Jeff Salem is the Director of Communications & Public Relations for the Arbor Day Foundation. In his role, Salem is responsible for increasing awareness and credibility of the Foundation and its impact through communications and PR strategies.

Prior to joining the Arbor Day Foundation in 2021, Salem spent more than a decade at Swanson Russell, the largest marketing communications agency in Nebraska. Salem’s approach and perspective towards public relations continues to be shaped by his time as a journalist. He worked for more than four years for Sun News, the award-winning newspaper group in Kansas City, first as a government reporter and then as its news editor.

Salem holds an English degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he played collegiate tennis, and a journalism degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When he’s not promoting the power of trees and forests, it is a good bet Salem is on a golf course searching for his ball in the rough, or with his wife and three children driving to or from a youth sports complex.