Announcements – June 17, 2009

Advocacy firm announces two hires: Democracy Data and Communications (DDC), a leading issue advocacy firm, announced two senior vice president positions. Julie Cram will be the senior vice president for strategic development and John Dunagan will be senior vice president for program development.

Before DDC, Cram served in the White House as deputy assistant to the president and as director of public liaison. It was there she ran issue advocacy campaigns to help aid administration policies. Dunagan co-founded the advocacy firm CrossLink Strategy Group before heading to DDC. He also served as vice president at both Edelman and Powell Tate, and as the Michigan executive director in the 2004 Bush presidential campaign.

{mosads}Rep. McDermott welcomes new legislative assistant: Tiana L. Korley has joined Rep. Jim McDermott’s (D-Wash.) office as a legislative assistant for health. Before working for the congressman, Korley was an associate counsel for Bon Secours Health System Inc., an integrated health delivery system. Prior to that, she was an assistant general counsel at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Korley’s husband is Frederick Korley, M.D., an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Korley also has a 10-month-old son, Noah.

Washington National Opera welcomes new chairman: The Washington National Opera (WNO) appointed Jane Lipton Cafritz as chairman of the company’s board of trustees. Cafritz’s chairmanship will go into effect July 1.

She succeeds John J. Pohanka, who served for four years. Along with Kenneith Feinberg, president, and Jacqueline Badger Mars, executive committee chairman, Cafritz and the two will work with Placido Domingo, general director of the WNO, and Executive Director Mark Weinstein to help develop the company’s artistic profile and provide financial oversight.

They also will work on developing the company’s community presence.

Cafritz has been an advocate for the WNO’s Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, a two-year program that trains the next generation of opera singers.

Sen. Baucus gets new senior adviser: Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Finance Committee chairman, names Scott Mulhauser as senior adviser and counsel to the Finance Committee. Mulhauser will direct media operations.

Mulhauser previously served for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). Mulhauser graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Pennsylvania.

Vox Global hires former American Express exec to lead financial
market projects: Vox Global, a bipartisan public affairs firm, hired Lilyanne McClean, a former American Express company executive. McClean will lead projects related to financial market stability and global financial cooperation, in addition to others. While at American Express, McClean held leadership roles managing government affairs, public affairs, internal communications and various other philanthropic activities.