Holmes Report 17 Dec 2018 // 3:45AM GMT
SAN FRANCISCO — Bob Christie, most recently Alibaba Group’s VP of international media, has joined Brunswick Group as a partner. At Alibaba, Christie was part of the IPO communications team and responsible for the company’s global media relationships outside of greater China. Experience includes working as a global communications agency managing director and head of communications and spokesperson for The New York Times Company and Dow Jones.
WASHINGTON — Waxman Strategies has added senior and executive professionals as the firm expands its capabilities in the environmental, technology and health sectors. They are: Mat Jacobson, who joins from Canadian Council for International Cooperation on a Gates Foundation-funded nationwide coalition campaign for McAllister Opinion Research; Abdul Tejan-Cole, a human rights lawyer and activist; Catherine (Cat) Oakar, previously associate director of Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Initiative; and Alex Armstrong, who comes from the ocean conservation organization Oceana.
LOS ANGELES — Ron Hofmann, Steven Wilson and Hayley Antonian (pictured), who were colleagues at B|W|R Public Relations, have formed a new communications company, called Scenario. The trio will serve as co-presidents. Headquartered in Los Angeles and New York, the Scenario team will provide integrated communication strategies for clients across entertainment, technology and lifestyle industries.
SAN FRANCISCO —Steve Astle has joined Gagen MacDonald’s San Francisco office as a senior strategic advisor to drive business transformation and expand the firm’s West Coast presence. Astle will draw on his 30+ years of experience working with iconic Fortune 500 companies including Bloomberg, Oracle, Cisco, eBay, Cognizant, FICO, PayPal and many others to counsel clients on matters of corporate character, leadership and business transformation.
ATLANTA — Babbit Bodner has named Kristin Wooten as senior VP, client strategy. Wooten joins the firm from Edelman, where she oversaw programs for agency clients including eBay, Cracker Barrel, Nestlé’s Gerber, Papa John’s and Starbucks.
LOS ANGELES — Rally has hired Steve Mancini as a principal. Mancini will be based in New York, focusing on education non-profits and foundations. Mancini joins Rally having led national education non-profits in communications strategy, brand management and crisis communications. He currently serves as both the communications director for the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund and the public affairs director for the KIPP Foundation.
WASHINGTON — FTI Consulting has promoted nine professionals in its strategic communications segment to senior managing director. They are: Edward Berry, Ben Brewerton, Patrick Creighton, Matt Dixon, Victoria Graefin Strachwitz, Ana Heeren, Pablo López-Alvarez, Brett Pollard and Travis Windle.
NASHVILLE — MP&F Strategic Communications has named David Yunker as its first front-end web developer. Yunker comes to MP&F with over 12 years of experience in the digital space. He spent the last year and a half as a web developer at Nashville-based QuaverMusic.com, where he headed the company’s communications and training web development efforts.