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Emerald Mourns the Loss of Sally Shankland

It is with great sadness that we announce that after several courageous months of battling cancer, Sally Shankland, former CEO of Emerald, peacefully passed away yesterday at home.

The entire Emerald family mourns this loss.  On behalf of our Board of Directors, Emerald management team and team members, we extend our heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to Sally’s family; our thoughts are with them during this most difficult time.

“Today marks the passing of a friend, a mentor, a visionary, and a leader,” said Brian Field, Interim President and CEO, Emerald.  “Sally’s tenacious and resilient spirit was a source of inspiration and empowerment to all that had the opportunity to know and work with her.  Her commitment to everything she touched ran deep, and her impact on the exhibitions business, our business, was unparalleled.  Sally brought a fresh and empathetic perspective and energy to Emerald and its team members that gave us a new foundation from which to build and grow.”

Sally Shankland joined Emerald in June 2019. Prior to joining Emerald, Sally’s career and experience spanned over thirty five years including a tenure of more than twenty years with UBM, now part of Informa plc, a UK-based multinational events, academic publishing and business intelligence business. Her most recent position at UBM was CEO of the Americas, delivering events and marketing services in the technology, fashion, licensing, advanced manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries.

In 2018, she served as Interim Executive at Healthline.com, the fastest growing health information site globally. Previously, Ms. Shankland served two years as President of McGraw-Hill Higher Education, helping it to transition from a print-based model towards adaptive learning software.

Memorial contributions can be made in Sally’s honor to the following organizations:

Planned Parenthood

Vital Voices Global Partnership

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