The Goodwin Advantage

Tara Goodwin Frier

Founder & CEO of Goodwin Group PR brings to her firm more than 25 years of media relations, public affairs and public policy experience.

Frier oversees the strategic direction of all client accounts and over the years has worked with large and small companies to increase visibility, create demand for products and services and grow bottom lines. Whether planning a large corporate event or navigating a client through the uncharted waters of a crisis situation, Frier is known as a leader who provides open and honest counsel and helps clients develop the infrastructure to sustain successful communications programs.

Before starting the company, she served as Vice President of Edelman Public Relations’ Boston office where she managed an active portfolio of clients, and executed Boston media strategies for Edelman’s national and international accounts including: IDA Singapore; Barnes & Noble; Belgian energy company, Tractebel, Inc.; Schering-Plough; Morgan Stanley; JAFCO Ventures and YouthBuild U.S.A.

Frier was also the lead strategist for the state’s education reform (MCAS) campaign. Her contributions to Barnes & Noble’s Close the Book on Hate campaign helped Edelman score a Silver Saber award for best retail marketing initiative. She was named one of Boston’s Top 10 PR specialists in 2006 and 2009 by Women’s Business Boston.

Prior to her work at Edelman, Frier served as chief of staff of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development where she managed a staff of 250 and a budget of $450 million. In addition, she worked to develop an affordable housing policy designed to help alleviate the Massachusetts housing crisis, wrote and edited all agency RFP’s, managed contractors and served as a member of the Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence.

She was named one of Women’s Business Boston’s “Top 10 PR Specialists” in 2006 and 2009 and was a 2011 nominee for PR Person of the Year by Biz Bash.

Margrette Cardone Mondillo

President of Goodwin Group PR, is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the company. She has planned and executed many successful events and media relations strategies for clients since she joined the company in 2003. She enjoys working closely with the firm’s nonprofit organizations to increase their effectiveness and donor base. She excels in her ability to create unique partnerships that yield long-term benefits for the parties involved.

Prior to joining the company, she served as a former Supervising Producer for the E! Networks in Los Angeles, and leverages her contacts in the world of entertainment for the firm’s clients. An Emmy-nominated producer who ran a live, daily national cable entertainment news program, Mondillo field-produced such high-profile events as Oscar parties, international film festivals, behind-the-scenes shoots on feature films and top-rated TV shows. She has interviewed hundreds of celebrities and newsmakers throughout her career.

Prior to her career at E!, Margrette served as a news writer for several popular Los Angeles television stations including: KCBS, KCAL, and KTTV. She also worked as an associate producer for “The Crusaders” a nationally-syndicated news magazine show.

Kristen Daly

Business Development Director & Special Projects Manager is responsible for developing new relationships for the firm as well as working on select projects that showcase her creativity and talent. Not only does she deliver “big ideas” to clients, she successfully executes them in a way that keeps the buzz humming long after the engagement has ended. Her ability to cut through the hype and give journalists what they really want has helped build the firm’s reputation as a credible, trusted resource among local and national media.

Prior to joining the firm in 2004, Daly spent more than a dozen years in broadcast television and was a full-time general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor at WB56 in Boston. As a broadcast journalist, Kristen has covered many high profile events and interviewed numerous personalities nationwide.

Prior to her position at WB56, Kristen worked in three other Boston newsrooms, working in front of and behind the camera. She has covered the New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox as a sports reporter as well as functioned as a health reporter for a weekly medical program. For a number of years, she worked in program development for the Hearst Corporation creating shows for networks such as Lifetime and A&E. She has also produced and written several programs for both local and national broadcast.

JoJo Gutfarb

Senior Account Executive & Social Media Manager  joined the Goodwin PR Team in October, 2011 and works with both the national and local press on behalf of our clients while also specializing in both event publicity and the increasingly important world of Social Media. Gutfarb has spent time over the past five years working in various public relations roles for high-profile clients and events.  For several years she worked with the New England Patriots, focusing in in-season, post-season and training camp media relations.  For the past two years, she worked with the NFL public relations staff as a Super Bowl staffer.   She is an alumna of Mount Holyoke College where she majored in Mass Media & Society and also captained the Varsity Equestrian Team.