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Sachs Media Group Names Five New Partners

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Sachs Media Group Names Five New Partners
-Strong Leadership Team Set for Future-

 TALLAHASSEE–Sachs Media Group (SMG) today named five key executives as new partners, deepening the firm’s ability to serve its clients now and well into the future. Ron Sachs, Founder and CEO, and partner and President Michelle Ubben, said the partner additions will ensure that the 22-year-old company — consistently ranked among Florida’s and the nation’s top independent full-service public relations agencies – has the most qualified and prepared team in place to fuel SMG’s robust growth for decades to come.
 
“We have curated an excellent, energetic and experienced leadership group whose hard work and wise counsel already are highly respected and strongly valued by our staff, clients, community and industry,” said Sachs.  “Each of these wonderful friends and colleagues has demonstrated the values, skills, character, leadership and loyalty that deserve to be recognized and rewarded in this most meaningful way.”
The newly-named partners are:
 
• Ryan Cohn, Executive Vice President. Cohn serves as a strategic advisor across many accounts and special projects, and leads digital media initiatives.
 
• Karen Cyphers, PhD, Vice President of Research & Policy. Cyphers leads the firm’s internal research division, conducting message testing, survey research and crafting policy papers to influence issues of importance to the select clients.
 
• Lisa Garcia, Chief Operating Officer. An Emmy Award-winning producer and public relations campaign leader, Garcia heads up public education campaigns, internal processes and talent.
 
• Drew Piers, Director of Campaigns. Piers leads public affairs campaign strategy, including constitutional amendments and local referenda, and also supervises targeted media buys.
 
• Herbie Thiele, Director of Public Affairs. Thiele leads the firm’s core public affairs practice, influencing legislative issues, procurements and public policy at the state and local levels. 
 
Other key members of the leadership team include Jon Peck, Vice President, Director of Messaging and Crisis Management; Mark Pankowski, Vice President, Director of Washington Operations; Jenna Sarkissian, Deputy Director of Public Relations; and Chauniqua Major, Director of Central Florida Operations.
 
“In the talent business, innovation depends on forward-thinking ideas that we can deploy to help our clients adapt to a rapidly changing environment,” said Ubben, a 20-year veteran of the firm whose career includes a successful 14-year stint in state government. “This dynamic team thrives on our clients’ high-stakes challenges and has the right stuff to help take the firm far into the future.”
PHOTO CAPTION (L-R) Lisa Garcia, Karen Cyphers, Ron Sachs, Herbie Thiele, Michelle Ubben, Drew Piers, Ryan Cohn

DCF and Partners Recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Month

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The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) and its community-based care providers recognize January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Florida received 1,892 reports of human trafficking – a 54 percent increase from the previous year. The increase in reported allegations of human trafficking was due in large part to increased training and the recently launched Human Trafficking Screening Tool (HTST) developed as a collaborative effort between DCF, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office.
“The increase in reports of human trafficking is evidence that the coordinated effort across state agencies to train professionals is increasing awareness and bringing more of these cases to light,” DCF Secretary Mike Carroll said. “Florida must continue to create and implement a continuum of services that addresses all aspects of a survivor’s life including physical, social, emotional and spiritual health.”
More Floridians are recognizing the signs of human trafficking and reporting it to authorities. In addition to improved reporting tools, the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking – Secretary Mike Carroll is the Vice-Chair – has implemented specialized training for first responders and other child welfare professionals to recognize the signs of human trafficking and report it.
In March 2015, DCF and DJJ launched the human trafficking screening tool used by DJJ Juvenile Assessment Center Assessors, DCF and sheriff’s offices’ child protective investigators, and community-based care lead agencies to report incidents of suspected human trafficking. In the first year of implementation, 3,500 screenings were completed with 1,289 (37 percent) of screenings resulting in calls to the Florida Abuse Hotline. The top five counties to generate potentially trafficked youth under this screening process included Broward, Miami-Dade, Duval, Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties.
Local, statewide and national partnerships, including state agencies, service providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, the judicial system and concerned citizens, are driving the fight against human trafficking in Florida.
“Florida must continue the hard work begun on behalf of those who are often the state’s most vulnerable citizens. We cannot falter in our fight of this heinous crime,” said DJJ Secretary Christina K. Daly. “Every day that we work to increase awareness of human trafficking is another potential victim saved through our combined efforts.”
DCF tracks human trafficking by three primary categories: sexual exploitation by a non-caregiver, such as an adult entertainment club or escort service; sexual exploitation by a parent, guardian or caregiver; and labor trafficking, also referred to as slavery or servitude.
Human Trafficking Awareness Month is recognized every January. For more information on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking, as well as how to report it, visit: www.myflfamilies.com/service-programs/human-trafficking.