TIM RICH

Tim Rich is a data scientist specializing in data strategy, economic sociology, and mixed method modeling. Central to his work, Tim focuses on the nexus of human behavior and data, thus opening new pathways for insights, practical methods of behavioral change and dynamic intuitive visualizations. When Tim is not trying to predict the future he spends his time walking his dog, collecting vinyl records and building the Internet of things with Arduino.

Most recently, Tim served as a senior executive at Publicis New York, where he started the first data science department in a creative agency. Using public, social, unstructured and alternative data sources he and his team created custom tools validating strategic thinking, unearthing new insights and testing and validating creative executions. He has grown the practice beyond New York City creating new data departments in other Publicis Groupe agencies in London and Toronto. In his final role at Publicis, Tim assisted in building the creative agency’s energy consulting practice, advising major energy players on how to communicate in a radically evolving environment.

Before Publicis, Tim worked with 1stdibs.com building out luxury marketplace analytics, customer segmentations and supply & demand models. He holds a Masters in Sociology from Columbia University and a Masters in International Studies from the University of Washington.

RON GUIRGUIS

Ron is a results-driven marketing communications executive with a proven track record of transforming businesses, teams and brands.  He has developed and managed marketing programs for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, helping them define their brand narrative, deliver purpose-driven marketing programs, engage consumers, employees and stakeholders and protect their brands from internal and external crises.

A veteran of the marketing communications industry in North America, Ron has more than 25 years of experience successfully running large agencies, practice groups and client accounts.  Prior to launching The Convergence Collective, Ron was North American CEO of MSL, the marketing communications firm inside the global advertising holding company, Publicis Groupe.  He has also served as the Managing Director of the Corporate & Public Affairs practice at Edelman and Head of C&PA and Deputy Managing Director at Fleishman-Hillard, NY. In addition to his agency leadership roles, Ron has been a trusted advisor in brand building, corporate reputation, sustainability and social impact, and crisis/issues management for clients across a range of sectors. 

Ron has led several global reputation management and corporate branding campaigns for such companies as AT&T, USAA, McDonald’s, GM, PepsiCo, Kellogg, Ferrero, E&Y, Brookfield, Resolute Forest Products, Hyatt Hotels, Carnival Cruise Lines, and Boeing. In these roles, he has developed marketing and brand positioning strategies, influencer engagement programs, stakeholder relations and grassroots mobilizations activities, crisis communications planning and response efforts, and corporate brand and public affairs campaigns focused on influencing perceptions at national and international levels. 

Ron has also led narrative development and corporate positioning efforts related to sustainability and social impact for major global brands.  He was responsible for helping develop the sustainability and climate change platform for Nike, Mars, PepsiCo, Nestle Waters, Virgin Galactic and We Mean Business.  This involved helping lead the research and discovery for master narratives and the stakeholder mapping and engagement necessary to communicate the new narrative to key audiences and integrate them into marketing and advertising campaigns across customer journeys. 

Having spent his career in large agencies, Ron brings a perspective on what works, what doesn’t in today’s environment, and why it is clear that the large agency/holding company model is unmatched to the pace of change and dynamic needs of clients.  Ron has spent the past two decades building teams, managing clients and leading business with radical candor.  Now, he is doing this as part of a company that brings together the best of large agencies – senior experts, data-driven insights and multi-disciplinary talent – with the focused, client-driven approach of a boutique consultancy, one that provides senior strategic counsel focused on solving clients’ business challenges.

Ron has a bachelor degree in International Trade Economics from the University of Guelph.  He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.

MIKE HOLLOWAY

Mike is a communications veteran with more than 20 years experience in corporate reputation and public affairs, advising clients across a range of industries, including insurance, real estate, media, retail, and manufacturing.

Mike has a depth of experience and a passion for economic development, having worked with multiple foreign direct investment bodies around the globe, helping governments position themselves for inward investment from the U.S. Mike’s clients have included Northern Ireland, the City of London, Singapore, Dubai and Ukraine.

Mike’s corporate clients have included Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based developer driving growth in the Gulf Region; General Electric’s global commercial real estate arm, GE Real Estate; The De Beers Group, the world’s largest diamond producer based in South Africa; Getty Images, the leading provider of stock and editorial imagery; New York Life Insurance Company, one of the largest life insurers globally; and e-commerce pioneer and leading marketplace, eBay.

