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| Aaron McLear |
Open AI names former Edelman US chair, public affairs Aaron McLear as VP, communications. McLear most recently served as senior counsel at Bully Pulpit International. Before that, he was VP, communications and analytics at self-driving vehicle manufacturer Cruise and director of corporate, internal and production communications at Uber. From 2007 to 2011 he was press secretary for the office of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he also held senior communications posts with the Republican National Committee and the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. According to the Financial Times, OpenAI plans to produce its first artificial intelligence chip next year in partnership with U.S. semiconductor giant Broadcom.
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| Monica Trauzzi |
The Smart Electric Power Alliance, a 501(c)(3) organization with over 1,000 members that drives collaboration across the electric power industry to accelerate the transition to a clean, affordable and resilient electricity system for all, appoints Monica Trauzzi as CCO. Trauzzi joins SEPA from Invariant where, as a senior director, she developed and executed integrated communications and sustainability strategies for Fortune 100 companies and startups. Before that, she led external communications and climate finance strategy at the Nuclear Energy Institute. In her new role, Trauzzi will direct SEPA’s marketing, brand and external communications strategies, and lead the Public Utilities Fortnightly team at SEPA. “Monica is a dynamic communicator whose career has been dedicated to elevating energy conversations at the highest levels,” said SEPA president & CEO Sheri Givens. “As SEPA’s Chief Communications Officer, she will sharpen our brand and amplify our voice across the industry.”
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| Debbie Umbach |
M-Files, an AI-native document management system, brings on Debbie Umbach as CMO. Umbach was most recently CMO of Own, a data resilience, compliance and security solutions company that was acquired by Salesforce in February. She previously held senior global marketing leadership roles at Dynatrace and Bitsight. M-Files recently become the first document management vendor to offer native Microsoft 365 capabilities. “Her deep expertise across the entire marketing lifecycle, from building growth engines to elevating global brand presence, comes at a pivotal moment for M-Files,” said M-Files CEO Jay Bhatt.
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.
Catherine Sullivan, global chief communications officer at Burson, has exited the WPP unit after a 12-year run.
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation hires Amy Martin Ziegenfuss as CMO, effective June 3. Ziegenfuss was most recently CMO at Carnival Cruise Line... Narrative Strategies brings on Hanna Beckman and Rich Casale as senior directors... Grayling has appointed Maury Postal as EVP, creative strategy and innovation services... HMH (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), an educational publisher and technology company focused on K–12 education, assessments and professional learning, names Jessica Naeve CMO.
Brunswick Group has announced that Teneo's Christian Buss and Netflix's Paul Shaw have joined the firm as partners in San Francisco.
