Progressive PR shop Fenton has appointed BerlinRosen alum Ben Wyskida to the role of chief executive officer.

Ben Wyskida Ben Wyskida

The appointment became effective May 15. Wyskida succeeds veteran communications and policy operative Michael Huttner, who assumed the CEO slot last year and will remain with the firm in the role of political director.

Wyskida arrives at the “social change” agency from New York-based progressive shop BerlinRosen, which he joined in 2012 and served as executive vice president, leading the agency’s philanthropy, media and culture practice. He was previously a communications executive with The Atlantic Philanthropies, and also led communications efforts for nonprofit organization management company The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and progressive weekly magazine The Nation. He began his career as an organizer for the Sierra Club.

Wyskida will be based in New York. Fenton founder and chairman David Fenton continues in his current role and remains focused on projects related to climate change.

Fenton, which was founded in 1982 and maintains offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., counts the ACLU, American Cancer Society, Children’s Aid, JustLeadershipUSA, Kresge Foundation and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation as clients.

It was acquired in 2015 by holding group Collegium.