Prior to co-founding The Convergence Collective, Mike served as an Executive Vice President at MSL, Publicis Groupe’s public relations agency,  leading business development in the U.S. Prior MSL, Mike spent 17 years at Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations agency, working with organizations in the pubic and private sectors from the firm’s New York headquarters.

Mike began his career as a journalist, covering local and business news for The Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross. 

CARA GIBSON

Cara has spent the last 10 years in the ad agency scene - wearing hats from Senior Director of New Business, Production and Operations. Cara's career has brought her to advising clients across several industries including auto, entertainment, fitness & wellness, financial, food & beverage, franchise, pharmaceutical, and telecom.

Cara's clients have included: American Express, Cadillac, Citibank, Diageo, Heineken, International Olympics Association, P&G brands, Red Lobster, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, 7-Eleven, and more.

Prior to joining The Collective, Cara spent the majority of her career with McGarryBowen New York and Publicis North America, sustaining client relationships, as well as global partnerships with Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and the Olympics.

In 2018, she made a jump to consulting for start-up agencies from Los Angels to Miami. Cara's goal is to take every project for her clients across the finish line, on time and under budget. She has a passion for building business infrastructure and operations.

Cara holds a BS in Marketing & BA in Journalism, a MBA in Global Business at Centenary University and is currently finishing her PhD in Business Innovation & Strategy.

MOLLY CONROY

Molly is a purpose-driven strategic communications professional with deep expertise in social impact, collective action, sustainability and reputation management.  Over the past 20 years, Molly has worked in media, consulting and in-house at some of the best companies in the world where she has helped bring sustainability to the center of the corporate reputation agenda.

As an in-house communications executive, Molly developed global engagement plans for Nike and for Anheuser-Busch InBev companies in areas including sustainable development, climate action, circular economy and water stewardship.  She has partnered with governments, NGOs and industry organizations to develop new approaches for sustainable growth in a low-carbon economy and has driven reputation by creating holistic, integrated communications strategies.   

Prior to joining The Collective, Molly was the Global Director for Corporate Reputation and Sustainability Communications at Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, where she was responsible for developing and managing an insight-driven approach to reputation management that established a baseline for reputation metrics and measurement across markets.  She drove media, thought leadership, stakeholder engagement and executive positioning for the CEO and other executives.  She was also responsible for helping launch the company’s 2025 sustainability goals and has lead level events during UN General Assembly week, The World Economic Forum and Climate Week.

Before that, Molly spent five years working for Nike as the Global Director of Engagement and Communications for Sustainable Innovation.  In this role, Molly developed and executed Nike’s climate change narrative, focusing on innovation and aligning to the company’s long-term business goals.  She also led stakeholder engagement initiatives aimed at advancing Nike’s sustainability agenda with partners such as NASA and the US Department of State and also created bespoke programs with organizations including MIT, Parsons School of Design and University of the Arts London.  

Throughout her career, Molly has also held roles at Al Jazeera English leading communications and international relations for the Americas, at CNBC as a producer and at Ralph Lauren on their communications team.  She’s also worked in agencies as an international relations consultant for FleishmanHillard and Brown Lloyd James.  Molly has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Columbia University.

SWAROOP REDDY

Swaroop is a customer and technology strategist, having the rare experience as a CTO of a fortune 50 institution, a management consulting partner at a big 4 consultancy, and an executive vice president of marketing transformation at a big 4 advertising. Swaroop’s vision is to bridge the technology, business, and marketing divide through connected solutions that realize the power of each domain to uncover unexpected growth opportunities.

Swaroop comes to the collective from Publicis Groupe, where initially leading the marketing transformation practice, Swaroop led the innovation program and partnership with MIT Media Lab to uncover the psychology of ethics and trust in a world of biased artificial intelligence and machine learning. Later Swaroop moved to the Publicis consulting unit, Publicis Sapient where he led the customer experience and innovation practice for the financial services sector.

Prior to Publicis Groupe, Swaroop was a partner at Cognizant consulting, a partner at KPMG consulting, and a Director and telecom solutions leader at PwC. Swaroop also spent a number of years at AIG, where he was the global leader of Digital IT strategy, Consumer Lines technology strategy, and Property Casualty technology innovation.

Swaroop holds a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from New York University, and lives in New York with his wife, four kids, and rescue dog that looks uncommonly like “bolt the wonder dog”.