Who Does It

Chris Weil was named Chairman/CEO of Momentum Worldwide in 2003 after previously serving as Regional Director for Momentum Europe/Middle East and Africa. Prior to that he was President of Momentum New York. In 2012, Weil became the youngest executive to be elected Chairman of the 4A’s. During his two-year term, Weil was instrumental in launching the organization’s High School Initiative, and in 2015 he was named Chairman of the High School Initiative Board. Over his 20-year career with Momentum, Weil has led the company to become the world’s largest and most awarded experiential advertising agency.

Kevin McNulty is President and Chief Marketing Officer of Momentum Worldwide, leading the agency’s global growth and marketing communications. Over his 25+ year career with Momentum, Kevin has led the company to become the world’s most awarded and largest experiential advertising agency working with some of the world’s most famous brands. Previously, he has served as Chief Marketing Officer, Europe/Middle East and Africa Regional Director, APAC Regional Director, and Managing Director of our San Francisco office. Prior to joining Momentum, Kevin led the sports and entertainment marketing unit ad:vent that was acquired by McCann-Erickson to form Momentum Worldwide ahead of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games.

Donnalyn Smith is President, North America overseeing the success of the agency’s North American offices, people and client portfolios. Previously, she has served as EVP, Regional Director, Managing Director and Group Account Director for several of the agency's large accounts. She is a founding member of the 4A’s Committee for Best-in-Class Account Management and a member of the 4A’s High School Initiative. In 2017, she drove Momentum’s partnership with the 3% Conference, and in 2018, Donnalyn was honored as a “Trailblazer Mom of the Year” by She Runs It and named to Adweek’s Disruptors list. She is also a founding member of the #TimesUpAdvertising movement. Smith joined Momentum in 1995.

Philippe Touzot joined Momentum Worldwide in 2005, becoming Global Chief Financial Officer in 2012. Prior to joining Momentum, he spent 9 years with Wunderman, first in Paris, France and then in New York. He is a member of the 4A’s Finance Committee.

Ela Mesa is the Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Momentum Worldwide, guiding teams through the process of creating safe spaces and redefining inclusive practices as business imperatives. Previously, Ela was the Director of Learning Experience Design and Educational Partnerships at the 4A's, where she managed professional and organizational development programs with a special focus on diversity and cultural competency. During that time, she also coordinated and facilitated industry mentorship opportunities and career technical training for students at both of New York’s advertising-focused high schools. Ela remains committed to forging equitable and sustainable career pathways for industry talent at all levels.

Jennifer Frieman was appointed Global Chief Talent Officer in 2013, having previously been McCann Worldgroup’s Global Head of Learning and Development from 2011–2013. Prior to that, she was SVP, Global Head of Organizational Development at Momentum from 2007–2013. She champions our industry leading DE&I efforts through volunteer and committee work with organization that include Venture for America, the 3% group and 4A’s High School.

James accidentally stumbled into advertising while acting in very bad Japanese commercials while living in Tokyo. He parlayed this “experience” into a 20-year award winning career at agencies like Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Venables Bell & Partners, 215 McCann and the Martin Agency. As the ECD of Momentum NY, he is responsible for all creative output for Verizon, American Express, Walmart, SAP, and more. He lives in New Jersey with his wife (also an award winning creative), 2 daughters, a 110 LB dog and very little free time. He’s happiest writing about anything but himself.

Elena Klau is Momentum’s first Global Chief Strategy & Analytics Officer, having helped originate the disciplines for Momentum. Prior to Momentum, she was at Kaleidoscope Sports & Entertainment. In 2017 Klau was named to the SportsBusiness Journal’s “Forty under 40” list. She has also been listed in the Path to Purchase Institute’s annual “Who’s Who in Shopper Marketing” list every year since 2012. Klau has published numerous pieces in AdWeek and Admap and has been an invited speaker at conferences like Social Media Week, EventTech and the Fast Company Innovation Festival.

Christine joined Momentum in 2013 to lead our global American Express relationship. In 2018, she was elevated to EVP, Global Business Lead and joined the executive committee, representing our largest global accounts. Prior to Momentum, Christine was the GM at Big Fuel, a start-up social media agency and ran the American Express US business at Ogilvy. In her time at Momentum, Christine and her American Express team have won every major award - from Ex to Cannes Lions - and have created talked-about experiences at many of the world's most buzzworthy events, from Art Basel to Coachella.

Maria Laura Nicotero was appointed President of Momentum Brazil in 2015, becoming the only female lead of a major agency in Brazil. She previously worked for fifteen years at Meio & Mensagem, the leading South American advertising and marketing trade publication. At M&M she served as the Executive Director of the events unit, which also included running the Premio Cabore awards, digital conference ProXXima and the Effie Awards for Brazil, and launching the regional Wave Festival for Latin America, and the Ad Age’s Women to Watch Brazil, in partnership with Ad Age. Today she participates as a Board Member at SXSW, Women to Watch, Brazilian Agency Association, McCann WW Brazil, and McCann Women LatAm.

In her 20+ year career at Momentum Spain, Begona has formed long lasting relationships with our valued clients and within our global agency, led teams to award winning work and celebrated multiple Agency of the Year Awards.

Hiroshi Samizo was promoted to the position of President & CEO of Momentum Japan in 2013 after previously serving simultaneously as President of Aoyama Creative Studios (now Craft Worldwide) and EVP of Momentum Japan from 2011–2013. Prior to that, he served as a member of the Momentum Japan Board of Directors from 2008–2011 after joining Momentum in 2000, moving over from McCann where he began his career.

Since 2016, Momentum Egypt has been one of the fastest growing offices in our global agency. Lina and her team continue to bring their best in class thinking and creativity to clients spanning categories and markets, including the Mashreq zone and Yemen.

David heads up the Experience Design practice in North America, and is driven to explore moments of engagement, or touch-points, between people and brands, and the ideas, emotions, and memories that these moments create. Over the last 25 years, he has controlled countless high-profile and extremely successful brand experience projects for companies such as Verizon, American Express, Coca Cola, Porsche, Bentley and Facebook.

Luke was named President of Momentum UK in 2016, and leads the agency’s efforts for clients such as American Express, Microsoft and SAP. Under Luke’s guidance, Momentum UK has won over one hundred awards, including The Drum’s Marketing Agency of the Year 2020. His team also led the experiential production of the Cannes Lions-winning Xbox Survival Billboard. Luke is also a Harvard Executive Program Alumni, sits on the 4A’s new business committee and has worked across global networks and independents including IPG, Havas and Iris. He’s a leading evangelist for experiential marketing in media like CNBC, The Economist, and Forbes.

Matt Lewis was named President of Momentum Canada in 2016. Since that time Matt has led the company to become the most awarded Experiential agency in Canada, currently ranked #2 on Cannes 2019 Global Report Card. His primary career focus has been to elevate the strategic rigor and creative focus in Experiential, Sponsorship and Shopper mediums by investing in the industry's best tools and talent. This approach has led to the addition of Nike North America and Coca-Cola Canada to the agency roster.