Leadership

After 34 years of working for the George P. Johnson Company, and 20 years leading the organization, Robert was the vision behind the formation of Project in October 2010.

He graduated from DePauw University in 1976, and his early career was focused on production and client services before moving into various management roles. Robert has focused his leadership on developing the global agency network dedicated to engagement marketing.

He oversees Project’s 15 award-winning agencies and all aspects of the network’s 43 offices and 2,200+ employees globally. Born and raised in Detroit, Robert’s distinguished career has many highlights including the opening of George P. Johnson’s renowned Los Angeles office in 1985, which quickly blossomed when clients Toyota, Nissan, and Honda all added luxury divisions, evolving GPJ into the leading experiential marketing agency in the world. Global growth was furthered when in 1998 George P. Johnson won agency of record for all IBM customer-facing events globally. Several acquisitions and joint ventures in Europe and Asia followed setting up the framework for today’s network of agencies.

He is a supporter of numerous charities, including a role as trustee in his local hospital.

As former long-standing President of Project, Laurence S. Vallee managed Project’s global operations and oversaw the day-to-day operations of the company’s world headquarters. Laurence contributed significantly to George P. Johnson’s transition from an event production company into a leading experience marketing agency by aiding in the successful integration of acquired businesses and greenfield operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium.

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John Clinton is one of Project’s independent board members. Having held C-level leadership roles in the communications industry John brings a unique strategic insight into branding, marketing and communications issues, in addition to his wealth of experience in creative company leadership roles.  Most recently John was Head of Creative and Content for Edelman North America. John previously worked at Transcontinental Media in both publishing and digital communications. He was also CEO of Grey Canada, headed J Walter Thompson Chicago and JWT Canada, and was President of Enterprise Advertising.  John is an accomplished sculptor with a focus in bronze. His work lives in collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe and has been in shows in Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, Whistler and Banff.

Steven G. Felsher is an executive with extensive experience in finance, administration, governance, and other aspects of public and private company management and oversight.

Steve spent most of his career at Grey Global Group Inc., a publicly-traded global marketing services company.

At Grey, Steve was Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, having responsibility for essentially all non-client/media facing activities including financial management, human resources, capital formation and corporate development, investor relations and strategic growth initiatives.

Following his tenure at Grey, Steve joined Quadrangle Group LLC, a private equity fund, where he was Senior Advisor until 2019.  He is also a founding partner of Armory Square Ventures, a venture capital fund.

In addition, he has undertaken board, consulting and advisory assignments for a large number of public and private companies, with particular emphasis in the professional services, technology and intellectual property fields.Steve also has served on the board of some prominent not for profit organizations including Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Academy of Medicine and Muscular Dystrophy Association of America.

Steve is a graduate of Dickinson College and Yale Law School, and was a Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellow.

Peter Lambousis is executive vice president, corporate strategy for Project, based in New York. Peter is a member of Project’s Executive Committee and works with the network's regional and agency CEOs to craft and execute Project's strategic vision. Beyond structural and financial matters, the most interesting parts of Peter’s role are presenting the Project story to its various constituencies, identifying and attracting world-class talent into the network, and assisting agency leaders in delivering the full power of Project to their clients. Prior to joining Project at its inception in 2010, Peter worked at J.P. Morgan for 13 years. Most recently, he was Head of Investment Bank Strategy, formulating and implementing the firm’s strategic priorities for its Investment Bank Management Committee. During downtime, Peter is an avid skier, semi-obsessed marathoner, and wannabe outdoorsman.

Eva is a savvy human resource professional with 20 years of experience managing talent and building culture. Areas of expertise include coaching and development, employee engagement, acquisitions, and innovating employee benefits. Before she joined George P. Johnson in 1993, Eva worked in the entertainment industry producing commercials and music videos. Now EVP, Human Resources at Project Worldwide, Eva sits on the board of Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA) and represents Project and its U.S. agencies on Capitol Hill where she promotes and educates legislators on S-Corp ESOPs. Outside of work, Eva is the proud mom of two teenagers who are following their passions in ballet and classical music performance.

Judy is evp, chief financial officer for Project, a global network of marketing agencies. Prior to joining Project, Judy worked in the audit division of Arthur Andersen’s Detroit office. Judy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Detroit and an Executive MBA from the University of Michigan. As a licensed CPA, she is a member of both the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Judy also is a board member of First Tee of Greater Detroit.

