Veteran publicist and crisis communications expert Ron Berkowitz began his career in media as a radio personality before pursuing public relations. While at the University of Miami, Berkowitz handled play-by-play for WVUM Radio covering Hurricanes football, baseball, and basketball. He then worked as a reporter for WTOP radio in Washington covering the Baltimore Orioles where he met longtime MLB PR guru Rob Butcher. Butcher invited Berkowitz to interview with him for a role in the Yankees PR Department if he wanted to transition out of broadcasting, and he quickly took him up on the offer. Berkowitz went on to work for the Yankees and FOX Sports before launching Berk Communications in 1999. For the last 21 years, Berkowitz has grown the then-one-man-shop to what is now an award-winning PR firm representing some of the industry’s leading players across sports & entertainment, consumer lifestyle, food & beverage, and travel & tourism. Berkowitz leads the firms' reputation management practice that includes Alex Rodriguez, Meek Mill, and Michael Rubin, and has been featured across Inc, PRWeek, CBS Sports “Tiki & Tierney”, and more.

Marisa has been part of the core executive team at Berk Communications for five years. For the past two decades, her focus has been on building smart and effective media strategies for consumer lifestyle brands. She has held leadership roles at some of the top PR agencies in New York including Text100 and Harrison & Shriftman, and also spent several years in-house at American Express.  Marisa has worked with a diverse roster of consumer brands throughout her career including Johnson & Johnson, Shazam, MTV, VH1, The Cheesecake Factory, British Airways, TLC (The Learning Channel), W Hotels, JW Marriott, Blackberry and more. At Berk Communications she leads strategy development for key accounts across the lifestyle, food & beverage and travel categories including The Cheesecake Factory, Israel Ministry of Tourism, Elegance Brands, Weedmaps, Patreon and more.

Melanie (Wadden) Van Dusen joined Berk Communications in 2017, where she co-leads both the sports & lifestyle and reputation management practices. She is an award-winning and highly-connected senior executive with over a decade of experience developing and executing strategic communications campaigns, thought leadership, reputation management, and notable events for category leaders including four professional sports leagues, numerous top consumer brands, and over 250 athletes and personalities. As a senior strategist at Berk, Melanie spearheads the full spectrum of reputation and issues management – from establishing personal brands to managing high-stakes crises, litigation support and everything in between – and has led marquee national campaigns with clients like the National Football League, Major League Soccer, The Big 12 Conference, Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Tourism and BODYARMOR. Her deep industry expertise, extensive rolodex and proven results earned her a spot on the PRNEWS’ Rising Stars 30 and Under list in 2018. Prior to joining Berk, Melanie held communications roles with Select Sports Group (now part of ICM Partners/CAA), Octagon and the National Basketball Association. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Erik, son Harrison and dog son Bernard.

With a keen interest in sports and entertainment, Marc’s work in the communications and marketing fields lies at the intersection of them both as he guides his clients through these complicated landscapes. He has led strategies for major consumer brands at some of the world's biggest sports and entertainment events. Marc’s current clients include IBM, FanDuel, FootJoy, Comcast (Xfinity), Puma, and more. Past experience includes Washington Commanders (rebrand), ESPN+, Warner Brothers, WWE, Autotrader, Stoli, and the Professional Fighters League. Before joining Berk, Marc worked at several agencies supporting globally recognized brands, specifically Microsoft/Xbox and DICK’s Sporting Goods.

From the world’s biggest brands to the newest start up darlings, Laura Kepus has nearly a decade of experience across a multitude of sports, fashion, streetwear, fitness, and lifestyle brands. Beyond providing strategic guidance and expertise to her clients, Laura has developed a vast network of strong and genuine relationships with media members across an array of verticals. Clients past and present include household names from PUMA, Target, Foot Locker, Inc., ’47, Major League Soccer, Lids, Nixon, CorePower Yoga, Pure Barre, Swimsuits For All and Eastpak to breakout companies Bombas, HOORAE Media, BODYARMOR, Balance Athletica, and more.

Beyond traditional PR and earned media relations, Laura has experience in earned and paid influencer programming and event execution. This includes conceptualizing and activating during important cultural events including New York Fashion Week, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, WNBA All-Star, MLS All-Star, Women's History Month, and more.

When not working Laura can be found watching soccer, reading a book, cooking up a new recipe, enjoying the outdoors, and forever spoiling her adorable French Bulldog, Lucho.

