Brad MacAfee Takes A Bow As CEO of Porter Novelli

Porter Novelli CEO Brad MacAfee has decided to take a bow almost four years in charge of the Omnicom PR firm.

MacAfee leaves after 19 years with Porter Novelli, which he led following Karen van Bergen's elevation to Omnicom PR Group (OPRG) CEO in 2016. His exit comes on the heels of van Bergen's own departure from the OPRG leadership position, which was revealed earlier this week.

Porter Novelli will be announcing his successor in the next few weeks. MacAfee's tenure saw the firm shift to a new positioning focused on its heritage in terms of purpose, following its merger with sister firm Cone Communications. As part of that shift, Porter Novelli also eliminated Jennifer Swint's global president role earlier this year, just 12 months after establishing it.

MacAfee also made diversity and inclusion a key priority at Porter Novelli, tackling the topic with a sense of urgency that has not always been apparent across the industry.