 Shawna Seldon McGregor |
Grasslands, which represents clients in the cannabis, tech, entertainment and hospitality industries, has brought on Shawna Seldon McGregor as managing partner. McGregor will lead the firm’s PR department, in its new Denver office. McGregor comes to Grasslands from The Rosen Group, where she served as senior VP. She established TRG’s Denver office in 2012 and became one of the first PR pros working in the legal cannabis industry. She began her career at Porter Novelli’s pharmaceutical practice, working on accounts including SmithKline Beecham and Pfizer. Grasslands was established in 2017 by Ricardo Baca, former marijuana editor of the Denver Post and the original editor-in-chief of news site The Cannabist. “With Shawna’s arrival at Grasslands, we’ve finally completed the transition into a legitimate full-service agency,” Baca said.
 Lisa Halliday |
ID has hired Lisa Halliday as chief communications officer. For over a decade, Halliday was head of communications and brand strategy for Oprah Winfrey and Harpo Inc., serving on Winfrey’s executive leadership team and spearheading the launch of such brands as OWN, O Magazine, Harpo Films and Harpo Productions. Prior to Harpo, she held senior positions in PR at Walt Disney Studios, Twentieth Century Fox and Columbia Pictures. In this new position, Halliday will complement ID’s team in Los Angeles and New York across all facets of the agency’s business. ID has also recently promoted several longtime executives to senior VP including Allison Elbl, head of ID Music, and Sara Serlen and Harlan Gulko, co-heads of ID Film, TV and Content.
 Itay Filiba |
Blink has added Itay Filiba to its executive team as VP of product and development. Filiba comes to Blink from London-based Channel 2 News, where he was head of digital products, managing the channel’s technology integrations. He also oversaw the production of major news events, including the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2011 Royal Wedding. Before joining Channel 2 News, he was a TV director for the Parliament Channel and Entertainment Channel, both in Israel.
 Amy Sedeño |
Carolyn Izzo Integrated Communications has promoted Amy Sedeño to Director. Sedeño currently oversees several travel and tourism accounts at the agency, including Barbados Tourism, Cancun/Riviera Maya Tourism Board and Cala Luna Hotel in Costa Rica. Before coming to CIIC, she was an account executive at Newlink Group. In her new position, Sedeño will spearhead the agency’s operations out of Miami, helping to develop communication strategies focused on the travel, real estate, food & beverage and lifestyle industries. She will also drive new business opportunities and prioritize the growth of the agency’s services in the U.S., Mexico and Latin America.
Qorvis has named Victor Shiblie senior advisor to boost its international network and global business opportunities.
Pierre DuBois has taken the VP-public affairs post at AIB Data Centers, developer of the digital infrastructure for AI hosting and high-performance computing workloads.
Allison Worldwide names Victoria Brophy EVP, head of corporate and technology in Europe. Brophy comes to the firm from Golin Ketchum London, where as EVP she built and led the London Corporate Affairs practice... 
Signal Group, a DC-based public affairs firm, hires Josie Feron as director. Feron was most recently communications director for the Office of Congresswoman Deborah Ross (D-NC)... Moburst, a mobile-first digital agency driven by a proprietary AI program, appoints Etgar Shpivak as VP of marketing... Howard University hires Jasmine Gurley as senior director of public relations in the Office of University Communications.
Christina Hoggatt, who has directed strategic communications for the U.S. Space Command and U.S. Space Force, joins HawkEye360, a provider of domain awareness and early-warning indicators to the U.S. Government and allied partners, as SVP, global communications.
