David's Bridal has appointed Lisa Horton as chief communications and creative officer, Axios is first to report.

Why it matters: The bridal wear giant recently emerged from its second bankruptcy since 2018 and is focused on a turnaround story.

Details: Horton will serve on the executive leadership team and report to president and chief business officer Elina Vilk.

• She will oversee a team of 12 responsible for marketing, brand strategy, public relations, internal and external communications, investor relations, social media, and creative.
• Horton joins the company from Astrsk, where she served as president and supported David's Bridal as a client.

What they're saying: "What drew me to this opportunity … was the rare chance to play a pivotal role in the strategic transformation of a legacy brand," Horton said.

• "We're modernizing the brand across every touchpoint [including] retail, digital, social, email, e-commerce, and media. I've been calling it David's modern renaissance. We're not your mother's David's Bridal, and that's intentional," she added.

State of play: David's Bridal recently acquired the wedding media brand Love Stories TV and launched Pearl Media Network, Axios' Kerry Flynn reports.

• David's Bridal has also hosted flash sales as the wedding industry at large prepares for tariff-induced price hikes.

What to watch: The power of unexpected brand partnerships, Horton says.

• "When executed thoughtfully, these collaborations can generate not only buzz but also genuine customer acquisition, increased engagement and incremental revenue."

Share this story.

Bennett Richardson has departed Semafor for the top communications and marketing job at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Axios first learned.

Why it matters: Richardson will be joined by former U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development official Raffi Williams as NAR beefs up its communications operation.

Details: Richardson will serve as senior vice president of marketing and communications, reporting to NAR CEO Nykia Wright.

• He succeeds Suzanne Bouhia — who exited at the beginning of the year — and will oversee the team responsible for communications, brand, advertising, creative strategy, content, social and digital.
• Williams will take on the role of vice president of communications. Both began the roles Saturday.

Catch up quick: Richardson most recently served as general manager and global head of public affairs at Semafor and director of policy marketing at Google.

• He also led strategic partnerships at Politico and served as president of Protocol.
• Williams joins NAR from the Managed Funds Association and previously held senior communications roles at Edelman Smithfield, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and HUD.

Keep reading

• McDonald's alum Michael Gonda joins Nike as chief communications officer.
• Salesforce and Snowflake alum Brad Burns joins CrowdStrike as chief communications officer.
• Bristol Myers Squibb appointed Wendy Short Bartie as executive vice president, corporate affairs.
• Trump administration alum Julie Radford joins Bumble as chief communications & corporate affairs officer.
• Sheila Tran is chief communications officer at Maven Clinic.
• Gevo promoted Lindsay Fitzgerald to chief advocacy and communications officer.
• L'Oreal promoted Katherine Burns to head of communications, L'Oreal Dermatological Beauty USA.
• Blain Rethmeier joined Aramco as head of corporate affairs, U.S.
• Ian Bailey joined Northwest Bank as head of external communications.
• Blake Simpson joined Cloudstate as head of strategic growth and corporate affairs.
• Meta alum Michael Kirkland joined Microsoft as vice president, engagement, CoreAI.
• Nick Mulholland joins GM as vice president, brand & product communications; Matthew Creegan is director of media relations.
• Farshad Shadloo joins Hims&Hers as vice president, communications.
• Stephanie Rice now leads Lyft's corporate communications team; Donny Nordlicht is head of international communications; and Monica Osborne is manager, corporate communications.
• CallRail promoted Laura Beussman to chief marketing officer.
• Ashley Kiolbasa joined Prove Identity as chief marketing officer.
• Richard Brewer-Hay joined LogicMonitor as senior director of corporate communications.
• Verizon alum Krys Grondorf joined Phillips Industries as director of marketing and communications.
• BlackRock alum Jackie Nov joined White & Case as head of integrated marketing.
• Kati Sills joins AGC Biologics as head of global public relations.
• 3M alum Sean Lynch joined Optum as director, communications.
• J.P. Morgan alum Tasha Pelio joined Clearlake Capital Group as managing director, marketing and communications.
• Linda Pazin joins Solventum as director, financial communications.
• Maayan Weiss joined Zencity as director of communications.
• Josh Hawkins joined Aleo as executive vice president of strategy, policy & communications.
• Axios Charlotte alum Brianna Crane is now director of relocation and corporate communications for Dickens Mitchener.
• Anna Newby joins Micron as director of global policy communications.
• Adtalem appointed Golin and PwC alum Megan Noel to chief corporate affairs officer; PwC alum Kiva Starr joins as vice president, impact; and Jordana Strosberg was promoted to vice president, communications.
• Sunshine Sachs alum Alexandra Tillmann joined TED as director, brand and communications.
• Stand Together alum Meg Ryan joined Capital One as director, risk communications.
• Julia Schechter joins Snap as a senior manager, policy communications.
• We. Communications alum Katie Lowry joins Apple as senior PR manager.
• United Airlines alum Madeline Martin joins ABB as media relations leader, U.S.
• Ledger promoted Ariel Wengroff to executive vice president, communications and marketing.

