Laura Maness has been appointed global CEO of Grey, joining the agency on September 1. Maness will build on Grey’s international capabilities and AKQA Group expertise while bringing people together from across the network to prioritize employee experience and breakthrough, high-performance work for clients. She will shape Grey’s global strategy, playing a pivotal role in talent attraction and retention through a values-led culture, emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion while driving sustainable, responsible growth and impact worldwide.
Maness’ career in advertising, integrated communications and digital spans more than 25 years. Before being appointed global CEO of Grey, Maness served as CEO of Havas Group’s North American flagship agency, Havas New York, driving a culture of purposeful growth for some of the world’s most recognized companies. She also oversaw several specialist practices, including a culture-first creator studio (Annex88) and a data-driven customer engagement agency (Havas CX) in the U.S. Before these responsibilities, Maness served as U.S. chief growth officer for Havas Worldwide North America and managing director of Havas Chicago. Prior to joining Havas, Maness was head of growth for FCB in San Francisco.
Maness said, “As only the sixth CEO in 105 years, the opportunity to renew, galvanize and grow a legendary and celebrated agency like Grey–combined with the unmatched caliber of talent from across the globe–is incredibly meaningful. I look forward to building on the strong foundation of Grey’s storytelling prowess and famously effective work by fueling a culture of creativity, innovation, and continuous impact.”
Ajaz Ahmed, AKQA Group CEO commented, “Laura is entrepreneurial, dynamic and energetic. She unites by building community–not hierarchy–inspiring with an enlightened leadership approach and a proven track record. With a focus on innovation and as a champion of multidisciplinary solutions for clients, Laura is the ideal CEO to help shape Grey’s strategic vision and path ahead. I am looking forward to working in partnership with Laura and the team at Grey.”
Mark Read, CEO of parent WPP, said: “Laura believes in the power of what we do to make a difference in the world, and has an impressive track record of delivering growth for agencies, their people and their clients. I’m delighted she’s joining AKQA Group as global CEO of Grey. Grey is known for outstanding creativity that produces outstanding results, and I’m sure that reputation will only grow under Laura’s leadership.”
Maness’ numerous accolades include being named a Working Mother of the Year and Changing the Game Quantum Leap winner by She Runs It; and most recently, being celebrated as Act Responsible’s Ad Industry Champion of Good at the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More