Impact PR & Communications, Ltd., an award-winning Hudson Valley public relations and marketing firm, further elevates its capabilities and services to its clients with the appointment of Sandi Sonnenfeld as Associate Vice President. With 18-plus years of agency and in-house experience, Sonnenfeld is a senior strategist in reputation management, public affairs and executive communications. A gifted storyteller, she’s noted for devising creative solutions to complex communications issues, orchestrating sophisticated thought-leadership and influencer campaigns, and advising on crisis issues.

Sandi learned PR from the ground up at Publicis Dialog (now MSLGroup). Promoted three times in four years, Sonnenfeld worked with numerous clients at the agency, including Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Washington State Lottery, Hidden Valley Ranch Salad Dressing, and law firm Preston Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates).

Wanting to experience the profession from the client side, she led the PR function at AmLaw 100 firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, with a heavy focus on its litigation, energy & environment, intellectual property, real estate, and government affairs practices. More recently, she served as Director of PR & Firmwide Communications at Kaye Scholer LLP, where she spearheaded all firm messaging, print and online content development, thought-leadership, media relations, social media, internal communications and C-Suite communications.

“Sandi’s vast experience working with and training CEOs and other senior executives how to communicate and interact effectively with journalists, industry analysts, potential investors and customers, and as necessary, state and federal lawmakers, will prove invaluable to our clients, particularly those working in regulated fields like financial and professional services, healthcare or social services,” said Filomena Fanelli, CEO and founder of Impact PR & Communications. “Moreover, having worked at the world’s largest communications and advertising agency and in-house for top-tier AmLaw100 firms will assist our business development efforts as she knows firsthand what established and startup companies and organizations look for when selecting an outside communications agency to help them meet their marketing and public relations objectives.”

The winner of two PRSA Silver Anvil Awards, four “Media Relations Programs of the Year” awards from the Legal Marketing Association, and “Best Corporate Video of the Year” from the National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, Sonnenfeld holds a BA magna cum laude in English from Mount Holyoke College and an MFA in Fiction Writing from the University of Washington. Sonnenfeld’s short stories, essays and journalism pieces have appeared in more than 30 literary reviews, anthologies and business magazines. She also volunteers at Arts MidHudson and serves on Mount Holyoke College’s Alumnae Communications Committee.

About Impact PR & Communications, Ltd.

Impact PR & Communications, Ltd. is an award-winning, strategic public relations and marketing firm based in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 2014, the company offers media relations, crisis communications, influencer campaigns, media training, copy writing, cause-related marketing, government affairs, social media support, and speaker's bureau services to a variety of clients in the Hudson Valley and throughout the New York metropolitan area. For more information on Impact, visit www.prwithimpact.com, call (845) 462-4979 or follow the firm on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.