Leadership

As CEO and co-founder at V2 Communications, Jean Serra has over 20 years of experience helping disruptive companies become ascending brands. Clients know Jean for her strategic communications counsel and expertise building brand awareness across enterprise, healthcare and clean tech sectors. Jean’s teams know her to develop high-impact programs that drive results for hundreds of organizations worldwide, including UiPath and Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Since co-founding V2 in 2006, Jean has pioneered innovative strategies in communications, PR/AR, social media, content marketing, influencer relations, measurement, and strategic messaging and positioning. She leads a team of experienced executives to develop award-winning programs that fuel rapid growth, shift market perception and drive measurable business impact within both consumer and B2B sectors.

Under Jean’s leadership, V2 has grown into a firm where senior-level management remains involved at every level. She plays an active role not only in spearheading client programs, but also in cultivating homegrown talent within the agency. To realize this vision, Jean designed a culture that organizes and nurtures its employees around a standard for excellence and a commitment to delivering high-quality, impactful work and service to clients. As a result, V2 has been dubbed a “Best Place to Work” several times over the years.

Prior to V2, Jean served as a senior vice president at leading tech PR agency FitzGerald Communications, where she oversaw strategic communications campaigns and managed teams in flawless execution for both emerging growth brands and established market leaders. Her extensive career has also included senior account management positions at Fleishman-Hillard and Red Whistle Communications (a Weber Shandwick company).

As head of operations for V2, Jen is responsible for day-to-day agency management, from finance, to office management and everything in between. Her extensive background and experience working with services companies makes her uniquely equipped for keeping the parts and pieces of agency life moving forward. 

Prior to V2, Jen spent more than a decade at a North Shore ad agency, acting as director of finance and operations. Before that, she worked in finance for a West Coast retailer.

Katelyn sets the strategic direction for communications programs and never settles for the status quo. During her 15-year career in PR, Katelyn has helped her clients create categories, dethrone established market leaders, attract top talent and poise themselves for acquisition by applying an integrated mix of PR, content and social strategies. As a direct result of her work, they have taken the stage at SXSW, been interviewed by Jim Cramer on CNBC’s Mad Money, appeared among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and graced the pages of The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Financial Times. She is proud to have represented global brands such as Nielsen, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the University of Michigan, as well as disruptive technology companies including Blue Prism, Betterment, Rave Mobile Safety and Panjiva (now part of S&P Global).

In addition to her account work, Katelyn leads V2’s content practice, which launched in 2017. In this role, she helps account teams bring content marketing best practices to campaigns and oversees a team of writers dedicated to executive ghostwriting, long-form content development and owned social media channels. She also works closely with V2’s research, design and technology partners to ensure seamless, end-to-end execution of content campaigns. 

Katelyn has served as co-executive director of Boston Content, a nonprofit dedicated to education and networking to advance the careers of local content professionals, and began her career with in-house marketing roles in the commercial real estate and hospitality sectors. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English from Assumption College and holds an M.A. in marketing communications from Emerson College.

Melissa Mahoney has spent more than 20 years building and protecting B2B and high-tech brands through integrated marketing and communications programs. She brings both top-tier agency experience advising high-growth, emerging tech companies, along with strategic communication leadership within established enterprises to her role at V2. In addition to overseeing client engagements, Melissa heads up the firm’s crisis communications practice. 

Prior to joining V2, Melissa was the vice president of corporate communications for start-up SimpliVity, where she oversaw global media and analyst relations, brand management and social media programs. Previously, she was the vice president of corporate communications for Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM), a $3B information management company based in Boston, MA. Over the course of a decade, Melissa built and lead external and employee communications, global brand management, crisis communications and customer marketing functions for the S&P 500 business. 

Prior to Iron Mountain, Melissa was the director of corporate communications for Corporate Software, where she drove internal and external communications for the $1B+ international software reseller and its parent company, REBAR, a corporate incubator. She was recruited from the Weber Group, where she was an account director in the agency’s Emerging Business Practice, with focuses on IT security and e-commerce. Representative clients included: Security Dynamics/RSA (acquired by EMC), NextPoint Networks (acquired by Netscout), Netegrity (acquired by CA) and Intranets.com (acquired by WebEx). 

