NEW YORK — Hill+Knowlton Strategies has expanded its global leadership team with two new appointments —  Tomasz Karasek as global head of strategic initiatives and Ed Patterson as global communications lead.

Both Karasek and Patterson will be based in New York. Their roles are new ones for H+K.

Karasek joins after more than four years at McKinsey & Company, where he managed business planning and growth-focused engagements with corporate and public sector clients, most recently as engagement manager.  Throughout his career as a management consultant, he has advised companies across a variety of industries, including finance, biotech, consumer goods and technology in both the Americas and Europe.

Patterson (pictured) brings more than 20 years of experience in public relations and communications strategy to H+K in both corporate and agency roles. Prior to joining H+K, Patterson served as VP, communications at Madison Square Garden. His background also includes communications and public relations leadership roles with Veritiv Corporation, Cox Enterprises, Edelman and AT&T.

“In their respective roles Tomasz and Ed will help accelerate our growth,” said global chairman and CEO AnnaMaria DeSalva. “We are enriching the value we bring to our clients and employees through focused investment, innovation, disciplined execution and quality engagement.”  

The addition of Karasek and Patterson is the latest in a series of changes in H+K’s global leadership that have been made since DeSalva assumed the CEO position from Jack Martin last May.

In September, the firm rolled out a new global leadership structure, splitting geographic and other responsibilities between global presidents Richard Millar and Lars Erik Grønntun. Millar assumed responsibility for the US, in addition to the global client and creativity and innovation agendas, while Grønntun became head of the international portfolio, taking responsibility for the major markets of UK, Germany, Canada and Greater China, as well as the Asia, LatAm, METIA, Continental Europe and Nordics clusters.

Other recent people moves include naming Avra Lorrimer head of H+K’s New York office, John Derryberry US tech lead.