We partner with
exceptional teams
to tell their stories

Work we're proud of

WSJ

Forbes

Fortune

Insider

Fast Company

Inc.

TechCrunch

Bloomberg

Marketplace

Washington Post

CNBC

Cheddar

Yahoo!

WSJ

Forbes

Fortune

Insider

Fast Company

Inc.

TechCrunch

Bloomberg

Marketplace

Washington Post

CNBC

Cheddar

Yahoo!

“Hire CMAND, right now. Easily one of the best decisions I’ve made. They’re all action, no fluff. They’ll do the work to really understand your company and then get you the best press possible.”

Roxanne Petraeus
CEO and co-founder, Ethena

What We Do

Retained strategic comms

We run the full stack of earned comms — announcements, media relations, speaking, awards, thought leadership, op-eds, and podcasts — from strategy to execution

Media training

We'll equip your speaker bench with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively engage with the media and communicate their message with confidence

Content marketing

We're committed to positioning your brand as a leader in your industry by creating and promoting compelling content that highlights your expertise and unique POV

Launch projects

We love to partner with early-stage and more mature businesses to announce major milestones — from funding to acquisitions

Organic social media

We manage brands' social media footprint, delivering holistic strategy and execution from copy to graphics

effort should equate to outcomes

act like an owner

#KEepitmovin

effort should equate to outcomes

act like an owner

strategy + execution

effort should equate to outcomes — and drive the business forward.

Where we spike

Fintech

Frontier Tech

AI

Funds (VC + PE)

“Wouldn't be here without you. Will be sending every founder I mentor your way.”

David McDonough
CEO and founder, Commonstock (acquired by Yahoo! Finance)

Who we are

CMAND was founded in 2019 by Chelsea Allison and Meg Stinson, who first worked together as the inaugural Heads of Marketing and Communications at Plaid. Our approach combines the best of two models: the reach of a traditional PR agency, and the rigor and speed of early-stage operators.

Chelsea Allison
Co-Founder

Chelsea Allison

LinkedIn

Chelsea Allison

Chelsea co-founded CMAND after leading marketing and communications at Plaid, which she joined as the first marketing hire after the Series A. Before that, she was head of marketing at a cloud security startup, which was acquired by Barracuda. In a prior life, she worked in Features at Vogue, writing on art, food, and politics. Chelsea began her career as investment banking analyst. She went to Duke where she served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and then served seven years on its Board.

Jordan Washington

Jordan Washington

LinkedIn

Jordan Washington

Jordan (Cathleen) Washington is an executive communications strategist based in Washington, DC. With 10+ years of experience under her belt, she specializes in developing thought leadership platforms and media relations strategies for Black and female founders and executives.

Makenzie Spiller

Makenzie Spiller

LinkedIn

Makenzie Spiller

Before joining CMAND, Makenzie worked at Block, Inc., where she shaped the digital editorial strategy for their corporate newsroom and contributed to Square Inc.'s rebrand. Previously, at Edelman, she specialized in ESG program development and purpose-driven storytelling for brands like Nike, HP, and The North Face. A Gonzaga University honors graduate, Makenzie holds a Bachelor's in Public Relations & Marketing with a minor in Gender Studies.

Stephanie Chan

Stephanie Chan

LinkedIn

Stephanie Chan

Stephanie is a Bay Area native with 15+ years of experience in corporate brand reputation and crisis management. Before joining CMAND, she led privacy, security, and business communications at Instagram Previously, she developed and executed multimillion-dollar reputation and crisis campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, trade associations and organizations. She graduated from Berkeley.

Sasha Temerte

Sasha Temerte

LinkedIn

Sasha Temerte

Sasha joined CMAND as a communications strategist, and she has a special knack for storytelling. Her work in the operations and fraud departments of Synchrony and Ally Bank has offered her an analytical perspective on the intersection of business and technology. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. with distinction in Writing and Rhetoric.

Sarah Ortmayer

Sarah Ortmayer

LinkedIn

Sarah Ortmayer

Sarah has spent a decade enhancing brand voices on social media. She is in building online communities and helping brands and execs resonate across social channels. Sarah has partnered with global brands ranging from Kindred Bravely to Accelerant, and she enjoys the challenge of advising companies that are B2C and B2B.

Helena Zarchan

Helena Zarchan

LinkedIn

Helena Zarchan

Helena brings over 15 years of experience in communications and marketing across technology, healthcare, and NGOs. Before COMMAND, she led UK communications at Spotcap and managed programs at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, supporting clients like HPE, Accenture, and Intel. A Harvard graduate with a BA in Government, Helena lives in The Bahamas with her family, enjoys tennis, and loves diving into a good book.

