Karen van Bergen Named Managing Director of Porter Novelli New York

NEW YORK, Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Global public relations leader Porter Novelli today announced that Karen van Bergen will join the agency as a senior partner and managing director of the firm's New York office.

Van Bergen brings extensive agency and client-side experience to her role.  For nearly three years she has been the global leader for OneVoice – an integrated Omnicom offering that serves Philips Electronics.  She is a senior partner and senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard, which is one of two agencies that comprise OneVoice.  Van Bergen has been based in Amsterdam and will be relocating to New York with her family.

Van Bergen steps into a position that had been filled on an interim basis by Joe Russo, the assistant managing director in New York, who will continue in that role.  Van Bergen will assume her new position on Jan. 1.

"Karen is going to be a fantastic addition to Porter Novelli," said Gary Stockman, the agency's CEO.  "She has an outstanding record of winning business and driving organic growth.  She also believes strongly in the power of teams and collaboration, which we value as a true competitive differentiator."

Van Bergen is Porter Novelli's second senior appointment in as many months.  In October, the agency announced that Michael Goldberg, a business development powerhouse, would be joining as chief marketing officer.

"I am especially pleased to be able to attract someone of Karen's caliber," Stockman said.  "Together with the other leaders on our Executive Committee, this is a powerful team to drive our global growth strategy."

About van Bergen

As the global leader for OneVoice, van Bergen has grown a 600-person consulting team across more than 80 countries.  Prior to OneVoice, van Bergen was regional director for the Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe for Fleishman, spearheading winning global pitches for NBC Universal, VISA and Unilever, among others.

Before Fleishman, van Bergen served two stints with McDonald's totaling almost 13 years.  She was chief of staff, vice president of corporate affairs for McDonald's Europe, joining as part of a new management team that introduced and executed a highly successful new European strategy.  She also held the director of marketing, communications and government relations post for McDonald's Central Europe/Central Asia division.  Earlier in her career, she was director of corporate affairs in Europe for the Outboard Marine Corporation.

"Porter Novelli is such a strong brand in international communications, with a powerful heritage in creating real and positive change for the firm's clients," said van Bergen. "I am excited to bring my expertise to the agency and to facilitate continued success for Porter Novelli in New York and beyond."

Van Bergen earned her master's degree in law and political sciences from Leiden University in the Netherlands.  She earned her undergraduate degree from Elzendaal College, also in the Netherlands.

About Porter Novelli

A global public relations leader, Porter Novelli was founded in 1972 and is a part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC). In 90 offices in nearly 60 countries, Porter Novelli combines the power of immersion with the rigor of research to create deep human insights that enable the agency to transform the opinions, beliefs and behaviors of those who matter most to its clients. For additional information, please visit www.porternovelli.com.

Contact:
Catherine Sullivan
[email protected]
212-601-8315

SOURCE Porter Novelli