Meet
the Team
As president and CEO of Werth, Julie represents the third generation to lead the company founded by her grandfather in 1963.
Julie came to Werth after a distinguished early career in Nashville, where, following her graduation from Vanderbilt University, she quickly became a leader in the city’s thriving tech and startup scene, with a special interest in health care and social enterprise.
In Nashville, with $1 million in seed funding from the State of Tennessee and Ascension Health, Julie helped found the Dispensary of Hope, a first-of-its-kind, not-for-profit pharmaceutical distributor for clinics and pharmacies serving the uninsured. The Dispensary of Hope grew to nearly 100 dispensing sites nationwide and secured more than $10 million in medications annually during her tenure.
Julie then earned an MBA from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management in 2013, and was recruited as chief operating officer for ToGoTechnologies, a startup serving the restaurant industry. She helped grow that business to more than 1,000 brands nationwide.
Julie also taught Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt and continued her entrepreneurial passion by establishing the Nashville chapter of the Social Enterprise Alliance, mentoring other aspiring entrepreneurs to develop sustainable business models for social change.
In 2019, Julie’s aunt, mentor and predecessor as Werth CEO, Sandra Werth Harbrecht Ratchford, lured Julie back to Ohio with the opportunity to grow the business and serve a range of clients with a diverse set of challenges.
Julie brings a unique perspective to those clients, with a reputation for approaching challenges pragmatically, ethically and with keen insight. She enjoys the problem-solving that lies at the heart of strategic communications with Werth — identifying key stakeholders, understanding their needs and motivations through research, and developing a path to engagement and action.
As Werth president and CEO, Julie encourages a culture of people who love their work and delight in the success of their clients, the company and each other. And true to Sandy’s legacy and the Werth tradition, she embodies the notion that integrity is the critical ingredient for success in business and in life.
Mac is a gifted and experienced communications strategist, expert at positioning public relations strategies into a broader marketing communications framework. He designs collaborative action plans that balance traditional and emerging/digital channels to address clients’ most complex and varied needs.
His success is grounded in firm adherence to a process that starts with understanding the client’s problem before he develops a single tactic. Mac works with clients across a variety of sectors including economic development, professional services, consumer brands, life sciences, health care and sustainability, among others.
Mac came to Werth by way of New York, where he spent 10 years working for prestigious international brands, including Sotheby’s, maximizing earned-media opportunities to support auctions on a global scale. He later led integrated marketing communications strategies for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. There, he developed and scaled the founding global social media strategy, then managed their search engine marketing program with a multimillion-dollar ad budget.
Mac continues to be energized by his accomplished Werth colleagues and loves getting inspired by their frequent collaboration opportunities.
Mac holds a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he focused his studies on Economics and the History of Art. He serves on the the Columbus Museum of Art Committee on Collections and University of Pennsylvania Alumni Ambassador Program. Previously he served as a board member for Friends of WOSU and the North Market Development Authority.
With years of experience in government communications and journalism, Dan brings to Werth a thorough understanding of the Ohio political landscape and a broad network of relationships with media, public affairs and business leaders.
As a veteran crisis communications expert, Dan provides reliable counsel to clients in their most difficult times, offering strategies to defuse the immediate challenge and begin building a resilient public image.
He leads Werth’s public affairs practice and specializes in media training and coaching for government and business leaders.
Dan offers forthright, candid insight based on years of experience — as the deputy chief of staff for communications to the Columbus mayor and as an award-winning journalist for Columbus Monthly and The Other Paper.
He has a B.A. in English from Guilford College and serves on the board of the Children’s Hunger Alliance.
With over 16 years of experience in the fields of health care, mental health, communications and public affairs, Jimmy has worked in direct patient care, managed nationally recognized coalitions, and collaborated firsthand with government officials to deliver meaningful outcomes for Ohio constituents.
Jimmy has experience and education as an attorney as well as in leading award-winning design and marketing teams, giving him insight into problems both analytical and abstract. His ability to employ traditional public relations and creative messaging across the ever-changing landscape of communications, public affairs, and marketing and advertising, offers Werth clients innovative and integrated paths to reach the most critical audiences.
He also currently leads or co-leads brand management, issues management, public relations and creative services for several major Werth clients.
He keeps up with the speed of technological change in order to guide clients to the kinds of innovative solutions their stakeholders demand. He stays up to date with digital trends — including pitfalls — because he’s found that the wisdom of knowing what not to do can leave more resources available for strategies that move the needle.
He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Psychology from Otterbein University as well as a Juris Doctorate from Capital University Law School.
