Last updated on June 14th, 2024
The National Confectioners Association (NCA) appointed two new staff members to new roles designed to bolster advocacy and communications activities. The association says these new hires will expand the organization’s capability to tell the confectionery industry’s narrative and highlight member companies’ economic contributions with audiences ranging from members of Congress to consumer influencers and other key stakeholder groups.
Lauren O’Toole Boland joins the public affairs and communications team at NCA as director of communications and will focus on strengthening the organizations’ media engagement, strategic communications and advocacy efforts. Before joining NCA, she was a VP at Marathon Strategies and served on the communications team at the Association of Global Automakers. Additionally, Boland served as communications director for two members of Congress and gained experience on multiple congressional campaigns throughout the state of Ohio.
Courtney Hogan joins NCA’s policy and regulatory affairs team as manager of grassroots and public policy. In this role, she will focus on increasing engagement and participation of elected officials in NCA public policy initiatives and member company events and creating opportunities for policymakers to tour confectionery manufacturing facilities and participate in other on-the-ground opportunities. Prior to joining NCA, Hogan served as government affairs manager at the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council and worked in the office of Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.
“NCA has built a strong reputation as a thought leader in the public affairs and advocacy space in and outside of Washington, and the addition of Lauren and Courtney to the team will only strengthen our capability,” John Downs, NCA president and CEO, said. “We’re excited to add to our advocacy and communications capacity, which will help us tell our story to members of Congress and our stakeholder audiences and provide even more value to our member companies.”
