Our Agency Leaders

GAL BORENSTEIN, PRESIDENT & CEO
Mr. Gal Borenstein has more than 22 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and strategic planning. He founded The Borenstein Group in 1994 with the mission of creating a marketing services agency that fuses strong creativity with metric-driven strategy to better serve the needs of Business-to-Business and Business-to-Government organizations and companies. A vocal advocate of ROI marketing, Mr. Borenstein continues to promote awareness of intelligent planning and smart communications across the industry as a recognized thought leader and active public speaker. Mr. Borenstein has recently published his first business leadership book “What Really Counts for CEOs.” He has recently appeared as Guest Commentator on CNN and Fox Business News on strategic Marketing & Branding Issues. Mr. Borenstein has earned his Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his Master’s degree with honors in Business and Telecommunications Management from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

KIM PLYLER, VICE PRESIDENT, GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS
Ms. Kim Plyler has 25 years of experience in news media, strategic marketing, communications, and government public affairs, as well as an extensive background in federal government media communications. Ms. Plyler worked in the Pentagon as public affairs officer for the Department of Defense specializing in the Department of the Navy’s Chief Information Office. She was responsible for handling media briefings for DoD, strategic planning for DON, and marketing and promoting advances in military technology. Ms. Plyler was also the director of public relations and communications for the Department of the Navy’s Smart Card Technology office. Her strategic communication skills assisted in implementing smart card technology throughout the Navy and the Department of Defense. She handled consistent media messaging, tracking and analyzing for the DON in conjunction with State Department, Department of Interior and the General Services Administration. Ms. Plyler also worked as a senior account supervisor with Edelman Public relations in Washington, DC. She gained international public relations expertise during a five-year tour in the United States Navy. She served as a military correspondent during the Gulf War. Ms. Plyler is a graduate of DeSales University where she earned her B.A. degree in theatre and speech communication. She received her Journalism degree while studying abroad with the United States Navy and completing the Defense Information School (DINFOS).

JESSICA SEMON, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
Ms. Jessica Semon brings with her decade of hands-on experience in managing social media, public relations, strategic communications, and event planning. She possesses a wide range of industry experience in the non-profit, commercial and government sectors with specific hands-on expertise in working with professional service and finance market industry verticals.

Ms. Semon has many successes to her credit in having worked on several high profile public relations campaigns, including the coordinating of media outreach for Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP in collaboration with VOICES of September 11th to announce the first documentation of a corporate story from September 11, 2001. Outreach included local, regional and national press, with specific coverage featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and multiple trade journals.

As an event planner, she has also worked with clients to determine measurable goals for the event in addition to the planning, executing and post event reports. She has planned events of all types including: dinners, fundraising events, workshops and seminars ranging from 10 participants to 1,800 attendees. Ms. Semon has a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Virginia Tech and a Professional Certificate in Public Relations from New York University.

TARYN JOHNSON, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Ms. Taryn Johnson has over a decade of experience in the field of graphic design. She has created various design materials including logos, brochures, tradeshow displays, web sites, direct mail, corporate identity, packaging and print ads. She has a passion for design and branding, and her hard work is a direct reflection of this passion. Ms. Johnson has won numerous awards including Hermes, Marcom, and Stevie Awards. Ms. Johnson is responsible for overseeing that all creative is cohesive and on target. She is directly involved in creating original concepts for each project, working closely with the client, copywriting, creative and account service departments to tailor each design for maximum impact. Before coming to the Borenstein Group, Ms. Johnson worked on projects for numerous high-profile clients. Select clients include The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Federal Highway Administration, EPA, DOL, Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Southeastern University and the USDA Forest Service to name a few. Ms. Johnson has earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design and a minor in Business Administration from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

COREY JONES, ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Corey Jones is an accomplished Art Director and his experiences working in advertising have allowed him to become well versed in a wide range of media beyond print; to include web, interactive, branding, and content management to name a few. Mr. Jones serves as Creative Chair on the Steering Committee for Ad 2 DC, a non-profit organization of advertising professionals ages 32 and younger. This organization creates a means for up and coming professionals in the industry to gain meaningful leadership opportunities, build bigger networks, and contribute to the local communities. Before joining the Borenstein Group, Mr. Jones successfully took several ideas from concept to execution including the award winning “Great Model Search” campaign for Johnson Products Inc. He is also responsible for the establishment of an award winning in-house design department, which resulted in winning a gold Hermes award for in-house collateral. Mr. Jones has worked on creative for a wide range of clientele including Dunkin’ Donuts®, Hungry Howie’s Pizza®, Midas®, Eaton Cutler-Hammer, Johnson Products Inc., and United States Census 2010 to name a few. Mr. Jones earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA.

JAY STROTMAN, ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
Mr. Jay Strotman is an accomplished Account Executive with experience executing communication programs ranging from digital and print advertising, public relations, branding, direct marketing, and social media.  His specific expertise is in Business-to-Business, Business-to-Government, and Federal Government sectors.

