Management Team

Stationed in the agency’s Boston office, Jim co-leads the company and oversees SHIFT’s business development efforts and growth plans.

Prior to SHIFT, was at Sterling Hager, joining in March 1986 as an account manager and holding various positions, including manager of the medical technology division, until becoming president in October 2000.

Earlier experience in the marketing communications department of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), as the director of practice development for Occupational Therapy Associates in San Diego, and as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy from 1979 to 1982 and as a Navy reservist from 1986 to 1995.

Education: bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and master's degree in public relations, both from Boston University.

Leads client services and business development efforts for the $12M firm.

Working in high-tech public relations for approximately 15 years, Defren currently specializes in Social Media strategies and is widely noted for creating the first Social Media templates for news releases (2006) and online newsrooms (2007).

In addition to speaking at venues such as The Conference Board, the NewComm Forum, etc., Defren consults with clients such as Novartis, BearingPoint, Johnson & Johnson and RealNetworks regarding social media strategies.

Defren is also known for his work on the PR-Squared blog. As a pet project started in early 2004, PR-Squared was one of the first PR blogs, and has blossomed into a major industry voice. The blog now ranks among the Technorati “Top 10K,” is one of the featured blogs on Social Media at Guy Kawasaki’s Alltop service, and is listed prominently in AdAge’s Power150.

Prior to SHIFT, Defren was at Sterling Hager, joining in 1994 as an account manager and reaching the level of managing director of the San Francisco office in August 2000. His earlier experience included managing the strategic and tactical corporate communications at ENTEX Information Services, a $2 billion New York-based systems integrator, now part of Siemens AG.

Defren has served as a visiting professor at Emerson College in Boston, lecturing on marketing and public relations on the Internet. In 2006, Defren was named a Research Fellow and member of the Advisory Board of the Society for New Communications Research.

Education: bachelor's degree in literature from Bard College (Annandale, NY).

Helps lead the agency and oversees its operations and finances, working as its chief operating officer.

Prior to SHIFT, was COO of Sterling Hager, which he joined in 1994 as controller. He was promoted to vice president, operations and finance and then to chief operating officer.

Earlier experience includes a partnership in the CPA firm of Pepe Pellitier & McShane.

Education: bachelor’s degree in accounting from Stonehill College. He passed all parts of Massachusetts's CPA exam.

Leads SHIFT Communications’ San Francisco office and oversees communications programs for a variety of technology companies, including market leaders in online advertising/marketing, Internet infrastructure and consumer and lifestyle technology with clients such as Claria, RSA Conference, Shimano, UGOBE and WebTrends.

Prior to SHIFT, she was at Sterling Hager, Inc. (SHIFT’s predecessor company) for more than three years. In five years time she rose through the ranks to account director in October 2005 and was named Vice President of account services in July 2006.

Mladenoff also worked at Boston University in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations as an alumni relations manager, serving as a liaison between the alumni and the University and planning events in Washington, D.C., Cape Cod, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston.

Education: bachelor of arts degree in English from St. Michael's College.

Serves as a primary client contact, providing strategic counsel while managing the daily tactical activities of an account team serving various clients. Amy has a broad range of expertise in various industries and vertical markets, including security, network management, storage, financial services, government, education and healthcare. She also specializes in executing rapid response to industry trends programs for numerous clients. Overseeing accounts ranging in size from start-ups to a $1 billion public company, her clients fall into the IT security and enterprise software markets.

Prior to joining SHIFT in 2003, Amy was at Sterling Hager, Inc., starting in November 2000 as a senior account executive. During her tenure with Sterling Hager, Inc., Amy directed strategy and message development, as well as coordinated media and analyst relations with clients in the security, e-learning, B2B and e-commerce space.

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and sociology from Hollins College, Roanoke, Virginia; a Masters in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.

Based in Boston, Collins manages a strong portfolio of technology, social media and consumer electronics clients and is responsible for client services.

