The CommStrat Team
Wynne Ahern Kokka
A public relations strategist and media relations expert, CommStrat agency principal Wynne Ahern Kokka has amassed more than 14 years of experience in the technology arena.
Over the course of her career, Wynne has helped position, launch and market hundreds of products and companies, predominantly in the areas of consumer and emerging technology. Her thorough, targeted campaigns have produced widespread coverage for her clients; products have been showcased on broadcasts ranging from The Today Show and Good Morning America to The Martha Stewart Show, The View and CNN Headline News.
With a proven talent for helping companies and their products stand out from the competition, Wynne played a central role in having her clients' products named BusinessWeek "Best Invention of the Year" and Time Magazine "Best Product of the Year." She has placed many feature stories in high-circulation consumer publications such as Parade, USA Today as well as many top consumer monthlies. Additionally, she has secured considerable business coverage in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes and a host of other influential publications.
Beyond her work with the media, Wynne specializes in conducting media training for company executives as well as crafting clear, compelling corporate and product messaging.
Wynne holds a J.D. from the University of San Francisco and a B.A., cum laude, from Denison University. She was an attorney at a San Francisco-based law firm prior to becoming a technology publicist. She held senior positions at leading public relations agencies A&R Edelman and UpStart Communications (a Fleishman-Hillard Company) prior to founding CommStrat, formerly Communication Strategies, in 1999.
Laurie Brian
An award-winning journalist, Laurie Brian has more than 15 years of experience in media and public relations. She's worked extensively in television and print in the nation's top markets during a career that has spanned nearly every aspect of media — from writing and editing for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle and The Denver Post to producing, writing and directing documentaries and other shows for the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel and HGTV. Additionally, she's worked with corporate clients such as Cisco Systems, Robert Half Inc. and Ikana Media, and provided both PR counsel and effective strategic marketing and communications plans for various non-profit organizations. Over the years, Laurie has garnered significant coverage for her PR clients in top-tier media outlets ranging from CNN and The Wall Street Journal to Good Morning America and the Today Show.
Laurie has received numerous accolades for her work including being named an Emmy Award finalist in the category of Outstanding Achievement for Current Affairs Program. She holds a M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Brooke G. Cohan
Brooke brings a wide range of technology and consumer communications expertise to CommStrat clients. A well-rounded communications professional, Brooke has held management positions in corporate public relations with two of the largest and most visible companies in the world — GE and Apple Computer. In those key positions, she managed internal public relations and agency teams to launch high profile products to worldwide audiences, handled ongoing and crisis corporate communications, and served as a company spokesperson.
After leaving the corporate world, she founded a Public Relations firm called Stirling & Cohan that quickly grew to more than $2.5 million a year in billings and represented established and start-up clients including Apple, Claris, Power Computing, WebTV, Visioneer, Novell and Netscape. She spent more than five years co-managing the agency and then decided to pursue her own consulting practice. Consulting clients include BabyCenter and LeapFrog. Brooke joined CommStrat in 2009.
Kelly Cytron
With more than 20 years' experience in high-technology public relations and marketing, Kelly Cytron is highly effective in all aspects of strategic counsel and program management. Kelly has been responsible for the design, planning and implementation of a wide range of PR programs for dozens of companies in the tech and consumer sectors — including X1 Technologies, Incando (acquired by Scripps Networks), Digeo, VoiceObjects, Accuray, McDonalds, NBC, Spoke Software and Wise Solutions.
Before joining Commstrat, Kelly headed her own boutique agency, Kelcyn, offering public relations counsel and services to technology, healthcare and web-based companies. Before that, she was an account supervisor with UpStart Communications, later acquired by Fleishman-Hillard, where she managed technology accounts including Digitivity, Fujitsu Interactive, Transphere Interactive, Compaq (now HP) and TransactPlus. At UpStart, she also demonstrated dogged persistence in netting media coverage in support of additional clients including Inktomi, Informatica, Siebel, Broadvision and Loudcloud.
Prior to Fleishman-Hillard, Kelly was an account executive at Access Public Relations and oversaw media relations, speaker and analyst relations programs for Sun, Unisys, Harris Communications and Hypercom.
She is a graduate of San Diego State University.
Lisa C. Hendrickson
Lisa Hendrickson has more than 20 years experience in public relations, with extensive experience in developing and implementing strategic public relations programs for technology companies. She has a proven track record of delivering high-profile press coverage to help organizations raise their awareness and build brand value.
Lisa helped launch BabyCenter.com, helping to drive it to become number one in the baby category. Innovative public relations programs for BabyCenter.com include the "most popular baby names" program, revealing the most popular baby names annually. It garnered coverage in USA Today, The New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, San Francisco Chronicle, Parents, and Parenting. Winner of three Webby awards (web industry awards), BabyCenter today receives more than 2 million visitors per month.