Mr. Strotman has overseen and contributed to several large scale communication programs including the 2010 Census Public Relations campaign aimed at the countries emerging ethnic markets, as well as the 2010 Census Recruitment Advertising campaign for recruiting temporary enumerators.  He also acted as the primary project manager for a program with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that included qualitative and quantitative research, strategic planning, creative production and messaging, and video production.

Mr. Strotman also oversaw the branding of a healthcare information technology system and a healthcare reporting toolkit for HealthPrime International.  He then assisted in marketing the system to healthcare providers and other businesses within the healthcare field. Mr. Strotman has also executed successful integrated marketing programs for government and non-profit organization such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Institute of Health (NIH), and National Science Foundation (NSF).

Mr. Strotman has a Bachelors of Science in Communication Studies from Bridgewater College, where he also played for four years on the school’s basketball team and served as the team’s captain for his junior and senior seasons.

NEIL SAGEBIEL, SENIOR COPYWRITER
Mr. Neil Sagebiel has more than 15 years of experience in business-to-business marketing communications, corporate communications, public relations, fundraising and more. He has written copy and worked on campaigns for dozens of clients in numerous industries, including healthcare, financial services, technology, telecommunications, industrial/manufacturing, media, professional services, higher education and non-profit. Prior to entering the creative field, he worked for a decade for General Dynamics and The Boeing Company on Department of Defense and NASA programs. Mr. Sagebiel is also an accomplished blogger and author, with his first book due to be published by St. Martin’s Press in Spring 2012. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with an English minor from San Diego State University.

OF-COUNSEL:
Hugh C. (Trey) Cate, Military Strategic Communications, Information Operations (IO) &
Military Information Support Operations (MISO – Formerly PSYOP)
Hugh (Trey) Cate is the CEO of Stratos Communications, LLC, an international strategic communications firm specializing in support of the convergence of strategic communications, social media, information operations and psychological operations of the United States military commands here and overseas. A retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Public Affairs Officer with over 25 years experience in Public Affairs, Strategic Communication, and Information Operations, Cate has served at all levels of the military communication hierarchy, including multi-national, joint and national level commands. He is currently serving on the Communication Integration Staff supporting United States CENTCOM. Trey retired from the US Army in February 2007. After initially serving as a Field Artillery Officer, Trey chose the Public Affairs career field where he served as a Spokesman for US Forces in Macedonia as well as Kosovo, Director of the NATO Press Centers in Sarajevo and Kosovo and Chief of Media Operations for KFOR. Trey also served as the Public Affairs Officer for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during OIF I and acted as the spokesman for Coalition Forces for Northern Iraq for 13 months. Following a year-long assignment serving as the Senior Military Communications Consultant to Fleishman Hillard International Communications, Trey served as the Strategic Communication Plans Officer for the United States Central Command. Trey finished his military career after serving the as Chief of Media Operations for USCENTCOM, responsible for all external media communication for the command and the 63 assigned nations of the Coalition. Trey graduated from the United States Military Academy and holds a Masters of Arts in Journalism and Public Relations from the University of Alabama.

Michael Svedjan, Social & Broadcast Global Media Monitoring & Analysis, Information Operations (IO) & Military Information Support Operations (MISO – Formerly PSYOP)
Michael Svedjan is the Owner and President of Svedjan Services Group. Senior leader with over 20 years of experience, education and training in strategic media and influence, marketing and communications, social media engagement (outreach) in the military and intelligence community; as well as human resource management. Played a lead role in operational and strategic organizations with hundreds of employees, primarily in international environments and USG operations. Managed and integrated planning, research and media support functions into complex strategic communications projects; as well as successful organizational training and readiness programs. A proven record of resourcing, developing and leading multifunctional and multicultural teams to achieve USG strategic goals and trans-regional objectives.

Edgar Kully, Qualitative & Quantitaive Market Research
Edgar Kully is Managing Principal of Crestwood Associates, has a proven track record spanning over two decades specializing in developing and measuring marketing research programs for Fortune 100 companies such as Marconi, Microsoft, America Online, AT&T Wireless, Amazon.com, and Symantec. His experience encompasses evaluating new products, brand management, qualitative and quantitative market research and promotions. He was personally responsible for the introduction of new products and services generating sales of over $500 million. Mr. Kully and his support team of marketers and researchers provide The Borenstein Group clients with an extensive arsenal of statistical analyses and survey methodologies that allow them to dig deeper and gain greater insight into market issues and opportunities. Employing such value-added services such as market segmentation, positioning, response modeling, as well as cluster and discriminant analyses, clients of The Borenstein Group are assured an objective assessment of their market position, alternatives, and progress against their goals. Mr. Kully holds an MBA in Marketing & Finance from Northwestern University.