Publicis Groupe has promoted Stephanie McRae to senior vice-president and head of human resources for both Leo Burnett and Saatchi & Saatchi.
In addition to managing talent for both agencies since joining in 2020—and playing an instrumental role in Leo Burnett achieving “Great Place to Work” status three years in a row—McRae led efforts to formalize and launch a concrete Diversity and Inclusion agenda across all Publicis Groupe brands in Canada.
“Stephanie’s energy and commitment to our Groupe wide DE&I efforts have been invaluable,” said Andrew Bruce, CEO Publicis Groupe Canada. “As we implement our 'Power of One' model, the importance of having a coordinated DE&I effort is mission critical.
“We are all responsible in equal parts for supporting and encouraging such an important shift in our approach to talent. Stephanie and her team make it all possible.”
McRae started her career at Grip before joining Omnicom Group, where she rose to VP, HR at BBDO. Her next stop was Taxi, where she ran global operations for HR.
In her role as head of DE&I for Publicis Groupe Canada, McRae spearheaded “This is the job,” an attempt to encourage greater diversity in the industry by introducing young, racialized people to the industry, and “Black Youth Can,” a pro-bono campaign and brand platform for CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals, a Toronto non-profit offering free career skills training to Black youth.
“Working alongside Stephanie has been and continues to be a privilege,” said Ben Tarr, president, Leo Burnett Group Canada. “Her relentless pursuit to bring in and nurture the best talent and help create an environment where our people can do the best work of their careers is contagious.”
“Stephanie has been a huge contributor to the team here at Saatchi & Saatchi, helping to bring amazing talent to our agency and playing a major role within our leadership team” added Stuart Payne, president and CEO.
