David M. Zapata, President
David M. Zapata is an award-winning public affairs and public relations specialist. He has diverse government, political and agency experience. With his expertise in both business-to-government and government-to-business communications, he has advised such high profile clients as BankOne, the Department of Defense, the United States Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Throughout his career, Zapata has worked on dozens of federal, state and local political and issue campaigns across the United States. His creative approach to politics has been recognized in major newspapers throughout the United States. He has also served as aide to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Most recently, Zapata was Group Director, Public Relations at one of Chicago’s largest independent integrated marketing firms. He also served on the agency’s Board of Managers.

Zapata has been a frequent speaker on the subject of government marketing.

He is a graduate of Gettysburg College with a B.A. in Political Science and Latin American Studies.

Kiran Advani, Group Director
Kiran Advani joined Zapwater Communications in December 2006 as Group Director. Kiran manages client relations and supervises a variety of lifestyle and corporate accounts for the agency. She currently oversees clients such as trend jewelry line K.Amato, HGTV personality Kelly Edwards, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ new restaurant concept HUB 51 and education publishing company Shakespeare Squared, just to name a few.

Kiran brings to Zapwater close to a decade of experience developing and executing publicity programs for some of Chicago’s most recognizable businesses. Most recently and for close to three years, Kiran had been serving several luxury fashion and beauty clients throughout the nation with her own independent media relations and specialty marketing practice. Prior to starting her solo endeavor, Kiran managed public relations and special events in-house for the Terra Museum of American Art from 2001 to 2004. She began her agency experience in 1999 at Margie Korshak Inc., initially handling advertising trade for theatre clients and quickly moving on to the public relations side working on hospitality accounts.

Kiran received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication with a major in Public Relations and concentration in Marketing Management from Drake University.

Mayra Camara, Chief Financial Officer
Mayra Camara joined Zapwater Communications in April 2008 as the Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity, she will be responsible for strategic business planning, budgeting and forecasting, as well as daily account functions and assisting with the continued growth and expansion of the boutique firm. Mayra brings an extensive background in both accounting and financial services, as well as a wealth of employee management experience, to her new position.

Before joining the Zapwater team, Mayra was the Manager of Analytics and Assessments for Cohen Financial. Prior to that she served as the Vice President of Finance for Landmark Properties LLC where she supported relationships between the company, its lending institutions, financial consultants and joint venture partners. Mayra also spent six years working for General Growth Properties, Inc. where rose to Senior Manager of Financial Services. In this role, she was responsible for the hiring, training and project management of a department of fifteen analysts.

Mayra graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelors of Science in Accountancy.

Natalie Cowel, Publicist
Natalie Cowel joined Zapwater Communications in June 2006 and holds the title of Publicist. She started her career with the agency as a full-time intern and was quickly promoted to an Assistant Publicist. Currently, Natalie works as a Publicist on both lifestyle and corporate accounts for the boutique firm. Natalie collaborates on a variety of clients such as RA Sushi locations throughout the Chicagoland area, education publishing company Shakespeare Squared, specialty and premium paper products manufacturer Boise, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises¹ new restaurant concept HUB 51, just to name a few.
 
Natalie was introduced to the public relations field in the summer of 2005 as an intern at Ruder Finn, a leading independent communications counseling and services agency. She gained valuable corporate experience through work in their technology division. Prior to that, Natalie had the opportunity to create and execute business proposals for new student scholarships as a member of the Indiana University Student Foundation¹s Scholarships and Services Committee.
 
Natalie graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelors degree in Communication and Culture with a concentration in Business.

John H. Delaney, Office & Special Projects Manager
John Delaney joined Zapwater Communications in June 2007 as the Office & Special Projects Manager. John is responsible for website development, producing clips and materials for both lifestyle and corporate clients, and supporting accounts like the Hotel Sax Chicago and Deltak. John also maintains and prepares the Zapwater home office for prosperous future endeavors.

John had previously spent the last decade at the Long Island Library Resources Council, a library lobby group, located in Stony Brook, New York. At the Council, John functioned in many capacities, from the Editor of the group’s newsletter, to helping preserve Long Island’s history through a document heritage program. This diverse background of employment has prepared John for the increasing demands for the continuous growth at Zapwater.

John received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stony Brook University.

