All Pawtucket All The Time

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Citizens Financial Group, Inc. has named Senior Vice President Kathy O’Donnell as Director of Public Affairs. In her new role, O’Donnell is working with the local public affairs teams throughout the company’s 12-state retail footprint managing Citizens Bank and Charter One’s charitable contributions, philanthropic activities, community outreach, marketing sponsorships and its legacy programs, such as Gear for Grades and Champions in Action®.

O’Donnell serves as a key resource on public affairs for Citizens’ senior executives. She also is supporting the company’s strategic plan through its community-based, local delivery model to ensure that Citizens is actively engaged in the communities where it does business, responding appropriately to local issues, needs and concerns. 

Simultaneously, Citizens announced that Vice President Amie Kershaw has succeeded O’Donnell as Director of Public Affairs for Citizens Bank in Rhode Island. Kershaw previously was the Rhode Island bank’s Senior Public Affairs Manager.

In her new role, Kershaw oversees public affairs, community outreach and media relations in Rhode Island, reporting to O’Donnell. In addition, Kershaw is a member of Citizens Bank President Ned Handy’s state leadership team.

O’Donnell joined Citizens Bank in 1995 as a public relations manager. She was promoted to Vice President in 2000 and to Senior Vice President in 2005. Before coming to Citizens, O’Donnell was director of development at the American Diabetes Association, Rhode Island Chapter, and a reporter for local radio stations.

O’Donnell is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island’s 2004 Omega Class. She is a board member of Day One and chaired the development committee of Children’s Friend & Service in Providence, where she was also an agency board member from 2002 to 2009. O’Donnell is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island, earning a bachelor’s degree with a double major in journalism and communications studies and a minor in psychology. She is also a member of URI’s College of Arts and Sciences’ advisory committee and serves on the university’s Alumni Association Board having chaired its marketing communications committee.

O’Donnell lives in South Kingstown with her husband, Bill White, and their two children.

 Since joining Citizens six years ago, Kershaw has assumed leadership roles in many bank signature programs including Champions in Action, Striking Out Hunger and Gear For Grades. In 2009, in addition to leading the Rhode Island Gear For Grades initiative, Kershaw spearheaded the wider New England Gear for Grades effort and collaborated with colleagues to provide markets in the Mid-Atlantic with the expertise to execute the program. Prior to joining Citizens, Kershaw was Promotions Director at 92 PRO-FM, a Citadel Broadcasting radio station in Providence.

Kershaw is active in the community. She is vice president of the board of directors of RiverzEdge Arts Project and a member of the board of the San Miguel School, an independent middle school for boys from the Providence area. She is also past treasurer of the Southern New England Chapter of The Public Relations Society of America. Kershaw received a B.A. in communications and sociology from the University of Massachusetts and an M.B.A. from Johnson & Wales University in Providence. She is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Rhode Island’s Delta II Class. Kershaw lives in Providence with her husband.