Celina knows firsthand that impactful media relations requires a mix of ideas, respect, creativity and credibility. Before moving into public relations, Celina spent a decade in television news, first in Columbus and then in Kentucky as a reporter and an on-air news anchor. That experience has provided valuable insight on how best to pitch and tell a story that is good for the media and her clients.
As Vice President of National Media Relations, Celina uses her more than 20 years of experience to offer clients new ideas as well as honest counsel about how to build rapport with media contacts and when not to erode relationships by bringing them stories that aren’t newsworthy. She has successfully secured national placements with Good Morning America, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, social media outlets and more. In her tourism-related work she has won placements in Thrillist, Travel + Leisure and AAA Magazine.
Celina’s clients range across many industries, covering impactful issues such as opioid use disorder and mental health, economic development and tourism, and health care. She enjoys becoming an extension of a client’s team — ever on the lookout for opportunities for clients to tell their stories, forge new partnerships and elevate their public profile.
She holds a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from The Ohio State University with a minor in Political Science.
As Vice President in charge of administration for more than 20 years, Beth is a big part of why things run smoothly and professionally at Werth. While all Werth associates are committed to highest-quality work, delivered on time with impeccable service, Beth is ultimately the backstop, ensuring that those things happen. And since the firm first ventured onto the Internet in the late 1990s, Beth has ensured that Werth associates are equipped with the latest and best technology to deliver on clients’ needs.
Clients may or may not have the pleasure of meeting Beth, but she knows them — their challenges, their goals and the strategies her Werth colleagues devise to meet them. She values her role in helping Werth empower organizations.
With more than 20 years of experience developing and implementing multifaceted public relations and marketing campaigns, Wendy excels at maintaining a big-picture strategic view while staying laser-focused on the details. It’s this combination of vision and execution that builds trust with clients and helps make their initiatives successful.
Wendy provides strategic counsel on a broad range of communications issues to clients across multiple sectors, including education, law, professional services, agriculture, tourism, nonprofits and more. She’s a talented writer who can produce content that’s engaging, easy to understand and targeted to the right audiences. Her other strengths include communications strategy and planning, crisis communications and media relations. She is accredited in public relations (APR) from the Public Relations Society of America.
Prior to Werth, Wendy worked for one of Indiana’s largest PR firms, where she managed account relationships for a variety of clients, expanding her understanding of health care, state government, nonprofits and community foundations. She also worked for the Indiana Credit Union League, where she managed the association’s communications and PR initiatives, including media relations, internal communications and community relations.
Wendy holds a B.A. in Journalism and Political Science from Indiana University.
In Michael’s work, Werth clients benefit from a capacity for understanding difficult concepts and recrafting them into powerful stories that inspire readers toward action. He’s a writer fueled by his own need to know, learn and share about topics across the board. Michael’s clients consistently note his talent for avoiding and removing jargon while creating stories that are particularly memorable for their constituents.
Before Werth, Michael logged time on both the East and West Coasts as a writer for health care, startup, and technology firms. He’s penned stories across a wide media landscape, including for Wired, Business 2.0, The Box, Popular Science and eWeek.
Michael is energized by his multitalented colleagues who solve clients’ problems tactically and with deep strategic focus.
He holds a B.A. in Journalism and Communications from The Ohio State University with a minor in Spanish.
Lindsey is a veteran PR professional who helps Werth clients elevate their exposure by thinking critically on their behalf. As a gifted media relations professional, Lindsey does more than identify publicity opportunities — she works strategically to develop and convert each one.
She leads publicity efforts in a broad range of fields: the corporate, economic development and health care fields including opioid addiction and mental health; and the sustainability, environment and education sectors.
In addition to her media relations work, Lindsey is also director of special events for Werth, creating memorable moments for clients including groundbreakings, grand openings, campaign launches and client receptions.
Knowing that multidimensional media coverage can increase impact, Lindsey partners with Werth colleagues to develop communications campaigns for consistent messaging across public relations, direct marketing, advertising, social media and other digital channels.
Lindsey previously led publicity efforts and campaigns for more than 25 annual fundraising events at the world’s largest local not-for-profit organization, the UJA-Federation of New York, serving more than 100 human health and social service agencies in New York City and 60 countries.
As a publicist at an entertainment firm, she secured appearances for clients on the TODAY show, GMA, The View and David Letterman. There, she also worked on campaigns for personalities and films like Superman Returns, The Devil Wears Prada, and the Oscar-winning campaign for Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland.
Lindsey has a B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University.
Have a problem? Chances are, Marie can help solve it. With a strong analytical mindset and high attention to detail, she is always focused on how to make a big picture come to life and, more importantly, how to deliver solutions that will allow clients to meet their goals.
