SAN FRANCISCO—Pacific Gas & Electric Company has appointed Travis Kiyota as vice president, community relations and public affairs. Kiyota currently serves as vice president, local government relations, and will now also provide strategic leadership for the company’s community relations organization. He joined PG&E in 2001 and has served in his current position for over three years. PG&E also promoted Ananda Baron, to senior director, community relations.

WASHINGTON, DC—The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America has hired Lauren Levinson as vice president of communications. Levinson will help craft the association's communications strategy and public positioning and will manage a team responsible for executive visibility, rapid response, proactive media outreach and a number of high-profile public affairs campaigns. Levinson joins PhRMA after eight years as a senior leader of Ketchum's Washington, DC, public and corporate affairs practice. Prior to Ketchum, Levinson worked with Prism Public Affairs and Powell Tate/Weber Shandwick.

LOS ANGELES—Amblin Partners, a new film, television and digital content creation company backed by DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg, has hired Sue Nahley Fleishman as head of communications, responsible for all internal and external communications. Fleishman previously worked at Warner Bros and before that at Universal Studios and most recently led her own company, September Media, which worked with DreamWorks among other clients. 

WASHINGTON, DC—The Urban Land Institute, a global research and education institute dedicated to responsible land use and creating thriving communities, has appointed Adam Smolyar as its chief marketing and membership officer. Smolyar will oversee the marketing, membership, strategic communications and information technology teams. Most recently, he served as senior vice president of strategic communications at the New York headquarters office of Savills Studley, a global commercial real estate services firm. Earlier, he was the chief marketing officer for The Jewish Federations of North America.

CLEVELAND—Abeona Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products for severe and life-threatening rare diseases, has appointed Christine Silverstein as vice president, investor relations. Silverstein’s most recent roles include director of investor relations at Relmada Therapeutics and vice president of corporate development and investor relations for PlasmaTech BioPharmaceuticals.

SEATTLE—Nick Hawley joined Visit Seattle as director of marketing, responsible for aligning brand messaging across all audiences. He will work closely with Publicis to continue to develop new ways to promote Seattle. Between 2013 and 2016, Hawley served as parking program manager at the Downtown Seattle Association, where he was responsible for the strategy, development and implementation of an integrated communications, marketing and advertising program.