Business people

moving up

Olson, Minneapolis, named Kevin McKeon chief creative officer. McKeon was a partner and chief creative officer for StrawberryFrog in New York and held leadership positions at BBH, BBDO and Lowe.

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America, Golden Valley, named James Nelson vice president, legal business operations and product development. Nelson joined the company in 2011 and previously worked for KMG America, Thrivent Financial and ING.

KPMG named Laura Newinski vice chair of operations. Newinski joined the firm in 1988 and is a Minneapolis-based tax national managing partner. She was named to the University of Minnesota's "Master of Business Taxation Hall of Fame" at the Carlson School of Management.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Minneapolis office named Ben Greene and Colleen Simms partners in the assurance practice. Greene is on the project lead board for Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest and on the campaign cabinet for United Way of the Greater Twin Cities. Simms is on the board for BestPrep and co-authored the firm's "Current Developments for Mutual Fund Audit Committees" publication. PwC also named PJ Ritters principal in the advisory practice and Jason Stauffenecker principal in the risk assurance practice.

Comcast named Troy Lupe vice president of field operations for the Twin Cities region. Lupe joined Comcast in 2014 as director of technical operations and worked for MasTec and Multiband.

Leo A Daly Minneapolis named Matthew Johnson managing principal. Johnson held leadership positions at Welsh Architecture and DLR Group. He is on the board at Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and is a planning commissioner for the city of Savage.

Anchor Bank, St. Paul, named Juleen Krings chief human resources officer. Krings held leadership positions at Verifications and Despatch Industries.

Field Nation, Minneapolis, named Jeff Parris executive vice president of sales. Parris was area vice president of business for CenturyLink and worked for Comcast, TDS Metrocom and Edge Wireless. Field Nation also named Elizabeth Benz executive vice president of sales for SaaS and emerging markets. Benz was senior director of global sales operations at Digital River and worked for Oracle.

The KNW Group, Minnetonka, named Colman Collins director of retirement plans. Collins was a vice president in the retirement division for Fidelity.

Mirum Minneapolis named Bryan Ische senior user interface designer, Eric Salberg director of operations, Peter Amstutz director of analytics and Lindsey Shirey account supervisor.

Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, St. Paul, gave Beth Fagin the Transformational Leader award. Fagin is senior director of pediatric therapy and autism services for St. David's Center for Child & Family Development. Minnesota Council of Nonprofits also gave Jaylani Hussein the Visionary Leader award and Michele Anderson the Catalytic Leader award.