DiGennaro Communications Names Maxine Winer President & Chief Operating Officer

Former FleishmanHillard and Edelman Leader Will Oversee Growth, Operations, Talent and Client Service

DiGennaro Communications (DGC), the leading independent B2B public relations agency serving the media, marketing and entertainment sectors, has named Maxine Winer president and chief operating officer. Winer reports to DGC Founder and CEO Samantha DiGennaro. 

In her new role, Winer will oversee operations, talent, client service and business development for the nearly 15-year-old agency. She will work in close partnership with DiGennaro to guide the agency’s growth and expansion into new categories and markets. Winer, who began working with DGC last year in a consulting capacity, will split her time between the agency’s NYC headquarters and her hometown of Chicago, where she will establish a foothold for the agency. 

“After spending much of my professional life working for large, publicly held agencies, I’m thrilled to join an independent, woman-owned firm,“ said Winer. “Sam has an exciting vision for the future, and is laser focused on doing what’s right for both her clients and her people. We’ve established a strong partnership over the past few months and I’m excited for us to work together — and with the rest of the team — to grow and scale the business into new markets, like Chicago, and new categories, such as consumer brand and health & wellness.” 

Born out of DiGennaro’s experience as the in-house global communications leader for major ad agencies, including JWT, DGC has long been the go-to PR agency for marketing services and creative shops, like DDB, RAPP and sparks & honey. Over the past five years, the growth of DGC’s trade marketing, speakers’ bureau and events/experiential offering has led the agency to attract clients from other sectors, including Pinterest, Spotify, Hulu, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) and Equilibrium Nutrition. 

“With Max onboard, I now have a seasoned senior operations and client-service pro to partner with me to guide the future direction of the agency,” said DiGennaro. “Her experience with big-brand consumer, corporate and health & wellness companies align perfectly with our expansion plans, and her operational expertise has already helped us streamline and enhance some of our administrative functions. I’m excited about our partnership and looking forward to putting our plans into action.” 

Winer most recently spent eight years as Senior Partner and General Manager of FleishmanHillard Chicago, leading and growing the office to become one of the most successful in the Omnicom agency’s global network. Prior to FH, Winer was EVP and Deputy General Manager at Edelman’s Chicago office, where she led the reputation management practice. Earlier, she led the corporate practice at MSL Chicago and was VP of Marketing for the mortgage division of PNC Financial Services Group.

Source: DiGennaro Communications (DGC)

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