Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Awards Judging Committee
Mary DiMaggio-Finley
President & CEO Legato Communications Etc., Inc., Columbia, Maryland, United States
Ms. DiMaggio-Finley has more than 25 years of experience in strategic multi-media corporate and health communications for consumer products, social marketing, Federal Government health, and brand management. She also has extensive experience managing cross-functional communications and publications teams for implementation, organization and supervision of building client core branding needs, public relations plans for cross-promotional strategic delivery and providing consumer retention communications models. Some of the corporate communications client programs have included InterActive Corp, Time Warner, The Red Cross, Arthritis Foundation, BioCentric, Inc., Lifetime Television for Women health initiatives, and Procter & Gamble. Federal and Regional government client programs include the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), United States Department of Agriculture, National Institutes of Health, The Food and Drug Agency/Office of Women’s Health (FDA/OWH), and Health Resources Services Administration. Mary has managed several Executive Branch health initiatives, which have included The President’s Council on Fitness and Childhood Obesity with the program Let’s Move, and the H1N1, Ebola and Zika Pandemics. Ms. DiMaggio is the President and CEO of Legato Communications Etc., Inc and consults with small business organizations that provide medical and health communications with pharmaceutical clients, Federal and Regional government health clients, non- profits, health and social media influencers, and self-help authors. She was the Chief Strategy Officer and also the President of HMA Associates, a multicultural health communications small business in Washington, D.C. where she provided strategic oversight of all government and corporate accounts within the company. She managed client corporate relationships which included Ogilvy, MSLGroup, Westat Communications, and Edelman. In 2013, HMA was selected by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business as the Gold Stevie winner for Multicultural Communications or PR Campaign of the Year. Developing culturally appropriate and innovative medical and health communications programs for corporate, government and non-profit clients has included an award-winning web novellas series, patient journey stories, sponsor management, and engaging corporate leaders in providing PSA support such as multi-sector partnerships for the CDC related to The National Influenza Vaccination Disparities Partnership, the National HIV/AIDS Partnership, and the FDA Office of Women’s Health. She has led business development and program teams with clients both internally and domestically to focus on creating programs that enhance healthy lifestyle resource sharing and funding for sponsorship programs. She has also developed new multicultural communications initiatives for pandemic awareness and education, safe medicine use, Diabetes prevention, immunization, prenatal care, and obesity. Ms. DiMaggio is an advocate for Small Business owners who are seeking new revenue growth opportunities with corporate and government clients, and she supports global self-help social media influencers and authors to develop content. She has been a keynote speaker for the Gallup Small Business Government Summit, Johns Hopkins Business School-Meet the Legends and has been featured on CNN and in The New York Times business section for corporate client programs. Public relations programs have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and USA Today. She has been a Stevie Awards judge since 2014 in Corporate Communications, Digital, and Public Relations.
Zainab Ansari
Founder & Chairperson, Xenith PR (Pvt.) Ltd, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Zainab Ansari is a Corporate Image professional, Public Relations specialist with over fifty years of high profile and successful career in large multinationals and reputable organizations; extensively exposed to Television, Radio and the literary circles; established writer, poet and a free lance journalist. She has a published book of English poetry “Sometime Somewhere” while her Urdu poetry collection is under compilation.
Amy Brennan
Senior Director, Corporate Communications & Brand, Xperi Inc., Signal Hill, California, United States
Amy Brennan is a strategic communications and brand leader with 20+ years of experience across global B2B and B2C consumer, technology, and entertainment companies. She specializes in translating complex business strategy into clear, effective narratives and building integrated communications functions that drive alignment, credibility, and measurable impact.
David Claxton
Founder, Wise Up Public Relations, Boston, United States
David is Founder of Wise Up PR. He has over a decade of senior PR experience and has led campaigns for some of the biggest brands in the world, such as Google, as well as devising highly successful programs for more fast-growing companies. A media relations specialist, he has also driven award-winning PR campaigns across every major English language media market from the US, UK and beyond.
Elizabeth Gensler
Writer/Producer, Mediabridge Productions Inc., Germantown, Maryland, United States
Senior speechwriter, writer, and producer specializing in executive messaging, communications, and strategic storytelling. Proven ability to translate complex policy information into clear, mission-aligned content for senior leaders, stakeholders, and staff. Experience includes more than 20 years supporting government agencies, television networks, and corporate clients.
Barbara Hernandez
President, BCH OnPoint, Inc., Marshall, Wisconsin, United States
Barbara is President of BCH OnPoint, Inc., an issues management, content writing and public relations consultancy. She is currently working part-time with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies as an online content editor for Jonathan Patz and his team. She previously worked full-time as the PR Director at Epic Systems Corporation. She has 45+ years in the business.
Micah Laney
Communications Director, Walmart, Centerton, Arkansas, United States
Micah Laney is a Director of Communications Enablement at Walmart, where he helps the Global Communications organization plan, prioritize, and measure work more effectively. His focus is on building the strategies, tools, and processes that simplify how teams operate so they can focus on the communications that matter most.
Taylor Maurits
Lead Media Strategist, Wise Up PR, Clackamas, Oregon, United States
Taylor Maurits is Lead Media Strategist at Wise Up PR, leading global media campaigns across sectors including defense, aerospace, mobility, deep tech, fintech, and sensors / IoT, martech, and beyond. Wise Up PR is based in Boston and was founded in 2021 by David Claxton to combine senior-level strategic expertise with boutique-agency client care, supporting companies from Silicon Valley to Seoul.
Andrea Vassallo Meyer
Communications Consultant, AVM Communications, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States
Andrea Meyer has worked on communications on the agency and client side of the business, combining CSR, PR, internal communications, and social media. Andrea has worked on many stellar brands, including Allstate, Cartier, Ipsos, Lucasfilm, Sony, Toyota, and Verizon. She graduated from Stanford University.
