René Chen

Managing Director, Shanghai

René’s impressive career has taken her many places, from Toronto to Hong Kong and now Shanghai. Her client experience includes AB InBev, Johnson & Johnson, Mars Wrigley and PepsiCo. Prior to joining JKR, she was Executive Creative Director for Interbrand,Shanghai.

­

René received her first Diploma in Graphic Design from Sheridan College in Canada and an MA in Design from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She’s frequently invited to speak at major design conferences and creative festivals worldwide, including Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia and TedX.

Tosh Hall

Global CCO

Tosh oversees the creative product for all our offices, including work for AB InBev, Dunkin’ Brands, Target and UNICEF.

His work’s been recognized at Cannes and by D&AD, The One Show, Clios, New York Festivals, Tokyo TDC, Graphis, Communication Arts, Print and AIGA—and featured in Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. After receiving his BA in economics and journalism from UNC Chapel Hill, he worked for Revlon and Landor Associates.

Tosh teaches at the School of Visual Arts and lectures worldwide. He was recently named one of the 50 ‘Most Creative People‘ by AdAge.

JB Hartford

Creative Director

JB is adept at translating business objectives into powerful brand stories and effective design solutions. She’s responsible for global design leadership, particularly on brands in the liquors and spirits, personal care and food categories— and has worked for clients such as Diageo, Kraft Heinz, Procter and Gamble, PepsiCo, Ralph Lauren and Unilever.

JB holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Texas, Austin, where she graduated with honors. After studying design at Pratt Institute, she joined Landor Associates in 2006 and force MAJEURE in 2011. While JB hails from Texas, we’re glad she now calls New York and JKR home

Sara Hyman

CEO, North America

Sara founded the New York studio and her role spans many job responsibilities—from building and managing JKR’s reputation to attracting the best talent to setting the strategic vision in North America. She also manages relationships with clients such as AB InBev, Kellogg’s and Unilever.

Her work has been recognized by The One Show, Clios, New York Festivals, Graphis, Communication Arts and more. Sara graduated from the University of Bath with a BA in international management. Like Tosh Hall, she too was named one of the 50 ‘Most Creative People’ by Ad Age.

Mike Khan

CFO

Guy Lambert

Global CEO

Guy spent 18 years at Ogilvy, starting in the mailroom and moving his way up the agency ladder, working across virtually every discipline and every client in the agency’s portfolio—across Europe, Asia and the US. He ran OgilvyOne and O&M advertising in the UK before joining JKR in 2009. He has led our agency’s transformation from a UK-based packaging agency to a global design-led creative company across 4 offices with 300 people.

A big believer in the importance of empowering people to drive innovation, growth and scale, he spends his time developing next generation leaders in the business, working with C suite clients and running a tight ship that delivers on its promises. In his spare time Guy coaches and mentors talented and underprivileged youths.

Sedef Onar

Global Chief Talent Officer

Originally from Istanbul, Sedef found her way to Los Angeles via Boston, New York and London. Her international background and non-linear career path gave Sedef insight into brands and companies large and small. Sedef is currently the Global Chief Talent Officer of JKR where she partners with the leaders to create an inclusive environment that fosters and celebrates bravery, diversity, individuality and creativity.

Sedef considers herself as one of those very fortunate people who absolutely love what they do, and the opportunity to help create the same experience for those around her is her passion. She proudly serves on ADCOLOR Board of Directors, and is a member of MENA (Middle East and North Africa) for ADCOLOR steering committee. As a first generation immigrant herself, Sedef helps support women new to the U.S to start or enhance their careers through her involvement with the Turkish Women’s Initiative Ignite program.

Michael Baulk

Non Exec Chairman

Starting his advertising career in 1967 as a trainee at Leo Burnett, Michael went on to run two of the most iconic agencies in the world – Ogilvy & Mather and AMV BBDO. After spending 15 years with Ogilvy, he joined Abbott Mead Vickers as Chief Executive eventually becoming Chairman and CEO of the AMV Group and then, following the acquisition of AMV by BBDO, Chairman of BBDO Europe. He sat on the Worldwide Board of both Ogilvy and BBDO. AMV became the No.1 agency in the UK in 1997 and has retained that position ever since.

After 20 years at the helm of AMV, Michael stepped down in 2006 but has continued his career in the creative business. He became Worldwide Chairman of the leading visual effects company, The Mill. Michael joined JKR as Non Exec Chairman in 2019 where he works closely with the Global Exec Team planning the agency’s next chapter of growth.

