Team VMLYR
VMLY&R has promoted Jennifer Kohl to executive director, head of U.S. media, and hired Chrissie Mealy as managing director, paid media.Kohl will lead VMLY&R’s media practice across the United States. She takes on responsibility for the operations, delivery and business development that span the full media offering. Kohl has spent most of her career at WPP across media teams at BrandBuzz/GroupM before joining Y&R. With the merger of VML and Y&R in 2018, Kohl stepped up to lead the integrated VMLY&R media team in New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Chicago as SVP, executive director, integrated media. With her latest promotion, VMLY&R’s largest media office, Kansas City, also becomes part of her remit.Kohl is known for her leadership, expertise, and client relationships as well as her thought leadership and contributions to supporting working parents and the Asian community, both at VMLY&R and beyond. She serves as the co-chair for VMLY&R’s Asian employee resource group (ERG), B.East, and is the founder of Embrace, the agency’s caregiver ERG. Some of Kohl’s recent achievements include being recognized by the She Runs It’s Working Mothers of the Year awards. She is a nominated member of Advisor Council and has been inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers. She remains based in New York and will report directly to Amy Worley, global chief connections officer. Mealy will lead the Kansas City media team as managing director, paid media. Mealy brings more than 20 years of media experience, developing strategic multichannel plans at both the national and local levels. Most recently, Mealy served as VP of media at Attane, formerly GlynnDevins. Previously she held positions at Applebee’s and Barkley, helping to build brands such as Sonic Drive-In. She will report directly to Kohl as a part of Worley’s department.Both Kohl’s promotion and Mealy’s hire are integral to unifying and bolstering the media offerings across the VMLY&R network, working in partnership with sister agencies GroupM, Mindshare, Wavemaker, and Essence.