Allison P. Evans, Director of Business Development
Allison Evans joined Zapwater Communications in April 2008 as the Director of Business Development. Allison is responsible for generating business leads to expand both the lifestyle and corporate practice areas for Zapwater, broadening the industries the agency currently serves, as well as handling internal marketing efforts.

Allison utilizes her extensive sales and managerial skills to consistently identify new business opportunities and aid in the growth of Zapwater. Prior to joining Zapwater, Allison served as a creative consultant for lawyers and other legal professionals. For the past five years, she has networked and built close working relationships with high-level attorneys and other professionals in the Chicagoland area. As a design specialist, she provided expert advice regarding the presentation of demonstrative evidence and developed design strategies to pitch to large trial teams. Allison has worked with senior level executives negotiating large-scale projects and overseeing the client relationship throughout the life of each project.

Allison received a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Personal Finance from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

Annie Neyman, Senior Publicist
Annie Neyman joined Zapwater in July 2006 as a Senior Publicist. She leads the hospitality division within the lifestyle practice at Zapwater and works on the agency’s restaurant, hotel, nightlife and travel accounts. Annie currently handles publicity for RA Sushi locations throughout the Chicagoland area, the Hotel Sax Chicago and its lobby bar Crimson Lounge, and is launching Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ new restaurant concept, HUB 51, just to name a few.

Annie brings a strong background in the hospitality industry and big agency experience to Zapwater. Formerly employed by Weber Shandwick Worldwide/Chicago, she gained consumer experience working on accounts such as Milk, Kraft and Oscar Meyer. Prior to that, Annie worked at Wagstaff Worldwide/Chicago from 2004 to 2006 where she managed several high-end restaurant and nightlife clients for which she gained both local and national recognition.

Annie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications with concentrations in Business and French from the University of Iowa.

Rebecca Palkovics, Assistant Publicist
Rebecca Palkovics joined Zapwater Communications in June 2007 and holds the title of Assistant Publicist. Rebecca began her career with the agency as a full-time intern and now, in her current role, works on both lifestyle and corporate accounts for the boutique firm. Rebecca assists on a variety of accounts such as education publishing company Shakespeare Squared, hotel lobby bar Crimson Lounge, online education company Deltak, and Milwaukee’s new boutique hotel, the Iron Horse.

Before entering the world of public relations, Rebecca interned with the not-for-profit organization Seeds of Peace and previously worked as a Research Assistant for the National Opinion Research Center where she assisted in publishing the 2005 General Social Survey. Zapwater has provided Rebecca the opportunity to apply her public policy studies in a creative manner and utilize her passion for the hospitality industry.

Rebecca graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago.

Holly K. Ramsey, Publicist
Holly Ramsey joined Zapwater Communications in March 2008 as a Publicist. Holly leads the entertainment division at Zapwater and works on fashion, retail and beauty accounts. Holly is currently lending her public relations expertise to trend jewelry line K.Amato, HGTV personality Kelly Edwards, launching the new Avani Spa at Lake Geneva¹s historic Abbey Resort and planning the grand opening for Wicker Park boutique leDress.

Holly brings a passion for publicity to Zapwater and strengths in event planning and consumer media relations. Most recently, Holly was employed by L.C. Williams & Associates where she specialized in home and corporate clientele such as Electrolux, Eureka, Shoplocal.com and U.S. Cellular. She began her career in 2006 at Weber Shandwick Worldwide/Chicago where she worked closely on the Sears Roebuck and Co., Campbell¹s and Staples accounts and secured both national and local media attention for her national consumer clients.

Holly received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University.

Susan Schreiber, Publicist
Susan Schreiber joined Zapwater Communications in October 2006 and holds the title of Publicist. Susan started her career with the agency as a full-time intern quickly moving to an Assistant Publicist position. Currently, Susan works as a Publicist for both the lifestyle and corporate accounts and has also taken on an additional role as manager of the internship program for the boutique firm. Susan collaborates on a variety of accounts including the Hotel Sax Chicago and its lobby bar, Crimson Lounge, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ upcoming restaurant concept Hub 51 and online education company Deltak for which she serves as account lead.

Susan began her public relations career in June 2006 at Burson-Marsteller. As an intern for their public affairs practice she gained valuable experience assisting on multiple accounts including Verist Medical and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to that, Susan interned in Washington D.C., working as a production assistant for “Close Up” on C-SPAN, a weekly program covering issues related to media and the First Amendment.

Susan graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelors of Science in Political Science and a concentration in Pre-Law studies.