Axios Communicators

October 07, 2022
Welcome to Monthly Moves, your look at the revolving door of corporate communications, agencies and media.
Today's newsletter is 1,232 words, a 5-minute read.
1 big thing: K.C. Kavanagh joins Visa as CCO
Photo illustration: Allie Carl/Axios. Photo: K.C. Kavanagh
K.C. Kavanagh joins Visa as senior vice president, chief communications officer, from AT&T, where she served as CCO for less than a year.
Why it matters: At Visa, Kavanagh will oversee a global team of 150 people responsible for all aspects of corporate, brand, employee and executive communications.
Between the lines: Kavanagh will succeed Paul Cohen — who is retiring after nearly 17 years at Visa — and will report to chief people and administrative officer, Kelly Mahon Tullier.
What she's saying: "I have the good fortune of inheriting a seasoned, high-performing communications team, so there is no burning change mandate," Kavanagh told Axios. "However, I always think that a fresh perspective brings renewed energy to teams."
- As CCO, she wants to tell the story of how Visa has evolved from a simple credit card company to one "that is on the frontlines of change and disruption."
What she's watching: Communications' role in the hybrid workplace.
- "Communications is the oxygen of culture, and it's a must as our society adapts to a massive change in how we work."
2. 💼 Corporate moves
- Southwest Airlines promoted Linda Rutherford to chief administration and communications officer.
- The Washington Commanders named Jean Medina as chief communications officer.
- Activision Blizzard has tapped Substack alum Lulu Cheng Meservey as executive vice president, corporate affairs and chief communications officer.
- Lisa Gibby was promoted to deputy executive vice president and chief communications officer of Nestlé.
- Anitra Marsh has been named chief communications office of P&G Beauty.
- April Carretta is the new head of communications for Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution.
- Molly Battin is senior vice president, chief marketing officer at The Home Depot.
- Matthew Wing left Uber to serve as head of communications for music startup UnitedMasters.
- Mozilla has hired Brandon Borrman to lead global communications.
- Adam Isserlis departs Meta to join American Express as senior vice president, B2B communications.
- Citizens Financial Group promoted Peter Lucht to head of corporate communications.
- Deia Campanelli will join Cargill as vice president of global communications.
- Blair Klein is vice president of corporate communications and institutional affairs at Ferrara.
- Tiph Turpin joined Expedia Group as vice president, global employee communications.
- Eleni Garbis joined Citizens Bank as vice president, consumer public relations.
- Molson Coors named Rachel Dickens senior director of corporate affairs.
- Marissa Kargas was promoted to senior director of strategy and planning at Walmart.
- Rachel Kenon joined Hilton as senior director of global brand communications.
- Bradford Williams joined Rigetti Computing as senior director, corporate communications and brand management.
- Brianna Barker joined Volkswagen Group of America as director of workforce communications.
- Janine Kamwene was promoted to director of impact communications at PayPal.
- Gabrielle Ferree joined Slack as director of corporate communications.
- The Walt Disney Company named Kate Sheehy as director of communications, next generation storytelling.
- Liz Cooper was promoted to director, head of consumer communications at DoorDash.
- Alyssa Kluge was promoted to director of communications at Thrive Market.
- Welch’s hired Jen deAngelis as senior manager of PR and corporate communications.
- Keaton Campo joined Blue Cross Blue Shield Association as associate consultant for media relations.
3. 📣 Agency moves
- Obama, Biden alums Teal Pennebaker and Tim Granholm have launched a boutique consulting firm, Shallot Communications.
- Emily Portugal was promoted to executive vice president of business development, Drea Braxmeier was promoted to senior vice president of earned media strategies, Tara Vales was promoted to senior vice president of media and executive positioning, and Hilary Phillips Mehta was promoted to senior vice president of employee experience at Edelman.
- Marathon Strategies promoted Andrew Brenner to executive vice president.
- Prosek Partners has promoted Joe Scannell to managing director, head of crypto and web3.
