NEW YORK—Burson-Marsteller has appointed Veena Raj (pictured) as a director and media strategist in its global consumer and brand marketing practice. Most recently, she was vice president of media relations at MSLGroup, where she counseled major brands and supported Procter & Gamble’s partnership with Olympic gold medalist Shawn Johnson for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the 175th anniversary of Tiffany & Co., and the grand opening of Kellogg’s first retail store, Pop-Tarts World, in New York. Prior to joining MSLGroup, Raj was an account supervisor at Dan Klores Communications.

NEW YORK—Fleishman-Hillard International Communications has hired Chris Nelson, a veteran crisis communications counselor, as a senior vice president in the agency's New York corporate and public affairs group. Earlier in his career, Nelson worked in the communications and public affairs department of the Ohio State University Medical Center and in the public relations department at Ashland Chemical.

CHICAGO—Chuck Sanchez has joined Walker Sands Communications as account director. Sanchez previously served as account manager at Coverdell, and brings nine years of marketing and public relations experience, including supervising national brands.

WASHINGTON, DC—Tatiana Deligiannakis has joined Widmeyer Communications as a senior associate in the firm’s pre-K-12 Education practice. Deligiannakis comes to Widmeyer with a decade of communications and media experience as a reporter for the New York Post and communications director for a New York City council member. Most recently, she served as communications director for New York City Council Member Peter F. Vallone Jr., chair of the New York City Council’s public safety committee.

ST. PAUL, MN—Eric Davis has joined Beehive PR as group director, where he leads agency engagements with clients such as Anser Innovation, Ergodyne, Hazeltine National Golf Club and Red Wing Shoes. Davis has nearly 20 years of experience and spent the last 11 years as a public relations director at Haberman Media + Marketing in Minneapolis, where he led communications strategy for a wide range of clients, including Volvo Cars of North America.