by Tyler Hale
Mangan Holcomb Partners (MHP)/Team SI has named a new vice president of public relations. The marketing agency announced today that Kristen Nicholson, APR, has been promoted to the vice president role.
Most recently, Nicholson served as the firm’s director of public relations, and she is set to continue to oversee MHP/Team SI’s public relations efforts.
“Under this new role, I will remain the head of the PR department and will continue to provide strategic PR counsel for all of our clients,” Nicholson told Arkansas Money & Politics in an email. “Additionally, I will play a more integral role in assisting the executive leadership team with business development and agency promotional efforts.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Nicholson joined MHP in 2011 as a senior public relations account executive, rising to become associate director of public relations in 2015 and later director of public relations in 2017. During this time, she worked with agency clients, maintained strategic relationships, and led the agency’s public relations efforts.
“It has been truly incredible to watch Kristen grow at the agency,” Sharon Tallach Vogelpohl, principal/president at MHP/Team SI, said in a statement. “Throughout the years, she has evolved into both a dynamic leader and counselor. We are very lucky to have her and are excited to see how she will succeed in this role.”
MHP/Team SI has received numerous awards under her leadership, including a National National Award of Excellence in the category of Marketing in Consumer Services – Technology for its work with Kinetic by Windstream on Building Kinetic Communities at the 2019 Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Silver Anvil Awards. The firm also received 32 awards – out of 41 categories – in the 2019 ARCom Awards, hosted by the Little Rock PRSA, in Little Rock.
Nicholson earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is an alumnus of Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XXXI. She serves on several boards, including Junior Achievement of Central Arkansas and the Greater Little Rock Advisory Board.
The promotion comes in the wake of several other notable promotions and hirings at MHP/Team SI. In January, the firm announced that Mary Claire Hill would be taking on the role of public relations manager, providing strategy for the public relations team. The firm also announced the hiring of Emma Willis, who will oversee MHP/Team SI’s new 529 Plan initiative. As a senior strategist, Willis is charged with developing strategy and providing counsel to clients in the government and financial sectors to enable them to reach growth objectives.
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