- Judson Phillips joined Arketi Group as vice president and a member of the firm’s senior leadership team.
- Ditto Public Relations has promoted Molly Glennon to vice president and head of crypto.
- Zeno Group hired Penny Kozakos as head of issues and crisis.
- Edelman Smithfield promoted Emily Schmerzler to account supervisor, financial communications and capital markets.
- FINN Partners promoted Laura Shuey-Kostelac to partner, global public affairs.
- Tilden Katz joined Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies to launch its strategic communications and reputation management practice.
- Golin hired Nina Bhagwat as global director of diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Reservoir Communications Group welcomed Kristen McCaughan, Elise Planchet and Cali Platt.
- Doe-Anderson hired Lauren O’Toole as vice president, group brand director, and E Slody joins as vice president, group creative director.
4. 🗞 Media moves
- AP: Tara Copp joins as Pentagon correspondent.
- Axios: Christine Clarridge joins Axios Seattle.
- Bloomberg: Olivia Rudgard will cover climate and Graham Starr joined as the global business editor.
- Business Insider: Marta Biino and Shriya Bhattacharya will cover the creator economy and Darius Rafieyan will cover VCs and startups.
- CBS News: Natalie Morales will join as a correspondent.
- CNN International: Senior international correspondent Will Ripley will be based out of the new Taipei bureau and Selina Wang will serve as the new Beijing correspondent.
- Financial Times: Madison Marriage will lead a newly created investigations team as special investigations editor; Christopher Miller joined as Ukraine correspondent.
- Fortune: Kylie Robison will cover tech; Leo Schwartz will cover crypto, web3 and blockchain; Alexandra Sternlicht will cover startups, founders and creators, and Justin Doom will serve as a news editor for crypto coverage.
- Morning Brew: Jamie Wilde and Katie Canales will write the Incrypto newsletter, edited by Jeff Elder; and Maia Lura Anderson will launch a health care newsletter.
- NBC: Kate Martin joins NBCNews to cover sexual violence and healthcare and Ryan Nobles will serve as a Capitol Hill correspondent.
- NPR: Lori Lizarraga was named co-host of NPR's “Code Switch.”
- The New York Times: Alison Mitchell has been appointed international news director; Amelia Nierenberg will write the Asia-Pacific Morning Briefing; Caitlin McGarry is senior editor of Wirecutter; Jason Zinoman joins as critic at large, and Malika Khurana joins as a graphics editor.
- Punchbowl News: Brendan Pedersen will cover the intersection of finance and politics.
- Recode: Adam Clark Estes was promoted to editor.
- Rolling Stone: Zoe CT Jones will cover internet culture and Emma Reeves joins as director of photography.
- Semafor: Joseph Zeballos-Roig will cover domestic policy on Capitol Hill.
- The 19th: Mel Leonor Barclay and Grace Panetta will join the politics team.
- The Information: Martin Peers will lead the NY Newsroom; Nate Becker joined as a finance editor, and Arielle Pardes joined to cover Silicon Valley for the weekend section.
- Time: Moises Mendez joined as a culture reporter.
- USA Today: Jay Cannon will serve as trending news editor.
- Vogue: Andre Wheeler will cover fashion news.
- The Wall Street Journal: Sara O’Brien joins the style news team; Joe Pinsker will cover personal finance; Jessica Toonkel is covering the intersection of media and tech; Ann-Marie Alcántara is covering internet culture; Sarah Rabil is the Life & Work editor; Alexa Corse will cover social media companies and Twitter; Erin Delmore will now host and produce WSJ’s new “As We Work” podcast, and Alex Ossola will report and produce the "Future of Everything" podcast.
- The Washington Post: Dylan Wells will cover campaigns; Shannon Osaka will cover climate; Shira Ovide joined as the Help Desk strategy editor; Stuart Leavenworth joined as climate editor, and Lisa Bonos joined as an assistant tech editor.
- Wired: Dhruv Mehrotra joined as an investigative data reporter, covering law enforcement, privacy and security.
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