GARY HOLMES has joined independent marketing, advertising, and public-relations agency Mower as VP, director of public relations and public affairs. Holmes brings more than 20 years of senior management, government, and news experience to his post, most recently as assistant commissioner, public affairs for the New York State Department of Health. During his four-and-a-half-year tenure with the Department of Health, Holmes acted as the chief liaison to the press office for the governor of New York. His achievements included managing the daily press response for the agency at the apex of the COVID-19 pandemic. Holmes entered public service in 2015 as director of communications for the New York State Department of Transportation. A broadcast journalist by trade, he served as news director at Time Warner Cable News Albany/Hudson Valley from 2007-2015. Before that, Holmes was senior executive producer at YNN Albany, where he launched the nightly political/public-affairs program “Capital Tonight.” His early career included stints at ESPN (in Connecticut), Harbour Media Relations (Saratoga Springs), and WRGB (Schenectady). Holmes is a graduate of Ithaca College, where he studied video production and corporate communications.

ALISSA PELUSO recently joined Pinckney Hugo Group, a full-service marketing-communications firm, as an assistant social-media strategist. She is responsible for creating and monitoring content for national, regional, and local companies. Her goal is to increase brand awareness, brand engagement, and revenue. Peluso has a bachelor’s degree in public relations, with a minor in communication and rhetorical studies, from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She also has an associate degree in communication from Onondaga Community College.

MATTHEW FIRMAN, D.O., an emergency-medicine physician, has joined the medical staffs of Geneva General Hospital and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital, which are part of Finger Lakes Health. He attended medical school at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pennsylvania and completed his emergency-medicine residency at the University at Buffalo. Firman belongs to the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association.

ALBERT SHIH, M.D., an emergency-medicine physician, has also joined the medical staffs of Geneva General Hospital and Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hospital. He attended medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas and completed his emergency-medicine residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Shih belongs to the New York American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians, and Emergency Medical Residents’ Association.

HERB ALEXANDER has recently joined Cayuga Health as its chief diversity officer, a new position, to enhance diversity programs and create a more inclusive culture at the health-care organization. Alexander most recently was chief diversity officer and associate dean of students at Roberts Wesleyan College, located near Rochester. He holds a master’s degree in strategic (business) leadership and a bachelor’s degree in history from Roberts Wesleyan. During his tenure at Roberts Wesleyan College, Alexander launched a diversity program that promoted diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout the college and focused on students, faculty, staff, and community outreach.

PETER MATTAR has joined the attorney staff at William Mattar law offices. The son of William Mattar will serve as a personal-injury attorney, focusing on helping people injured in motor-vehicle accidents. Peter Mattar attended Binghamton University, receiving a bachelor’s degree in management. He went on to earn his law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law in 2021. He is admitted to practice law in New York.