Jessica Makin joins ŌURA  Jessica Makin has announced that she is joining ŌURA as lead communications at APAC.  She joins the team from Amazon, where she was a head of communications in Australia and Singapore most recently.  Makin brings a wealth of experience working across Hill + Knowlton, One Green Bean, David Jones, and Scentre Group before joining Amazon, where she worked in PR roles for 7 years.  DARKHORSE expands APAC team DARKHORSE has strengthened its APAC leadership with three senior appointments: Maxine Reed and Olivia Muir as Experiential Directors in Sydney and Auckland, and Elizabeth O'Leary as Creative Director in Singapore.  Maxine Reed has joined as experiential director from Havas Red, where she spent four years leading the Brand Experience team and worked with brands including Lexus, Toyota, L’Oréal, Netflix, Tourism Tasmania and Apple TV+. Earlier, Reed spent five years in events and marketing roles at Amazon.

SPEAK Communications appoints Jason Evans as senior account manager SPEAK Communications has appointed Jason Evans as senior account manager as the independent sports, entertainment and culture PR agency continues to grow.  Evans brings more than 15 years of communications experience across entertainment, sport and technology, having worked with Channel 9, Stan, Netflix and Microsoft. His experience covers creative strategy, media relations, reputation management and working with high-profile executives and VIP talent. The appointment marks a full-circle moment for SPEAK founder and director Snezana Hay, who previously worked with Evans when he interned at 2K Games. Evans previously worked across Stan, Nine, Ogilvy, Fairfax, Bandai Namco Games, One to Another Pty Ltd, and 2K Games.  Legora appoints Marko Zitko and Jocelyn Bukal to APJ leadership roles Legal agentic operating system company Legora has appointed Marko Zitko as director, communications, APJ and Jocelyn

Jane Dao Thi joins QMS NZ Jane Dao Thi has announced that she is returning home after four years in Australia, most recently as a client partner at ARN.  She moved to Auckland as an account manager at QMS NZ.  Dao Thi worked at Havas Media Network in Australia and Wilson Consumer Products in Auckland previously.  Helix PR expands team in its first anniversary Helix PR has expanded its team with journalists Kate Collins and Amelia Mulcahy, marking its first anniversary, reflecting on its growth since launching 12 months ago.  The agency said it has worked with clients including 23rd Street Distillery, Bickford’s Australia, Blue Sky Drinks, Blitz Golf, Smith Optics, Bleasdale Vineyards, Golf Australia, Australian Golf Digest, Better Beer, Harvest Hospitality and PointsBet.  It has also worked alongside organisations including Cricket Australia, Adelaide Oval, Kooyonga Golf Club and Port Adelaide FC. Jayitri Smiles joins Vanguard Vanguard Aus

APRW appoints Puja Bharwani as associate director APRW has appointed Puja Bharwani as associate director, where she will focus on strategic advisory, positioning and communications for clients across AI enterprise technology, financial institutions, and consumer and luxury lifestyle brands. She joins APRW after co-founding AI platform Wizly and previously served as vice president, communications and marketing, Southeast Asia at Antler. She spent more than a decade in journalism, including as a producer and reporter at Reuters, where she won the Reuters Journalist of the Year award in 2007. Judy Crema joins Dentsu Judy Crema has joined Dentsu Creative as Agency Partner – PR after nearly eight years at CHEP/Clemenger BBDO, where she most recently led the PR function.  With experience spanning integrated campaigns and senior agency roles in Australia and New York, Crema brings significant PR expertise to Dentsu Creative’s Australian leadership team. She previousl

Mary C appointed head of talent at Hello Mary C. has announced that she has been appointed head of talent at Hello, taking on leadership of the agency’s influencer offering after five and a half years with the business. In a LinkedIn post, C. said Hello was scaling its influencer offering with proprietary technology and AI across research, vetting, tracking and reporting. She said the move would build on the agency’s existing influencer work while establishing an in-house technology offering, describing it as “new tech, same brilliant minds”.  C. joined Hello as a senior account manager in 2021 and most recently served as senior account director. Before Hello, she spent more than five years at Sony Music Entertainment across social media, content and digital marketing roles, and previously worked as an assistant publicist at The PR Files. Kerrie O. departs nbn Kerrie O. has left nbn after almost eight years with the company, marking the end of her

Thrive PR + Communications announces three senior leadership appointments Thrive PR + Communications has announced three senior leadership appointments across Australia and New Zealand, with Sophie (Ball) Maguire appointed business lead, Thrive Melbourne; Kyra Shakspeare promoted to business lead, Thrive Brisbane; and Lwindi Ellis appointed head of PR, Thrive Aotearoa New Zealand. Maguire will lead the Melbourne office, building on her long association with Thrive. She first joined the agency in 2008 and said the appointment marked a “full-circle moment” as she takes on the opportunity to shape the next chapter of the Melbourne team. Shakspeare has been promoted after a year growing Thrive’s Queensland team, while Ellis will lead the agency’s Auckland-based PR team and focus on expanding its New Zealand offering to Trans-Tasman brands and locally based organisations. Ellis said she was “delighted to be driving” Thrive’s business in Aotearo