As CEO of Havas New York, Laura Maness leads the North American flagship agency of Havas Group, driving a culture of creativity and innovation, and creating deeper meaning for some of the most recognized companies in the world including ADP, TD Ameritrade, GNC, IBM, Keurig Dr. Pepper, RB, conEdison and Rite Aid. Since taking the helm in early 2016, Laura has been a catalyst for growth, steering an enterprise-wide turnaround and transformation of Havas that earned the agency Digiday’s Most Innovative Culture and Ad Age’s 2019 Best Places to Work. By boldly breaking the traditions of advertising, Laura and the executive leadership team she formed are collectively raising consciousness and are on a journey to becoming a certified @BCorporation; as the first U.S. agency to become a B Corp, Laura is committed to making a meaningful difference by placing equal balance on people, planet and profit and using business as a force for good. #BTheChange
Prior to Havas NY, Laura served as U.S. Chief Growth Officer for Havas Worldwide North America and Managing Director of Havas Chicago Group. With over 20 years of strategic marketing experience ranging from digital pure-play agencies to globally integrated ad networks, Laura spearheaded growth resulting in three consecutive years of more than 35% revenue growth and a >300% increase in profitability.
Before Havas, Laura was SVP and CMO of Propane Studio, one of the fastest growing independent digital agencies with offices in SF and NY. Prior to that, Laura led a period of explosive growth for IPG-owned FCB West across SF, Seattle and LA, and previously held management positions with Chicago-based digital shops including WPP/Wunderman-owned Designkitchen (now Blast Radius), Black Dog Interactive and Publicis-owned Giant Step (now Arc Worldwide).
Laura ignites meaningful change as a Board Member of the 4A’s, ACT Responsible, Grid News Bureau and Alembic. She’s also a Village Global advisor to early stage VC-backed companies, a founding member of Chief, an executive mentor of 3% Conference and SheRunsIt, an original signer and Steering Committee member of TIME’S UP™/ADVERTISING, and a recognized industry voice through keynote speeches at S.H.E Summit, USACE Women in Business Summit, Michelin’s Women in Leadership Summit, Digiday and more.
A proud alum of Loyola University Chicago (where she delivered the 2019 Commencement Address) and School of Communication Board Member, Laura was recently named a Working Mother of the Year by She Runs It, and named a Campaign US Female Frontier honoree for Championing Change.