Earlier in her public relations career, Lisa was Senior Vice President and Manager of the Technology Group at Manning, Selvage & Lee, a top 10 worldwide public relations firm (owned by Publicis). She managed accounts for companies such as IBM, Intuit, NCR and Okidata. For her work with NCR, she received a Prism award for the WaveLAN wireless local area network launch and the Marketing Computers award for the NCR Democratic National Convention special event. For Intuit, she managed the Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax public relations programs, including the award-winning "recipes for success" small business program for QuickBooks.
Prior to Manning, Selvage & Lee, she worked for Boston-based Miller Communications where she launched the first portable computer for Compaq Computer Corporation. She was also a reporter at the Quincy Patriot Ledger, a major Massachusetts daily newspaper.
Lisa graduated with honors from Boston College and studied in Madrid, Spain. She lives in Port Washington, NY and serves on the Port Washington Community Chest's executive board of directors.
Judy Jorgensen
Judy Jorgensen is a veteran public relations professional with more than 23 years' experience in the field. Career highlights include serving as vice president of consumer marketing for Edelman Worldwide Public Relations. Prior to joining Edelman, Ms. Jorgensen was vice president/communications for Magazine Publishers of America, the New York-based trade association for the consumer magazine industry.
Additionally, Judy was director of corporate communications for Revlon North America; publicity manager for The Conde Nast Publications Inc. responsible for editorial publicity for seven magazines including Vanity Fair, Vogue and GQ; and group manager of public relations for Hearst Magazines' stable of consumer publications including Good Housekeeping, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country and Cosmopolitan. She began her career at Esquire magazine in 1984.
An active community volunteer leader, she is a former president of The Junior League of San Francisco and also has served on numerous non-profit boards ranging from Prevent Child Abuse California and the Bay Area Arthritis Auxiliary to the Junior League of New York City.
Judy holds a B.A. degree in Comparative Literature from Occidental College, and an M.S. degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
Amanda Lazare
Amanda Lazare has 25 years of corporate and marketing communications experience including more than a decade at Maxim Integrated Products. As a managing director at this leading semiconductor firm, Amanda was responsible for the company's worldwide advertising, technical publications, direct mail, public relations, internal communications programs as well as its corporate web site. In addition, Amanda handled investor relations for the company; in that capacity, she developed and delivered presentations to the financial community, wrote executive speeches and authored corporate financial press releases.
Before joining Maxim, Amanda was director of business development for JLS Language Associates, a foreign language translation and localization firm specializing in serving technology companies. Amanda brought key new accounts to the business, managed major projects and worked one-on-one with important clients. In the 1980s, Amanda worked in the aerospace industry as a technical publications manager and proposal development manager preparing multimillion-dollar proposals for the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Amanda graduated from UCLA summa cum laude with a B.A. in English Literature. She also holds an MBA from College of Notre Dame. In 1996, the YWCA recognized Amanda's contributions as a high-tech executive with a "Tribute to Women and Industry" award.
Carolyn Donohoe Marieb
A publicist and writer for the past two decades, Carolyn Donohoe Marieb now focuses on developing corporate and product messaging as well as writing and editing corporate communications materials ranging from news releases and customer case studies to web sites.
Major clients have included consumer and education technology leaders such as Apple Computer, Inc., Adobe Systems, Inc., The Learning Co. and Netscape Communications. Prior to specializing in the technology arena, Carolyn headed up public relations efforts for consumer products companies including Nestle Beverage Company. She has also worked as a freelance journalist, primarily writing news and feature stories on a broad range of consumer and technology topics.
Carolyn holds a B.A. in English Language, Writing and Rhetoric from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fontaine Roberson
A publicist and marketing communications specialist with 15 years of experience in the technology arena, Fontaine Roberson conducts media relations and writes corporate communications materials such as news releases, customer success stories and web sites. She has worked with clients including Apple Computer Inc., UMAX Technologies, The Learning Company, Adobe Systems, Inc., and Medtronics/AVE.
Fontaine also served as senior editor on integrated marketing campaigns for clients such as Macys.com and Lucy.com, a women's sports apparel company. In addition to her work with technology-related companies, Fontaine provides pro-bono public relations counsel to environmental and youth-focused non-profit organizations.
Fontaine holds an M.A. degree in English Literature from the University of Kentucky.
Jamie Simmons
Jamie Simmons has over a decade of experience securing print, radio, television and online coverage for a variety of clients, predominantly in the technology arena. Over that time, he has developed ongoing working relationships with media professionals and analysts around the country. Since joining CommStrat, Jamie has focused on public relations for technology companies including Pure Digital, Limelight Networks and Green Dot. Jamie also served as publicist for San Francisco public television station KQED-TV's technology show Digital West. In addition to handling media outreach, Jamie has established numerous speaking programs for company executives as well as developed analyst outreach programs. Prior to CommStrat, Jamie worked for a New York firm specializing in issue advocacy and entertainment public relations.
Jamie holds a B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. He also completed graduate course work in Latin American Studies at the University of Wisconsin — Madison.
