RALEIGH, N.C. (Aug. 28, 2023) — French/West/Vaughan (FWV) – one of the nation’s largest independently held PR, advertising and digital media agencies – has added three new team members and announced three promotions at its Raleigh, N.C., headquarters.
Christie Mandia has joined FWV as Senior Counselor in an account management role. Mandia was previously with Cashman & Associates in Philadelphia, where she was an Account Director managing a number of the firm’s high profile integrated accounts. Prior to that, she ran her own consultancy, with clients including The Academy of Music, Boston Market, Lincoln Motors, the DeMeco Ryans Foundation and the NextGen Kimmel Cancer Center. Mandia will be supporting special projects and business development for FWV.
In her role as Account Coordinator, Amy Dragelin will provide public relations and account service support to infrastructure, climate technology and sports and entertainment clients. Before joining FWV full-time, Dragelin worked on several key agency clients as an apprentice. She is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH), where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a concentration in public relations, and a minor in Hispanic Studies.
Leslie Guzman has come on board as the newest member of FWV’s social media and influencer marketing team. In her role as Multimedia Coordinator, Guzman is contributing to social media accounts and projects in several industries, including healthcare, spirits, and sports and entertainment. She was previously an intern for FWV and graduated from UNC-CH with a bachelor’s degree in media and journalism.
In addition to the new hires, FWV has announced promotions for three team members. Colleen Pacheco has been promoted to Associate Vice President. Since joining FWV in 2018, Pacheco has serviced and led multiple integrated agency accounts across a wide variety of industries, including government and municipalities, food and beverage, and sports and entertainment.
Kaitlyn DeSimone has been promoted to Group Account Director. In this role, she will continue supporting key agency clients, focusing on apparel, spirits and Western lifestyle brands. DeSimone joined the FWV team in 2021.
The agency has named Lauren French as Account Supervisor. French has worked with FWV clients in the apparel, public affairs and pet products space, among others, since joining the agency in 2020.
“Our employees are the agency’s biggest asset,” said FWV Chairman & CEO Rick French. “We are excited to welcome Christie, Amy and Leslie to the team, and congratulate Colleen, Kaitlyn and Lauren on their well-deserved promotions.”
FWV employs more than 130 public relations, public affairs, social media, advertising and digital marketing experts among its Raleigh, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston and Detroit offices. To find information on careers at FWV, visit fwv-us.com/Careers.
About French/West/Vaughan
French/West/Vaughan (FWV) is one of the nation’s leading public relations, public affairs, advertising and digital media agencies. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., and founded in April 1997, FWV has received 30 Global or National Agency of the Year honors over the past quarter century, along with more than 1,600 PR, advertising and digital marketing awards on behalf of its global roster of blue-chip clients, which include Wrangler, ABB, Proximo, Melitta, Teen Cancer America, Mitsubishi Electric, N.A. and the N.C. Department of Transportation, among others. FWV is the parent company of fashion and lifestyle PR firm AMP3 (New York City); mobility and transportation-focused agency The Millerschin Group (Detroit); pet and animal health practice FWV Fetching; outdoor, ski, fashion, technology and consumer brand marketing agency CGPR (Greater Boston) and feature film development imprint Prix Productions. FWV is a partner in IPREX, a $380 million network of communication agencies with 1,600 staff and 110 offices worldwide. For more information, visit fwv-us.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vimeo or Instagram.
