Notre Dame of Maryland University has named Damita McDonald, in photo, as the new senior director for university communications & public relations.

A versatile public relations and marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience, McDonald is responsible for developing the university’s overall communications strategy, as well as supporting presidential communications, university branding and overall marketing initiatives.

McDonald has a strong track record in developing and executing targeted communications that inform, influence and inspire, while working collaboratively to meet an organization’s strategic goals. She was previously the assistant director for public relations at Bowie State University.

Cadmium, a leading events and learning platform, has acquired EventRebels, a Baltimore-based events and registration software company primarily serving the conference and trade show markets. The acquisition underscores Cadmium’s commitment to building a unique, market-leading software platform offering continuing education, professional development, events, learning and content management solutions to associations, non- profits, healthcare & life sciences organizations.

“ISSTD is thrilled to hear about the acquisition of Event Rebels by Cadmium,” says Mary Pat Hanlin, MPS, DES, Chief Executive Officer, International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation. “As a long time user of both products, we are excited to see how the addition of an event registration system will complement and integrate with the products already in the Cadmium portfolio. This acquisition will provide our association with a one-stop shop for all of our event and education technology needs with the high-quality service that we love from both companies.”

EventRebels marks Cadmium’s fifth investment in its Events & Learning Platform platform following the acquisition of CadmiumCD, EthosCE, Warpwire, and CommPartners.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Cadmium’s platform of world-class event experiences,” said EventRebels founder and CEO, K.C. Hopson. “Our event and registration software will enrich the Cadmium ecosystem enabling an all-in-one solution from pre-event activities such as registration to event production and post-event continual learning.”

Warschawski, a full-service advertising, marketing, digital, public relations, branding, web design, videography, and photography, creative and crisis communications agency, announced the addition of Jessi Levine as a senior digital strategist. In her role, Levine will create and execute integrated digital marketing campaigns, including SEM, programmatic, paid social as well as handle SEO, reporting, data visualization and budget management.

Prior to joining Warschawski, Levine worked as a digital marketing specialist at LifeBridge Health, where she created and maintained campaign landing pages, websites and dashboards. Through analytic research and measurement, Levine worked to implement strategic initiatives to increase platform traffic and KPIs.

Ashley F. Cheatham has joined The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as the strategic communications adviser for human resources.

In this newly created role, Cheatham will be responsible for the strategic oversight, development, and execution of all communication efforts in support of various University-wide HR issues, policies, and programming.

Prior to JHU, Cheatham held various communications roles, most recently as Director of Marketing & Communications at Maryland Legal Aid. Cheatham’s other roles include Public Relations Manager at Stanley Black & Decker in Towson, and Senior Communications Specialist for Independence (formerly Independence Blue Cross) in Philadelphia. Cheatham earned a Master of Science communication from Drexel University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish from Appalachian State University.