Melissa launched her PR career with Golin/Harris, a top consumer PR agency in New York. She earned a B.S. in broadcast journalism and a minor in English literature from Boston University.

Kristen Leathers is an executive vice president at V2 Communications, where she leads the firm’s B2B technology practice. Building upon her nearly 15 years crafting and executing high-impact communications programs for her clients, Kristen counsels brands on integrated strategies that support their marketing and broader business objectives – whether those be building brand or category awareness, establishing market leadership, or managing brand reputation.

Kristen has partnered with companies ranging from early-stage startups to global, publicly traded brands, working across sectors including AI and automation, data management and analytics, quantum computing, cybersecurity, and CRM. Prior to overseeing V2’s B2B technology portfolio, Kristen built the firm’s healthcare practice – applying her tech expertise to manage communications efforts for innovative companies dedicated to transforming the healthcare industry. Notable client experience includes Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV), Best Buy Health, DataRobot, OneTrust, and UiPath (NYSE: PATH) – a brand she’s grown from an unknown European startup to one of today’s most recognized AI companies.

At the heart of Kristen’s client engagements is her insatiable curiosity and flare for storytelling. A media relations expert, Kristen quickly discerns the “so what” of her clients’ innovations to develop messaging and programs aligned with their business goals. Her work for clients has landed coveted broadcast segments on CNBC and Bloomberg, as well print features in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review and Forbes. Her media savvy and strategic campaigns have also contributed to her recognition as a Top Women in PR by PRNEWS.

Kristen joined the V2 team in 2012 after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross, where she earned her B.A. in English.

Shannon has more than 20 years’ experience growing business through designing and implementing influential communications and marketing strategies while counseling thought leaders across the healthcare landscape. Her integrated communications experience spans several sectors in highly competitive environments such as digital health, healthcare technology, medical device/diagnostics, women’s health and wellness. In addition to her agency experience consulting both emerging and established healthcare brands, Shannon brings deep expertise leading multiple agency operational responsibilities and serving in leadership roles.

Previously, Shannon was the Managing Director of 120/80 GROUP where she served as an instrumental leader in scaling and defining the consulting firm as a leader in digital health innovation and propelling its growth with the intent to establish a set of new pathways for communications, marketing, and positioning of digital health companies. She served as a strategic client advisor to multiple digital health innovators, led account teams, oversaw many aspects of the firm’s operational efficiencies, and spearheaded the company’s talent acquisition efforts.

Prior to 120/80 GROUP, Shannon held senior positions at such firms as Highwire PR and Allison Worldwide. Her extensive career also includes 12 years at MSLGROUP in San Francisco (formerly Schwartz Communications) where she oversaw strategic communications campaigns for healthcare innovators, managed teams, and helped scale both internal talent and client portfolios.

Shannon graduated with a B.A. from Colby College and was co-captain of the women’s lacrosse team.

Jenna Gilligan is the vice president of human resources at V2 Communications where she oversees V2’s recruiting and talent management initiatives. Before moving to the operations side, Jenna spent seven years at V2 working hand-in-hand with clients to develop effective communications programs and with senior agency leadership to develop V2’s staff and workplace culture.   

Jenna joined the V2 team in 2014 and works in the company’s Boston office. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Scranton and an M.A. in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College.

Nicole is a passionate communications professional who applies her creativity, competitive drive and problem-solving skills to position her clients as category leaders. As a vice president at V2, Nicole partners with clients to dive deep into their messaging, competitive landscape and desired business outcomes to lead her teams to execute robust, integrated communications strategies spanning media, content, social and beyond. She’s worked with a variety of organizations across the data, AI, cybersecurity, climate tech and healthtech industries, from early-stage startups to large, public companies. Her experience in these industries has made her an expert on distilling deeply technical topics into easy-to-understand messages and stories that capture audience attention and boost brand awareness.

Nicole’s love for storytelling and desire to secure the hard-to-get wins has resulted in client coverage in outlets like CNBC, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, WIRED and Fast Company—as well as a client cover story for Forbes Magazine. She uniquely understands what’s required to generate highly coveted media placements—including developing the right messaging, identifying the right story elements and engaging the right reporter, editor or producer. Nicole has also helped land clients on stage at high-profile events, such as Fortune Brainstorm Tech, Fortune Brainstorm AI, Forbes Cloud 100 Summit and VentureBeat Transform.

