Chicago – February 13, 2024: Jennifer Allison—an executive with more than 20 years of experience in designing and implementing programs that drive business outcomes, engage employees, mitigate crisis and enhance leadership and brand reputation—joined Gagen MacDonald as a managing director, Founder and CEO Maril MacDonald announced today.
“Jenn comes to Gagen with an intense passion for the work we do and with extensive experience in M&A, digital transformation and the future of work,” MacDonald said. “With her strong values, extensive professional network, business acumen and drive for excellence we are confident Jenn will provide essential counsel to clients and colleagues.”
Allison most recently served as the chief communications officer at National Instruments. In that role, she oversaw all aspects of communication and led a global team that was responsible for elevating and protecting the company’s reputation. Prior to National Instruments, she enjoyed a 16-year career at Dell Technologies, where she held communications and operating roles including vice president of executive and internal communication vice president, supply chain responsibility and chief of staff to Dell’s vice chairman.
Allison joins a deep bench of leaders and experts at Gagen MacDonald, including Executive Director Patricia Bayerlein; Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer Molly Rauzi; Managing Director Hillary Goodman; Senior Director Jillane Rochin; Senior Director Greg Voeller; Senior Director Michelle Therrien; Senior Director Becky Jimenez; and Senior Director Courtney O’Connell.
MacDonald founded her eponymous firm that focuses on strategy execution and change leadership more than 25 years ago. Gagen MacDonald is a pioneer in bringing humanity to strategy execution, leading in areas such as organizational communication, culture, leadership and employee engagement. In 2023, Gagen was acquired by APCO, a global advisory and advocacy firm, joining two independent and pioneering woman-owned companies together to bring deeper stakeholder insights and expertise to help organizations achieve their vision for positive change and transformation.
About Gagen MacDonald
Gagen MacDonald, a wholly owned subsidiary of APCO Worldwide, is a strategy execution firm that specializes in business transformation, employee engagement, culture change and leadership development. Working collaboratively from the corporate office to the front line, we use an organization’s brand, culture, vision, history and reputation to align and motivate employees to transform companies and deliver business results. As pioneers in organizational change, we are proud to have helped some of the world’s biggest brands improve business performance and become better places to work. For more information, please visit www.gagenmacdonald.com.
About APCO Worldwide
APCO Worldwide is an advisory and advocacy communications consultancy helping leading public and private sector organizations be catalysts for progress by navigating the challenges of today, acting with agility, anticipating social risk and building organizational reputations, relationships and solutions to succeed. APCO is an independent and majority women-owned business. For more information, please visit www.apcoworldwide.com.
