Mike Swenson serves as CMO of Barkley, one of the top ten largest independent advertising agencies in the U.S. He oversees the strategic marketing of the agency, leading a team that guides the new business and public relations efforts for the agency and its business units. Swenson also serves as leader of the agency's public relations practice, which he founded in 1988.

Swenson is a nationally recognized expert in cause branding. His Citizen Brand blog (http://www.citizenbrand.typepad.com) champions companies, nonprofits and individuals that are leading as Citizen Brands within their communities. He has been a featured speaker at events for the Cause Marketing Forum, PRSA, IABC, and IPREX, among others. In November 2009, the fifth annual Cause Survey was published by PR Week and Barkley, which analyzes the effects of cause marketing on consumers and brands.

Since 1995, the firm's flagship cause program for Lee Jeans, Lee National Denim Day, has raised more than $75 million to benefit breast cancer research. Cause marketing programs under Swenson’s guidance have won awards from the Public Relations Society of America, PR Week, the Cause Marketing Forum and the PRISM Awards.

Swenson volunteers his time for several organizations including the Kansas City Zoo, the Kansas City Free Health Clinic, and Harvesters Community Food Bank. He is past president of IPREX, a global corporation of more than 60 independent public relations firms. Swenson is a frequent guest lecturer at the University of Kansas, his alma mater, and Central Missouri State University. He is also a member of the William Allen White Foundation Board of Trustees affiliated with the School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.

Prior to founding Barkley Public Relations, Swenson served as the Press Secretary to Kansas Governor John Carlin and worked as a broadcast journalist. His wife, Charneil, and he have four children and three grandchildren and both are avid travelers and golfers.