Co-Founder

Meg Stinson

LinkedIn

Meg Stinson

Meg co-founded CMAND after 15+ years in financial and tech communications. She led comms at Plaid, elevating fintech as a category, and directed marketing at AltX, acquired by Addepar. Her career includes leading communications and government affairs at UBS, BNP Paribas, and JP Morgan Chase across the United States, Canada, UK, and Latin America. Meg went to Penn, where she rowed crew.

Kira Wolfe

LinkedIn

Kira Wolfe

Kira brings over a decade of strategic communications expertise to CMAND, with a passion for helping emerging brands craft and share impactful stories. Before CMAND, she partnered with B2B and B2C brands across AI, fintech, proptech, insurtech, and more. A University of Oregon graduate with a Bachelor's in Marketing, Kira lives in San Francisco with her family.

Kelly Reilly

LinkedIn

Kelly Reilly

Kelly brings 20+ years of expertise in corporate communications, PR, and newsroom leadership to CMAND. She specializes in building reputation-enhancing programs and preparing executives for high-stakes public moments across fintech, tech, banking, and cybersecurity. Previously, she was Managing Director at Caliber Corporate Advisers and held roles at Plaid (launching financial industry comms), Wells Fargo, Bloomberg News, and USA Today.

Caty Bleyleben

LinkedIn

Caty Bleyleben

Caty joined CMAND after leading communications at Sequoia-backed software startup Front. Previously, she was a vice president of media strategy at Inkhouse, where she supported fast-growing technology companies in SaaS, cybersecurity, consumer tech, venture capital and CSR & social impact. Earlier, she was the first PR and marketing hire for an angel-backed healthcare startup. Caty started her career at Edelman in Hong Kong.

Dominique Perkins

LinkedIn

Dominique Perkins

Dominique is a strategic communications and human resources leader with a deep background in technology and financial services. She previously led internal communications and talent acquisition initiatives and teams at MITRE, Meta, AIG, and Goldman Sachs. Dominique graduated with a degree in English from Howard, where she served as student body president. When not working, she can often be found curating a themed dinner party for two or twenty.

Ali Moore

LinkedIn

Ali Moore

Ali has spent her career leading strategic communications for emerging tech startups and venture capital firms across AI, healthcare, enterprise, developer tools, and fintech. She began her career in journalism at PBS NewsHour and Fox News before moving to Silicon Valley to focus on tech. Ali holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Journalism from George Washington University.

Fitzgerald Barth

LinkedIn

Fitzgerald Barth

Fitz has more than 15 years experience leading corporate communications and product marketing at companies like Netskope and Laminar and at agencies. Fitz graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor's degree in History. When he's not at home in San Francisco, he's usually in his car on the way to Lake Tahoe or Monterey (depending on the season) to get some good outdoor activities in!

Camille Stephens

LinkedIn

Camille Stephens

Camille brings a diversified background to CMAND with strategic communications experience in NPOs, government, tech, Web3, and fintech. She has overseen and implemented comms programs for clients such as LA County, Checkout, and The Solana Foundation. Camille holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s from Chapman. She lives in LA and enjoys the beach, camping, and exploring the local food scene.

Riley Burns

LinkedIn

Riley Burns

Riley is a strategic communications advisor who has worked with companies like Sierra, TurboTax, Coinbase, and Cape. She twice led Google Cloud’s flagship conference, managing news strategy and coordinating 100+ global media. While her career focuses on enterprise tech, she loves advising startup founders on media and content strategies. Riley holds a Journalism degree from the University of Oregon and lives in San Francisco.

Sandra Chu

LinkedIn

Sandra Chu

Sandra has more than 20 years of experience across agency and in-house roles spanning communications, messaging, media relations, consumer education campaigns, reputation management, and issues management. She previously was head of corporate, policy, and safety communications at Reddit and Global Head of Security and Risk Communications at Visa. Earlier, she worked on campaigns doing opposition research. She lives in San Francisco with her family.

Hikari Swim

LinkedIn

Hikari Swim

Hikari brings over a decade of expertise in graphic and web design to CMAND. Hikari has been recognized as an Adobe Design Achievement Award semi-finalist and certified Shopify Expert. She lives in Nova Scotia.

Katie Dolan

LinkedIn

Katie Dolan

Katie got her start in comms in the world of politics, and she previously served as deputy national communications director for Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign. She specializes in deep research, strategy, and media relations. Katie earned a bachelor of science in physics and political science with an honors concentration in American Catholic studies from Fordham University. Once upon a time, she was on a game show.

