Ellen Moran, chief of staff at the U.S. Commerce Department and President Obama’s first communications director, is moving to WPP public affairs unit Dewey Square Group as a principal.

moran
Moran

The former executive director of EMILY’s List is slated to join the firm on Dec. 28. DSG chairman Chuck Campion called her “one of the nation’s leading and most talented communications and political strategists.

Campion also said Democratic operative and grassroots tech exec John Giesser is returning to DSG as COO. He replaces A J Donelson, who is leaving to start a global advocacy and communications shop and will consult with DSG through a transition period.

Giesser is stepping down as CEO of Spoken Hub, the tech firm he led for the past four years. He previously headed Sen. John Kerry’s political action committee and was at DSG in the mid-1990s.