Allison Gollust is the Senior Vice President of NBC News Communications, a position she has held May 2005. She serves as chief spokesperson for NBC News and has oversight responsibility for communications at NBC’s 24-hour cable news channel, MSNBC, and the leading global brand in business news, CNBC. She oversees all internal and external communications for NBC News and its programming, including “Today,” “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “Dateline” and “Meet the Press.”

In 2006, Gollust was responsible for all communications surrounding the highly-anticipated and widely-reported transition from Katie Couric to Meredith Vieira at "Today," the nation's number-one morning news program. Two years prior, she successfully managed the strategic communications for the switch from Tom Brokaw to Brian Williams at “NBC Nightly News,” the first anchor transition at an evening news broadcast in more than two decades. Her day-to-day responsibilities include oversight of communications for all of NBC News' platforms and partnerships, its anchors, correspondents and executives, and the News division's charitable giving and community outreach.

Gollust joined NBC News Communications in November 1998, as a senior publicist for “Today.” Prior to her tenure with “Today,” she was a publicist in NBC’s Corporate Communications division, where she oversaw corporate and philanthropic events, as well as handled internal communications. Before her arrival at NBC, Gollust was the Director of Communications for Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, based in Denver and New York City. She began her career as a news anchor and producer in Denver.

Gollust also serves on the Board of the New York Women in Communications Foundation and the development committee of Room to Grow, an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty. She resides in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Christin Kohls is a Midwesterner at heart, having been born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa.  After a short stint at the University of Iowa, Kohls studied international relations at Georgetown and attended the Sorbonne University in Paris. For graduate school, she returned to the Midwest to focus on international marketing at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Prior to having children, Kohls spent many years in the consulting industry, working with Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. and abroad.  During this period, she held multiple senior level positions with a focus on brand and product development as well as strategic planning for large multi-national organizations.

Having faced challenges to her own health, Kohls is sympathetic to the tremendous emotional and physical journey patients experience while battling a major illness.  A firm believer that therapeutic support is an essential part of any overall treatment plan, she is thrilled to be a member of the R.E.S.T. Initiative team.

Kohls lives in New York City with her family.

A son of an American diplomat, Marc Murphy was born in Milan and raised in Paris, Villefranche, Washington DC, Rome and Genoa. Following high school, he attended the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. He went on to work in Terrance Brennan’s Prix Fixe for two years then back to Europe to finely tune his kitchen skills with Alan Ducasse in Monte Carlo’s famed Louis XV. Upon returning to New York, Murphy worked at Le Cirque with Sylvain Portay, Drew Nieporent’s, Layla, Cellar in the Sky and La Fourchette where the New York Times’ critic, Ruth Reichl, awarded him a glowing two-star review. In 2004, Murphy and his wife, Pamela, opened Landmarc [TriBeCa], an Italian-inflected French bistro followed by Ditch Plains, a New York-style fish shack in 2006. Following the success of those restaurants, they opened their second Landmarc in the highly esteemed restaurant group at the Time Warner Center in 2007.Murphy has been featured on the Food Network’s Hot Chefs and Iron Chef, appeared in Food & Wine, Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines and is regularly featured in Time Out New York, New York Magazine and many other food inspired publications.

Murphy resides in New York City with his wife, Pamela and their two children.

Gabrielle Palay was born and raised in New York City and earned her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. After graduation she entered the world of professional sports and stayed there for the next eight years; first working exclusively with NBA Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Los Angeles and then for the NBA and WNBA at their New York headquarters.  

In 2001 Palay changed direction in her career when she took a position with fine wine importer and distributor, Frederick Wildman & Sons.  At Wildman, she has achieved great success with record sales -- all while enjoying the best food and wine that New York City has to offer.

Palay and Murphy became friends in the summer of 1974 when their parents met at the Dunes Racquet Club in Amagansett, New York. They went on to attend elementary and high schools as well as summer camps together, and since both are only children, the two have become much more like sisters than simply friends.

Naturally, Murphy’s breast cancer diagnosis in the winter of 2006 came as a shock, but with her amazing strength and courage she has served as a true inspiration. Given her commitment and perseverance, Palay knows there is nothing Murphy can’t accomplish.

After accompanying Pam to several rounds of chemo, and seeing what it truly means to take one day at a time, it is clear that The R.E.S.T Initiative will provide patients with some much needed relief that can make all the difference in their day, treatment, and ultimately their overall outlook.

Gabrielle currently lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Spencer is a Vice President at Civic Entertainment Group, a public-spirited marketing and promotions firm in New York City. Since joining CEG in 2004, Rice has engineered a diverse array of pro social initiatives, strategic partnerships and brand campaigns for clients including The History Channel, HBO, and GSN.

In 2004, Rice created the Save Our History Grant Program for The History Channel. To date, the network has awarded over $1 million in grants to fund partnerships between schools and local history organizations on projects that inspire K-12 students to learn about and preserve their local history. Save Our History received the 2005 Super Reggie, the highest honor awarded annually by the Promotion Marketing Association. In 2006, on behalf of GSN, he launched the Without Prejudice Project, a social justice and advocacy campaign created in partnership with the NAACP, GLAAD, National Council of La Raza, and YWCA to encourage a national conversation about prejudice. In 2008, Rice established a partnership between HBO and the United States Postal Service on a campaign to support the HBO miniseries, John Adams and a groundbreaking three-year partnership between The History Channel and the Library of Congress.

After graduating from Harvard University in 1995 with a BA in History, Rice moved to Los Angeles, worked his way out of the mailroom at the venerable William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills, and served as an Agent in the Motion Picture Talent division. He has been paying penance ever since.

He now resides in Manhattan with his wife, Julie and daughter, Phoebe.

This March, Linda Wells celebrates 17 years as founding editor in chief of Allure––the only magazine dedicated to beauty. The Condé Nast magazine, founded in March 1991, has been widely recognized for its intelligent, groundbreaking (and much-imitated) coverage of beauty.  Combining a strong journalistic foundation, a highly developed aesthetic sense, and a unique ability to understand the informational needs of women, Wells has helped redefine the once highly traditional genre of women’s magazines.

Wells began her journalism career at Vogue, where she wrote and edited stories about beauty, health, nutrition, and fitness. In 1985, she joined The New York Times as a reporter/food editor, ultimately becoming the beauty editor of The New York Times Magazine.

Wells served on the Trinity College Board of Fellows and the Board of Visitors of the Mary Institute Country Day School of St. Louis. She has chaired several benefits for the New York City Ballet.Wells is a graduate of Trinity College, where she received her B.A. in English. She and her husband, Charles Thompson, are the parents of two sons and reside in Manhattan.