Padilla Names New President to Lead Next Chapter of Growth and Innovation

Proven agency leader Julie Batliner to succeed Padilla veteran Matt Kucharski as part of planned executive transition

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Padilla, an integrated communications agency with 7 offices across the U.S., has named Julie Batliner the firm’s next president. Batliner will succeed Matt Kucharski, who will transition to a planned retirement at the end of 2026. She becomes only the fifth leader of Padilla since the agency was founded in 1961.

Kucharski joined Padilla (then Padilla Speer Beardsley) in 1989 as the first assistant account executive to work on a new technology client that is still on the agency’s roster today. During Kucharski’s more than 37 years at Padilla, he helped transform the agency’s services and capabilities, led the teams that secured several of the largest clients in the firm’s history, expanded its industry expertise and guided the company through significant growth and change. He has been president since 2017 and was central to Padilla’s transition from an employee-owned firm to the U.S. division of holding and management company AVENIR GLOBAL, while maintaining the entrepreneurial culture of its independent agency roots. He will transition to a fractional role with the agency as an executive counselor through the end of the year.

“From Padilla’s roots in public relations, we’ve purposefully evolved into a multi-dimensional brand and communications firm that brings strategic counsel and results-based, data-driven execution to clients who want to grow their relevance, protect their reputations and transform their businesses,” said Kucharski. “I couldn’t be more confident in Julie as the right person to build on that foundation and write its next chapter. She brings vision, a track record of building businesses and a deep understanding of our industry that will lead Padilla into the future.”

Batliner has nearly 30 years of agency experience and a history of building integrated teams that deliver results. Most recently, as president of Carmichael Lynch, she led the agency through unprecedented growth and earned numerous industry awards for both client work and agency culture. Her experience aligns closely with several of Padilla’s core focus areas, including food and beverage, financial services, consumer and corporate sectors. Prior to that, Batliner spent nearly 10 years at FleishmanHillard as chair of the food and nutrition practice.

“I’ve long admired Padilla for its strategy and creativity; it’s an honor to step into this role following Matt’s leadership and all that he and the team have achieved,” said Batliner. “Padilla has tremendous momentum, with deep expertise across industries, a strong culture and a drive to embrace new approaches that blend decades of experience with new data- and AI-based technologies creating greater value for clients. I’m excited about the opportunity to leverage those strengths and work with the broader AVENIR GLOBAL team to drive the agency’s next phase of growth.”

Batliner will be based in Padilla’s Minneapolis headquarters and report to Montreal-based AVENIR GLOBAL president and CEO Jean-Pierre Vasseur.

“Julie’s significant agency leadership experience, business-building mindset and appreciation for our culture made her the right fit at the right time for Padilla, and we are delighted to welcome her to the AVENIR GLOBAL family,” said Vasseur. “We’re incredibly grateful for Matt’s dedication, leadership and many contributions to Padilla, and look forward to celebrating all he has accomplished.”

About Padilla

Padilla is a full-service agency that transforms brands and organizations through strategically creative communications. Our work across a range of industry sectors is consistently recognized by the PRWeek Awards, PRovoke IN2 SABRE Awards and PRSA Anvil Awards, among others. Padilla operates in seven cities in the U.S. through its family of brands, which includes SHIFT (performance communications), FoodMinds (food and nutrition affairs) and Joe Smith (brand strategy). As an AVENIR GLOBAL company and a founding member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, the agency provides services to clients through 115 offices worldwide. Transform with purpose at PadillaCo.com.