Claudia Carasso
Claudia Carasso is an Executive Vice President and Managing Director at Cohn & Wolfe, overseeing a network of communications professionals across North America, including those with deep expertise in the technology, corporate and digital media industries. She is also head of Cohn & Wolfe’s technology industry practice driving business and communication strategy worldwide. Carasso joined Cohn & Wolfe in 2004, and has worked with major global brands such as Hewlett Packard (enterprise and services groups), Panasonic, American Express, Fireman’s Fund, Genentech, and Applied Biosystems. She is a leader in the firm’s digital media and technology practices.

Carasso is skilled at tightly aligning marketing and communications strategy with business strategy to create powerful, award-winning campaigns that drive brand awareness and bottom line benefits. She has 20+ years of experience in marketing and corporate communications, and domain expertise across consumer and enterprise technology, digital media, financial services, public affairs, and healthcare. She also has a deep background in business, trade and online media relations, as well as expertise in brand strategy development, social research, issues and crisis management, and film and television production.

Prior to joining Cohn & Wolfe, Carasso was senior vice president and partner at Fleishman Hillard in San Francisco, where she led and built the U.S. technology practice. Carasso also served as senior vice president of client services and business development at UpStart Communications, a leading technology boutique firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was responsible for business development and client services, leading major corporate, technology and branding initiatives for Sun Microsystems, IBM-Rational Software, EMC-Documentum, Oracle Corporation, Saleslogix, and others.

Carasso is an active member of the San Francisco Bay Area Community, serving as a board member and marketing chair for the Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, a micro-lending, training, education and support organization that helps high-potential, low-income women start and sustain their own businesses. She is also involved in several HIV prevention and awareness organizations and is a member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Sports Company, an improvisational theater troupe, and participates in several community organizations including the Alchemy Project for Emerging Playwrights.

Carasso studied political science and film and television production at New York University, and has done graduate work in interactive media design and education at San Francisco State University. She is proficient in French and enjoys muddling through in Spanish and Italian.