SAN FRANCISCO—Edelman has named Michael Kuczkowski general manager of its San Francisco office, reporting to Curt Kundred, president of Edelman’s US western region. Kuczkowski will oversee all operations, financial management, staffing, top-level client service and overall business direction and growth for Edelman San Francisco. He is a 10-year Edelman veteran and most recently founded and served as president of Edelman Consulting, the firm’s management consulting division.

SEATTLE—Weber Shandwick has named Brooke Shepard (pictured) executive creative director and leader of its creative services team. Based in Seattle, Shepard will be responsible for leading creative strategy and development for clients’ digital campaigns and managing the firm’s video production and graphic design teams. Shepard has more than 15 years of experience working on technology and consumer campaigns with Weber Shandwick’s Seattle and Chicago offices, and spent the last year building the consumer technology practice for Current Lifestyle Marketing, a Weber Shandwick sister agency.

CHICAGO—Social@Ogilvy has appointed Linda Saindon as senior vice president. Reporting to Nathan Friedman, managing director of Ogilvy PR/Chicago, Saindon brings expertise in consumer packaged goods and retail verticals, social media/word-of-mouth marketing, CRM and web/email marketing. Prior to joining Social@Ogilvy, Saindon served as general manager, online business unit and director, social media at Sears Holdings, where she directed social media marketing strategies for Sears and Kmart brands.

NEW YORK—Alan Araujo has joined MWW Group as director of social strategy in the firm’s Dialogue Digital practice, reporting to Jared Hendler, executive vice president, global director of digital and creative. Araujo has worked for clients including HP, Capital One, Busch Entertainment Corporation, SOYJOY, and Johnson & Johnson. Prior to joining MWW Group, Araujo worked for 12 years at Porter Novelli, where he served as a senior vice president overseeing the digital strategy, production, and creative teams.

MINNEAPOLIS—Dave Folkens has joined the healthcare practice at Padilla Speer Beardsley. Folkens will help oversee staff, develop new business, and plan and lead strategic communications programs for clients such as National Marrow Donor Program, OptumHealth and LifeSource. Folkens brings 15 years of corporate, agency and non-profit experience to the firm. Most recently, he was the director of communications for the Minnesota AIDS Project and prior to that was with Fleishman-Hillard, and previously he worked for Medtronic and Orphan Medical.

RALEIGH, NC—French/West/Vaughan has promoted Jenny Pilewski to vice president. With FWV since 2004, Pilewski manages public relations, advertising and social media efforts on behalf of apparel, footwear, lifestyle, and spirits clients Wrangler; Riders by Lee; Justin Brands, Inc.; and Hood River Distillers. FWV has also promoted Allison Showalter to group account director and hired Ann Spencer as an account supervisor in its sports and entertainment practice.

NEW YORK—MWW Group has promoted Jessica Shearer to vice president, director of marketing. Shearer, who joined the firm in 2009, has helped expand the firm’s marketing efforts through a more integrated model. In her new role, she will continue to oversee agency-wide marketing initiatives. Prior to joining MWW, Shearer worked at a number of media companies, including Esquire magazine, Self magazine, and Hachette Filipacchi Media.

WASHINGTON, DC—Levick Strategic Communications has hired Mikah Sellers as vice president of marketing, responsible for Levick’s internal and external brand building efforts. Prior to joining Levick, Sellers was co-founder and chief revenue officer at Vendor Centric, a vendor management consulting firm, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the firms go-to-market strategies. He was also a solution architect and senior consultant at ePartner and chief marketing officer for Doceus, an interactive agency in Washington, DC.