Management Team
SHIFT Communications was founded in April 2003, by Jim Joyal and Todd Defren – two colleagues who have worked closely together in PR for the past decade. Our offices around the country include more than 90 top-quality account service professionals, in addition to the members of our internal support teams. The majority of the account service personnel have experience inside both corporate and agency environments, enabling them to see situations from the client’s view as well as the agency’s. More specifically, our staff members have held positions in a comprehensive range of positions including:
- Marketing/public relations managers inside technology companies
- Marketing specialists within financial firms
- Newspaper reporters
- Broadcast journalists
- Freelance writers
- Account specialists, managers, supervisors and vice presidents at other public relations agencies
As a result of the staff's combined expertise, each SHIFT client receives a global perspective that leads to specific solutions for communications, marketing and product positioning objectives.
Jim Joyal, Principal
A 25-year veteran of agency life, Jim Joyal co-leads the company and oversees SHIFT’s business development efforts and growth plans.
Prior to SHIFT, Jim held several senior level positions at Sterling Hager, Inc. His last position at Sterling Hager was president, but he also managed the Agency’s medical technology group.
Earlier in his career, Jim served as public relations associate at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). He also served as the director of practice development for Occupational Therapy Associates in San Diego, and as a commissioned officer in both The United States Navy and Navy Reserve.
Jim holds a bachelor's degree in Occupational Therapy and a master's degree in Public Relations, both from Boston University.
Todd Defren, Principal
Leads client services and business development efforts for the $12M firm.
In addition to speaking at venues such as The Conference Board, the NewComm Forum, etc., Defren consults with clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Quiznos and Sony Online Entertainment 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).
Parry Headrick, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
From his post within SHIFT's San Francisco office, Headrick uses his 10 years of communications experience to lead the Agency's coast-to-coast efforts to stimulate brand awareness, leverage client successes, and gain significant market share nationally. He also handles media training for a range of SHIFT’s clients nationally.
Prior to joining SHIFT as an Account Manager in 2003, Headrick was at Sterling Hager, Inc., since January 2000. Prior to Sterling Hager, he was a Senior Writer at PENTA Communications, a marketing/public relations firm headquartered in Westborough, MA.
Headrick also served as a general assignment reporter at two mid-sized daily newspapers, including the Waterbury Republican-American, a Pulitzer Prize-winning publication in Waterbury, CT, and the Lowell Sun in Lowell, MA..
Education: BS in journalism at Boston University.
Mandy Mladenoff, Managing Director, San Francisco
Leads SHIFT Communications’ San Francisco office and oversees communications programs for a variety of technology
Prior to SHIFT, she was at Sterling Hager, Inc. 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.
Amy Lyons, Managing Director, Boston
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.
Cathy Summers, Vice President of Account Services
Primarily responsible for managing an aggressive, results-driven account team and providing strategic counsel to her clients, Summers has 15 years of technology PR experience with specific expertise in the IT security, storage, networking, mobile/wireless and enterprise software markets. The breadth of her client roster ranges from early-stage to publicly traded companies. Summers joined SHIFT in 2003 as an Account Manager and worked her way up to Vice President (2008).
Previously, Summers worked at The Ardell Group and Jennings & Associates Communications. Both are high-tech agencies in the San Diego metropolitan area.
Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of San Diego.
Derek Lyons, Vice President of Account Services
Serves as a primary client contact and strategic counsel lead, while driving tactical execution with an account team that services a diverse
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.
Catherine Allen, Vice President of Account Services
As a vice president at SHIFT Communications, Catherine Allen pulls from 10+ years of communications experience providing trusted strategic PR and social media counsel to a variety of emerging and established brands. Clients turn to Catherine to find quick thinking, dedicated support and a true communications partnership. She takes existing PR programs and brings them to the next level with fierce messaging, creative pitch angles and aggressive tactics. On the flipside, she turns start-ups into overnight PR and social media sensations and these programs have won her team recognition from the Society for New Communications Research and the New England Publicity Club’s Bell Ringer Awards program.
Catherine has developed PR programs for a wide variety of B2B technologies, including speech, advertising/marketing, crowdsourcing, knowledge management, security, CAD/PLM/engineering, mobile, healthcare offerings for physicians and payers, network management, collaboration, CDNs/streaming video, application acceleration, HR/e-learning, SEO and SOA. She has also helped companies in the word-of-mouth marketing, pharmaceutical marketing and management consulting differentiate themselves via media and social media. A sampling of her consumer work includes mobile applications and networks, PC/mobile casual games and consumer health information. Under Catherine’s guidance, these B2B and consumer clients have appeared in business press, blogs, local and national newspapers, podcasts, TV & radio outlets, online news outlets and trade publications.
Prior to joining SHIFT in 2003, Allen was a senior account executive with Sterling Hager, Inc., one of the country’s leading independent public relations agencies, a firm she joined in 1999. Prior to Sterling Hager, Allen worked as a headhunter for the placement firm Aerotek. She specialized in recruiting and placing skilled technical professionals with some of the country's leading engineering companies.
Education: Bachelor of Science degree in corporate communication from Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York.
John Carter, Vice President of Account Services
John heads up SHIFT's New York office and is the East Coast arm of SHIFT’s Consumer Lifestyle Practice, working with large brands such as Travelocity, H&R Block, Virgin Mobile and Canadian Club Whisky, as well as emerging startups like NeatReceipts and Alice.com.
Named one of PR News’ “15 to Watch” in 2007, John’s role is to deliver high-level strategy and counsel, providing guidance on key initiatives throughout a program. His teams blend both traditional and social media strategies, with a focus on campaigns that are tightly measured for effectiveness.
Prior to SHIFT, John held agency roles at Brodeur, FitzGerald Communications and Fleishman-Hillard, working with a range of both technology and consumer clients, including Sterling Commerce, ABSOLUT Vodka, Corning and Fidelity Investments.
Education: John has a degree in English from Haverford College.
Paula Finestone, Vice President of Operations
A 10 year veteran of SHIFT – and an extreme distance runner – Finestone manages a battery of key financial and operational duties that keep the company running efficiently and smoothly. She oversees the financial and fiscal management of company operations, and provides leadership and coordination in the administration, business planning, accounting and budgeting efforts. Finestone also governs the crucial human resources function: payroll, recruiting, and benefits administration. She is also tasked with adherence to key insurance and legal requirements across offices in Boston, New York and San Francisco.
Finestone graduated from Fitchburg State with high honors in Business Management with a minor in Marketing.
