BCW and Hill & Knowlton have unveiled their second round of leaders for Burson, including global practice, and specialty leaders.

Brooke Hovey, current BCW global president, will transition to Burson’s global chief strategy officer on July 1, coinciding with the merger of BCW and H&K into Burson, creating a $1bn PR firm under WPP. Hovey, with over two decades of experience at BCW, assumed her current position in 2022 after serving as the agency’s global chief growth officer for four years. Richard Millar, H&K global president, will be leaving the firm.

Simon Shaw, presently H&K’s chief creative strategy & innovation officer, is appointed as Burson’s global chief creative officer. Shaw took on his current role in 2020 as part of a larger leadership restructuring.

Michelle Hutton, BCW global chief client and growth officer, will retain the same role at Burson. Hutton, who joined BCW in late 2022 after over 13 years at Edelman, including serving as vice chair of client solutions for Asia-Pacific, departed from Edelman last June.

Three H&K global practice leaders will continue their roles at Burson: Brenna Terry as global chair of healthcare, Sara Gourlay as global chair of technology, and Simon Whitehead as global chair of energy & industrial, also continuing as UK CEO.

Kristin Cahill and Matt Lackie, leaders of BCW specialty agencies GCI Group and AxiCom respectively, will remain as CEOs of their respective agencies within Burson. Jerry Lombardo, BCW global CFO, and Azurée Montoute-Lewis, H&K global chief people officer, will continue in their roles at Burson. Randa Stephan, H&K’s global chief marketing and communications officer, will take on the position of Burson’s global chief brand officer.

“This is an exceptional group of leaders drawn from our two organizations, each of whom has considerable experience in building businesses and brands,” said BCW global CEO Corey duBrowa, who will lead Burson as global CEO with H&K global chairman and CEO AnnaMaria DeSalva, who has been named Burson’s global chairman.

“Hill & Knowlton has a well-established and strong global practice structure in place which will be replicated at Burson, under the guidance of these chair appointments, to deliver clients access to the talent and services at the scale they need. I have great confidence in all of our colleagues to build a modern, full-service, technology-driven Burson focused on building and protecting reputation and grounded in the timeless values of our namesake,” he said.

The leadership announcement made on Wednesday follows three weeks after BCW and H&K unveiled their initial round of Burson regional leaders. Among these leaders are Kristine Boyden and Scott Wilson, who will serve as CEOs for the Americas and EMEA regions, respectively, having previously held the same positions at BCW.

WPP’s decision to merge its two largest PR firms, announced on January 25, comes half a decade after BCW was formed through the acquisition of Burson-Marsteller by Cohn & Wolfe. According to representatives from both firms, Hill & Knowlton will maintain its distinct brand identity within Burson, providing strategic communications, advisory, and public affairs services to a select group of clients globally, including cases where potential conflicts may arise.