Jill Harding

LinkedIn

Jill Harding

Jill brings over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on business and policy. Before COMMAND, she was senior producer for public programs at the US Chamber of Commerce. Her work has appeared on Yahoo Finance, CBSN, and Reuters, covering monetary policy, workforce development, and personal finance. Earlier, she produced for CNBC, covering the Federal Reserve and NYSE, and began her career at CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

Co-Founder

Chelsea Allison

+

LinkedIn

Chelsea Allison

Chelsea co-founded CMAND after leading marketing and communications at Plaid, which she joined as the first marketing hire after the Series A. Before that, she was head of marketing at a cloud security startup, which was acquired by Barracuda. In a prior life, she worked in Features at Vogue, writing on art, food, and politics. Chelsea began her career as investment banking analyst. She went to Duke where she served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and then served seven years on its Board.

Co-Founder

Meg Stinson

+

LinkedIn

Meg Stinson

Meg co-founded CMAND after 15+ years in financial and tech communications. She led comms at Plaid, elevating fintech as a category, and directed marketing at AltX, acquired by Addepar. Her career includes leading communications and government affairs at UBS, BNP Paribas, and JP Morgan Chase across the United States, Canada, UK, and Latin America. Meg went to Penn, where she rowed crew.

Ali Moore

+

LinkedIn

Ali Moore

Ali has spent her career leading strategic communications for emerging tech startups and venture capital firms across AI, healthcare, enterprise, developer tools, and fintech. She began her career in journalism at PBS NewsHour and Fox News before moving to Silicon Valley to focus on tech. Ali holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations and Journalism from George Washington University.

Angelina Bellucci

+

LinkedIn

Angelina Bellucci

Angelina is a communications strategist and entrepreneur who founded a six-figure e-commerce business at 18. She later joined Fintech Nexus, now a CMAND portfolio company, where she managed large-scale newsletters and impactful campaigns. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Pace University's Pforzheimer Honors College, she holds a B.A. in Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship with a minor in Finance.

Camille Stephens

+

LinkedIn

Camille Stephens

Camille brings a diversified background to CMAND with strategic communications experience in NPOs, government, tech, Web3, and fintech. She has overseen and implemented comms programs for clients such as LA County, Checkout, and The Solana Foundation. Camille holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s from Chapman. She lives in LA and enjoys the beach, camping, and exploring the local food scene.

Caty Bleyleben

+

LinkedIn

Caty Bleyleben

Caty joined CMAND after leading communications at Sequoia-backed software startup Front. Previously, she was a vice president of media strategy at Inkhouse, where she supported fast-growing technology companies in SaaS, cybersecurity, consumer tech, venture capital and CSR & social impact. Earlier, she was the first PR and marketing hire for an angel-backed healthcare startup. Caty started her career at Edelman in Hong Kong.

Creighton Vance

+

LinkedIn

Creighton Vance

Creighton is a media relations veteran known for his insightful strategy, keen understanding of technology and easygoing attitude. He’s worked with teams in sectors ranging from consumer tech to quantum computing, spanning pre-seed to post-IPO. When he’s not working, Creighton can be found making music or taking up new hobbies. A graduate of UCSB, he grew up in the Bay Area and lives in Brooklyn.

Dominique Perkins

+

LinkedIn

Dominique Perkins

Dominique is a strategic communications and human resources leader with a deep background in technology and financial services. She previously led internal communications and talent acquisition initiatives and teams at MITRE, Meta, AIG, and Goldman Sachs. Dominique graduated with a degree in English from Howard, where she served as student body president. When not working, she can often be found curating a themed dinner party for two or twenty.

Fitzgerald Barth

+

LinkedIn

Fitzgerald Barth

Fitz has more than 15 years experience leading corporate communications and product marketing at companies like Netskope and Laminar and at agencies. Fitz graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor's degree in History. When he's not at home in San Francisco, he's usually in his car on the way to Lake Tahoe or Monterey (depending on the season) to get some good outdoor activities in!

Helena Zarchan

+

LinkedIn

Helena Zarchan

Helena brings over 15 years of experience in communications and marketing across technology, healthcare, and NGOs. Before COMMAND, she led UK communications at Spotcap and managed programs at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, supporting clients like HPE, Accenture, and Intel. A Harvard graduate with a BA in Government, Helena lives in The Bahamas with her family, enjoys tennis, and loves diving into a good book.

Hikari Swim

+

LinkedIn

Hikari Swim

Hikari brings over a decade of expertise in graphic and web design to CMAND. Hikari has been recognized as an Adobe Design Achievement Award semi-finalist and certified Shopify Expert. She lives in Nova Scotia.

