Jay Russo Email & Phone Number

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

• Communications team leader for Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail wealth management affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group• Partner with president of LFN and senior leadership to recommend, develop and implement external and internal communication strategies to most effectively reach target audiences and achieve desired business and communication goals• Proactively build relationships and engage with key media contacts with responsibility for pitching and responding to the… Show more • Communications team leader for Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail wealth management affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group• Partner with president of LFN and senior leadership to recommend, develop and implement external and internal communication strategies to most effectively reach target audiences and achieve desired business and communication goals• Proactively build relationships and engage with key media contacts with responsibility for pitching and responding to the media to drive external awareness of LFN and its value proposition, establish executives as thought leaders and protect the brand• Develop external communications (press releases, fact sheets, backgrounders, memos, video scripts, social media postings and other written communications and collateral materials) for a range of audiences• Direct and execute the internal communications program for LFN with a focus on fostering employee engagement, building culture, assisting in change management, advancing DE & I priorities, and helping employees understand and connect to business strategies• Counsel senior leadership and internal stakeholders on external business communication strategies to reach LFN community of financial advisors • Develop and manage external and internal communications responses during crisis communications situations• Develop and execute communications strategies to effectively support change management • Collaborate with the broader Lincoln Corporate Communications team to achieve business goals and objectives in alignment with Lincoln’s integrated communications objectives • Collaborate with Events team to support communications for senior leadership• Collaborate with Marketing leaders to ensure communication plans are aligned to integrated Marketing plans Show less

• Built and maintained strong stakeholder relationships in order to provide consultative communications expertise and guidance to senior leaders on complex and creative external and internal communication plans, assignments and projects • Directed and executed the public relations program for the Life Insurance business to drive external awareness of the company, its products and services, and establish executives as thought leaders: developed strategic plans; built and managed… Show more • Built and maintained strong stakeholder relationships in order to provide consultative communications expertise and guidance to senior leaders on complex and creative external and internal communication plans, assignments and projects • Directed and executed the public relations program for the Life Insurance business to drive external awareness of the company, its products and services, and establish executives as thought leaders: developed strategic plans; built and managed relationships with national, trade and local media outlets; developed core external business messaging, content and pitches • Directed and executed the internal communications program for the Life Insurance business with a focus on fostering employee engagement, building culture, assisting in change management, advancing DE & I priorities, and helping employees understand and connect to business strategies• Worked directly with business leadership to drive executive visibility and foster a leadership brand with external audiences• Partnered closely with marketing leaders to develop integrated and complementary public relations and marketing plans and messaging • Continuously recommended new internal and external communication tools and tactics to meet employees where they want to be met, and expand Lincoln’s sphere of influencers beyond traditional media, such as industry analysts and affinity groups• Contributed to the development of crisis communications policies and procedures; consulted on incidents and events• Ensured external communications met compliance guidelines in a highly-regulated industry • Established benchmark and performance metrics to track communication effectiveness; identified and directed the implementation of process, tactic and quality improvements Show less

• Managed public relations activities for the Life Insurance and Annuity businesses, including writing press releases, identifying media and speaking opportunities, and preparing spokespeople for media interviews and speaking engagements • Contributed to enterprise-wide social media efforts• Contributed to the development of key messages for senior leaders and management when speaking with external and internal audiences• Developed internal communications, including… Show more • Managed public relations activities for the Life Insurance and Annuity businesses, including writing press releases, identifying media and speaking opportunities, and preparing spokespeople for media interviews and speaking engagements • Contributed to enterprise-wide social media efforts• Contributed to the development of key messages for senior leaders and management when speaking with external and internal audiences• Developed internal communications, including executive memos, presentations, talkingpoints and multimedia scripts• Managed and developed internal newsletters and intranet content• Planned and executed special events and all-employee meetings Show less

• Developed, implemented and evolved strategic public relations agendas aligned with business objectives of clients, including Sophos, MindTree, LSI/Agere Systems and Engenio• Raised awareness of clients’ products and services with key industry influencers to advance their company’s brand and reputation to drive a positive impact with customers, business partners, employees and industry bodies • Drove U.S. visibility campaign for India-based client, coordinating public relations… Show more • Developed, implemented and evolved strategic public relations agendas aligned with business objectives of clients, including Sophos, MindTree, LSI/Agere Systems and Engenio• Raised awareness of clients’ products and services with key industry influencers to advance their company’s brand and reputation to drive a positive impact with customers, business partners, employees and industry bodies • Drove U.S. visibility campaign for India-based client, coordinating public relations plans and activities between Marketing and Public Relations teams in the U.S. and India• Measured and analyzed public relations performance against established objectives; devised program adjustments to ensure success• Assisted clients in implementing social media strategies• Provided media training to clients’ spokespeople • Implemented Award and Speaker Bureau programs Show less

• Developed key messages and speaking points to help clients clearly articulate value propositions• Managed media relations programs and generated positive coverage for agency’s two largest clients. • Developed media relations plans and media pitches and managed executive interviews from preparation to completion to ensure success • Composed quarterly media analysis reports using online tools: Vocus, Biz360 and Cymfony• Supervised account staff

• Collaborated with a broad spectrum of business unit personnel from product managers and engineers, to VPs in order to develop target-centric public relations campaigns surrounding major product launches• Coordinated PR activities with clients’ marketing and events teams • Managed agency’s industry-analyst relations program, securing briefings with firms including Gartner, IDC and Forrester

• Wrote press releases, feature articles, Web content, newsletters, technical papers, case studies and collateral material. Facilitated editing and approval processes for the same.• Built and maintained media relationships; generated positive coverage for clients with national, local, business and trade media through interviews, contributed articles, news release distribution and editorial calendar tracking• Established clients as Thought Leaders and expert media sources in their… Show more • Wrote press releases, feature articles, Web content, newsletters, technical papers, case studies and collateral material. Facilitated editing and approval processes for the same.• Built and maintained media relationships; generated positive coverage for clients with national, local, business and trade media through interviews, contributed articles, news release distribution and editorial calendar tracking• Established clients as Thought Leaders and expert media sources in their respective subject matter areas• Organized special events and secured attendance of local media and dignitaries• Coordinated media / analyst tours in New York, Boston and other cities• Maintained media and blogger contact database• Secured speaking opportunities for clients’ Senior Executives at industry conferences• Maintained clients’ media coverage catalogue Show less

Keene, Nh

• Promoted university professors as expert media sources• Generated national and local media coverage for higher-education clients surrounding university-based feature and Op-Ed stories• Distributed university-based press releases and research backgrounders to target media