving as chief of staff, press secretary and campaign manager over 14 years, steering six successful re-elections over a period spanning three Presidential administrations. He began his career as a journalist covering politics in Iowa City, Iowa.

He also serves as treasurer of the Institute for Public Relations and sits on the board of the Arthur W Page Society. He cites as one of his most rewarding personal experiences traveling with 13 of the original Freedom Riders on a storytelling trip through the southern United States in 2001, commemorating the 40th Anniversary of their epic civil rights journey on Greyhound Bus Lines.