Kathy Baird

Group Managing Director, Ogilvy

Kathy Baird

Group Managing Director, Ogilvy

Biography

Kathy serves as the Managing Director of the Ogilvy office in Washington, DC and previously as the Managing Director of Content & Social, North America. Kathy oversees large integrated programs that incorporate digital and social channels across the disciplines of consumer marketing, advertising and public relations. Her client experience at Ogilvy includes integrated strategy for Five Guys, Medela, Hennessy, Glenmorangie, MetLife, Intel, Mozilla Firefox, CSL Behring, Merck, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, BP, DuPont, Cree and Motorola among others. She also sits on the board and serves on the Executive Committee of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA), and is the chair of the PR Council’s New Media Committee. She is a recent recipient of ColorComm’s Circle Award, 2017, championing women of color in the marketing and communications industry and an finalist for Washington Women in PR’s 2017 Woman of the Year.

Prior to joining Ogilvy, Kathy worked at FleishmanHillard where she led the integrated marketing team and some of the agency’s largest global integrated accounts. Her client list included Visa, Inc. where she led digital marketing and reputation initiatives across consumer, small business and corporate audiences a trade association-based issues campaign for the snack foods industry and a $20m paid media program for an energy brand. Additional clients included Frito-Lay, Bloomberg, Booz Allen Hamilton, Sandoz, National Confectioners Association, Federal Trade Commission, Smithsonian Institute and Saudi Aramco among others. She also worked at Mindshare Interactive Campaigns where she led digital strategy programs for Easter Seals, Human Rights Campaign, UNICEF, Georgetown University, Pfizer and Novartis. Her work has earned several awards, including the Cannes PR Lion Shortlist Award, American Marketing Association M Award, the Pollie Award, and the Addy Award. Kathy has also held global positions at several telecommunications companies, including MCI, WorldCom, UUNET, and WorldSpace, where she managed and executed large-scale branding and online marketing programs. These included digital crisis communications through the WorldCom bankruptcy, the development of corporate digital strategy and several large global rebranding initiatives, including the rebrand of WorldCom to MCI.

Kathy is the co-founder of The Unified Scene Theater, an improv comedy studio in  Washington, DC. She is also a Board Member Emeritus of Story District, a Washington, DC based storytelling organization. Kathy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from  The George Washington University, and an International Master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Kathy has been an adjunct professor for Digital Strategy, Integrated Marketing Communications and Leadership at Georgetown University for the Public Relations and Corporate Communications Graduate School, creating the school’s first digital strategy curriculum and teaching classes at the University since 2008. Kathy is Lakota/Oneida, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of Indians and a member of the Native American Journalists Association. She studied theater at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. In her spare time she enjoys music, storytelling, improv comedy and fitness activities.

All sessions by Kathy Baird

Keynote: A Unique DC

4:45 pm-5:30 pm