Carol Cone On Purpose Promotes Partner Kristian Darigan Merenda to Chief Operating and Innovation Officer

Carol Cone ON PURPOSE named Partner Kristian Darigan Merenda Chief Operating and Innovation Officer on November 12, 2026, giving her oversight of the agency's operations alongside its innovation agenda. The appointment was announced by EIN Presswire. Merenda reports to founder and CEO Carol Cone.

Merenda's Expanded Role at Carol Cone On Purpose

In the expanded role, Merenda will oversee the firm's operations while leading its innovation agenda, including advancing CCOP's Purpose x AI practice and developing new AI-enabled thought leadership, products and services. She authored the firm's recently published Purpose x AI guide and developed agency-wide standards for responsible AI use. Merenda will continue to lead several key client relationships.

Cone described Merenda as central to the methods the field uses to build purpose initiatives. "Kristian is the mother of Go Red for Women and the architect of many of the methods the field now uses to build purpose initiatives that last," Cone said. "She has tremendous curiosity, but just as important, she knows how to turn ideas into action."

Merenda said combining the two functions was a deliberate choice. "AI is changing how work gets done, so the way we staff, deliver, and measure our work has to be examined and redesigned continuously, and invention has to be welcome from every level of the firm," she said. She added that what she cares most about is whether people at the firm and at clients "grow into bigger roles rather than being replaced."

Merenda led the team that created Go Red for Women and stewarded it for more than a decade with American Heart Association leaders and corporate partners. Go Red has raised more than $800 million and won PRWeek's popular vote for the best PR campaign of the past two decades. Across more than 25 years working with Cone at Cone Communications, Edelman and CCOP, she helped build initiatives including PNC's Grow Up Great, now a $500 million commitment to early childhood education, and the American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE. Her second book with Cone, a sequel to Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding, will be published next year.

Carol Cone On Purpose's Purpose x AI Record

According to akta.pro company records, CCOP developed and published the Purpose x AI Framework in 2024, positioning the firm at the intersection of corporate purpose strategy and emerging AI adoption for enterprise clients. The same records show the firm released the Purpose Proven Report in 2025, marking its 10-year anniversary and documenting a decade of client impact work. Carol Cone founded the firm in 1983 and established Carol Cone ON PURPOSE in 2015, according to the same records.

Merenda's Book With Carol Cone Due Next Year

Merenda's second book with Cone, a sequel to Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding, is scheduled for publication next year, the company said. The announcement did not give a month or publisher for the book.