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Lisa is an executive vice president and the leader of Ruder Finn’s U.S. Marketing Practice, working across offices to drive strategy and creative news generation. A member of the Ruder Finn team for the better part of a decade, she currently oversees a $5 million book of business that includes diverse brands such as Virgin Mobile USA, TiVo, The North Face, Good Earth Organic Coffee, Jamaica Tourist Board and Hammacher Schlemmer.

Lisa’s integrated approach focuses on building custom lifestyle platforms that extend into the PR, grassroots events, viral marketing and retail promotion realm, all with an unwavering focus on her clients’ end goals. Her primary areas of expertise include food and beverage (launching new products such as ModMix Organic Cocktail mix and breathing life into mature brands such as Beringer Vineyards), automotive (Mitsubishi child safety awareness programs) and the consumer tech space (TiVo and StubHub).

She has a knack for taking products ‘out of context’ in order to reach new customers. In July, her team launched the new TiVo on YouTube feature by successfully implementing a traditional media relations campaign. However, understanding that TiVo’s ‘reach’ audience included a more youthful market, the team worked with YouTube celebrity Cory Williams to produce a video that brought the feature to life for his millions of 20-something fans. Within a matter of days, the video entitled “My Weird Dream” attracted a quarter million visits and favorable comments about TiVo.

To revive a beloved Tuscan wine brand, Castello di Gabbiano, Lisa engaged the non-profit group Arts Fighting Cancer to co-create the “Gabbiano Knights” dinner and a movie series, pairing classic Italian films with Tuscan food and wine. Central to the campaign was spokesperson Claud Mann, chef for TBS’ long-running Dinner and a Movie program, who cooked up wine-ready recipes such as Gregory Pecorino Pansotti (“Roman Holiday”) and Fettu-Cine Paradiso (“Cinema Paradiso”). Following the summer tour, which included a $1 donation to the AFC for every click-through to Gabbiano.com, the team traveled to Italy to film a “Dinner and a Movie” segment at Gabbiano’s Tuscan villa, featuring product shots and brand mentions throughout—free of charge.

Before moving to California, Lisa worked in Ruder Finn’s New York and DC offices, where she led several high-profile launches. In 2004, Lisa ran the award-winning Ford Escape Hybrid "Manhattan on a Tank of Gas Challenge," an event designed to illustrate the eco-friendly benefits of the first hybrid SUV. Lisa and her team persuaded top tier media and celebrities to drive a portion of the 500-mile challenge - equivalent to every street in Manhattan - on one 15-gallon tank of gas, and they secured over 100 million media impressions as a result. Lisa also managed public relations for the Tylenol 8 Hour product, devising the five-city “Marathon First Timers Club” market tour to highlight the product’s extended pain relief to endurance athletes.

Lisa graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Delaware, and in May completed her masters in business administration with a focus on marketing at the University of California, Berkeley. An avid cyclist and runner, she is training for her fifth marathon this fall.