WWPR Announces 2022-2023 Advisory Council

Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR), a leading resource for female communications professionals in the nation’s capital, today announced its 2022-2023 Advisory Council, tasked with providing WWPR leadership with strategic advice on the direction of the organization.

“We are so excited to welcome our 2022-2023 Advisory Council members, an incoming group of amazing industry veterans with a multitude of experience,” said Jacqueline Wilson, WWPR President.

The Advisory Council is comprised of leaders in the communications and public relations industry, some bringing a long history of serving WWPR in other capacities alongside new faces to bring fresh perspective to the organization. We are honored to announce Susan Matthews ApgoodSukhi SahniHillarie Turner and Danielle Veira as WWPR’s 2022-2023 council members.

Susan Matthews Apgood 
Executive Vice President, Client Relations & Founder at News Generation

Susan Matthews Apgood is the founder of News Generation, a premier media relations firm which she launched in 1997. She sold her company to 4media group in April of 2020, where she is now an Executive Vice President of Client Relations. Apgood is active in a number of public relations associations, including Washington Women in Public Relations, of which she was Treasurer from 2018 to 2022, and in 2014, was one of three finalists for its Woman of the Year award. She is also active in the Public Relations Society of America, National Capital Chapter of which she was Treasurer as well as Co-Chair of both the Thoth Awards and Professional Development committees for many years. PRSA-NCC honored Apgood with its Platinum Award for her continued impact on the chapter in 2017, 2013 and 2011.

Apgood is an adjunct professor in the Kogod School of Business at American University, teaching Women in Organizational Leadership and Introduction to Business. She is a facilitator with Her Corner, where she coaches women in workshops and private sessions to grow their businesses. She earned her MBA in finance from American University and BA in economics from George Washington University.

Sukhi Sahni 
Senior Vice President, Head of Brand, DEI, Technology and Innovation Communications at Wells Fargo

Sukhi Sahni currently holds the position of Senior Vice President, Head of Brand, DEI, Technology and Innovation Communications at Wells Fargo. An accomplished marketing and communications strategist, Sahni’s career spans public, private and nonprofit sectors. She believes that powerful storytelling is at the heart of good communication and draws on her training as a broadcast journalist to extract truths, push boundaries and challenge the status quo.

Sahni brings the energy of new practitioners with the finesse and fearlessness of a veteran to her daily practice. Previous to Wells Fargo, she was the Head of Corporate Communications for the U.S. Card Division at Capital One. Sahni was recently recognized as the Top Rising Future CCOs list. She is also a recipient of the “Global Innovator 25 Award” and a top woman in PR through the “Top Women in PR Award”. Sahni currently serves as an Adjunct Professor teaching the Master’s program in PR and Communications at Georgetown University. She earned her BA in economics and psychology from Delhi University and MA in journalism from West Virginia University.

Hillarie Turner 
Account Director at FOVNDRY

Hillarie Turner is a seasoned communications professional specializing in health and science and currently serves as an Account Director at FOVNDRY where she provides senior-level counsel and leads media strategy and integrated outreach campaigns for clients. Turner previously worked at Spectrum Science and in-house at medical-speciality and scientific associations overseeing communications planning, leadership media training, media relations, and campaign development and management. She has managed large-scale national meeting press operations and is skilled at working with scientists, healthcare professionals, and researchers to translate scientific data for both professional and consumer audiences.

Turner is a Washington Women in Public Relations past president, serving for two years, and Woman of the Year event co-chair, from 2020 to 2021. She earned her BS in psychology from Elon University and is a member of the D.C. Science Writers Association and the Society for Health Communication.

Danielle Veira 
Founder and CEO at Minerva’s Legacy Consulting Group, LLC

Danielle Veira is the Senior Vice President of Communications, Marketing, and Membership at Advocates for Community Health (ACH) and the founder and CEO of Minerva’s Legacy Consulting Group, LLC. At ACH, Veira leads the organization’s external communications, membership engagement, storytelling, and media outreach efforts. She was introduced to ACH  through her work at Minerva’s Legacy Consulting Group, LLC where she provides leadership coaching and strategic communications services to clients across the country.

Before joining ACH in 2021, Veira spent more than a decade working in nonprofit, advocacy, and philanthropic communications, both in-house and at a strategic communications firm in Washington, DC. Veira is currently on Ragan Communications’ advisory board and serves on the board of directors for The ZAC Foundation. She was previously the executive director for the Chicago chapter of ColorComm, Inc., and a member of the local advisory board for iHeartMedia Markets Group’s Chicago region. Veira is also a WWPR past president and former board member. She received her BA from Emory University, where she majored in sociology and minored in political science.

As we welcome the incoming advisory council members, WWPR thanks our outgoing council members from the previous term for their time, dedication and guidance: Debra Silimeo, The Silimeo Group, Lauren Lawson-Zilai, Goodwill Industries International, Pattie Yu, The Yu Crew, and Stephenie Fu, the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Learn more about WWPR and upcoming events at www.wwpr.org.

ABOUT WASHINGTON WOMEN IN PUBLIC RELATIONS 
Washington Women in Public Relations (WWPR) is a member-based professional society cultivating and inspiring female communicators to reach their full potential in the DC market and beyond. The organization is committed to providing leadership opportunities, professional development, mentorship, and industry networking. Visit us at wwpr.org, connect with us on LinkedIn and Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @WWPR and on Instagram @WWPRDC.