Nicole joined V2 as an apprentice in September 2015 after graduating Cum Laude a semester early from Bentley University, earning her B.S. in Marketing and Liberal Studies with a concentration in Media Arts & Society.

Amanda Maguire is a vice president at V2 Communications, where she develops communications strategies and drives media results for various clients, particularly those in the cybersecurity and AI industries. Amanda advises clients on how to connect major company initiatives to trending news and events and works across teams to ensure every campaign has maximum reach. Ever the media relations lover, Amanda has secured client profiles in Forbes, the Boston Globe and Inc. Magazine, as well as other coverage in publications such as USA Today, Yahoo! Finance, Business Insider and Cheddar. 

Amanda joined the V2 team in 2019 as an Account Coordinator. Prior to joining V2, Amanda worked for Triad Advertising Companies for a year before making the switch to public relations. She then worked for Beantown Media Ventures, where she was introduced to the world of B2B public relations and communications.  

Amanda graduated from Boston College in May of 2017 with a B.A. in Communications. In her down time, she enjoys running, hiking and traveling.  

As a vice president at V2 Communications, Hannah leads integrated communications strategies for B2B technology companies, from innovative startups to established legacy brands. Dedicated to maximizing the impact of her clients’ messaging, she ensures each campaign integrates earned, owned, and paid media approaches. She is passionate about translating complex technology jargon into clear and compelling stories that resonate with the right audiences.

With a sharp awareness of the ever-evolving communications landscape, Hannah leverages bold, creative strategies to bring campaigns to life. Whether developing and launching technology podcasts, executing dynamic experiential marketing, or establishing employee advocacy programs for global brands, Hannah ensures her clients stay ahead of the competition.

She began her career in public relations in 2016 after earning her master’s degree in communications from the State University of New York at Albany. She has worked with a diverse range of clients, including National Grid, Rocket Software, WiTricity and Nielsen. Hannah has been a Boston resident since 2018.

Liam Sullivan is a vice president at V2 Communications in the firm’s climate tech practice, where he leads integrated communications programs that build renowned brands for companies making a difference in the energy transition. With strategic counsel and an eye toward driving results, Liam helps clients tell their unique stories to the audiences that matter most to their business.

Whether its helping launch dozens of companies out of stealth mode and into the media ecosystem with feature stories that buoy their business, building a national platform for companies with growing market ambitions or amplifying news of a first-of-a-kind tech deployment, Liam is a passionate storyteller who knows how to move the needle and build innovators into leaders. Leveraging his deep understanding of what audiences are looking for and how they want to hear it, Liam has secured client coverage in national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Financial Times, Forbes, TIME and Reuters, and helped put clients on stage at events like SXSW. In addition to climate tech, he has worked with a variety of organizations—ranging from startups to large, public companies—across the AI, cybersecurity, enterprise software and health tech industries.

Prior to joining the V2 team in 2018 as an account coordinator, Liam gained valuable experience as a brand specialist with the multi-billion-dollar consumer brand Planters, spending a year behind the wheel of the iconic, 26-foot-long Planters NUTmobile.

Liam graduated Cum Laude from Syracuse University with a B.S. in newspaper and online journalism, while earning minors in both marketing and information management and technology. He is based in New York, NY.

Elise is a seasoned employee development and corporate trainer with an extensive background in broadcast production and business development. Over the past decade, Elise has worked with companies to advance their organizational growth by fostering employee professional development. Elise’s experience in the broadcast field includes working with stations such as WCVB-TV Channel 5, Sports Channel New England, ESPN and SVS, Inc.

As a producer, she developed content and stories for the U.S. Department of Education, CNN, SAT 1 German TV, Reuters, and E! Entertainment Television.

She became a highly sought-after communications specialist recognized for effectively preparing speakers for live shot interviews and media tours. Elise is dedicated to the process of continuous research in business communication methodologies and on-going refinement to the programs based on the most current training philosophies. Her training and corporate coaching style reflect her belief in immediate implementation to maximize tangible results.