NEW YORK: Fannie Mae SVP and CCO Kelli Parsons will join New York Life as chief communications and marketing officer later this month.
Parsons will start in the role on November 17 and will report to New York Life chairman and CEO Ted Mathas. She is relocating to the New York area from McLean, Virginia, for the position.
She will succeed Elizabeth McCarthy, the company’s former SVP of corporate communications. McCarthy has moved into the position of SVP and head of insurance and agency group communications at the company.
Overseeing about 100 staffers, Parsons will assume responsibility for New York Life’s corporate communications department, which encompasses internal and external comms, marketing, branding, advertising, events management, creative services, and executive communications.
"My starting goal is to be a good steward of what is great about the company, but also to be a positive change leader to ensure we continue to build [its] brand and reputation," Parsons told PRWeek. "The company is very well regarded for the insurance business, so communicating the value of its products and services to the next generation of investors, particularly as we look at Millennials and the decisions they are making about financial health, is going to be an important objective moving forward."
Parsons ranked number 31 on the most recent edition of PRWeek's Power List.
Parsons joined Fannie Mae in 2010 as the country was recovering from the depths of the financial crisis. She led external and internal comms, marketing, and community investment and engagement for the organization, and focused on communicating the company’s role in the housing market's recovery and its taxpayer payments.
Maureen Davenport, VP of corporate communications, will replace Parsons as CCO.
Previously, Parsons was VP of global communications and marketing for private equity firm Warburg Pincus and EVP and GM at Hill & Knowlton, where she headed the firm’s corporate practice and its New York and Washington offices.
Earlier in her career, Parsons was a TV news reporter for NBC and CBS affiliates in Nashville, Louisville, and Houston, covering business, politics, and breaking news.
