ICF Olson made a pair of additions to its leadership team with the hires of Michael Hunter (pictured above) as chief growth officer and Dawn Watz as chief people officer.
“Today’s announcement is another key step in our agency’s transformational journey. These appointments are part of our ongoing efforts to establish the right executive team to lead ICF Olson’s collective of best-in-class specialized agencies,” ICF Olson global agency lead Louise Clements said in a statement. Both Michael and Dawn understand our clear vision for ICF Olson and will be critical in driving growth and cultivating stronger client relationships across all of our combined agencies. I look forward to working closely with them as we position our business for the future.”
As chief growth officer, Hunter will be tasked with overseeing the agency’s growth strategy and business opportunity efforts out of its Minneapolis office, while reporting to Clements. He joins ICF Olson from BBDO Atlanta, where he has served as chief marketing officer and executive vice president of business development for the past three years. Prior to that he spent two years as executive vice president, marketing and business development for Parallel-49, following two years client-side as senior director of marketing for Best Buy.
“We are confident Michael will be a great addition to our executive team. As a recognized marketing, advertising, business development and sales executive, he has a proven track record of growing globally recognized brands from every angle of the marketing world,” Clements added. “His knowledge and expertise will be critical in identifying new business opportunities and enhancing our overall client experience to create value and drive growth.”
Watz (pictured below) will also be based in Minneapolis and be tasked with overseeing the agency’s HR and recruitment teams while reporting jointly to Clements and executive vice president, chief human resources officer Jim Lawler. She arrives at ICF Olson from SapientRazorfish, where she has served as people strategist since the beginning of 2013. Prior to joining SapientRazorfish she spent time in human resources with JAMF Software and has also worked as an independent consultant and a talent consultant with i2i Placement.
“We are so excited to have Dawn on board as our Chief People Officer,” Clements said in a statement. “She has a long history of developing exceptional work cultures and driving employee engagement across companies. In her new role, Dawn will play a key role in cultivating ICF Olson’s unique culture and executing on our mission to create connections and moments that ensure a better employee experience agency-wide.”
