Miami agency executive Jose Lopez-Varela to lead Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

Jackie Bird, chairwoman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and president/CEO of Winglatino, stepped down from her association post in the annual transition of leadership to a new executive on Friday. Jose Lopez-Varela, CEO of ADN Communications in Miami will spearhead the efforts of the Hispanic advertising industry during the coming year in his new role as AHAA chairman. Gisela Girard, president and COO of Creative Civilization — An Aguilar/Girard Agency in San Antonio assumes the position of chair-elect and will take office as chair next April. Jessica Pantanini, COO of Bromley Communications and former AHAA Treasurer has been named the new Vice Chair, appointed to observe and participate in executive committee activities and decisions in preparation for the role of Chair-Elect next
year.

AHAA taps into the expertise of its members and gains fresh perspectives for the association through its committee structure — marketing communication; membership; research; public policy; creative; and
touchpoint (media) — developed and implemented Board-approved plans with an overarching emphasis on reaching and influencing corporate America.

“With the support of so many members and volunteers, AHAA achieved great things this year,” says Bird. “But there is so much more to accomplish in these very exciting and challenging times our industry is facing. We must remain robust and dynamic in our approach to reach and influence corporate executives.”

Lopez-Varela and the newly elected officers, Girard, Pantanini, will form the executive committee joined by Carl Kravetz, chief strategic officer of cruz/kravetz:IDEAS and new AHAA Treasurer, and Patricia Gaitan,
president of Chambers, Lopez and Gaitan and new AHAA Secretary. Bird will serve on the executive committee as well as Immediate Past Chair. They will continue to implement the strategic focus of the association based on the framework Bird and the Board created last year. Under the new leadership, the association will continue to make access to the C-suite the number one priority while adding more value to AHAA membership. Lopez-Varela wants to ensure that a large majority of active and new advertisers use AHAA member agencies for their marketing communications programs and spend a fair share of their budgets targeting the Hispanic market.

“I want to take the same approach with AHAA this year as we have taken at this conference — continually rebooting and embracing new approaches,” says Lopez-Varela. “I promise you that we will consistently examine the execution of each element relative to our goals to ensure our thinking is always fresh, inspired and relevant. Our next priority is to increase the significance of AHAA to you, our members. We want to provide the best-in-class tools and information to enhance our competencies so that our agencies are consistently sought and consulted for our expertise and knowledge of the Hispanic market.”

Joining the Board this year are Carlos Garcia, of Garcia 360°, Matias Perel, CEO of Latin3, Ingid Otero Smart, president of Anita Santiago Advertising, Inc., and Daniel Marrero, Founder of CreativeOndemanD (COD).

Continuing to serve on the Board are: Joe Zubizaretta, executive vice president of Zubi Advertising, and Daisy d’Exposito, d’Exposito & Partners.

After serving two, three-year terms, Board members Manuel E. Machado, CEO/co-chairman of MGS Communications and Alex Lopez Negrete, CEO of Lopez Negrete Communications will turn over their duties as Board members to the newly elected officers.