Marie’s extensive background in digital marketing and strategy offers value to Werth clients in the form of holistic strategies that incorporate all relevant channels to reach a targeted audience.
She identifies the channels most effective for each client, also considering how digital approaches integrate with broader public relations campaigns. Far from set-it-and-forget-it, Marie is passionate about seeing a project through completion and thrives on delivering the best work and results for her clients.
Prior to joining Werth, Marie worked for digital marketing agencies, developing and managing strategies related to search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media and website design. She has experience working with a wide variety of clients and industries, with a specialty in addiction and mental health, state and local government, and health care.
Marie holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature with a minor in Human Rights and Political Science from the University of Dayton.
Jon’s background as a television reporter and anchor provides valuable perspective when working with the media. His distinct understanding of what makes a great story gives him the ability to turn general topics into compelling story ideas that will hook the media, all benefiting Werth clients. Jon has extensive experience preparing clients for media interactions along with developing and executing social media strategies.
He provides strategic communications services for clients in the fields of addiction and mental health, health care, life sciences, state government, economic development and athletics.
Jon also serves as Werth’s video department lead, with more than a decade of experience telling the stories of people and brands through video shooting and editing. He is also FAA Part 107 certified, offering clients the opportunity to capture aerial photos and videos using drone technology.
Jon holds a B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University as well as a Master’s in Marketing and Communication from Franklin University.
Kerelle comes to Werth from a distinguished career as a master storyteller in broadcasting, private business and the nonprofit sector.
He brings the broad capabilities of an experienced broadcast news producer, from writing the script to setting the order of the newscast to choosing and molding graphic elements — a well-stocked toolbox of written and visual communications and design skills. Kerelle uses those tools to help Werth clients connect with their stakeholders just as he connected news anchors with their broadcast audiences.
His experience also benefits Werth clients seeking media training.
Kerelle’s passion for researching compelling stories made his newscasts richer and helps add depth and relevance to the messages our clients want to convey. He enriches clients’ narratives in the areas of opioid addiction and mental health, health care, and state and local government.
For every client, he strives to find the touch points that allow brands and organizations to connect to their communities and realize their full potential.
Kerelle believes in learning from every client, building relationships that feed mutual success.
He holds a B.A. in Broadcast News from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Jen brings to Werth clients the ideas, skills and resources acquired over two decades of bringing brands and messages to vibrant life. From high school summers spent assisting photographers and stylists on commercial sets in San Francisco, her passion for creative design has grown to span the breadth of creative trades: branding, print and digital design, experiential marketing, environmental design, video creative direction, interior design and package design.
With a Fine Arts bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and graduate studies at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Jen has built a portfolio of work for clients large and small including national and international brands, with extensive video work in Chicago and New York.
Jen applies analytical rigor to every design problem and every solution starts with a conversation: What are the client’s goals? What do they like and dislike? Where do they want to go? Significant fact-finding takes place before any visuals take shape, based on the understanding that strategy and market reality are the basis of the best creative campaigns. Jen maintains that the elements of any creative campaign must align with an underlying strategy.
If a client needs to create a mood, set a stage, establish a brand or simply attract attention, Jen has the tools, talent and experience to make it happen. Her work has taken brands from initial awareness in the market all the way to building substantial brand loyalty and advocacy.
Jen has worked with talented design professionals around the world, as a staff member or freelancer, building a broad network of the best talent available for any type of creative need. This same experience gives her a deep reservoir of ideas and solutions on which to draw to solve any creative challenge.
Chana is Werth’s accounting manager and oversees the firm’s general accounting functions, which include handling all billing, invoicing, payroll, accounts receivable and financial reporting. Clients can count on her attention to detail and calm, get-things-done demeanor.
Before joining Werth, Chana developed her business acumen by providing direct support for an engineering firm’s CFO. Her colleagues know her as the ultimate team player: deeply knowledgeable about everything that makes Werth tick and ready to step outside her regular accounting role when colleague or client needs demand it.
Chana graduated from Bowling Green State Unviversity with a B.S. in Finance.
Drew is our firm’s linchpin. She’s the one who holds us together in our fast-paced environment. As Manager, Administrative Services, Drew assists our team by ensuring the day-to-day activities are completed on time with the highest quality. She elevates our ability to work by smoothing out challenges and handling behind-the-scenes details. Her ability to coordinate and organize with precision helps all of us go further, with precision.
Prior to Werth, Drew served in a similar role for ProMedica Health System.
She holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Dayton.