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| Allard van Veen |
PROI Worldwide founding partner Allard van Veen has resigned as managing director of the organization. van Veen served three terms as PROI’s global chairman before becoming global managing director in 1993. He has also served as chairman of the Noram Group of Companies (which was owned by his family), an advisor to the Canadian government and agent general for England’s primary industrial and manufacturing area in the United States and Canada. In 2016 he founded and funded The PR Trust, (www.theprtrust.org), a global non-profit established as a source of information and support for young entrepreneurs who are considering entering the communications industry. His successor at PROI will be announced later this month. van Veen will continue to serve as senior advisor to the organization’s global board through the end of the year and remains its last founding partner.
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| Jason Vargas |
AKA has brought on Jason Vargas as chief marketing officer and Scott Moller as principal. Vargas was previously vice president sales and marketing at Marketing Werks. Prior to joining Marketing Werks, he was at GMR Marketing and also served for eight years as adjunct professor of experiential marketing at The University of Chicago. Moller was the co-founder and co-CEO of Marketing Werks. “There is no substitute for the real-life experience these two bring to the table,” said AKA founder and CEO Andrew Krause, “making this partnership a key differentiator for AKA going forward.” AKA works with such clients as Mondelēz, PepsiCo/Gatorade, Kraft/Oscar Mayer, Kraft/Planters, Ace Hardware and McDonald’s.
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| Andrew King |
Bastion Elevate has hired Andrew King as director of public relations. King previously served as senior account manager at HKA, Inc. Marketing Communications. He is also a contributing editor at RISMedia, which focuses on the real estate industry. In his new post, King will be responsible for strategy, media direction and account management, in addition to leading the firm’s public relations functions. “Andrew was selected for his leadership skills, ability to identify trending news stories for clients and the ability to provide very forward-thinking strategic approaches for all of our clients,” Bastion Elevate CEO Shana Starr.
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.
Lark-Marie Antón, chief communications and brand officer at USA TODAY Co. (formerly Gannett), has joined Authentic Brands Group as CCO.
Katie Cronen, who spent nearly 16 years at maslansky + partners,
Reputation Advisors International brings on Loreley Maldonado, founder and CEO of Mexico City-based Eje Comunicación, as its newest member... Phoenix Children's, one of the nation's largest pediatric health systems, brings on Kevin Snyder as VP of marketing & communications... Motive, an AI platform for physical operations, names Andrew Bennett CMO.
