Our Team
- Margie Maddux Newman – Founding Partner
- Maddy M. Kilkenny – Partner
- Nancy Ives Schroeder – Director of Public Relations
- Haley (Peterson) Wonsley – Senior Account Manager
- Mindy Wright – Senior Account Manager
- Sina Hajhassan – Account Executive
- Memory Reardon – Office Manager
Margie Maddux Newman
Founding Partner, Managing Director
Margie Newman is an award-winning public relations strategist and founder of Intesa Communications Group. Sought out by top organizations in San Diego and beyond, Margie’s comprehensive communications industry experience and unmatched energy drive success for Intesa’s clients again and again.
Before founding Intesa in 2012, Margie served as a media relations and social media manager for The Pew Center on the States, a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, in Washington, D.C. Her career has spanned public, private, government, and nonprofit entities, including time with Tennessee-based public affairs firm, Hall Strategies and serving as a press aide to former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen.
A graduate of Auburn University, Margie is a member of the YMCA of San Diego County Corporate Board of Directors, the LEAD San Diego Board of Directors (IMPACT ’15 & INFLUENCE ’17), and the Downtown San Diego Partnership Board of Directors.
Margie was recognized as one of San Diego’s “40 under 40” by SDMETRO Magazine in 2016, named among the San Diego Business Journal’s 2017 Business Women of the Year, and was named the International Association of Business Communicators San Diego 2018 Communicator of the Year. Still, her greatest accomplishments are her two children, Suzie and CJ.
Expertise
- Communications strategy
- Communications infrastructure
- Non-profit communications
- Crisis communications
- Media relations
- Reputation management
- Karaoke
Twitter | LinkedIn | Email Margie
Maddy M. Kilkenny
Partner
Maddy Kilkenny manages day-to-day client activities and is responsible for working closely with clients and project teams to develop and implement government and community relations strategies. Maddy has extensive experience working with local government at all levels in San Diego. She spent six years as Vice President of Government Relations at the Clay Company where she worked with clients including Microsoft, Motorola, Kaiser Permanente, and many others in a variety of areas including land use, healthcare, and public safety.
Prior to her work at the Clay Company, Maddy spent 11 years at the County of San Diego, where she was a Senior Policy Advisor to Supervisor Greg Cox, focusing on health and public safety policy issues, community outreach and special events.
During her time in Supervisor Cox’s office, Maddy crafted policy to improve the lives of our region’s foster children, maintain critical Juvenile Justice funding and programs, and she helped the struggling InfoLine transition to what is known today as 2-1-1 San Diego.
Maddy serves on the board of directors for the USS Midway Museum, and the board of the San Diego Young Leaders (an initiative of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce). In 2016, Maddy was appointed by San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer to the Civic San Diego board of directors. A native San Diegan, Maddy and her husband Sean are proud parents to young sons, Logan and Owen.
Expertise
Nancy Ives Schroeder Director of Public Relations
As Director of Public Relations, Nancy brings extensive public affairs, communications, and healthcare experience to Intesa through her various roles in Washington, D.C. and San Diego.
Before moving to California, Nancy worked more than 15 years in the nation’s capital serving as Press Secretary and Communications Director for U.S. Senator John McCain, including stints on both of his presidential campaigns, followed by her role as Vice President of Communications at The Vaccine Fund (now the GAVI Alliance), an international grantee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Nancy later founded NIS Strategies in 2008, where she led corporate strategies for a variety of clients, including Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Nancy was Senior Director of Communications at West Health, a family of nonprofit organizations dedicated to lowering the cost of healthcare and enabling successful aging through philanthropy, medical research and public policy.
A native of Florida’s west coast, Nancy is a graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She lives in the Sunset Cliffs neighborhood of San Diego with her husband, son and daughter, along with Cinco, a rescue pup from Mexico.
Expertise
- Corporate Communications
- Nonprofit Communications
- Advocacy and Public Relations Strategies
- Strategic Alliances
- Media Relations
- Bi-Coastal Lifestyle
Haley (Peterson) Wonsley
Senior Account Manager
Haley Wonsley manages Intesa’s North County projects and serves a variety of Intesa’s other government relations and community outreach clients. Before joining Intesa, Haley spent six years with the County of San Diego, serving as Director of Community Affairs for County Supervisor Bill Horn.
During her tenure at the County, Haley built solid relationships with local, state, and federal partners, as well as with the non-profit and private sectors. Specifically, Haley coordinated special events, military, veteran and economic policy issues. She also coordinated and guided the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the North County Region, and administered $2.7 million in grant programs each year.
