Worldwide Partners Welcomes New Board of Directors

This month marks the beginning of a new term for the Worldwide Partners (WPI) Board of Directors. This group works tirelessly on behalf of 80+ agency partners to set the goals and strategies for the network, ensuring that WPI is evolving to address the changing industry and is consistently delivering value for agencies and their clients.

The new board will have some new faces as well as several board members taking on new roles or continuing for a second term. The new WPI Board of Directors includes Stephen Brown, CEO of FUSE Create (Canada) as Chair, Ann-Louise Rosen, co-CEO of Advance (Denmark) as vice chair, Mikael Rubinsson, CEO of Blomquist (Sweden) as treasurer/secretary, Ingrid Wächter-Lauppe, CEO of Wächter Worldwide Partners (Germany) and John Keane, CEO of Ardmore (Northern Ireland) as EMEA directors, Viveca Chan, founder and group chair of WE Marketing Group (China) as Asia Pacific director, Vitor Barros, CEO of Propeg (Brazil) as Latin America director, and Claude Auchu, CEO of lg2 (Canada), Mary Knight, president and co-owner of Hydrogen (USA), and Jean Freeman, principal and CEO of Zambezi (USA) as North America Directors.

“Worldwide Partners is some of the best independent agencies, independent brains, and independent souls, who come together to share, learn and grow,” says Chair Stephen Brown. “Having the opportunity to work with these amazingly dynamic and creative people from around the world, who all share the same passion and vision for collaboration, makes me so proud and I look forward to continuing to support Worldwide Partners as we become the most diverse, highly qualified independent network in the world.”

In addition to welcoming this new board, Worldwide Partners express their utmost appreciation and admiration for outgoing chair Fletcher Whitwell, partner and chief media and publishing officer of R&R Partners (USA). Fletcher’s strong leadership has helped our network see unparalleled success during his term and set us up for continued growth in the future. We are eternally grateful for his dedication and support, and look forward to his continued contributions as ex-officio chair. 

"Post-pandemic, clients need agile localization and customization more than ever, and I’m proud to have worked alongside John Harris and the board these past seven years to propel WPI to our current level of success,” said Fletcher Whitwell, outgoing board chair and partner at R&R Partners. “I have no doubt with Stephen, Ann-Louise, and Mikael as the operating committee, coupled with John Harris at HQ, will continue to build upon the momentum to take WPI and our agencies to new heights."

“I’m honoured to work with such passionate and brilliant people that go above and beyond to ensure our network continues to deliver value to our agencies and the clients we serve,” said John Harris, President and CEO of Worldwide Partners. “We’ve seen incredible success over the past two years through the contributions of the previous board, and I am delighted to continue that momentum with this new group.”