Nicole Souza Joins Holding Company to Drive North America New Business Push
- Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) announced on April 10, 2026, the appointment of Nicole Souza as Chief Growth Officer for North America.
- Souza joins Stagwell from Publicis Groupe, where she previously served as the Chief Marketing Officer for the creative division.
- The appointment follows a period of significant new business expansion for Stagwell.
Stagwell (NASDAQ:STGW) announced on April 10, 2026, the appointment of Nicole Souza as Chief Growth Officer for North America. The move is intended to scale the company’s enterprise growth model and expand its engagement with large-scale clients.
Souza joins Stagwell from Publicis Groupe, where she previously served as the Chief Marketing Officer for the creative division. In that role, she led growth across a global portfolio of agencies. Her professional background also includes leadership positions at Deutsch New York and Saatchi & Saatchi.
Strategic Growth and New Business Performance
The appointment follows a period of significant new business expansion for Stagwell. The company reported a 25% increase in new business growth during 2025, adding major brands to its client roster, including PepsiCo, Target, and Starbucks.
Stagwell attributes this momentum to its integrated approach, which combines capabilities across data, technology, media, and creative services. The company intends to use Souza’s experience in translating these integrated capabilities into enterprise-level wins to operationalize and accelerate this model at scale.
In her new role, Souza is tasked with leading growth across North America. Her primary focus will include shaping and winning high-value opportunities, connecting network capabilities, and developing long-term client partnerships to sustain enterprise momentum.
Financial Outlook and Executive Strategy
The hiring of Souza is the first in a series of planned senior growth leadership hires for 2026. This expansion of the leadership team aligns with the company’s growth projections for the current year.
During the reporting of Q4 2025 results, Stagwell CEO Mark Penn predicted that 2026 would be a major year for the company. Penn forecasted 10% revenue growth and anticipated that Q1 2026 would see the strongest net new business in the company’s history.
Ryan Linder, EVP and Global Chief Marketing Officer of Stagwell
Nicole is a builder,We’ve proven the model works, clients are responding to a more connected, modern approach to marketing. Now it’s about scaling that with intention. Nicole knows how to take complexity and turn it into growth, and that’s exactly what this next phase requires.
The company’s strategy focuses on moving away from traditional agency silos in favor of a connected model that can handle the complexity of large-scale enterprise accounts.