Havas Names Dara Busch as CEO of Havas PR North America

Havas announced today the appointment of Dara Busch as CEO, Havas PR North America. Dara will oversee the strategic growth and vision of the network’s North America PR offering, which includes Havas Formula, helmed by Tara Reid (PR) and Adrienne Cadena (Havas Street, experiential), and Havas Red US.

Dara comes from independent public relations firm 5W, where she oversaw all agency functions as co-CEO including human resources, marketing, and business development. Under her leadership, the agency was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces, a Top 50 Global PR Agency by PRovoke Media, a top three New York City PR agency by O’Dwyers, and multiple American Business Awards, including a Stevie Award for PR Agency of the Year.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Havas’ mission of making a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people,” said Dara. “I look forward to working with teams across North America to uphold these client-centric values while growing the Havas Formula and Havas Red footprints.”

“It’s an honour to welcome Dara into the Havas family,” said Donna Murphy, global CEO of Havas Creative Network and Havas Health Network. “As Havas’ PR capabilities continue to evolve and develop, the strength of this leadership team reflects our commitment to remain at the forefront of innovation in global communications.”

James Wright, global chair Havas PR Network and global CEO Havas Red said, “We want to bring in the best talent to achieve our ambitious goals to become bigger, better and bolder.  In this next stage of our development, we want to maximise the potential for the Havas PR Network across North America and believe Dara has the ideal experience and enterprising attitude to help us achieve this.”

The hire comes on the heels of exponential success for the Havas PR network since 2019across both agencies. Since being acquired by Havas in 2014, Havas Formula has experienced double-digit year-over-year growth and is projected to continue their evolution throughout 2024. The agency was named an Inc. Power Partner and PR News’ Agency of the Year in 2023.

Over the past four years, Havas Red has grown significantly and expanded to 18 countries around the world. It now operates in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, the Middle East, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK, the US, as well as Vietnam. The agency was named Campaign’s Global PR Network of the Year in 2023, PR News US Agency of the Year 2022 at its Platinum Awards and Provoke Media’s Mid-sized Agency of the Year 2024 for EMEA at its Sabre Awards.