• Former Apple speechwriter Adam Talbot has launched strategic communications firm Pilotboat Strategies.
• Outcast appointed Julie Inouye as CEO.
• Highwire appointed 5WPR alum Michael O'Brien to CEO.
• Edelman appointed Ginger Porter as chief operating officer for Edelman U.S.
• Airwallex alum Stacey Zolt Hara has joined Burson as executive vice president, U.S. head, workplace & purpose.
• Mark Jones joined Bully Pulpit International as managing director, sports lead.
• Foretell has hired former journalist Jacqueline Policastro and Meta alum Sabrina Siddiqui as senior advisers, Bari Golin-Blaugrund as senior vice president, and Department of Defense alum Jennifer Min as a digital lead.
• Allison alum Ryan Hughes joined Maltin PR as partner & head of U.S. operations.
• Mission North alum Nick Maschari joined MSL as vice president, corporate reputation.
• Prosek Partners promoted Jake Daubenspeck to managing director, data solutions and hired Kostas Karanikolas as executive creative director and Jonathan Walker as senior vice president, digital & brand marketing.
• Orchestra named Christian Vollerslev as chief operating officer and Louis Philippe Cavallo as chief financial officer.
• ICR promoted Bo Park to managing partner & global head of technology.
• Burson alum TJ Kelly joined Penta Group as senior partner.
• Allison Smith, former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative for Environment and Natural Resources at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, has joined Lot Sixteen as a vice president.
• S-3 Group hired Michael Comer as vice president.
• Dezenhall Resources added Phillip Bogdan and Diane Chaaban as senior directors.
• Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt launched The Bernhardt Group, a strategic advisory and government affairs firm.
• CLEAR alum Amy Hopcian joined strategic communications firm Comella & Co. as strategic advisor.
• State Department alum Vedant Patel joins SKDK as senior vice president.
• Angelica Galan joined Clarity Global as senior account director.
• Nina DeLorenzo is a founding partner at M&D Advisors.
• HAVAS Red U.S. promoted Lesley Sillaman to managing director and Nancy Anderson to executive vice president, social.
• Brightcove alum Joseph Joseph j. Nuñez launched a public relations and communications consultancy, J. Nuñez Communications.
• Gateway Group alums Alex Thompson and Cody Cree launched Thompson Cree Advisors.
• Dix & Eaton promoted Karin Bonev, Kellie Friery and Angela Rodenhauser to managing directors. Caroline Digel joined as graphic designer.
• Offleash PR named Tanya Carlsson, Tanaya Lukaszewski, and Danielle Salvato-Earl as partners.
• Erin Mendelsohn joined Alpine Group Partners as vice president.
• Gregg Schmidt is a strategic adviser with Arvo Advisory.
• FGS Global alum Matt Vuono joined Narrative Strategies as senior manager.
• Reservoir Communications Group named Casey Stavropoulos as executive vice president; Nicky Vogt Osborne as vice president; Anthony DiFlorio and Tulsi Ratnam as managers; Anisa Mok as senior associate; Nikki Orsolini as graphic designer; and Peris Tushabe and Kaylin Hewitt as associates.
• Debra DeShong joined Invariant as senior vice president.
• Meta and Johnson & Johnson alum Andrew Blotky has launched executive coaching company Azure Leadership Group.
• The Hill and NewsNation alum Alex Rosenwald joined DCI Group as director on the media team.
• Tara Baumgarten and Jodi Sorensen have launched Agile Minds Collective, a strategic communications consultancy.
• Strava alum Andrew Vontz launched One Real Voice, a boutique podcast consultancy.
• DoorDash alum Maura McGill launched McGill Strategies.
• Eurasia Group alum Jon Lang joined APCO as senior director & head of economic security policy; James Allan joined as senior director.
• Maddy Hunter joined Racepoint Global as vice president, head of agency Ggrowth.
• Praytell promoted Ciara Benko to executive vice president and Maria Opatz to senior vice president.
• Manisha Sunil joined New Heights Communications as director.
• SBS Comms alum Ariella Davner joined monday.com as senior communications manager.
• Hannah Thomas joined CVR as vice president of public affairs and social media.
• Collin Dreizen joined The Plunkett Group as senior account executive.
• Linhart Public Relations promoted Sophie Wells to senior account executive.

• Association for Corporate Citizenship Professionals appointed Andrea Wood as president and CEO.
• Planned Parenthood Federation of America appointed Melanie Roussell Newman as chief external affairs officer.
• World Bank Group named Lauren Tilstra as director of communications & content; Roya Rahmani as director of global engagement; Edith Jibunoh as director of external affairs; and Jakob Kopperud as director of government & multilateral relations.
• Lindsey Kolb joined the American Beverage Association as vice president, public affairs & paid media.
• Melanie Fonder Kaye joined the National League of Cities as senior executive and director, digital engagement, marketing and communications.
• Gabriela Melendez-Olivera joined Tent Partnership for Refugees as director of communications, Americas.
• Axios alum Ivana Saric is an editor at Council on Foreign Relations; Sophia Kim joins as director of media relations and communications strategy.
• Carbon Removal Alliance named Chris Bowman as director of government affairs.
• Jack Clem joined the Select Committee on China as press secretary.
• Martina McLennan joined the Bipartisan Policy Center as director, policy communications.

