DDB San Francisco Hires Whitney Ball as VP, Head of Talent

DDB San Francisco announced today the hire of Whitney Ball as a Vice President and Head of Talent, effective immediately. She brings more than 20 years of executive human resources experience to DDB San Francisco and is a key addition to the agency’s leadership team. In her new role, Ball will be responsible for leading the agency’s strategic human resources and recruitment efforts, talent operations, and culture development. Ball will report to DDB San Francisco Chief Operations Officer Valerie Bengoa. 

Britt Hayes, Chief People Officer for DDB North America, stated, “With the recent momentum in San Francisco, finding and nurturing the best talent is at the core of our proposition and is fundamental to future growth. Whitney’s experience, connections, and reputation are unmatched in the Bay Area, and in turn position DDB well in one of the most competitive and unique talent markets.”

For the last nine years Ball has been a human resources consultant, helping companies in a broad range of sectors design and implement people strategies, solutions, and programs that align with each unique organization’s business needs. She has worked with a number of different Bay Area agencies varying in size and specialty, including Camp+King, BOCA Communications, Jack Morton, and Voice Box Creative. 

In addition to being a consultant, Ball was Vice President, Human Resources, at EVB, where she was responsible for building and designing the HR infrastructure for the agency. Prior to that, Ball spent 12 years at Young & Rubicam (Y&R). She began in Y&R’s New York office and was later tapped to oversee HR at Y&R’s San Francisco office. After two years, Ball’s role expanded, and she became the HR leader and business partner responsible for HR services for Y&R San Francisco, Wunderman, and Mediaedge:CIA.

“I’m thrilled to be joining DDB San Francisco and to be a part of this incredible legacy brand, and broad network of talent,” Ball said about her new role. 

Ball’s hire follows DDB San Francisco’s announcement that Ben Wolan has joined the agency as Executive Creative Director. Additionally, the San Francisco office has expanded client relationships with Symantec to include both the LifeLock and Norton consumer businesses, and recently won a new project for Energy Upgrade California, the multimillion-dollar statewide initiative.