 Megan Pace |
Moderna Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has brought on Megan Pace as chief corporate affairs officer. Pace will serve on Moderna’s executive committee and report to CEO Stéphane Bancel. She joins Moderna from Agios Pharmaceuticals, where she served as senior VP, strategic operations and PKR program executive. Before that, she was senior VP, corporate communications at Vertex and senior director, public affairs at Genentech. She has also held positions at Eli Lilly and Company, and Porter Novelli. “We will benefit from her extensive public affairs experience and prior leadership roles at biotech companies that have made the successful transition from research and development to their first product launches,” said Bancel.
 Heather Walls |
The Wikimedia Foundation has named Heather Walls as chief creative officer and Kui Kinyanjui as vice president of communications. Walls had served as interim chief communications officer since 2016. In her new post, she will have responsibility for the communications department operations, overseeing how the foundation’s voice, tone and visual assets are incorporated into its public statements. Kinyanjui joins the foundation from Safaricom Limited, Kenya’s largest mobile operator, where she served as head of corporate communications. She has also written for a number of African and international titles and worked in communications for Ogilvy PR Worldwide and IBM’s Growth Markets Unit. Kinyanjui will oversee the foundation’s traditional and digital communications efforts.
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Allison+Partners has appointed seven new partners. Brent Diggins established and oversees the agency’s measurement and analytics group. Courtney Newman founded and leads the agency’s learning and development group. Jeremy Rosenberg leads the agency’s digital team. Jim Selman oversees agency business operations, growth and staff development in the UK and Ireland. Julia Farrell is the agency’s first global chief financial officer. Kevin Nabipour launched and leads the agency’s content strategies group. Managing director, corporate Tom Smith provides strategic counsel for clients on brand building and reputation management. “Our newest partners have contributed greatly to [our] success, and will take on larger responsibilities as we continue our evolution of the agency,” said Scott Allison, chairman and CEO.
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rbb Communications has promoted nine team members to equity partner: chief digital officer Abdul Muhammad II; VPs Jeanine Karp, Maite Velez-Couto, Shawn Warmstein and Josh Merkin; executive VP Laura Guitar; VP of human resources Lisette Loughner; Rashid Saker, director of operations; and senior vice president and director of results measurement Sandra Fine Ericson. “Each of these individuals brings strategic perspective and critical expertise to rbb’s clients and the agency,” said Lisa Ross, president and partner of rbb Communications. The agency has also expanded its services to include a healthcare, global and emerging markets practice group Reputation & Risk Advisors, a crisis and issues management division.
Alcoa has named Emily Olson, who has more than 20 years of experience working in capital-intensive industries in the Americas, Europe and Asia, EVP & chief external affairs officer, effective April 6.
Longacre Square Partners has named Humza Vanderman partner and head of its London outpost as the financial communications firm expands into Europe.
FGS Global adds former Pfizer EVP and chief corporate affairs officer Sally Susman to its global executive board as an independent member, effective April 1... Codeword brings on Kim Baffi, who was previously Salesforce VP and creative director, as executive creative director... Amperity, an AI-powered customer data cloud, appoints Bridget Perry as CMO.
MOIA America, a Volkswagen Group of America subsidiary that develops and tests autonomous, all-electric ride-pooling vehicles, names Marcus Gamo head of U.S. communications... Continental Strategy brings on Francisco Petrirena as VP in its Miami office. Petrirena was previously chief of staff to former Miami city manager Art Noriega... MSQ Sport + Entertainment brings on Lauren Weil as EVP, Max Hirsch as VP of sponsorship, and Brooke Losee as VP.
Burson promotes EMEA COO Matt Buchanan to global chief social and Influence officer, a newly created role... Seedtag, a “global neuro-contextual advertising company,” brings on former Edelman SVP, corporate and public affairs Brendan McCarthy as chief marketing & communications officer... The Associated Press ups Lauren Easton to SVP and chief communications officer.