Jill Harding

+

LinkedIn

Jill Harding

Jill brings over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on business and policy. Before COMMAND, she was senior producer for public programs at the US Chamber of Commerce. Her work has appeared on Yahoo Finance, CBSN, and Reuters, covering monetary policy, workforce development, and personal finance. Earlier, she produced for CNBC, covering the Federal Reserve and NYSE, and began her career at CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

Jordan Washington

+

LinkedIn

Jordan Washington

Jordan (Cathleen) Washington is an executive communications strategist based in Washington, DC. With 10+ years of experience under her belt, she specializes in developing thought leadership platforms and media relations strategies for Black and female founders and executives.

Katie Dolan

+

LinkedIn

Katie Dolan

Katie got her start in comms in the world of politics, and she previously served as deputy national communications director for Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign. She specializes in deep research, strategy, and media relations. Katie earned a bachelor of science in physics and political science with an honors concentration in American Catholic studies from Fordham University. Once upon a time, she was on a game show.

Kelly Reilly

+

LinkedIn

Kelly Reilly

Kelly brings 20+ years of expertise in corporate communications, PR, and newsroom leadership to CMAND. She specializes in building reputation-enhancing programs and preparing executives for high-stakes public moments across fintech, tech, banking, and cybersecurity. Previously, she was Managing Director at Caliber Corporate Advisers and held roles at Plaid (launching financial industry comms), Wells Fargo, Bloomberg News, and USA Today.

Kira Wolfe

+

LinkedIn

Kira Wolfe

Kira brings over a decade of strategic communications expertise to CMAND, with a passion for helping emerging brands craft and share impactful stories. Before CMAND, she partnered with B2B and B2C brands across AI, fintech, proptech, insurtech, and more. A University of Oregon graduate with a Bachelor's in Marketing, Kira lives in San Francisco with her family.

Mackenzie Kreitler

+

LinkedIn

Mackenzie Kreitler

Mackenzie has a special affinity for healthcare tech, fintech, cybersecurity and B2B tech. She focuses on driving results with tailored strategies that align with organizational goals. She regularly secures coverage in outlets such as Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fierce Healthcare, Modern Healthcare, SC Magazine, STAT News and ZDNet.

Makenzie Spiller

+

LinkedIn

Makenzie Spiller

Before joining CMAND, Makenzie worked at Block, Inc., where she shaped the digital editorial strategy for their corporate newsroom and contributed to Square Inc.'s rebrand. Previously, at Edelman, she specialized in ESG program development and purpose-driven storytelling for brands like Nike, HP, and The North Face. A Gonzaga University honors graduate, Makenzie holds a Bachelor's in Public Relations & Marketing with a minor in Gender Studies.

Riley Burns

+

LinkedIn

Riley Burns

Riley is a strategic communications advisor who has worked with companies like Sierra, TurboTax, Coinbase, and Cape. She twice led Google Cloud’s flagship conference, managing news strategy and coordinating 100+ global media. While her career focuses on enterprise tech, she loves advising startup founders on media and content strategies. Riley holds a Journalism degree from the University of Oregon and lives in San Francisco.

Sandra Chu

+

LinkedIn

Sandra Chu

Sandra has more than 20 years of experience across agency and in-house roles spanning communications, messaging, media relations, consumer education campaigns, reputation management, and issues management. She previously was head of corporate, policy, and safety communications at Reddit and Global Head of Security and Risk Communications at Visa. Earlier, she worked on campaigns doing opposition research. She lives in San Francisco with her family.

Sarah Ortmayer

+

LinkedIn

Sarah Ortmayer

Sarah has spent a decade enhancing brand voices on social media. She is in building online communities and helping brands and execs resonate across social channels. Sarah has partnered with global brands ranging from Kindred Bravely to Accelerant, and she enjoys the challenge of advising companies that are B2C and B2B.

Sasha Temerte

+

LinkedIn

Sasha Temerte

Sasha joined CMAND as a communications strategist, and she has a special knack for storytelling. Her work in the operations and fraud departments of Synchrony and Ally Bank has offered her an analytical perspective on the intersection of business and technology. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. with distinction in Writing and Rhetoric.

Sophie Jennings

+

LinkedIn

Sophie Jennings

Sophie brings over 15 years of storytelling expertise across fintech, AI, and healthcare. Sophie has helped companies of all stages – from startup to hypergrowth to Fortune 100 – achieve their business goals, working with the likes of Stripe, Stanford HAI, Carta, Intuit, and Serena Ventures. Before COMMAND, she was Senior VP at Outcast, leading the Emerging Tech practice. Originally from New York, Sophie now lives in San Francisco with her husband and young son, Bodie.

Stephanie Chan

+

LinkedIn

Stephanie Chan

Stephanie is a Bay Area native with 15+ years of experience in corporate brand reputation and crisis management. Before joining CMAND, she led privacy, security, and business communications at Instagram Previously, she developed and executed multimillion-dollar reputation and crisis campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, trade associations and organizations. She graduated from Berkeley.