Golin has appointed a new leader for its Toronto office, recruiting Sasha Kalra to serve as vice president of digital and creative.

In the newly created role, Kalra “will play an integral role in upleveling our digital counsel across consumer and corporate communications,” says Lindsay Peterson, Golin Canada’s managing director, to whom he will report.

More specifically, he is tasked with growing and mentoring the agency’s social, digital and influencer team while providing senior leadership to its creatives and oversight of its digital strategy for more than 60% of the the clients across Golin’s Canadian portfolio, including Staples, Ferrero and Columbia Sportswear.

He says he will bring a “data-driven approach” to the agency’s work and “lean into analytics to make creative decisions and grow our clients’ audiences.”

Kalra joins the agency with more than a decade of experience spanning agencies, healthcare brands and media. He has expertise in channel strategies, paid campaigns, social listening, digital workshop, corporate advocacy, stakeholder engagement, executive social media, influencer marketing and events.

Most recently, he served as director of digital strategy at New York-based Global Gateway Advisors, a strategic communications consultancy. He has also worked for medical cannabis brand Tilray and for media companies theScore and Vice.

“I’ve worked a lot on the intersection of brands and companies as an advocate,” he says. “Navigating corporate advocacy and evaluating what communications and actions are appropriate can generate impactful results, and I hope to bring that perspective to Golin’s Canadian clients as we help them reach their target audiences in new and meaningful ways.”