Ben leads Project in the Asia Pacific region, focusing on growth and transformation as the needs of our clients and industry evolve. Ben began his career in the events industry at a very young age. He relocated to Asia over 10 years ago and has lived in Hong Kong and Beijing during that time. Ben has been a champion of change and the evolution of the industry and has led some of the most celebrated and innovative work for multi-national and local Asian brands as well as Asian countries.

With the ear of C-level executives of the top companies in the country, Charlie is at the pulse of retail and the shopper marketing industry. He has over 15 years of experience being a retail innovation kickstarter. Before launching Shoptology in May 2013, Charlie held top leadership roles at Saatchi & Saatchi X that included serving as CEO, North America since 2008. In his long-standing partnerships with the globe’s largest brands such as Procter & Gamble, Diageo, Wendy’s, Pepsico, 7-Eleven and Walmart, Charlie has helped drive strategic insights, creative innovations, digital capability development, and results. Where Charlie goes, success is bound to follow.

Fiona Bruder is President of the Americas at George P Johnson (GPJ), the world’s leading experience marketing agency. GPJ is regularly recognized as the top global brand experience agency and as a best place to work. Bruder manages GPJ’s North and South American business operations, leading creative, account, strategy and integrated production teams while driving best practices and agency growth. She also serves as the leadership sponsor to key agency accounts (IBM, Nissan/Infiniti, Google, Kyndryl, Macys, and Indeed, amongst others).

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Bruder is known for embracing change, driving innovation, and building new operating models that enable clients to create globally consistent, “on-brand” award winning experiential marketing programs. 

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During her more than 20 years with GPJ, Bruder has created, produced, managed and built event portfolios and operating models for some of the world's leading brands, and currently provides oversight to all of the agency's global accounts. She’s worked across the globe, helping various key clients, including IBM and Google, open new markets and defend and expand their position in existing markets. 

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Bruder is a champion of a diverse and inclusive culture, and serves as executive sponsor and champion to employee resource groups within the agency. She passionately believes in showing up as an authentic and approachable leader, enabling each team member to live the GPJ brand attributes: passionate, collaborative and fearless.

Outside the world of experiential marketing, Bruder is the Board Chair at Girls Inc. Westchester, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing girls-only programs that inspire and empower girls to grow up strong, smart, and bold. She is a Member of the 4A’s Women CEO Forum, Forbes Agency Council and active in her local community. She holds a BA in Economics from Fordham University and an MBA from the Fordham Graduate School of Business Administration.

NOMOBO CEO Robert Buisman has over a decade of video production experience, founding NOMOBO in 2012. In addition to his management role, which includes strategic planning and new business development, Robert is driving technological innovation by continuously upgrading existing and introducing new workflows.

An amateur DJ in his youth, Robert discovered an early passion for capturing the unique energy of electronic dance music (EDM) on camera. While attending film school at the Dutch Film & TV Academy, he owned and operated DutchTilt Productions, producing music videos and music festival aftermovies. In 2012, he released his first feature film as producer, Can U Feel It, documenting the experience of Ultra Music Festival, one of the world's largest and most influential music festivals.

Although NOMOBO has expanded beyond the music industry, Robert believes in staying true to the company's DNA - capturing and communicating the energy and vibrancy of live events.

Robert on how NOMOBO pushes boundaries:

"We take a like-minded future-focused approach to all that we do and are fully committed to giving our clients and consumers the best experience — in person, digitally, or hybrid. We’ve developed a brand and service using proprietary technological innovations, and we’re known for the highest quality online broadcasting, but we’re also storytellers - a key differentiator in how we approach our client engagements. We put as much effort into set design, content quality and speaker performance as we do ensuring the viewing experience is optimized."

Ben, named one of the “100 People Who Make Advertising Great” by the 4A’s in honor of its 100th anniversary, leads a global team of 60 in conceiving digital firsts and building never-seen-before experiences on giant stages. A graduate of the prestigious Saint Martins School of Design, London, Ben gained invaluable experience at several top London agencies as a young designer. With a move to Australia came his introduction to Spinifex Group, where he quickly gained accolades for his ability to decipher complex communication briefs and objectives into intelligent design and media solutions. He moved on to become one of our two senior creative directors, managing corporate communication teams to deliver video, interactive, print, campaign and strategic advice to key clients including Macquarie Bank, Vodafone, ABN Amro, Ernst & Young, Fairfax, Time Inc, and more. In 2007, Ben made another journey across the seas to the USA, and was placed with our partner company George P. Johnson in their Los Angeles office as Spinifex Company Director, working predominantly in the tech and automotive industries. In 2012 he was appointed as VP, Digital for the parent company Project Worldwide in order to provide digital strategy across the network.

