ICF adds senior VP for defense, homeland security

ICF International has hired Christine Kelley Cimko to be senior vice president of strategic communications, specializing in defense, homeland security and public diplomacy, the company announced today.

ICF provides consulting services and technology solutions in the energy, environment, transportation, social programs, defense and homeland security markets.

She will work with national security clients on defense communications, management and acquisition, and defense policy-making.

Cimko has more than 35 years’ experience in public affairs, public relations, communications and politics. She has worked in a variety of senior public policy and communications positions at the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Defense Department and the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.

Cimko designed the National Capital Region Citizen Preparedness Campaign, one of the first such campaigns funded by the Homeland Security Department’s Urban Area Security Initiative.

“Cimko’s unsurpassed expertise in designing and directing high-visibility public affairs campaigns, reputation and effective media and messaging strategies is a vital asset to our clients,” said Sudhakar Kesavan, chief executive officer of ICF, in a statement.

Cimko previously was a managing director at Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations firm, where she led the company’s defense and homeland security practice.

She is a director of the Armed Services YMCA and is a founding member of Rural TeleHealth Solutions, which provides telemedicine services to American Indians on reservations.