Press Release

Achievement follows impressive agency recognition this year from PRNEWS, including three Platinum PR Awards for client campaigns and the Top Places to Work award

Boston – December 17, 2019 – Version 2.0 Communications (V2), the public relations and digital communications firm for disruptive brands, today announced Kristen Leathers, a vice president at V2, has been recognized as a PRNEWS’ 2019 Top Women in PR for her big thinking and bold campaigns that drive business outcomes for clients. This award honors the women who have made bold advances in crisis management, brand reputation, content creation, social media marketing and more in the last year for their organizations or clients.

Leathers’ media relations skills are unparalleled. She knows what reporters and influencers want and how they want it and has a unique ability to connect the dots between what’s happening in the news and her clients’ businesses to generate coverage opportunities. Because of this, she has cultivated deep relationships with top-tier media outlets, including but not limited to editors at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Harvard Business Review. Leathers has a stellar ability to leverage these relationships across clients for briefings, coverage opportunities, speaking opportunities, awards and more – with results that move not only PR programs but clients’ businesses forward. Leathers’ roots are in the industry and she is guided by her clients’ best interests – she is committed to being the voice of honesty amidst all the noise.

“Kristen has a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude for everything she does. She does an excellent job of holding teams accountable to deliver results while still pitching in where she needs to or where she can add specific value. Kristen is also very empathetic to client roadblocks or stressors, and is smart and scrappy in navigating around them,” said Maura FitzGerald, partner and co-founder of V2. “Lastly, there’s something to be said about the fact that Kristen has grown up at V2. She started at the agency after college in 2011 as an account coordinator, and now, in 2019, is a vice president. She’s been tremendously committed to the agency and her clients throughout her career.”

“Kristen’s great communications instincts are at the heart of her leadership and success. She’s always been tremendous at media relations – landing the most coveted mastheads for her clients. She consistently coaches her teams to follow in her footsteps and think of innovative ways to insert clients into trending media conversations,” said Jean Serra, partner and co-founder of V2. “We are so proud of Kristen and are honored to have her as part of the V2 team. This award is well deserved.”

Leathers’ influence at the agency extends beyond the tremendous, results-driven work she delivers for clients. She leads V2’s professional development practice so that employees have the opportunity to attend events or take on responsibilities that map not only to their current interests and passions, but also to skill sets they wish to cultivate and long-term career goals.

In addition, PRNEWS has recognized V2 for a number of award programs this year, including:

• Top Places to Work in PR, for creating a workplace environment that empowers people to evolve their careers and succeed while doing great work for clients
• Three Platinum PR Awards, for the agency’s campaign execution on behalf of UiPath (category Media Relations Campaign), Llamasoft (category Global PR Campaign) and DirectPath (category Healthcare Communications Campaign)

Leathers and the other honorees will be celebrated at an awards luncheon on January 28 in New York City.