Elizabeth Cowles Johnston, President


Barbara Carpenter, Senior Associate


Emily Sorensen, Senior Associate


Brie Barash, Senior Associate


Lisa Biesak, Director of Business Development


Randi Plake, Assistant Associate


Michele Brysgel, Office Manager


Deborah Kotchen, Consultant

Elizabeth Cowles Johnston

Elizabeth Cowles Johnston took over as President of The Kotchen Group in January 2008 after leading some of the firm’s largest and longest running public relations accounts and managing the agency’s project teams.  Johnston specializes in creating thoughtfully planned public relations programs and results-oriented media campaigns for agency clients. She leads The Kotchen Group team through successful public relations initiatives for consumer, lifestyle and business accounts and projects.

Johnston has extensive media relations experience in both the consumer and business press and through her career has worked on a variety of public relations campaigns for retail brands, home, health and food products, book authors and non-profit organizations. Recent client projects Johnston managed include the national non-profit School Nutrition Association and the Hartford Marathon Foundation/ING Hartford Marathon as well as publicity campaigns for publishers and authors and television media tours for lifestyle experts such as Mr. Gadget - Steve Kruschen, and Family Adventure Mom Deb Geigis-Berry.

Prior to The Kotchen Group, Johnston was an Account Executive with Sloane & Company, a New York-based public relations firm.  Johnston was involved with media relations and speaking engagement planning for technology clients and various properties of the firm’s major media client, Primedia, which included extensive work for both consumer and business titles. 

Johnston earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from the University of Florida.