📇 Monthly Moves

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Hertz Global Holdings has named Lauren Fritts as senior vice president and chief communications officer, the company told Axios first.

Why it matters: Fritts joins the car rental giant amid a C-suite shakeup, shifting EV strategy and slumping stock price.

• Her task will be to help rebuild the brand and get drivers, employees and community members excited for what's next.

Details: Fritts will be based in Florida, reporting to Hertz CEO Gil West and managing the team responsible for corporate brand and internal, external and impact communications.

Context: She previously served as chief corporate affairs and marketing officer for WeWork, taking on the role ahead of its IPO and shortly after the ouster of founder Adam Neumann.

• Before WeWork, she served as digital and deputy communications director for then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Before that, Fritts spent nearly a decade as a cable news producer.

What they're saying: Fritts views this as a transformative moment for Hertz and points to West's leadership and experience transforming Delta Airlines as a key reason for taking the role.

• "Hearing [West's] vision for the company underscored how essential communications are to the transformation of the brand," said Fritts. "All of the operational changes in the world won't have their full impact unless they are shared effectively both internally and externally."
• "Our goal is to tell the story of the operational advances we're making and to build momentum for the brand that will launch it into the next 100 years," she added.

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• Rivian alum Sarah O'Brien joined LoveFrom as its first full-time comms lead.
• City National Bank named Diana Rodriguez as senior vice president, chief marketing and communications officer.
• CBS News promoted Lance Frank to head of communications for news, stations & media ventures.
• Katherine Wetzel was promoted to group vice president, head of marketing & communications at DaVita Kidney Care
• Poshmark alum Kelly Mason joins Volvo Cars as head of communications, for US and Canada.
• Daniel Schwarz is chief communications officer at Jenner & Block.
• Hyundai alum Angela Zepeda joined X as global head of marketing.
• Xometry promoted Matthew Hutchison to chief communications officer.
• ServiceNow elevated Paige Young to chief communications & corporate affairs officer.
• ADWEEK named Jenny Rooney as chief brand and community officer.
• DoorDash promoted Erin Maslan to vice president, external communications.
• Meta alum Melinda Davenport joined Equinix as vice president, messaging and talent marketing.
• Brendan Streich is head of communication at Synovus.
• FGS Global alum Giles Bethule joins Ares Management as vice president, corporate communications.
• Convene promoted Natalie Hernandez to senior director, brand & communications.
• Adobe alum Courtney Brigham joined Typeface as senior director, communications.
• Liza Pluto is director, communications for The Washington Post.
• CLEAR named Tyler Bugg director, communications.
• Lisa Laventure joined Meta's AI communications team.
• Alyssa Harker joins InnerPlant as director, communications.
• HopSkipDrive named Charlie Urbancic as director, communications.
• Lori Bertelli joined Apica as director product marketing & communications.
• Sean Gemunden joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals as director, corporate communications operations.
• Muck Rack promoted Bailey Mark to senior communications manager.
• Minhee Cho joins The Guardian US as communications manager.
• Robyn Jackson joined Ford Motor Company as government affairs communications manager,
• Kaitlyn McAndrew joins Celonis as manager, North America communications.
• Lauren McCranie is senior manager, communications at KKR.
• Brink's named Natalie Green as senior director, transformation communications & change management.
• Baxter Healthcare named Ana Serafin-Gil as head of communications, Americas - kidney care and Kasmer K. Quinn as senior manager, external communications.

