Cuomo Appoints Allison Gollust as Director of Communications

Appointee Served as Senior Vice President of NBC News Communications

On October 9, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the appointment of Allison Gollust to serve as Director of Communications. She will replace Richard A. Bamberger, who has served in the position since January 1, 2011.

"It is an honor to welcome Allison to our team and I thank her for bringing her talents to New York state government," said Governor Cuomo.

"Allison is a consummate professional who has a wealth of experience in communications and management. Her extraordinary work ethic, intellect and dedication will be essential to this position and I look forward to working with her."

“Since Rich started at the Attorney General’s office in 2008, he has been a vital member of a team that has delivered for the people of the state of New York. There is no doubt he will be missed. I thank him for his dedication, public service and friendship,” Governor Cuomo added.

"The opportunity to join the Governor and his team to build on the tremendous success they have already achieved in transforming the state is one that I truly could not pass up," stated Ms. Gollust.

"Communication in this day and age moves at a lightning pace and serves a critical role in informing the public. I look forward to working with the administration to continue spreading the Governor’s message of a new New York throughout the state."

"It has been my great honor and privilege to serve with such a dedicated public servant as Governor Cuomo. What started out as a one-year endeavor has lasted for four years, and that is a testament to the compelling work that the Governor and his team are doing on behalf of New Yorkers everywhere," noted Mr. Bamberger.

"Allison will be a great addition to the administration and I wish her the best of luck. The Governor's mission has always been to hire the best and the brightest to serve the people of New York, and Allison is one of them. Governor Cuomo has been a mentor and friend and I thank him for the opportunity to have worked beside him."

Gollust began her career as a reporter and producer in Denver, Colorado. Following her work as a journalist, Ms. Gollust became the director of communications and spokeswoman for Major League Soccer and then joined NBC Universal where she worked most recently as the executive vice president of Corporate Communications.

Gollust was responsible for communications policies and strategic positioning of NBC Universal’s global assets, content, and executives and oversaw the company’s domestic and international media strategy and execution, executive communications, internal communications, corporate philanthropy, and community relations.

In addition, she served as the chief spokesperson for NBC Universal.

From 2005 to 2009, Gollust served as senior vice president of NBC News Communications. In that role, she was chief spokesperson for NBC News and had oversight of communications at NBC’s 24-hour cable news channel, MSNBC; the leading global brand in business news, CNBC; and the Weather Channel. She oversaw all internal and external communications for NBC News and its programming, including Today, Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dateline, and Meet the Press.

From 2002 to 2005, Gollust held the position of vice president of NBC News Communications.

In the course of her tenure at NBC News, Gollust was responsible for managing communications strategy around three major network anchor transitions, including the appointment of David Gregory following the tragic death of Tim Russert in 2008, and the transitions from Katie Couric to Meredith Vieira at Today in 2006, and from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams at NBC Nightly News in 2004.

Gollust joined NBC News Communications in November 1998, as senior publicist for Today, serving as chief spokesperson for the broadcast, as well as sole publicist and spokesperson for anchors Katie Couric and Matt Lauer. Prior to her tenure with Today, she was a publicist in NBC’s Corporate Communications division, where she oversaw corporate and philanthropic events, as well as handled internal communications.

Gollust resides in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Mr. Bamberger will remain with the administration to assist in the transition.