As global board member of talent at Forsman & Bodenfors, Michele Prota strives to design working environments where people can do the most transformational work of their careers. After three years at the global creative collective, she has made bold moves to change the industry from within, rallying the agency's senior leadership around her belief that diversity is key to world-class creativity and inspiring them to embrace new roles as champions not just for women, but for overall equality and diversity. Her nearly 15 years of experience in talent and the business of people for multibillion-dollar companies, global advertising networks, and small tech-led creative shops has made Michele acutely aware of what drives creativity, employee happiness, business growth and profitability.
Through her partnerships both in and out of the office and her collaborative approach to working, not only did Michele led Forsman & Bodenfors New York to 3% Certification in 2018, she also played an integral role in the agency reaching pay parity amongst its team members in 2019. Additionally, Michele has landed coverage in industry outlets including Adweek, Digiday, Campaign, The Drum, and Muse by Clio, to name a few. Most recently, she helped lead the agency to win the title of Most Collaborative Culture at Digiday's 2019 Worklife Awards.
Before her time at Forsman & Bodenfors, Michele held leadership roles at The Barbarian Group, J. Walter Thompson, and Merrill Lynch. In 2018, Prota received the She Runs It Working Mother of the Year Award, which honors outstanding, multitasking moms who work in the marketing and media industry, serve as strong role models and mentors to others, and inspire their co-workers, families, and communities through their talent and tenacity. She is also a contributing webinar leader for the 4As and is an active founding member of She Run It's #Inclusive100 initiative.
Her most important role, however, is played during the off-hours where she is mother to Bobby and Sonny and wife to an incredible human.
Mike Densmore, CEO of New York, joined the agency in 2017 with specific responsibilities to the co-headquarters' account services, marketing, PR, and new business functions. Previously, he served as the global chief growth officer at BBH for four years.
Mike's key strengths include building, mentoring, motivating and inspiring high-performance and results-oriented teams in order to help better serve clients' needs and ambitions. He is driven by a strong passion for great creative work due to his belief in the power of creativity and how it can positively impact clients' brands and businesses. Before joining Forsman & Bodenfors, Mike was global chief growth officer at BBH, CMO at McKinney, the head of business development at Droga5, one of the original partners at Modernista! and ran the North American Nike business while at Wieden + Kennedy. He has worked on a number of global brands including Amazon, Netflix, Nest, Google, Spotify, Nike, JetBlue, Budweiser, General Motors, and Converse.
Mike, his wife, and two daughters live on the Upper West Side.