Haley is a graduate of the CSU San Marcos Leadership North County program and LEAD IMPACT (‘19). She holds a credential from the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) for excellence in Senior Leadership for County Government.
She is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, on the chamber’s Executive Committee and helped start the Oceanside Young Professionals Network (OYPN). Haley also is a board member of the Oceanside Boys and Girls Club. At the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, Haley chairs the Government Affairs Committee and is also a part of the Carlsbad’s Young Professionals group. Haley has been named among Vista Chamber of Commerce’s “40 under 40 best and brightest,” as well as San Diego Business Journal’s “Next 40 Top Business Leaders Under 40.”
Haley graduated with honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and studied abroad at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She loves the beach and has traveled to 11 countries. The rest of the world is on her bucket list.
Expertise
Mindy Wright
Senior Account Manager
Mindy Wright is the public relations and communications lead for many Intesa clients, managing strategic and tactical deliverables as well as key media relationships. Her deep and diverse background in media relations and communications stems from years as an in-house communications professional for several leading nonprofit organizations in San Diego County. She speaks Spanish conversationally and has led successful Spanish-language media campaigns on behalf of clients.
From handling crisis communications at the Center for Community Solutions, managing international corporate partnership campaigns at Helen Woodward Animal Center, and writing marketing copy for the National Conflict Resolution Center, Mindy has effectively spearheaded communications projects on the local and global stage to achieve positive outcomes for clients. She is a social media expert, having launched highly successful digital engagement campaigns for emergency fundraising, creative marketing promotions, for-profit endeavors, and even a dog surfing event or two.
Mindy works regularly with San Diego television news networks as well as major local publications and radio shows. Her leadership on national media campaigns has yielded valuable relationships and placements with dozens of national media outlets including The TODAY Show, People Magazine, In Touch Magazine, Discovery Channel, NBC, and Parade Magazine.
After graduating from San Diego State University with a B.A. in International Security and Conflict Resolution, Mindy earned a certificate in Mediation from the Università di Bologna in Rimini, Italy. She is currently participating in the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s prestigious LEAD IMPACT program and is an active member of the Downtown San Diego Partnership and Public Relations Society of America San Diego. When her nose isn’t stuck in a book, Mindy can be found chasing her husband, young daughters, and two rescue dogs around one of San Diego’s stunning trails or beaches.
Expertise
Sina Hajhassan
Account Executive
Sina Hajhassan executes media relations, communications and public affairs tactics in support of Intesa’s clients throughout San Diego and beyond. As an Account Executive, Sina works closely with both the PR and government relations teams to deliver strategic results. He is inspired by working within the collaborative culture at Intesa, and brings a spirit of innovation to all projects.
Prior to joining Intesa, Sina worked on SkinSolution.MD’s marketing team as Brand Marketing Coordinator for various e-commerce brands, where he generated new social media content, engagement and followers to increase conversion rate optimization. While attending college as a full-time student, Sina also completed two internships at BAM Communications and SLATE PR.
After graduating from the College of Marin with an A.A. in Communication Studies, as well as Social and Behavioral Sciences, Sina earned his B.A. in Communications at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). During his senior year, he also served as the president of the Undergraduate Communication Society at UCSD.
Sina currently serves on the Asian Culture Media Alliance’s Take One Media Mentorship Board. He also provides career coaching services to students and young professionals.
Sina hails from the Bay Area and currently resides in San Diego. He loves being adventurous, exploring the latest happenings around town and trying new things, such as skydiving.
Expertise
- Media Relations
- Advocacy and Public Relations Strategies
- Event Coordination
- Social Media
- Copy Writing
- Food and Wine
Memory Reardon
Office Manager
Memory Reardon serves as Intesa’s administrator handling accounting and office management. With a background in various accounting and logistics roles, we’re thrilled to have her organizational expertise on-board.
Memory earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from the University of Alabama. She started her career in purchasing and eventually made her way to manufacturing operations which landed a job at Bumble Bee Foods in San Diego. She remains southern at heart, but so thankful to have made a California dream come true. When she’s not following the call of the mountains with her husband and dog Barley, she can be found crafting away on her latest DIY project.
Expertise
- Organizational guru
- Accounting/Billing
- Creativity
- Craft beer
- Alabama football, of course!
Our bench
Our bench is deep. From web design and brand development to crisis communications and public policy media strategy, our responsive, first-rate team spans coast to coast.
Expertise
- Website development
- Website hosting
- Webmaster servcies
- Brand and logo development
- Publication design [print and digital]