Team

The Foote Group is a collaborative team made up of the most talented and committed communications experts in China. We have the strategic thinking, media and financial community contacts and international experience to get the best results for our clients.



Phil Lisio

Managing Partner

Philip Lisio is the Managing Partner and founder of The Foote Group. With over 20 years of experience in strategic communications and financial public relations, he advises Chinese and international clients on cross-border M&A, IR, crisis management and reputational issues. Phil advised Lenovo on its landmark acquisition of IBM’s PC division in 2004, and has worked closely with numerous Chinese companies on international communications mandates including Baidu, JD.com, Wanda, Zoomlion, Xiaomi, iQIYI, New Oriental, Mindray and Wuxi Pharmatech. He has also advised many international companies on critical communications in China including Apple, Knowles Electronics, CSL Behring, Christie’s, Rio Tinto, and Nasdaq.

Phil began his career at Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher in New York City in 2000, where he worked on a large number of special situations including M&A, hostile takeovers, proxy battles, restructurings, spin-off, management successions, short attacks and litigation issues. He served as Senior Vice President of Financial Communications at Ogilvy Public Relations in Beijing from 2004 to 2008, before joining Brunswick Group where he was a partner in both the Beijing and Shanghai offices.

Phil received a MA degree in East Asian Studies from Yale University and a BA degree in Chinese from Georgetown University. He speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese fluently and is conversationally proficient in Japanese.

Martin Cui

DIRECTOR

Martin Cui is a communications specialist with strong background in corporate communications and government relations. Martin started his career at Citigate Dewe Rogerson, a financial PR company, serving international and Chinese financial services companies, including Morgan Stanley, State Street Corporation, Silicon Valley Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and China Life. Before joining the Foote Group, Martin worked as Senior Communications Officer at the British Embassy Beijing, promoting UK government policies in areas of economics, business and trade, prosperity, science innovation, healthcare, and visa. Martin also had an internship experience at Ogilvy, focusing on Chinese companies IPO projects.

Martin received a Master degree of International Business from the University of Nottingham in the UK and a BA degree of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language from Beijing Language and Culture University.

Lili Miller

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Lili Miller was the former Country Director of Positive Planet China (formerly Planet Finance), a micro-finance organization focused on professional, cultural, and socially sustainable development in impoverished communities. As a Project Director at Positive Planet, Lili received multiple awards and recognitions for her work on Plan W, a project to empower minority women in rural communities through financial education, community engagement, and peer collaboration. Before working for Positive Planet, Lili held a variety of roles in non-government organizations, focusing on education and development of rural communities.

Lili earned a master’s degree in Child Psychology at York University in Toronto Canada. She is fluent in Mandarin and English.

Careers

We’re always looking for high-caliber people to join our fast growing team. By bringing together experienced, intelligent, talented and passionate individuals from a range of backgrounds, we are able to deliver the best informed and most high-quality solutions for our clients.