Finsbury Glover hires Colleen Bell, ex-legislative director for Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., as managing director; separately, Finsbury Glover is combining with Sard Verbinnen "to create the world’s leading strategic communications firm" including "government affairs, corporate reputation, crisis management"; the deal is expected to be completed in Q4; leaders include George Sard, who joins Roland Rudd and Carter Eskew as co-chairmen; Alexander Geiser is global CEO; Mike Feldman and Paul Verbinnen are co-chairs, North America; and Andrew Cole is deputy global CEO and co-CEO, North America, with Joel Johnson, Paul Kranhold and Winnie Lerner.
Fordham Law School says its professor Olivier Sylvain becomes senior adviser to FTC Chair Lina Khan, advising "on rulemaking and emerging tech, among other issues"; his leave from Fordham is in 2022 ... Digital Media Association hires Kirsten Donaldson from Donaldson Law Group as DiMA vice president-legal ... Covington's Corporate Practice Group promotes Jessica Milner to of counsel, working on matters including technology and IP transactions.
Commissioner Rohit Chopra’s last day at FTC was Friday; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says his first day at CFPB was Monday ... Womble Bond adds to Communications, Technology and Media team with hiring of Jeff Lanning from Lumen as of counsel ... Software & Information Industry Association adds to Policy team Divya Sridhar, ex-ExcelinEd, as senior director-data policy ... CTIA hires Trevor Jones from USTelecom as assistant vice president-government affairs ... Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission elects Commissioner John Coleman as vice chairman through 2022, succeeding ex-Vice Chairman David Sweet, whose term as commissioner ended Sept. 30.
International Association of Privacy Professionals promotes Caitlin Fennessy to vice president-chief knowledge officer, following departure of Omer Tene (see this section, Oct. 7); Tene becomes IAPP senior Westin fellow ... Center for a New American Security names Laura Brent, ex-NATO, to CNAS Technology and National Security Program as senior fellow, directing research for Digital Freedom Forum and "focusing on the geopolitical implications of emerging technologies."
Broadcasters Foundation of America President Jim Thompson retires, effective Dec. 31, 2022; Thompson and Tim McCarthy become co-presidents through then, when Thompson takes “an active consultancy role”; McCarthy most recently was ESPN senior vice president-general manager, audio play-by-play and general manager, New York and LA Radio ... Aura, digital security platform for consumers, taps Damien Atkins from WilmerHale as chief legal officer and general counsel.
AT&T hires Lin Whitehouse, ex-office of House Majority Whip; Jeremy Pederson, ex-USTelecom; Marc Gonzales, also ex-USTelecom; and James Robertson, ex-CTIA, all as assistant vice presidents-federal relations ... Goodwin adds Omer Tene, ex-International Association of Privacy Professionals, and Lore Leitner to Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity practice as partners, joined by associates Josephine Jay and Annabel Loose; the associates and Leitner join from Wilson Sonsini ... Covington promotes Jonathan Wakely to partner in practice advising clients on foreign investment and national security; he has worked on semiconductor, telecom, software, IT and other areas.
Covington promotes David Wildman to partner, Life Sciences practice; he works on technology, intellectual property and data transactions including IP licensing, machine learning and digital health ... Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission advances Amy Andrews to deputy director-chief financial officer and says Anna Gill, ex-state Parks and Recreation Commission, returns to UTC, now as director-consumer protection and communications.
In office of FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington and effective Oct. 11, Marco Peraza, ex-law clerk to 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Michael Brennan, joins as wireline adviser, replacing Carolyn Roddy, departing for International Bureau; wireless adviser Erin Boone adds title of chief of staff, a role Roddy has held; she tells us that at IB, she becomes special adviser/special counsel ... California Privacy Protection Agency picks Ashkan Soltani as executive director; he's distinguished fellow, Georgetown University Law School's Institute for Technology Law and Policy and the Center on Privacy and Technology.
Future of Privacy Forum announces more promotions (see also 2109280072): John Verdi moves up to senior vice president-policy and Amelia Vance to vice president-youth and education privacy ... Dish Network hires Christina Mary Mason, ex-Wireless ISP Association, as senior manager-government affairs ... Salem Media's Russ Hauth, who has directed its Office of Government Relations, retires, effective Oct. 22; Minneapolis General Manager Nic Anderson adds Government Relations duties ... Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., hires Sarah Drory from office of Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., as press secretary for Khanna's office.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told Thursday's meeting of commissioners that Chief Economist Glenn Woroch is returning to University of California, Berkeley, and retirements include Enforcement Bureau's Chris Killion and Steve Garner, who has worked in the Media Bureau ... InterDigital promotes in newly combined government affairs, marketing and communications team: Rob Stien to head the group as InterDigital executive vice president-chief communications and public policy officer, and Blair Watters to vice president-government relations and standards policy, working on standards such as 5G.