 Lee Applbaum |
Lee Applbaum, former marketing chief for spirits giant Bacardi Limited, has joined global cannabis company Surterra Wellness, where he’s been named chief marketing officer.
Applbaum joins Surterra from Bacardi, where he served as the global chief marketing officer for both the Patrón Tequila and Grey Goose Vodka brands. Prior to that he was CMO for Target Australia, and before that, served as EVP and CMO at RadioShack and CMO at David’s Bridal.
Applbaum began his career as an account executive at the Coca-Cola Company.
As CMO, Applbaum will lead Surterra’s global marketing teams and direct product innovation, integrated brand marketing, retail brand and sales management initiatives. He’ll report to Surterra CEO William “Beau” Wrigley Jr.
Surterra, which was founded in 2014, is one of the fastest-growing medical cannabis companies in the U.S. The company, whose portfolio includes the Coral Reefer, Florida’s Finest and Surterra Wellness brands, has raised more than $300 million in private capital to date.
Steve Rice, who served as director of political mobilization for Boeing, joins DC-based bipartisan public affairs and strategic communications firm The Herald Group as SVP, overseeing its grasstops and 50-state field operations. 
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.