• Gallup alum Mohamed Younis joins Brunswick as partner.
• Weber Shandwick promoted Sarah Yaffe to chief growth officer, North America; Kelly Sauter is executive vice president, business development; Ben Branham is executive vice president and head of corporate & public affairs, New York; Jamie Dowd is president, New York & health; and Michael Wehman is president, client experience & operations.
• Rostra hired former venture capitalist Gaby Goldberg.
• Edelman promoted Rayhan Daudani to senior vice president and Diona Humes-Jamison to vice president.
• Texas Tribune co-founder Ross Ramsey joins Eller Group as senior advisor.
• Jared Nelson is an associate partner at DGA Group.
• Eric Winkfield joins M Booth as vice president group manager.
• Rational 360 hired Ed Patru as senior vice president, Riley Bechdel as vice president, digital and Steve Kider as senior vice president, technology.
• The Bliss Group has promoted Sarah Eisler and Sarah G. Dougherty to vice president and Gerald Porter and Emma Skultety to account directors.
• Reservoir Communications Group named Lauren Cohen as senior vice president; Allison DeBattista as group vice president; Marlowe Galbraith as group senior associate; and Olivia Anderson and Sofia Kohl as group associates.
• Nicole Ryan joins Curley Company as vice president.
• LSG named Jackeline Stewart-Hawkins as partner and culture + society practice lead.
• Kip McDaniel will serve as a senior advisor to N2 Communications.
• Eric Phillips launched boutique management consulting firm Phillips & Company.
• Joseph Leslie joins Golin to lead workforce AI training & development.
• LaunchSquad named Jonathan Shieber as senior strategist.
• Motion Picture Associate alum Emily Lenzner joins Trident DMG as a senior advisor.
• SBS Comms named Derett Boyd Jr., Isabella Oidem and Amy Xiang as account executives
• Rachel Tardiff joins West End Strategy as team executive vice president.
• Global Situation Room, Inc. promoted Kat Maramba to senior vice president, strategic services and Aimee Gonzalez to senior vice president, strategic operations.
• Lindsey Trickett joins LifeSci Advisors as managing director.
• Chris Groneng joins Purple Strategies as communications manager.
• FBI alum Katherine Zackel joins Highwire PR as senior vice president, security and crisis communications and Michael Steavenson is executive vice president, enterprise technology practice.
• Matthew Minor joins FGS Global as associate director.
• BerlinRosen added Will Yeo as account supervisor, sports business.

The gap between how a CEO is perceived in the media and how they impact their company's media reputation is widening.

Take note: Understanding your CEO's unique combination of perception and impact can help guide your communication strategy to maximize their impact as a brand asset.

Learn more.

• TechNet hired April Mellody as senior vice president, communications.
• Jennifer Abrahamson is vice president, communications at J Street.
• FGS alum Sydney Walley joins University of Southern California Capital Campus as director, communications and events.
• UCLA reappointed Mary Osako as vice chancellor for strategic communications.
• The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association named Cody Uhing as director, communications and marketing.
• Megan McCollum has been promoted to director, communications at Future of Privacy Forum.
• WGBH alum Erin Callanan is director, communications at The Helmsley Charitable Trust.
• Josh Sanburn is a producer for The Center for Investigative Reporting.

• Axios: Reilly Knecht is associate director, editorial booker.
• BBC: Ritika Gupta is a business correspondent.
• Bloomberg: Nancy Vu is a health care reporter; Skylar Woodhouse is a White House reporter; Kelcee Griffis will cover telecom; Sri Taylor is a transportation reporter; Alexis Waiss is a junior reporter.
• Business Insider: Jamie Heller is editor in chief; Amanda Hoover is a senior tech correspondent.
• CNN: Sarah Ferris is a Capitol Hill reporter.
• The Daily Mail: Katie Davies is U.S. editor-in-chief
• The Hill: Miranda Nazzaro is a tech reporter; Sophia Vento is an associate editor; Juliann Ventura is a breaking news reporter.
• Inc.: Jada Gomez is executive managing editor
• Marie Claire: Quinci LeGardye is a culture writer.
• The New York Times: Devlin Barrett is a justice reporter; Anupreeta Das is a South Asia correspondent; Cam Rodriguez is a local investigative reporter.
• NPR: Tommy Evans is managing editor for editorial review; Chandelis Duster is a reporter.
• Punch Bowl News: Ben Brody will cover tech.
• Reuters: Hümeyra Pamuk is deputy U.S. foreign policy editor.
• USA Today: Caren Bohan is editor-in-chief.
• Vanity Fair: Natalie Korach is a media reporter.
• The Wall Street Journal: Joshua Chaffin is a senior special writer; John Cook is deputy editor for investigations; Vera Bergengruen is national security reporter
• The Washington Post: Emily Rauhala is a Congress editor; Kelley Benham French is narrative accountability editor; Paulina Firozi is weather editor.

Employees are speaking to the press about geopolitical issues, and it's driving outsized attention.

Here's the deal: Companies must engage employees early on these topics to contain external reputation fallout.

Explore how geopolitics impact corporate reputation.

✅ Thanks for reading! And thanks to copy editor Chris Speckhard. Share your job news with us here.