Chris is a seasoned communications marketing professional with deep experience in the sports industry. He has helped some of the biggest companies in the world to develop and implement communications strategies designed to drive cohesive, holistic, and captivating brand storytelling. He has worked to develop and execute campaigns that have helped brands activate at major cultural moments from the Olympics Games, to CES, to the Super Bowl.

His current clients at Berk include IBM, Comcast (Xfinity), Paradigm Sports, Lids, Champs Sports, and more. Before joining Berk, Chris worked at a full-service brand marketing agency, leading PR efforts for companies including Samsung, The North Face, Bridgestone, Delta, ASICS, Intel, Red Bull, and Speedo.

A skilled content marketing and communications strategist, Matt Mirandi has spent over a decade leading comprehensive content, thought leadership and public relations campaigns for Fortune 50 companies, advocacy groups and startups alike. He’s passionate about building authentic reporter relationships and a student of the Internet who uses pop culture to tap traditional and new media formats to help advance client stories and enhance the impact they have on desired audiences. Matt leads Berk Communication’s business and technology teams and has extensive experience in the private equity/growth capital and the startup/venture capital worlds, leading comms for David Adelman’s Darco Capital and Comcast NBCUniversal’s SportsTech startup accelerator programs as well as many of the company’s accounts that blend entertainment, policy, business and technology. Matt has led media relations strategies for brands as diverse as GE, Credit Suisse, Pfizer, ExxonMobil, Target, The Home Depot, Dell, The Motion Picture Association of America, the TED Conferences, InterContinental Hotels Group, Liberty United, Solar Impulse, The Happiest Baby Company, Knewton, Credit Sesame, and BillShrink (acquired by MasterCard) among many others and the experiences have made him adept at successfully crafting compelling strategies for any industry or beat. Always eager to pursue great stories, Matt has contributed pieces for publications such as Fast Company on topics ranging from marketing to Internet culture. His desire to dress as ‘Scumbag Steve’ for Halloween led to the investigation on the origins of the Internet’s most infamous hat; a curiosity into an emerging meme about the absurd length of CVS receipts led to a buzz of national news stories and a change in CVS’ corporate policy; and a keen eye for social media chatter led him to discover that two teenagers in a crowd likely inspired Kanye West’s iconic VMA speech about his ambitions to run for president.

Ben is a Los Angeles-based sports strategist with expertise in PR and communications strategy and counsel, media relations, media events, media training and athlete marketing developed through focused industry experience. He has activated at many large-scale events during his career including Super Bowls, NBA All-Star Weekends and MLS All-Star, in addition to brand and athlete led events. Current and former clients include Fanatics, Foot Locker, FootJoy, Lotto, adidas, ANA Inspiration, Chelsea Football Club, Yaamava’ Resort & Casino at San Manuel and more. Prior to joining Berk, Ben worked at agencies focused on the intersection of sports and lifestyle. He grew up in Chicago playing baseball and soccer before heading west to the University of Arizona.

Gabrielle Gaines is a Senior Account Director at Berk Communications with over nine years of experience in the public relations field. Since joining Berk in January 2017, Gabrielle has been a core member of shaping the food, beverage, and travel department to where is stands today. She is an expert in the space that loves to think outside the box. She serves as a day-to-day lead where she develops PR plans and dynamic pitch strategies to help clients tell their unique stories to top-tier media outlets. In addition to traditional media relations, Gabrielle organizes all events, press trips, media tours for clients; she oversees client gifting for media, influencers, and celebrities; she also works with clients to provide insight on larger strategic planning. 

Current clients include: The Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux Cafe, Caesars Entertainment (inclusive of 11 hotels in Las Vegas), Global Brand Equities, Eric LeGrand Bourbon, Mezcal Campante, The Vines Resort & Spa in Mendoza, and more. When not working, Gabrielle loves trying new restaurants and traveling to exotic places around the world.

Brooke Levine is a Senior Account Director at Berk Communications with eight years of experience in public relations, working with clients across the food, beverage and consumer lifestyle space. Brooke has represented a vast array of brands, ranging from household names in the restaurant industry, to celebrity-founded spirits brands and cannabis technology platforms. Current clients include The Cheesecake Factory, Caesars Entertainment, Global Brand Equities, Lobos 1707 Tequila & Mezcal, Darco Spirits and more.

Brooke serves as a day-to-day lead across all accounts and builds thoughtful media strategies that ladder back to individual client goals. She is always on the lookout to secure the next impactful story for her clients.

In her spare time, Brooke can be found exploring new restaurants and bakeries in New York City and rooting for the University of Miami at sporting events.