The Ad Council board of directors is getting a new chair in Jacki Kelley, CEO of dentsu Americas. She succeeds Linda Yaccarino, chairman, global advertising and partnerships of NBCUniversal, and will serve in the role until June 30, 2023.
The vice chair position has been filled by Tara Walpert Levy, vp, Americas YouTube, and she will serve alongside Diego Scotti, current vice chair, who will serve as chair after Kelley.
The Ad Council’s board of directors is comprised of senior marketing and media executives who provide expertise, insights and financial support to ensure the Ad Council’s social impact communication campaigns are effective and impactful. Most recently, the Ad Council and its board led the industry’s response to Covid-19 and the launch of the Ad Council and Covid Collaborative’s vaccine education initiative.
As board chair, Kelley will work in collaboration with the executive committee, the governing body of the Ad Council’s board, and Ad Council leadership to further the organization’s mission to use the power of communications to address the country’s critical social issues. Additionally, Kelley will chair the Ad Council’s 2022 Annual Public Service Award Dinner, the organization’s largest annual fundraising event.
“Jacki’s commitment to driving social impact through smart and strategic marketing has been invaluable to the Ad Council’s campaigns and reinforced Jacki’s reputation as one of the most influential and altruistic leaders within our industry,” said Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council in a statement. “With Jacki’s guidance, we will continue to convene powerful coalitions and implement cutting edge strategies that will move the needle on America’s most pressing issues.”
Kelley joined the Ad Council Board of Directors in 2017 and became a member of the executive committee in 2018. Prior to her appointment as Board Chair, Kelley served as Vice Chair. Under Kelley’s leadership, dentsu Americas made a commitment from the top to develop a comprehensive blueprint for the Ad Council’s Covid-19 Vaccine Education Initiative, aligning leadership across the organization—Carat, Merkle, Posterscope, Mitchell and Amplifi. The effort was serviced via the dentsu health teaming platform, informing everything that went into the Ad Council’s largest effort in its 80-year history.
“I could not be more proud to serve as the chair, working alongside the amazing Lisa Sherman. I am grateful for the leadership of my friend Linda Yaccarino who led an unprecedented effort for vaccination education in one of the most important moments in our history,” said Kelley in a statement. “The Ad Council is a place where our collective power to create change comes together for the good of society. It is an honor to work with my colleagues to demonstrate the power of our craft.”