Cherie Stewart
Cherie is an accomplished communications professional with over 17 years of consumer and consumer technology industry experience. Her in-house experience includes leading corporate communications at Gap Brand and LeapFrog Enterprises. She has also had the opportunity to work on a number of consumer and consumer-technology clients at Weber Shandwick, Cunningham Communications and Wilson McHenry Company - including Peet's Coffee & Tea, Mattel Interactive, Covad Communications, Greenlight.com, Novell, Intuit and Connectix.
Over the course of her career, Cherie has developed an expertise and passion for reaching out to and communicating with Moms. She has helped many companies engage with Moms through traditional consumer media - such as The Today Show and Parenting Magazine - as well as the emerging social media - such as blogs and Twitter - where Moms are connecting and communicating in growing numbers.
Cherie also has considerable experience in developing and executing corporate communication strategies such as guiding companies through significant strategy shifts, IPOs & M&As, new market entrance, regional/vertical business plays, global campaigns, crisis communications and ongoing financial communications.
Cherie holds a M.A. degree in Communications from McGill University and a B.A. degree from San Francisco State University in International Relations and Women's Studies.
Krista Van Lewen
Krista Van Lewen is a strategic-minded public relations and marketing communications professional with more than 16 years of experience in the technology, non-profit and entertainment industries. Her work with Internet and consumer-oriented companies includes clients such as Hewlett-Packard, Time-Warner Home Video, Discovery Networks, Critical Path and Healthline Networks.
Through her years in agency and in-house PR roles, Krista has created scores of public relations campaigns; developed messaging and branding for products and services; managed press and analyst relations; provided company executives with PR counsel and crisis communications strategies; and served as company spokesperson. Krista's work has resulted in coverage in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Washington Post, Upside, Business 2.0, and a wide range of radio, television and online media outlets.
During her eight years with Discovery Communications Krista worked in numerous capacities, ranging from handling corporate communications for all four of its networks, to launching Discovery Channel's first 35mm film. She also played a vital role in re-launching The Learning Channel and Travel Channel networks following their acquisition by Discovery.
Krista holds a B.S. in Scientific and Technical Communications from Michigan Technological University.
Don Walker
Don Walker has some 20 years of experience researching and writing articles, white papers, product and company backgrounders, customer success stories, news releases, contributed articles and Web sites for technology companies. Clients have spanned more than 200 companies in the areas of enterprise software, development tools, the Internet, digital imaging, and other technologies. Don's areas of expertise include "Internet 2.0" and consumer technologies, as well as computer and network security, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning, enterprise architecture modeling and other business technologies. Don is familiar with software development issues, having written strategy documents and news releases on industry-leading development environments and software lifecycle management tools. Previously, Don held positions at major technology public relations firms including UpStart Communications (a Fleishman-Hillard Company).
Don holds a B.A. in journalism from the University of Kansas.
Jan Wiedrick-Kozlowski
Jan Wiedrick-Kozlowski has more than 20 years of public relations experience, representing a wide range of companies in the imaging, financial, consumer and legal industries. Additionally, for more than a decade she worked as a broadcast journalist garnering 7 awards, including 2 Associated Press Awards for best investigative reporting in New York State.
After transitioning to public relations, she first worked as the public information officer for the Monroe County Legislature in Rochester, New York. Subsequently, she worked at UpStart Communications (a Fleishman-Hillard Company) representing technology companies ranging from BEA Systems, Sun Microsystems and Xerox to TurboLinux, CrossLink, WaveSplitter, Symantec and Fujitsu. In 2001, she was honored by BEA Systems for her outstanding media work.
With a talent for clear communication and a keen eye for real news, Jan has placed her clients in such leading media outlets as The Wall Street Journal, Investor's Business Daily, BusinessWeek, CIO, Computer Reseller News, eWeek, InformationWeek, InfoWorld, InternetWeek, Government Computer News, PC Magazine and many more.
Jan holds a B.A. in Communications from Brockport State University New York.
Liz Youngs
With over 19 years of experience in the technology industry, Liz Youngs handles media, analyst and speaker relations for her clients, developing highly targeted and effective PR outreach programs. Liz's career includes six years at Fleishman-Hillard and its subsidiary UpStart Communications where she worked with BEA Systems, Cendian, ChemConnect, Pointbase, and other high-visibility clients.
Prior to her tenure with the well-known agencies, Liz spent 12 years in Northern Virginia's Dulles Technology Corridor where she held manager and director-level positions in public relations and marketing communications for several technology and telecommunications companies. Liz also has extensive experience managing trade shows and marketing events. The PR veteran has secured media coverage for clients in major trade and business publications including TIME Magazine, The San Jose Mercury News, San Francisco Business Journal, Denver Post, Atlanta Business Journal, Washington Times, Washington Technology, Federal Computer Week, Government Computer News, Network World, Network Computing, eWeek, InfoWorld, InformationWeek and many other publications.
Liz attended Radford University, Northern Virginia Community College, and continues studies in her spare time in the areas of business, marketing and communications.