SAN FRANCISCO—WCG has hired Gary Karr has joined the firm as group director, adding public affairs and media expertise to the firm’s healthcare practice. Karr will be based in San Francisco. Most recently, he provided communications support to Aetna’s national business unit. Earlier in his career, he served as chief spokesperson for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services during the launch of Medicare Part D and led communications functions for AdvaMed, the medical technology industry trade group. He also held a senior role in Edelman’s healthcare practice in Washington. 

NEW YORK—Lippe Taylor has hired former beauty and web editor Abby Gardner in a newly created position as the agency’s vice president of content. Gardner has served as a digital director of Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, beauty director at YM and senior editor at Glo.com, Daily Front Row and fashionista.com. She also served as a writer at Allure. More recently, she has been consulting with various publishing websites on content and social media strategies.

TORONTO—Ketchum has promoted Emma Capombassis to director of its Toronto office, responsible for Ketchum operations across Canada. Capombassis has been a senior vice president and member of the Ketchum Canada leadership team for eight years. Before joining Ketchum in 2007, Capombassis worked for Cohn & Wolfe and Citigate Dewe Rogerson. 

WASHINGTON, DC—Direct Impact, the grassroots public affairs subsidiary of Burson-Marsteller, has added Ray Glendening as a senior vice president. Glendening joins DI from McBee Strategic Consulting, where he served as vice president of innovation, spearheading digital initiatives. Prior to McBee, Glendening co-founded the political engagement platform Ruck.us and served as the national political director of the Democratic Governors Association.

BOSTON—Shift Communications has promoted Nicole Bestard and Katie Clark-AlSadder to vice president. Bestard joined the agency's New York office as an account director in June 2013 and will oversee a team on clients in both the B2B and consumer spaces including H&R Block, Mode Media, Suburban Propane and Whistle Sports. Clark-AlSadder is entering her fifth year at Shift's San Francisco office and will head a team servicing a consumer-based client roster that includes Toyota, Whole Foods Market and National Center for Families Learning.

NEW YORK—Hawkins International Public Relations has hired luxury hospitality PR expert Jennifer Greene as vice president. Greene comes to Hawkins from FRHI Hotels & Resorts, where she served as director of public relations for the Americas, supporting the company's more than 110 hotels under the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel brands, as well as its private residences club, whole-ownership residences and serviced residence properties.

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Denise Aube has been promoted to executive vice president at Crosby Marketing Communications. Aube, who is Crosby’s healthcare practice leader, has more than 25 years of healthcare strategic planning and brand management experience and works of programs for the US Department of Health & Human Services, Veterans Health Administration, Kaiser Permanente and St. Agnes Hospital.