WASHINGTON —  Portland Communications has hired Jim Lake as a partner in its Washington office. With over 30 years of experience in executive communications counseling, public affairs, political, issues management and crisis communications, Lake (pictured) will serve the firm’s growing international client base. His background includes serving in the Reagan/Bush and Bush/Quayle Administrations at the US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, leading trade and media strategies to promote US exports globally. Lake previously served as president of JLA Strategic Communications and held positions at Nahigian Strategies and Burson-Marsteller, where he led the firm's US public affairs practice.

WASHINGTON — Matthew Gallagher is joining Invariant to lead its strategic communications and public affairs team in Washington. With more than 25 years of experience working for prominent communications firms, as well as experience in government at the federal and local levels, Gallagher will lead client management and drive business growth. Most recently, Gallagher served in several roles at BCW, including lead of the North America corporate practice as well as senior growth leader for BCW’s combined corporate, crisis, and public affairs practice. During that time, he helped streamline operations within the organization and win and grow business, including work on sustainability, energy, transportation, and crisis issues.

NEW YORK — Taylor has promoted two employees, Naomi Ballah and Dave Finn. Ballah has been promoted to senior VP of account after her two-year tenure managing and growing the Crown Royal brand. Her background includes three and a half years as the director of public relations, social & influencer for L'Oréal's Matrix Professional haircare brand, and nearly two decades of experience executing campaigns for companies such as Diageo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Finn has been promoted to senior VP, following eight years of managing accounts for brands like Guinness, IBM, Capital One, DraftKings and AIG. Finn will continue his client-facing account leadership while taking on additional responsibilities, including enterprise-wide client finance management, integration of client teams across all Taylor specialties, and agency talent allocation. He also will collaborate with the finance and operations teams to influence revenue analysis and foster effective collaboration across departments.