As CEO and founder of G7 Entertainment Marketing, Andre Gaccetta, embodies an inexhaustible passion for the music industry experienced through the eyes and ears of a fan. Gaccetta and his Nashville-based team specialize in entertainment strategy, talent booking, event production and bringing brands to life by connecting people to the things that make them feel most alive.

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Gaccetta’s visionary ideas and his warm, hospitable character have put him on a first name basis with the biggest stars, record labels, artist managers and promoters in the world. He and his team have created programs that have won the Billboard Concert Marketing & Promotion Award an unprecedented three times. A list of high-profile examples include a long-standing RAM Trucks partnership with Chris Stapleton, Salesforce Presents U2 iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour and Taylor Swift’s Diet Coke, Keds, Fujifilm and COVERGIRL tour activations.

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Gaccetta served six years in the U.S. Army, received his degree from Bowling Green State University and currently resides in Nashville, TN.

Mike is a graduate of Wellington College and studied Tourism Management at Victoria University in Wellington before making the shift to Auckland and embarking on his entrepreneurial journey. Having gained a noteworthy apprenticeship at iconic NZ and Australian start-up company Charlie's Juice and Nutrient Water, Mike then went on to work for some of the world's most sought-after brands including Red Bull, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon, and more. Mike’s vast background working for these brands has covered everything from building and running a company from scratch to executing global initiatives across multiple aspects of a business, including multi-million dollar national sales programs, priceless brand experiences, and fostering key relationships across multiple levels within organizations. Mikes relationship-centered approach doubled with an ‘anything is possible’ mindset fuel him to get out of bed in the morning, making every day worthy of a standing ovation.

John Higgins is the CEO and Co-Founder of OS Studios, a turnkey gaming and entertainment agency focused on connecting brands with culture. John has overseen the growth of the agency, positioning it as the strategy leader and knowledge center of gaming culture. With a storied background in directing for film and television, theater, esports and more, John brings a breadth of knowledge to the Project Worldwide Network. At a time where clients are looking for creative ways to exist in the metaverse, OS Studios is offering solutions. John was named Leader of the Year by Digiday in 2021.

As ARGONAUT’s Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Hunter operates by the belief that everyone who walks through the door is creative. He strives for talent who can build and champion ideas to become more insightful, more creatively powerful, and most importantly, more effective for clients’ businesses. Hunter is collaborative to his core, serving as a true business confidante due to the open mind he brings to every creative discussion, as well as his exceptional ability to listen and build ideas in partnership. And his spirit of never settling is best exemplified by the agency principle that “if you have 5 minutes, make the work 5 minutes better."

Jessie has 20 years of experience in marketing with diversified industry expertise covering IT, automotive, chemical and energy, and others. After about a decade of working client-side communications at Volvo, BMW, Schlumberger, and BASF, Jessie joined GPJ to serve the global account of IBM China. She successfully enabled and transformed that account team into an integrated marketing service and solution provider to help clients address real business challenges. Amid the boom of digital marketing in China, Jessie served as the head of digital services across GPJ China with the aim to build up extraordinary digital capabilities within the company. For her proven successes with clients such as DHL, Huawei, Lenovo, Dell, HP, and Porsche, in 2015 she was promoted to vice president of JUXT – a brand communication agency and sister company of GPJ under Project Worldwide.

Chris Meyer is CEO of George P. Johnson, the world's leading experience marketing agency. He is passionate about the power of experiential as a core component to corporate marketing programs and leads a world-class team at GPJ delivering award-winning physical and digital experiences for brands across the globe. Since 2013, Meyer has spearheaded the revitalization of the 100+-year-old agency, ensuring its recognition as the home of experiential marketing’s preeminent experts and creating year-over-year revenue growth. 2020 brought significant challenges to live events companies, but because of Meyer's decision to invest in digital technology back in 2008, GPJ was able to produce more than 700 digital events during the year, culminating in the development of Ospre, a digital event solution from GPJ and sister agency, Wondersauce. Ospre launched in 2021, right before Meyer gained stewardship of GPJ's presence in Europe and India, establishing his oversight of the agency in four separate global regions. He’s guided GPJ to where it is today by infusing legacy client relationships such as FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), IBM, Nissan, Salesforce, and Cisco with fresh methods and insight, and forming new partnerships with companies like Google, Macy’s, Facebook, Workday, ServiceNow, and Rodan + Fields.

