Julie Wood is a Managing Director at Risa Heller Communications, where she advises companies and high-profile individuals on strategic and crisis communications. She has twenty years of experience advising corporate executives, leading technology brands and elected officials. Most recently, Julie served as Communications Director for New York Governor Kathy Hochul from 2021 until 2023. Prior to joining the Hochul Administration, she served as Senior Director of Communications at Lyft. She served as Press Secretary on Mike Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign, as senior spokesperson on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, and as First Deputy Press Secretary and Digital Content Director at City Hall in the Bloomberg Administration. She also was Communications Director at Kickstarter. She holds a B.A. in English from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Columbia University.