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| Brandy King |
H&R Block names Brandy King VP of corporate communications. King joins the company from Southwest Airlines, where she most recently served as managing director for campaign strategy and integration. Her previous positions at Southwest included managing director of communications and director of commercial, operational and labor communications. King was also named one of Ragan’s 2025 Top Women in Communications. At H&R Block, she oversees field and internal communications, media relations, corporate reputation, storytelling, executive visibility, and crisis management. “Brandy’s strategic vision, creative excellence, and deep communications expertise will enhance our brand reputation and engagement with clients, media, and stakeholders,” said H&R Block chief marketing and experience officer Jill Cress.
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| Jaime LaMontagne |
Astrin Biosciences, a cancer intelligence company working to transform detection and treatment via deep proteomics (the large-scale study of proteins) and AI, tabs Jaime LaMontagne to serve as CMO. LaMontagne, who has led CRM global marketing and medical education at Medtronic, was most recently CMO at Exact Sciences. At Astrin she will oversee all aspects of Astrin's marketing strategy, including brand development, go-to-market planning, product positioning, market education and engagement. “Jaime's track record of translating technical innovation into scalable, patient-centered commercial strategies makes her the right person to lead this next chapter of growth for Astrin," said Astrin Biosciences CEO Jayant Parthasarathy.
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| (L-R) Gabe Tesoriero, Kate Cafaro |
United Talent Agency appoints Gabe Tesoriero and Kate Cafaro VPs of corporate communications. Tesoriero will head up communications for UTA's global music division, with Cafaro overseeing communications for the agency's filmed entertainment division. Tesoriero most recently founded and ran Screaming Eagle, which worked with such clients as rap duo Clipse and rock band Phish. He was previously EVP of media & brand Strategy for Def Jam Recordings/Universal Music Group, executing strategic media campaigns for artists including Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Rihanna. Cafaro most recently helped lead corporate and executive communications for Amazon MGM Studios. She was previously senior director, communications at ICM Partners and director, communications at CBS Television Distribution.
Nick Mammano, who was president/CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, has rejoined Mercury Public Affairs as a managing director in its Saddle Brook office.
Seven Letter hires Allie Raffa, who was most recently White House correspondent for NBC News, as a senior director... Points of Light, an organization founded by President George H.W. Bush that is dedicated to volunteer service, names Jeff Zanelli as CMO... Frontieras North America, an energy and environmental technology company, appoints Nora Shepard as VP of communications.
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.