Sharon Napier is Founder & Chair of national integrated creative company Partners + Napier, twice ranked among the Top 20 Most Effective Agencies in North America by Effie Worldwide. Napier also sits on the Global Strategic Leadership Team of Project Worldwide, a privately held creative holding company.

Honored by ​Ad Age ​as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Advertising, Napier has earned her reputation as a trusted voice in our constantly changing creative industry. She has been twice featured in ​The New York Times’ ​Corner Office column​, ​and appeared in ​The Wall Street Journal, Ad Age, Adweek, Forbes,​ and many more. Napier was a featured speaker at the 4A’s Transformation Conference, Mirren CEO Executive Summit, multiple Advertising Week events, and served as the keynote speaker at ​Ad Age’s ​inaugural Small Agency Conference.

At Partners + Napier, Napier oversees all executive leadership with a focus on company growth including strategic capabilities and acquisitions, enriching the agency’s client relationships, providing top-to-top counsel, and championing a diverse and inclusive culture. Her guiding mantra that ​business is personal​ has fostered teams built on empathy, trust, collaboration, hustle, and shoulder-to-shoulder client partnership, earning client tenure 3X the industry average and employee turnover less than half of the industry average. The agency serves a range of clients across multiple industries, from cutting-edge start-ups to established national and global brands, including six Fortune 1000 companies.

Beyond Partners + Napier, Napier is active in numerous organizations aligning with the agency’s verticals of expertise and her personal passions. She serves as co-Vice Chair of the 4A’s, is a member of the Board of Trustees at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and is co-Vice President of the Memorial Art Gallery Board of Managers in Rochester, NY. She is also a member of the Culinary Institute of America’s Society of Fellows.

Napier has garnered numerous accolades including ​Trailblazer Working Mother of the Year​ from She Runs It, the prestigious ATHENA Award, and ​Outstanding Alumna of the Year ​from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Andrew Pray has been leading integrated PR campaigns that cover social, digital and traditional PR for nearly a decade, experience that led to the start of Praytell in December of ‘12. Prior to founding Praytell, he worked with Ruder Finn (SF, NYC, London) and Waggener Edstrom (SF). He was named to PRWeek’s 40-under-40 list in 2015 as punishment for always thinking those lists were pretty silly.

John is involved in all aspects of Wondersauce and holds a passion for understanding different business models and the evolution of agency services. He stumbled into advertising after briefly working in the music industry and seeing first-hand how digital could lead to drastic and disruptive change. Previously at Schematic and Code & Theory, Sampogna built up his experience in strategy, production, and account services before deciding to create his own agency with his other Wondersauce cofounders. At Wondersauce, Sampogna’s main focus is ensuring that the agency is constantly positioned to meet the needs of its customers and remain a step ahead of its competition. In 2013, Sampogna was named to Business Insider’s Most Creative People in Advertising Under 30 List.

When Matt Statman started Motive 20 years ago, his goal wasn’t to become just another ad agency. He didn’t see the wisdom in building something that would add marginal value to a flawed system of ad creation. He set out to build a haven where people like him would want to hang out. A place where renegade minds could explore the most cutting-edge iterations of creativity and express them in every conceivable manner. Statman has cultivated a vision that has attracted the most audacious doers, makers, and thinkers to Motive and their ideas have come to life in an egoless, soulful environment. Today, Motive has become a creative collective that is in a constant state of evolution and reinvention. Clients and creatives are collaborating, co-creating, and curating ideas that fit seamlessly into culture and drive outsized results for brands who want to breakthrough. Motive calls this “cultural epoxy” as its ideas live seamlessly in the center of culture and connect those who are passionate participants in that culture.

The success of Statman’s vision has led to tremendous and consistent growth for Motive across North America, with offices in Denver, its original home, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto. Leading-edge marketers such as PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Constellation, Danone, Burger King, and Ram Trucks have relied on and continue to look to Motive to help them achieve cultural resonance and forge durable connections with consumers.