Our Executive Team

Joshua Cline – President and CEO

Joshua Cline is a business strategist and marketing expert who helps companies of all sizes reach their business goals. As President and CEO of The Cline Group and with over 15 years of global strategic business and marketing experience, Josh has helped more than 100 companies to develop and execute strategic plans and reach their business goals.

Known professionally as a leader in the start-up and emerging business space both in Israel and abroad and as one of the leading marketers within the Israeli market, Josh founded The Cline Group in 2007 as a response to the immediate need for an integrated-marketing firm that provides both outbound and inbound marketing.

Josh’s professional portfolio includes launching international brands, expanding marketing and communications in global markets, positioning companies for funding, mergers and acquisitions and raising notoriety for non-profits that are actively making a difference in their communities. He focuses on marketing initiatives that build business, propel growth, and make shareholder value translucent.

While co-founder and Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the Helios Group, he managed marketing programs and services for clients in technology, telecom, utilities, healthcare, education, and government. His agency and corporate, in-house experience includes tenure at the Weber Group (now Weber Shandwick & Ruder Finn DC); Senior Communications Manager Worldwide for Schema, an Israeli wireless-software provider; and PR Manager at Apogee Networks (now Evident Software). His work has resulted in significant media and analyst visibility globally, including in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Scott Piro – Managing Director of EMEA and Chief Strategy Officer

A public relations and social media professional since 1994, Scott Piro came to The Cline Group following a successful two-year term as a solo communications practitioner in Tel Aviv, after emigrating from New York City in 2009. Scott generated U.S. publicity for a mix of Israeli high-tech start-ups and non-profits, as well as authored their core website messages, and programmed their social media channels with daily, relevant content to increase influencer status. Prior to being his own boss, Scott served as communications director and helped launch The Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), the only international NGO exclusively dedicated to advocating for refugees fleeing sexual or gender based violence. In New York, Scott had an extensive track record positioning authors as thought leaders during his six years with Planned Television Arts, the largest independent book publicity firm in the U.S. and a division of Ruder Finn, one of the largest privately owned public relations agencies in the world. He began his career with corporate PR firm Robert Marston and Associates, Inc., leveraging his BFA in film & television production from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU to serve double duty as RMA’s media trainer and an account executive. Scott concluded his tenure in New York with PR boutique powerhouse PKPR, where in addition to directing public relations accounts and cultivating new business, he implemented press operations for live events, including managing the red carpet. Throughout his career, Scott has generated publicity for an eclectic range of clients including authors (Caroline Kennedy, Sarah Ferguson, Deepak Chopra), high-tech startups (fring, nanoRep), internet culture (The Webby Awards, Internet Week New York), arts & entertainment (IFP/The Gotham Awards, The Moth), financial institutions (Merrill Lynch, Morningstar), pharmaceuticals (Tylenol, Novartis), and travel (Orbitz, Sherman’s Travel). His placements have included The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, Fox & Friends, The View, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME, Gizmodo, CNET, The Next Web, DailyCandy and others.

Carole Gorney – Senior Vice President

Carole Gorney is an international guru in crisis communications and media relations who brings more than 30 years of extensive public relations, marketing and strategic communication experience to The Cline Group. Accredited by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and a member of its prestigious College of Fellows, Carole retired as Professor Emeritus from Lehigh University in 2007. While at Lehigh, she was academic director of the Public Relations Concentration, which she also developed and taught. An award-winning educator, she was twice named a Fulbright Senior Scholar to China (1991-92 and 1997-98), and in 1999, the 21,000-member PRSA named her its Outstanding Educator. Prior to joining the faculty at Lehigh, Carole served in several marketing and communication positions, including Director of Public Affairs and Labor Relations Director for the New Mexico Department of Hospitals and Institutions (DHI). In that position she served as chief spokesperson to the media for seven state facilities, ombudsman to the Governor on health care issues, and labor representative responsible for negotiating all collective bargaining agreements for DHI. She began her career as a news producer and writer for an ABC-TV affiliate in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Now an internationally recognized expert in media relations and crisis planning and management, Carole has lectured throughout China, in Singapore and Eastern Europe, and nationwide in the United States. She has been conducting professional training workshops for nearly two decades, and has served as a crisis and media consultant to corporate, government and non-profit clients for almost as many years. She lists among her many clients defense contractor Lockheed Martin, and the national engineering firm Gannett Fleming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency commissioned her to write the facilitator’s manual and participant’s textbook for a four-day workshop she developed on “Principles of Risk and Crisis Communication.” The workshop was designed for global use and has been presented in Poland, South Africa and Mexico. Most recently, she has served as a security analyst for a number of municipalities for whom she has developed emergency response and continuity of operations plans. Named to Who’s Who in America and the Global Directory of Who’s Who, Professor Gorney currently is co-authoring a textbook on public relations writing for the Bedford- St. Martin’s Press.

