What We’re Up To

Introducing Our New Leadership

August 5th, 2021

For the first time ever BerlinRosen is announcing a major leadership update—including a new Principal, four new Executive Vice Presidents and three new Managing Directors.

As BerlinRosen has grown across the board, we have expanded our presence in entertainment, media, racial justice, healthcare, real estate, technology, issue advocacy and workers’ rights communications. This decision was made to deliver greater impact at a greater scale for our clients in our fastest-growing practices.

Our firm’s founders and principals, Valerie Berlin and Jonathan Rosen, are joined by our first new principal Andy McDonald. Since joining the firm in 2010 to lead national issue advocacy and strategic campaigns, McDonald has grown the revenue of his division by 40 fold and scaled it from just one person and four clients to over 100 strategists and hundreds of clients.

We’re thrilled that Chip Garner is joining BerlinRosen as our Executive Vice President of Digital Advocacy. He joins the agency from MMW where he was an SVP in their Corp Comms group, specializing in reputation management, social strategy, executive eminence and multicultural marketing.

“BerlinRosen is the future of communications—leading with diversity, overflowing with talent, and intensely committed to creating a more fair and just world. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.” 

Prior to MMW, Garner was a VP at British Airways, SVP at Ogilvy, and VP at Rubenstein. Garner’s communications background also includes work at Showtime Networks, the New York Times, and ABC News.

We are also elevating the next generation of leadership at this firm from within our ranks:

Lynsey Kryzwick is the Managing Director for Strategic Campaigns and Digital Advocacy, having cemented BerlinRosen as the country’s leading labor communications firm and broadened her team’s work to include other areas of strategic campaigning, including racial justice, impact investing, culture and more.

Stephanie Mueller is the Managing Director for Issue Advocacy having established the firm’s DC presence and her team’s reputation as a leading communications partner for organizations on the frontline major issues, including reproductive health, philanthropy, racial justice, immigration, voting rights and environment.

Jeremy Soffin is the Managing Director for Real Estate & Cities, having built the nation’s leading team focused on urbanism representing many of the country’s leading real estate developers, architecture companies, travel and hospitality innovators, and cultural institutions.

Janna Pea is the Executive Vice President of Strategic Campaigns. In partnership with clients such as HBO Max, Wikimedia, MTV Entertainment Group, independent documentaries and blockbuster films, she has masterfully grown our Culture & Entertainment practice to ensure historically marginalized voices are centered in mainstream media—from corporate communications campaigns to storytelling on the big screen. Janna advises leading national racial justice organizations including Color Of Change and Black Futures Lab, created by Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Alicia Garza, and launched our influencer engagement practice, facilitating partnerships with major entertainers, high-profile activists, musicians and athletes.

Shantha Susman is the Executive Vice President of Issue Advocacy. Over the past seven years she has expanded our Health & Human Rights practice to shape communications strategies for leading national and international organizations, such as UNICEF, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD). Susman has also helped drive significant narrative development and positioning work, successfully leading large integrated campaigns.

Matt Tepper is the Executive Vice President of Real Estate & Cities. Since joining BerlinRosen over a decade ago, he has built powerful media campaigns for major development projects, including the redevelopment of Penn Station and thousands of affordable housing units. He also worked on public affairs strategies for cultural institutions such as Lincoln Center, The Public Theater and Brooklyn Public Library. Whether it’s guiding clients through land use review and economic development processes or supporting cultural organizations through budget and procurement campaigns, Tepper has the public affairs expertise to move projects forward.

Throughout COVID-19, instead of layoffs or furloughs, BerlinRosen expanded our team and supported more clients than ever during an exceptionally challenging time. With 235 strategists, 63% of the firm’s management are women and 45% of staff identify as BIPOC, with 27% of the senior leadership team identifying as BIPOC.

BerlinRosen has become one of the largest mid-size agencies in the nation—while still remaining independent.