MINNEAPOLIS—PadillaCRT has added Anastasia Lopez as vice president of social media in the firm’s New York office and Matt Fairchild as vice president of technology and innovation, leading digital strategy, user experience and development teams from the  Minneapolis headquarters. Lopez joins after spending nearly four years as a vice president of digital for Hill + Knowlton Strategies in New York. Fairchild most recently served as group technical director at Olson.

MELVILLE, NY—Investor relations agency Darrow Associates, which specializes in working with growing small-cap companies, has hired Tad Gage as a managing director. Gage previously co-founded and was executive vice president at Capital Insight Partners, which in 2012 joined with Ambassador Financial Group, a community bank-focused investment advisory firm, where he served as a managing director. He has also held financial communications positions with Santa Fe Pacific, Santa Fe Railway, and the Financial Relations Board.

LOS ANGELES—Tech PR firm PMBC Group has promoted Maura White, who joined earlier this year from Bender/Helper Impact's New York office, to director, taking on additional new business development and agency management responsibilities. In addition Lisa Inouye has been promoted from senior account manager to media strategist and Andrew McCrea has been promoted to account coordinator.

BETHESDA, MD—Abt Associates, a leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, has named Selena Ramkeesoon as a vice president in Abt's US health division, where she will expand the firm’s work in communications.  Prior to joining Abt, Ramkeesoon spent close to a decade at ICF International, most recently as a vice president.