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| Catherine Fink |
Makovsky names Catherine Fink president. She succeeds agency founder Ken Makovsky, who is now chairman and CEO. Fink joins Makovsky from Porter Novelli, where she was an executive VP, overseeing the agency’s Johnson & Johnson and Boerhinger Ingelheim accounts. She has also served as a senior vp at Feinstein Kean Healthcare and has worked at GCI Health and Sudler Hennessey. Leveraging her experience in such areas as sustainability and DE&I, Fink will focus on Makovsky’s business development efforts and advise on key client initiatives. “Cathy is a dynamic leader with global cross-functional expertise, and her experiences as an entrepreneur as well as in the big agency world make her an ideal partner for all practice areas here at Makovsky,” Ken Makovsky said.
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| Laura Kim |
Participant promotes Laura Kim to executive VP of marketing at the film production company. Kim was previously senior vice president in film marketing at the company. Before joining Participant, she was principal and founder of Inside Job, a motion picture marketing, public relations and distribution consulting firm, and an executive VP at Warner Independent Pictures. In her new post, Kim will take on expanded duties in independent and international film and series projects at the studio. “Her strategic thinking, great devotion to mentorship and genuine passion for impact and the issues match Participant’s core values,” said Participant worldwide marketing president Christina Kounelias.
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| Rebecca Elliott |
Whitestone REIT, a commercial real estate company, hires Rebecca Elliott as VP, corporate communications. Elliott has served as head of communications for Shell Oil Company’s projects & technology business in the Americas, director of global corporate and investor communications at TETRA Technologies and vice president at Hill + Knowlton. At Whitestone, she will oversee corporate communications and investor relations. “Rebecca brings to Whitestone a wealth of experience in planning and executing communications and investor relations strategies, while always focusing on continuous improvement that contributes to corporate positioning, stakeholder relationships and shareholder value,” said Whitestone chairman and CEO Jim Mastandrea.
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| Elise James-DeCruise |
The Ad Council appoints Elise James-DeCruise as its first chief equity officer. James-DeCruise comes to The Ad Council from Cleveland-based independent marketing communications agency Marcus Thomas, where she was chief diversity and inclusion officer at Marcus Thomas. She was previously vice president, global head of multicultural marketing and inclusion at MediaMath. In her new post, James-DeCruise will initiate, advocate for and evaluate programs and practices to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment, including overseeing and evolving the organization’s existing commitments to racial justice.





Jim O’Leary, Weber Shandwick global president and North America CEO, has joined Penta Group, the DC corporate advisory, as CEO.
ROKK Solutions has named Amy Fox chief corporate communications officer to oversee its new corporate affairs unit.
Orchestra adds Andrew Bates and Kristen Orthman to its advisory practice. Both of them worked in the Biden administration... DeepIntent, a healthcare demand-side platform, appoints Ian Colley as CMO... Fanatics Commerce, a direct-to-consumer platform within sports apparel and fan gear company Fanatics, names Jamie Gersch CMO... Cboe Global Markets, a global markets operator and pioneer in equity derivatives, hires Julie Bauer as SVP, head of government relations.
August brings on Andrew Jarrell as a managing director in its New York office. Jarrell comes to the agency from Group Gordon, where he most recently served as chief strategy officer... PSD, which produces activewear and underwear worn by and made for professional athletes, hires Dan Harbison as SVP of marketing and Monica Lin as VP of brand marketing... UKG, an AI platform that combines HR, pay and workforce management, names Vitor De Souza chief communications officer.
Dezenhall Resources brings on Jessica DeLoach as VP. DeLoach was previously deputy director of public and media relations at the Southern Poverty Law Center... Crowe Media hires Alissa Kasawdish as senior integrated PR manager. Kasawdish was previously an account supervisor at J/PR... Benefitbay, a SaaS platform that lets users make their own benefit decisions, names Lindsey Unterberger as VP of marketing.



