All are promoted from within; women hold seven of eight new roles
Brunet|García, a minority-owned agency specializing in social impact programs for government agencies, nonprofits, foundations and brands, has formed a new leadership team.
Co-founders Jorge Brunet-García and Diane Brunet-García, who established the agency in Jacksonville in 2003 before expanding to Atlanta and Washington D.C., will step back from day-to-day roles to become Board co-chairs.
Kimberley Collins, formerly EVP, media & engagement, is now CEO responsible for the strategic vision and growth strategy for the 55-person agency.
Kim Vermillion, who was EVP, brand & marketing strategy, assumes the role of chief operating officer, focusing on operations and ensuring B|G has the right processes and talent to serve clients and agency administration.
Rounding out the new sr. leadershp team is Eduardo Sarmiento, formerly EVP, creative, who is now chief creative officer responsible for strategic creativity across all departments and advancing creative innovations.
The agency transformation continues on the department level with the formation of a new leadership team, representing the next generation of B|G leaders: Aerien Mull becomes SVP, creative; Kate Jolley is now VP, creative operations; Anna Jaffee steps up to VP, accounts; LeShaundra Cordier is VP, communication strategy; and Iwalani Camacho is SVP, media.
All of the new roles are the result of promotions from within, with women holding seven of the eight new leadership positions.
“The senior leadership team of Kim, Kim, and Eduardo have been involved in all operational and strategic decisions for the past four years, so the most seamless way to move the agency forward is to increase the involvement of this core team,” said Jorge Brunet-García, cofounder and co-chair. “This new leadership structure leaves our clients in highly capable hands and positions the agency well for the future.”
B|G has established a strong niche in developing customized, cross-cultural marketing strategies that build awareness and affect change regarding some of the highest profile and most complex social issues impacting the country, including the opioid and HIV epidemics, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The agency was awarded a 10-year, $100-million opportunity in 2015 to provide national health marketing services to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That work established the agency as a leading communicator on issues related to the opioid problem and other health and safety issues.
B|G has concurrently developed successful programs for clients such as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), Federal Emergency Management Agency’s U.S. Fire Administration, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Agriculture.
The agency has also built transformative campaigns for both nonprofit and private sector organizations, such as Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Citra Health, Baptist Health, Florida Blue, ProCureWorks, and Mayo Clinic.
Among recent campaigns is the “Stop Overdose Initiative” for CDC as part of a comprehensive strategy to affect change in the areas of harm reduction, treatment, and recovery, and “Out Loud,” utilizing human truths to destigmatize life with HIV for women on behalf of HHS.
“Jorge and Diane have built a successful agency with a positive culture–a great place to work with a diverse staff working on worthy causes for important clients,” said CEO Collins. “Our new strategic plan is to enhance client service and grow the business while maintaining that inspiring agency culture.”
“We exist to inspire meaningful change, and that results from providing an environment that fosters creativity and collaboration to create great work for a greater good,” said CCO Sarmiento.
He credits the agency’s “disruption inside the box” approach–using regulatory boundaries as inspiration and motivation to come up with new effective strategic and creative solutions, regardless of how restrictive the guidelines–as a key to the agency’s success.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More