NEW YORK—MSLGroup has appointed Shellie Winkler (pictured) to the newly-created role of chief strategy officer, North America.  Winkler, who joined the firm in 2012 as head of the healthcare practice, will continue to report to Renee Wilson, president of MSLGroup North America. In her new role, she will focus on strategy formulation and implementation, including innovation of practices and specialties, agency governance, processes and guidelines and external partnerships. Winkler has held roles with Edelman New York, Ogilvy Public Relations, Hill & Knowlton and Burson-Marsteller.

NEW YORK—Renee Harper, chief communications officer for the Newark public school system, has been named executive vice president at Havas PR North America. She will be based in New York, reporting directly to Marian Salzman, CEO, North America, and will focus on new business opportunities in the education, philanthropy and NGO sectors. Before her role for Newark schools, Harper was a consultant for the Foundation for Newark’s Future to lead the communications, media and messaging strategies around a $200 million philanthropic donation spearheaded by Mark Zuckerberg and Mayor Cory Booker. She will continue in her public schools role for the immediate future.

VIENNA, VA—Buffalo Communications, a sport-lifestyle public relations and marketing firm, has named Elizabeth Maloy as public relations manager. She will help Buffalo promote the outdoor and running collections from renowned Danish shoemaker ECCO. A former professional track and field athlete, Maloy was a four-time Division I All-American and four-year captain at Georgetown University.