Danielle Rhoades Ha, a longtime New York Times communications executive and prominent figure in media public relations, is leaving the company to join Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective.
Details of her new title, responsibilities and start date were not immediately available. Brian Stelter first reported the move Monday in CNN’s Reliable Sources newsletter, with the Times subsequently confirming Rhoades Ha’s departure to TheWrap.
The move places a veteran spokesperson for one of the country’s most powerful news organizations inside Powell Jobs’ influential media, investment and philanthropic operation. Emerson Collective is the majority owner of The Atlantic and has backed several media and technology companies.
Rhoades Ha served as a senior vice president of communications at the Times. She was promoted in 2022 to lead its external communications, managing teams responsible for corporate, newsroom and issues communications.
During more than 15 years at the Times, Rhoades Ha became one of the newspaper’s principal public representatives, regularly responding to criticism of its journalism, legal threats and attacks from political figures. She also helped shape the company’s messaging as the Times expanded beyond its core news product and grew its digital subscriber business.
Her departure follows a broader change in the Times’ communications leadership. In May, the company hired Katie Hill as senior vice president and global head of communications and external affairs, putting her in charge of the company’s communications efforts. A Times spokesperson told TheWrap that Hill started in June.
Hill joined the Times from the NFL, where she had served as senior vice president of communications since 2021. She previously worked in the Obama administration as a White House assistant press secretary and later served as communications director for former President Barack Obama. Hill reports to David Rubin, the New York Times Company’s chief brand and communications officer and publisher of Wirecutter.
Emerson Collective did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
