Verde Brand Communications Adds Partners, Hires Integrated Services Director, Chief Operating Officer

January 22, 2019

Leading outdoors/active-lifestyle agency promotes longtime employees to partners, bolsters integrated, operations capabilities

DURANGO, Colo. (January 22, 2019) – Verde Brand Communications, a full-service communications firm serving the outdoor and active-lifestyle markets for nearly 20 years, promoted its two longest-tenured employees to agency partners. In addition, Verde hired a new company director who will oversee integrated services and digital strategy, as well as a chief operating officer who will manage operations for the 20-person agency.

Julie Evans and Dave Simpson are now partners at Verde. Evans currently serves as managing director and Simpson is an agency director. Both have been with Verde for 15 years, and both lead a variety of client work as well as internal agency projects.

“Julie and Dave have acted like owners since the first day they joined,” said Kristin Carpenter-Ogden, CEO and founder of Verde. “They both epitomize the definition of client service, and – as former journalists – they’re both exceptional at caretaking the needs of media and at helping the agency navigate today’s changing media landscape. They have literally helped create what the Verde experience looks like for employees, clients and the media. Their promotion to partners is well deserved.”

In addition, Verde hired Chris Dickerson as Director of Integrated Services, and Chris Talevi as Chief Operating Officer. 

Dickerson most recently worked as senior strategist at We Are Unicorns, a Seattle-based digital agency. There he held a key strategic leadership role overseeing the agency’s digital marketing team with an emphasis on increasing performance across services. Prior to that, he was a project manager at Hammerquist Studios, where he directed a wide range of brand strategy, digital, paid, e-mail and creative projects for that Seattle agency. He has also held posts with the retailer Evo, as Retention Marketing Manager, where he managed social media, partner branding and store marketing, and with Zumiez, where he worked on integrated marketing campaigns. 

Talevi brings broad experience in Operations, Project Management, Finance, and Leadership to his post. Most recently, he was Chief Information Security Officer at Ripcord, where he was responsible for building and managing security and information technology at a rapidly growing Bay Area robotics startup. Prior to that, he spent six years at Bridgewater Associates, the largest and most successful investment management firm in the world. At Bridgewater he was the Head of Security Operations responsible for overseeing Security, Incident Response, and some engineering functions.

“In today’s rapidly evolving world, Verde’s clients are looking for an agency partner who can help them across the earned, owned and paid channels, and a brand communications strategy that doesn’t limit itself to silos,” Carpenter-Ogden said. “Chris Dickerson’s wide-ranging skills in integrated and digital marketing will bolster the experience we already have on staff to ensure we’re offering our clients best-in-class strategy and execution capabilities. On the operations side, Chris Talevi brings a range of project management and leadership skills that will help us make sure the way Verde runs internally matches its marketing and communication capabilities. I’m thrilled to welcome these two talented team members.” 

About Verde Brand Communications

Founded in 2001, Verde Brand Communications is a full-service brand communications agency focused on the outdoor and active-lifestyle markets. It offers a range of integrated marketing and communications services, including brand strategy and positioning, public relations, digital marketing, social media, paid media and content creation. Verde’s experience includes extensive work in the outdoor, snowsports, cycling, endurance, active travel, consumer electronics, craft beer and spirits, and lifestyles of health and sustainability (LOHAS) markets. Verde’s success is tied to the passion its staff has for the industries, brands and media with whom they work. Verde has offices in Durango and Boulder, Colorado, and Jackson, Wyoming. For more about Verde, visit www.verdepr.com.