 Prior to joining SHIFT, Collins was with Sterling Hager, Inc., one of the country’s leading independent public relations agencies, since 1996. During his tenure, Collins was principal in spearheading many practices for the Agency including its security, storage and telecommunications groups. Previously, Collins traveled worldwide as the director of sales and marketing for Travent International an $18 million luxury bicycling touring company located in the U.S. and France.

Education: graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and Legal Studies from the University of Massachusetts

Serves as the senior strategic counsel and oversees the program direction for clients. In her more than 13 years in public relations Monica has represented an array of companies in spaces from datacenter hardware and enterprise software to mobile and wireless and consumer/lifestyle technology. Her expertise is in working with emerging companies to create awareness and establish a strong market position.

Prior to joining SHIFT in 2003, Monica was with Sterling Hager, Inc. where she started as an intern in 1993 and gained early experience supporting some of the technology industry’s pioneering companies including Digital Equipment Corporation. While there she graduated to increasingly senior roles and eventually managed a team of people responsible for several of the agency’s key accounts.

Monica also held positions at Lois Paul & Partners and CHEN PR, two Boston-area high technology PR firms

Education: Bachelor of Science with honors from Boston University’s College of Communication.

Primarily responsible for managing an aggressive, results-driven account team and providing strategic counsel to her clients, Summers has 12 years of technology PR experience with specific expertise in the IT security, storage, networking, messaging, telecommunications, digital imaging and enterprise software markets. She currently leads the agency’s successful West coast IT security practice and her team routinely generates placements for clients in the world’s most influential technology, business and vertical publications.

Before joining SHIFT in 2003, Summers was a senior account executive at The Ardell Group (Del Mar, Calif.). During her four-year stint at Ardell, she launched, managed and executed the PR program for Catena Networks, a broadband access company acquired in 2004 by Ciena Corp. for nearly $500 million.

Summers has also worked as a freelance consultant and at Jennings & Associates Communications, both in the San Diego metropolitan area.

Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of San Diego.

Serves as a primary client contact and strategic counsel lead, while driving tactical execution with an account team that services a diverse range of clients. Derek’s expertise spans a wide array of industries, including electronic commerce, security, network management, storage, infrastructure and healthcare. He has strong experience in leading and coordinating international engagements, along with managing the programs for a number of larger, public companies.

Prior to SHIFT, Derek was at Sterling Hager, Inc., starting in May 2000 as an account executive and rising through the ranks to the level of account manager. There he led a variety of accounts in the electronic commerce, security and storage markets.

Prior to Sterling Hager, Derek managed client relations and project management for a

number of Boston-based video production companies, working with clients like Discovery Channel, ABC News, VH1 and NBA Entertainment.

Education: Bachelor of Science degree in communications concentrating in advertising and public relations from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York; Masters in Business Administration concentrating on marketing at Bentley College, Waltham, MA.

Oversees all consumer-related accounts within SHIFT's west coast Consumer Lifestyle Practice. Ranging from Oakley’s wearable technology initiative to UGOBE’s Life Form, Pleo, Julie leads the team’s strategic activities. She is responsible for the management of the practice regionally and the various accounts under her umbrella.

Prior to joining SHIFT Communications, Julie worked at Edelman managing both consumer technology and semiconductor accounts including Buongiorno (mobile content), Synopsys (electronic design automation) and PMC-Sierra (storage semiconductors). Julie also worked at Weber Shandwick supporting a variety of high-tech clients, including Agilent Technologies, LynuxWorks and Covad Communications. Julie started her PR career at the Benjamin Group supporting clients like Peet’s Coffee and the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitor’s Bureau.

Prior to her career in PR, Julie worked in the Global Advanced Technology practice at Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm. In this position, she assisted the managing director in planning global events, including "Leadership in the Digital Age," a technology symposium at the world renowned Pebble Beach golf resort.

Education: Bachelors in public relations from San Jose State University. While a student, Julie won PR Week's prestigious PR Student of the Year honor. In addition, Julie held various positions on the board of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, including programs director.