Josh Levitch

Finance Director, New York

Josh oversees the financial operations of JKR North America—everything from corporate and client finance to strategic implementation to operational policies. Prior to joining JKR, he was Finance Director at Droga5.

Josh received his BA in economics from Emory University and most recently graduated with honors from the Executive MBA program at Columbia University.

Abi Main

Finance Director, London

Abi oversees all things financial for London, providing partnership to the business and helping to make key operational decisions to drive growth.

She received her BA in mathematics at University College London and began her career in investment banking. After becoming certified as an accountant, she saw the error of her ways and moved out of banking into fields ranging from property regeneration to celebrity management. We’re happy she decided to be a part of our team.

Annie Marsh

Global HR Director

Part coach and part business partner, Annie is responsible for proactive talent strategy at a global level—and how it translates across all markets.

Before joining JKR, Annie studied fashion design, earning a BA at London College of Fashion. She received her master’s degree in human resources management from the University of Westminster while working here at the agency.

James Nixon

CEO UK & Europe / Global Ventures

James is dedicated to ensuring that our design and branding work remains best-in-class across our portfolio.

After attending the University of London, he started his career in New York, including stints at Sterling Brands and Landor Associates. There he learned firsthand how outstanding creative work and strong client relationships can fuel business growth.

This remains his guiding philosophy here at JKR.

Lisa Smith

Executive Creative Director, New York

Lisa has 19 years of experience in leading design teams from small boutiques to large creative agencies; including working in-house at one of London’s largest museums of art and design, the V&A, and building and leading the creative team to re-imagine the Chobani brand from identity and advertising to innovation. Lisa has set the creative vision for myriad clients, from The Met, Grubhub and Zocdoc, to disrupting the newspaper industry with her work on USA Today.

Her work has been recognized by the One Show, ADC, Cannes, Fast Company, D&AD and the Dieline amongst others and featured in the media from Fortune to Wired and The New York Times. Lisa has judged the D&AD’s, Clios, Effies and spoken Globally at design schools across the UK and New York, and at conferences such as Design Thinkers, HOW Design Live and the AIGA.

Jonny Spindler

Managing Director, London

Jonny oversees existing and new client relationships for London and helps shape the studio’s strategic vision—to create more value for clients and help Sean Thomas create outstanding creative work for them.

Jonny has been learning on the job since he was 18, jumping straight into work during the digital boom in the early 2000’s at Grey, where he made coffee and did mock-ups in the studio. His experience since then has crossed a range of marketing disciplines—from direct to digital to shopper—at Grey, Geometry, Isobar and BBDO. Jonny has spoken at major industry events including Cannes, Eurobest and SXSW, and the work he has spearheaded over the years has been recognized at Cannes, D&AD and the Clios.

Yolanda Tang

Creative Director, Shanghai

Yolanda began her career as a packaging designer in Toronto and has over 17 years of experience across North America and Asia, including stints at FutureBrand, Interbrand and Landor Associates. She’s worked on multinational brands such as AB InBev, Danone, Mars Wrigley, PepsiCo, Philip Morris and Starbucks, with an emphasis on private label design, packaging and illustration—winning global recognition in A’ Design Awards, Red Dot Design Awards and the ROI Awards. 

Yolanda earned a degree at Ontario College of Art and Design. A believer in pushing beyond one’s comfort level, she encourages her designers not to be constrained by rules.

Sean Thomas

Executive Creative Director, London

Sean oversees the creative output in London, including ABInbev, Costa, Hippeas, Mars,The Diana Award and The Gut Stuff. He inspires his team to dig deep to find what makes a brand unique.

He received a BA with honors in graphic design from Norwich School of Art and Design and began his career at Pearlfisher and Design Bridge. His work’s been recognized by Creative Review, The Clio Awards, The One Show and DBA. Besides his duties at JKR, Sean advises universities on their design curriculum and writes for several high profile websites.

Theresa Wu

Client Director, Shanghai

As leader of the Shanghai client service team, Theresa is responsible for managing relationships with AB InBev, Mars Wrigley Confectionary and the office’s local clients. She drives new and organic business growth through quality work and excellent client service.

Theresa graduated from RMIT University with a Bachelor of Arts in communication. Before joining JKR, she held account management positions at BBDO, Lowe, Ogilvy and J. Walter Thompson on brands such as HSBC, Mars and Unilever.