Donna L. LaVoie
President and Chief Executive Officer

Donna L. LaVoie, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaVoie Group, has more than 15 years experience in business strategy, corporate communications, public relations and investor relations. As a strategic business partner, her expertise is in providing senior-level strategic counsel to executive managers of privately held and publicly traded life sciences companies.

Her approach is based on helping clients build a unique brand and a credible voice with key audiences while providing strategic counsel to build value. She brings knowledge of all aspects of the corporate marketing effort and the integration of strategic options in the overall mix of those efforts. One of her core strengths is the development of strong relationships among industry, the venture and investor communities and media.

Prior to leading LaVoie Group as President and CEO, Ms. LaVoie was a communications and investor relations practitioner, having spent her career in senior communications and investor relations roles at leading biopharmaceutical and technology firms. Ms. LaVoie held the position of Vice President, Corporate and Strategic Marketing at Stream International (now Solectron), Vice President of Investor Relations at Cambridge Technology Partners (now Novell, Inc.), and senior communications and investor relations roles at several life sciences companies including Ergo Science Corporation, Alkermes, Inc., and Genzyme Corporation, where she led the company’s public relations efforts during a time of tremendous growth.

Ms. LaVoie is a frequent speaker and has been published on a variety of subjects including crisis communications, investor and public relations best practices and international investor relations. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Management from Lesley College and has completed a strategic marketing program at The Wharton School. She is a past board member of The Salvation Army and is a member of the National Investor Relations Institute. Ms. LaVoie is Co-Chair of the Marketing and Communications Committee for the Mass Biotech Council (MBC) and an advisor to MBC’s CEO boot camp and MassOpportunities Conference.

Sharon Correia
Senior Account Leader

Sharon Correia has been actively involved for more than 20 years in life science marketing and corporate communications management at both public and private companies.  Her background includes expertise in integrated corporate marketing & communications strategies; investor, public and professional advocacy relations; corporate naming and positioning; branding; government affairs; technical & scientific communications; tradeshow, conference & event planning; website and corporate collateral development.

Most recently, Sharon was the Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at Alseres Pharmaceuticals, a microcap biotech firm focused on diagnostics and therapeutics for CNS indications such as Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injury.  Prior to Alseres, she performed similar roles building innovative corporate, marketing, product and/or investor programs at Aderis Pharmaceuticals, Oscient, Caliper Life Sciences and Millipore.  Sharon also directed a research laboratory and provided expert HPLC customer support services for Waters/Millipore while living in Europe.  She is a member of NIRI, PRSA, MBC and the Neurotech Industry Organization and serves as a member of the National Spinal Cord Outcomes Partnership Endeavor.

Sharon completed her degree in Biochemistry from Penn State University and graduate courses in finance and management from American University.  In 2004 she received the Outstanding Advocacy Award from the Parkinson’s Action Network in Washington, DC and continues to serve on the board and planning committee for the Morris K Udall Achievement Award.  For the past 15 years, she has served as the Chairman of the PR and Marketing committee and member of the executive board of the Metrowest YMCA and holds board seats for various other charitable organizations. 

Wendy Irwin
Business/Office Manager

As Office Manager, Ms. Irwin leads the agency’s best practice administrative functions including assisting in client and agency communications, the setting of office protocols, coordinating and maintaining office support services, oversight of client billing, account receivable and payable as well as human resources.

Prior to LaVoie Group, Ms. Irwin worked in various healthcare administration roles for nearly 20 years.

Liz Pingpank
Account Executive

Liz Pingpank joins LaVoie Group with a background in life sciences/healthcare, public relations, event planning, and corporate finance. As an Account Executive, Ms. Pingpank’s client-related activities include public relations, corporate communications, investor relations and branding programs for various life sciences accounts. In addition, she provides media relations, project management, competitive tracking and information gathering services for LaVoie Group clients and manages the Life Sciences Events Planning Calendar featuring investor, medical and industry events.

