Proof is adding earned media and corporate expertise to its leadership with its most recent hires.

The independent PR agency is welcoming Andrea Lee (above, left) as VP, earned media, and Megan Shay (above, right) as VP, corporate and financial.

Based in Toronto, Lee is a four-year veteran of Narrative PR, and joins the team with nearly two decades’ experience in strategy and storytelling, both in agency and in her prior career a journalist with CBC News and NPR over the course of nearly 15 years. According to the agency, Lee is already helping clients across multiple sectors develop earned media and content strategies, “bringing a critical editorial lens to brand narratives.”

Lee will also collaborate closely with Proof’s unified marketing and communications team’s full spectrum offering and mission to challenge marketing conventions and earn society’s attention and trust.

According to Melody Gaukel, Proof Strategies’ SVP, corporate and financial, Lee is also bringing a journalist’s thinking to the company’s media training.

“Her passion for storytelling and relationship building made her the perfect addition to our strong roster of communication professionals here at Proof Strategies,” Gaukel says.

Megan Shay has spent nearly 15 years working on both agency and client sides, delivering integrated communications strategies for brands across B2B and B2C and has has worked across multiple sectors, as well as clients like Microsoft and Telus.

Recently, she held the post of head of communications for accounting software brand FreshBooks, and prior to that was VP and tech practice lead for National PR. She brings her own experience from the world of journalism, having worked in-house at the likes of St Joseph Media and BetaKit.

According to David Gollom, SVP, corporate and financial at Proof Strategies, Shay possesses a strong track record of guiding established and emerging organizations through periods of rapid expansion, crisis management and new product and service launches.