WASHINGTON, DC—The Glover Park Group has hired Nedra Pickler as a managing director in the strategic communications practice, providing strategic and media counsel for the firm’s clients. Pickler, a veteran journalist, joins GPG after spending 17 years at The Associated Press, most recently serving as a White House reporter covering the second term of the Obama Administration. The firm has also added Max Gleischman, most recently director of communications and spokesperson for US Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, as a vice president in the strategic communications practice.

SACRAMENTO—Edelman has appointed Kish Rajan as senior vice president and senior advisor in its California public affairs practice. Rajan joins the Edelman team with 20 years of experience in government and the private sector. In 2012, he was appointed by California Gov. Jerry Brown to lead the newly formed Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

NEW YORK—Porter Novelli has hired Emilie Schaum as vice president, talent acquisition, responsible for recruiting for the Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington, DC, offices. Schaum has led talent acquisition and human resources functions at agencies including Grey Direct, Medicus Group (now Publicis Healthcare Consulting Group), MSLGroup and PHD. Most recently, she recruited for Marina Maher Communications and Rx Mosaic.

NEW YORK—Greentarget Global Group, a business-to-business focused public relations firm with offices in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, London and San Francisco, has hired Kevin Iredell as director of research. Iredell has led the research business at American Lawyer Media for the past seven years.

NEW YORK—Vested, a new communications agency for the financial sector, has appointed Ishviene Arora as chief operating officer. Arora joins Vested from Cognito and will be responsible for managing the company's growth and developing a standardized client service platform.