Prior to joining LaVoie, Ms. Pingpank was an Account Representative at Lois Paul & Partners, a PR agency in Woburn, MA. At LP&P, her duties included media pitching, analyst relations, identifying and pitching speaking opportunities,drafting press releases and bylines, and conducting social media efforts for life sciences and hi-tech clients. Ms.Pingpank also worked in UBS’s Healthcare Investment Banking Group as a Market Data Analyst, responsible for executing the group’s Life Sciences, Healthcare Services, and Specialty Pharmaceuticals conferences. In addition, she provided competitive intelligence on companies, trends, and products, tracked competitor and industry conferences, and provided news briefs for senior management.

Ms. Pingpank holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Georgetown University.

Lisa Rivero
Senior Account Supervisor/Director of Media Relations

Lisa Rivero has over 10 years of agency experience including both public and investor relations. In her role as the Director of Media Relations at LaVoie Group, Ms. Rivero has developed multi faceted media and analyst relations programs that incorporate traditional media outreach, as well as advanced social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and Web 2.0 strategies. Lisa has strong experience working with early-stage companies regarding clinical trials and product pipeline communications, and has also developed integrated marketing plans for biopharmaceutical companies with products on the market. Ms. Rivero has participated on thought leadership panels at industry organizations such as the Massachusetts Biotech Council (MBC) and CBI Summit. Ms. Rivero’s diverse portfolio has included companies in industries such as oncology, RNAi, ophthalmology, antibody fragments and personalized medicine.

Prior to LaVoie Group, Ms. Rivero was an Account Manager at PAN Communications. At PAN, she managed account activities such as value-added strategic planning and allocating agency resources for a diverse client base. Ms. Rivero provided public relations counsel to business to business (B-to-B) clients, consisting of trade and business media outreach, SEO, blogging strategy, analyst relations, as well as speaking and award programs. Ms. Rivero also held positions at Schwartz Communications and Sharon Merrill Associates, where she was a key player in their public relations and investor relations programs respectively. Ms. Rivero brings a decade of experience in writing corporate materials, such as public relations plans, press releases, white papers, bylined articles, corporate FAQs, product sheets, web site copy and newsletters. Ms. Rivero also has public company experience including successful IPO planning and execution, writing quarterly materials such as earnings announcements and conference call scripts, and working with sell-side and buy-side analysts.

In addition to her agency experience, Ms. Rivero was a Financial Representative for Northwestern Mutual where she earned her series 6 and 63, and life, accident and health insurance licenses. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Boston University, where she double majored in English and History, and holds a Master of Arts in English and American Studies from the University of Connecticut.

Lindsay Treadway
Senior Account Leader, Pharmaceutical Accounts

Lindsay Treadway joins the LaVoie Group with a background in healthcare public relations, strategic counsel, advocacy relations, and biology. As a Senior Account Leader at LaVoie Group, Ms. Treadway works on integrated program development and management, public relations, corporate and product communications, and provides media outreach support for a number of pharmaceutical and life sciences clients. In addition, she works on developing traditional and social media strategies, advocacy relations, consumer and physician education campaigns, and issues management support for LaVoie Group’s growing array of life science clients.

Prior to joining the LaVoie Group, Ms. Treadway worked in Cambridge, MA at Feinstein Kean Healthcare where she supported a number of specialty pharmaceutical clients. During her time at FKH, Lindsay played a fundamental role in the planning and execution of product launches, national and local media outreach, thought-leader relationship management, the development of brochure and print materials, press documents and corporate presentations. Lindsay has experience with developing key relationships with patient advocacy groups, including managing large-scale collaborative disease awareness educational campaigns, national public service announcements, and key stakeholder meetings. Ms. Treadway also served in the serology department at Acambis, Inc. where she specialized in vaccination research, focusing primarily on novel vaccines for infectious diseases. Prior to working in the biotechnology industry, she interned at Harvard Health Publications in Boston, MA and was responsible for media relations and corporate communications.

Ms. Treadway holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications and a Liberal Arts Minor in Biology from Boston University.