The Walt Disney Company has named Kristina Schake as global communications executive vice president reporting to chief corporate affairs officer Geoff Morrell. She will be responsible for the company’s worldwide communications strategy, operations and also serve as lead spokesperson. Her appointment is effective immediately.
Schake has spent three decades working at the nexus of government, media, business, entertainment, and technology. Most recently, she was appointed by President Biden to lead the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine education campaign and was previously global communications director for Instagram. She was deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and served in the Obama administration as special assistant to the President and communications director to the First Lady.
“I could not be more pleased to welcome Kristina to Disney and to have her leading communications for the company. Her experience in the public and private sectors, in political and corporate campaigns, make her ideally suited for this important role and to help me integrate communications with government relations, public policy, and corporate social responsibility into a new corporate affairs team. Together with the exceptional professionals at Disney, we will help the world’s greatest storytelling company engage even more effectively with our many stakeholders around the world,” said Morrell.
“As Disney approaches its 100th anniversary, I’m excited to lead the company’s global communications work at this pivotal moment of growth and transformation. The magical stories and experiences Disney creates enrich the lives of countless people around the world and it’s an honor for me to be a part of that, helping Bob Chapek, Geoff Morrell, and the talented teams throughout the company tell the story of Disney as it begins its second century,” said Schake.
With this role, Schake is returning home to California, where she served for several years as the senior communications strategist for First Lady Maria Shriver during the Women’s Conference, and the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative. In 2009, she co-founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which led the successful bipartisan public awareness campaign and legal challenge to restore marriage equality to California.
The new global communications EVP of The Walt Disney Company began her career working for Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan. Schake is a native of Sonoma, CA, and is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.