• Axios: Derek Lacey is an Axios Local Huntsville reporter; Chris Metinko is an enterprise software deals reporter.
• Bloomberg: Amanda Hayes Roark is a booking producer for "Balance of Power"; Tara Ayres is a booking producer; Chris Welch is a tech reporter; and Samantha Kelly covers consumer tech.
• Business Insider: Julia Hood is the newsroom AI lead.
• CNBC: Ashley Capoot will cover health and tech.
• CNN: Choire Sicha is senior VP of features editorial; Aaron Blake is a senior political reporter.
• C-SPAN: Brian Rokus is a producer for "Book TV."
• The Dispatch: Zachary Shemtob is executive editor, SCOTUSblog.
• Inc. Magazine: Annabel Burba will write the Founder Focus newsletter.
• NOTUS: Brett Bachman is senior editor, breaking news.
• Politico: Cheyanne Daniels and Aaron Pellish are breaking news reporters; Isa Domínguez will write the Morning Energy newsletter; Katherine Hapgood will cover business policy; Simon Levien is a health care reporter; Aaron Mak will cover tech; Olivia McCormack is weekend & evenings audience editor; and Calen Razor will write the Inside Congress newsletter.
• Puck: Ian Krietzberg will cover tech and AI.
• Time: Gemma Fox is editorial director, news; Diana Elbasha is editorial director, audience.
• The Verge: Hayden Field is a senior AI reporter.
• The Washington Post: Kadia Goba will cover Congress; Jason Anders is managing editor of its News Hub; and Kimi Yoshino is managing editor.
• Wired: Jake Lahut will write the Politics Lab newsletter.

Here are roughly 40 open communications roles that I found interesting:

• Adobe: director, public affairs communications (New York, $141k–$306k)
• Anthropic: product communications lead (San Francisco, $200k–$255k)
• Anthropic: internal communications manager (San Francisco, $220k–$280k)
• Anthropic: media relations (San Francisco or New York, $200k–$255k)
• Apollo.io: head of marketing communications (remote)
• Apple: U.S. enterprise communications lead (Cupertino, Calif., $133k–$201k)
• Cox Media: head of communications, Atlanta Journal-Constitution ($175k–$292k)
• Deel: director, communications (remote)
• Dow Jones: associate director, corporate communications (New York, $130k–$170k)
• Google: internal and executive communications manager, Google Cloud (California or Washington state, $165k–$245k)
• Google DeepMind: executive communications manager (New York, $130k–$200k)
• Heller: vice president, crisis communications (New York, $150k–$190k)
• Hims & Hers: director, product and technology communications (remote, $190k–$225k)
• Hims & Hers: director, policy and trust communications (remote, $190k–$225k)
• Home Depot: senior manager, internal communications (Atlanta)
• Johnson & Johnson: senior director, Latin America communications & public affairs (Miami, $173k–$299k)
• JPMorgan Chase: payments communications manager, vice president (New York, Chicago or Palo Alto, Calif., $123k–$185k)
• JPMorgan Chase: LinkedIn employee advocacy communication manager, vice president (New York)
• Kennedy Center: director of PR, classical (Washington, D.C., $110k–$130k)
• L'Oreal Group: director, reputational issues & crisis (New York, $138k–$200k)
• Major League Baseball: director, corporate communications, social responsibility (New York, $115k–$140k)
• MFA: vice president, communications (Washington, D.C., $210k–$230k)
• Mondelēz International: internal communications & employee engagement analyst (New Jersey, $66k–$99k)
• OpenAI: media relations, policy communications (San Francisco or Washington, D.C., $190k–$240k)
• OpenAI: executive communications lead (San Francisco, $295k)
• Outcast: senior vice president, communications (New York, $225k–$275k)
• Pinterest: senior investor relations lead (San Francisco, $169k–$297k)
• Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies: head of communications (Palo Alto, Calif., $161k–$252k)
• Storyline: director of media and public affairs (Washington, D.C., $70k–$110k)
• TikTok: communications manager, privacy & security (London)
• Tools for Humanity: vice president, global corporate communications (San Francisco, $200k–$250k)
• Universal Orlando Resort: senior director, corporate communications (Florida)
• Upstart: vice president, communications (remote, $295k–$330k)
• Walmart: director, global communications and corporate affairs-sustainability (Bentonville, Ark., $110k–$220k)
• Walmart: director, global communications-philanthropy (Bentonville, Ark., $110k–$220k)
• Warner Bros. Discovery: senior manager, strategic communications, CNN (Washington, D.C., $94k–$175k)
• Warner Bros. Discovery: director, publicity & communications, DC (Burbank, Calif., $117k–$219k)