Holmes Report 17 Jan 2016 // 1:16PM GMT
NEW YORK—Hill+Knowlton has hired Nancy Fitzsimmons as a senior vice president in the corporate and crisis practice, based in New York. She joins the firm from tWist Marketing, where she had been a managing director and head of corporate health. Prior to joining W2O Companies, Fitzsimmons led corporate initiatives for global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and built a corporate communications function for global healthcare giants Novartis Consumer Health OTC and Bayer Diagnostics.
CHICAGO—Gagen MacDonald has promoted Sherry Scott (pictured) to president, effective immediately. Maril Gagen MacDonald will continue in her role as founder and chief executive officer. Scott most recently served two terms as the founding chair of Page Up, a membership organization launched by the Arthur W. Page Society that engages and develops the next generation of corporate communications leaders. She also is past-president of The Communications Leadership Exchange, a national association for senior-level communication professionals. She began her career at Navistar International, leading internal communications.
NEW YORK—Porter Novelli has appointed four new partners to the firm: Rosy McGillan, executive vice president, health and wellness practice, Washington, DC; Matthew Podboy, executive vice president, technology practice and co-founder, Voce Communications; Jennifer Swint, executive vice president and managing director, Washington, DC; and Melissa Kraus Taylor, executive vice president and managing director, Atlanta.
CHICAGO—Olson Engage has named McDonald's veteran Jeff Olson to a newly created executive vice president role. Olson spent most of the last eight years at McDonald's, where he held a number of senior external- and internal-communications leadership roles. Most recently, he was senior director for US brand reputation and communications. Prior to McDonald's, he worked at agencies including Golin and FleishmanHillard.
WASHINGTON, DC—The Glover Park Group has added Jim Bognet as a senior vice president in the strategic communications practice. Bognet comes to GPG with more than a decade of experience and has served in senior strategy and management roles during the last two presidential election cycles on the Romney and McCain campaigns. Bognet also served as campaign manager for large statewide campaigns, including a senate race in Texas and a primary for Governor of California.
CHICAGO—Current Marketing, an Interpublic Group agency, has hired Erica Archambault McCabe as an executive vice president in its San Francisco office. McCabe will oversee teams working on The Clorox Company business, including the Hidden Valley, Kingsford and Liquid Plumr brands. Most recently a senior director of brand engagement for Old Navy at Gap Inc., McCabe also spent seven years at Levi Strauss & Co. as senior director of global public relations.
MEXICO CITY—Verónica González has joined Porter Novelli’s Mexico City office to lead the local health and wellness practice. Prior to joining Porter Novelli, González was group director at Jeffrey Group, where she was responsible for clients including Mead Johnson Nutrition, Merck, Novartis and Johnson & Johnson. Prior to that, she spent 13 years at Cohn & Wolfe.
MINNEAPOLIS—Tunheim has added Don Ness, former mayor of Duluth, to its roster of strategic partners, helping the firm relationships with stakeholders and community leaders in the corporate, academic and non-profit sectors. In addition to announcing a strategic partnership with Tunheim, Ness also announced the founding of Hillside Ventures, which will specialize in business and economic development, executive strategies, organizational development and public affairs messaging.
BOSTON—Solomon McCown, a specialist in strategic communications, media relations, public affairs and crisis management, has hired Daniel Cence as senior vice president to lead a newly-established government relations practice. Cence has founded and managed two political consulting and government affairs firms working with clients such as New Balance, Suffolk Downs, Microsoft, Boston Beer, The Massachusetts Craft Beer Guild. He has also worked with lawmakers including Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley and former City Councilor Tom Keane, and he was a part of Mayor Tom Menino’s reelection team.
ATLANTA—Brandware Public Relations has appointed Ryan Deal as senior vice president of strategy and content, based at the agency’s Atlanta headquarters. Deal, who most recently served as a lead communications strategist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will oversee the agency’s continued growth, including campaign creative, strategy, planning and development for public relations, social media and reputation management services.