DeeDee Rudenstein – Senior Vice President

As Senior Vice President, DeeDee Rudenstein oversees the public-relations operations in the United States. Throughout her career in public relations, Rudenstein has initiated numerous high-level public relations campaigns that secured international visibility in media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, Financial Times, Fox News, and The Boston Globe. In addition, Rudenstein spearheads the analyst-relations division and works closely with analysts from global firms such as Gartner, Forrester Research, IDC, and the Yankee Group. Rudenstein approaches public relations through a strategic lens that is tailored to meet clients’ business needs and maximize ROI. In addition, she previously held the position of Account Director at The Cline Group. She has served both Fortune 500 companies and start-up companies in various industries including technology, telecommunications, finance, healthcare and higher education. Prior to joining The Cline Group, Rudenstein served as Public Relations Specialist at Jenzabar, a software company based in Boston, MA, where she was responsible for developing the strategic public-relations campaign to position the company as a leader in the software industry. Rudenstein also held several agency positions at NCSM Strategic Marketing in Israel and Peppercom Strategic Communications in New York. She lists among her clients iOnRoad, ITT Industries (now ITT Corporation), BT, GE Medical Systems, Outsmart, and RiT Technologies.

Samuel Scott – Director of Digital Marketing and Communications and SEO Team Leader

Samuel Scott has more than ten years of experience in journalism, marketing, and communications in both print and online. He worked for several high-tech and start-up companies in Israel and Boston in strategic marketing and communications with a focus on search-engine optimization (SEO), search-engine marketing (SEM), social-media marketing (SMM), and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising before coming to The Cline Group. After graduating from Boston University with a degree in journalism, he covered issues including Boston and Massachusetts politics, urban development, and social issues as a freelance or staff reporter for publications including The Boston Globe, The Patriot Ledger, and The Boston Courant. Until 2007, Samuel was Editor-in-Chief and Executive Director of Spare Change News, an alternative newspaper and non-profit organization in Boston. Samuel moved into online marketing after studying in the Executive M.B.A. program at Suffolk University in Boston and the International M.B.A. program at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He is an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and a graduate (with honors) of Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing University as well as individually certified by Google in Google Analytics and by Hootsuite. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Klout, and see his online-marketing thoughts on Quora.

Levi Btzur – Director of EMEA and Latin America

Levi Btzur brings over ten years of global marketing and sales experience to The Cline Group. Levi assists clients with strategy creation and implementation, specializing in online-marketing initiatives. Levi’s fluency in five languages — English, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, and Italian – is a key asset for our clients in markets throughout the world. Prior to joining The Cline Group, Levi served as Vice President of Marketing for Kol Record, an international music promotion and distribution agency. Levi also gained valuable international business development and sales experience at IDT Global, a multinational-services company and Wizcom Technologies, a global leader in scanning dictionaries. Levi is an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and a graduate of Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing University. In his role at The Cline Group, he is responsible for overseeing the Business Development of the EMEA territory along with assisting with online marketing initiatives for our international clients.

Kevin Johnson - Account Manager

Kevin Johnson brings more than 30 years of experience as a media professional to The Cline Group as a broadcast and print journalist, media relations and PR practitioner and strategic-communications leader. Kevin’s ability to be flexible, versatile and a quick learner have served him well throughout his career, as he has represented a myriad of diverse business interests.

Kevin joins TCG following a six-year stint as a multiple account media relations manager for Tech Image, Chicago’s leading, independent, tech PR agency. At Tech Image, Kevin specialized in enterprise-data management, healthcare, search engines, online marketing and the IT channel.

Johnson started as a television news and sports broadcaster at CBS and NBC affiliates in Central Illinois. He has also worked as a correspondent for the Daily Herald, the third-largest daily newspaper in Illinois, covering high-school sports. Kevin began his media relations and PR career in sports marketing, promoting a professional golf mini-tour. He spent five years as a public-information officer with the Illinois Department of Revenue, where he spearheaded publicity for the state’s property seizure program for non-payment of taxes. Kevin later managed media relations for Amtrak’s Intercity Business Unit, providing PR and crisis-communications support covering passenger rail routes in 40 states. Prior to Tech Image, Kevin spent eight years with Home Access Health, where he directed media relations and strategic communications for the nation’s first-ever FDA-approved anonymous, over-the-counter home tests for HIV and Hepatitis C.

Johnson graduated with a B.S. degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois in 1984. Outside of work, he enjoys live sporting events, movies, following politics and playing golf, basketball and softball. Kevin is married to Melissa DeGrazia Johnson, a major-case specialist for The Travelers. They are the parents of two adult sons and the adoptive parents of four-year-old Nathan. They live in Exeter Township, PA.

Benjamin Goldberg – Manager of Digital Content and Social Media

With an eye towards digital media and content development, Benjamin Goldberg brings hands-on experience from the entertainment industry to The Cline Group. Having held positions at Paramount Pictures and Nationlight Productions, Benjamin integrates his knowledge of digital production and editing with his understanding of content development, social media and brand development to create and promote original content for businesses. After graduating from University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Communications and an interdepartmental certificate in film studies, Benjamin began working for Nationlight Productions, a feature film production company that created such films as “Café” and “Everything Must Go.”