Karen van Bergen

Karen van Bergen brings more than 30 years of agency- and client-side experience to her role as CEO of Omnicom Public Relations Group. She holds responsibility for all public relations and public affairs firms within Omnicom, encompassing more than 6,300 employees.

Prior to Omnicom PR Group, Karen served as CEO of Porter Novelli. Over a three year period, Karen led the agency on a path of significant transformation—marked by growth and award-winning work and capped by recognition as a 2014 PRWeek Best Place to Work—a result of Karen’s steadfast focus on talent. She served as managing director of Porter Novelli’s New York office from 2011-2012. Before Porter Novelli, Karen spent four years at FleishmanHillard, most recently as senior partner, senior vice president and global lead for OneVoice, an integrated Omnicom team serving Royal Philips Electronics.

Working in-house, Karen served two stints with McDonald’s in Europe and Asia totaling more than 13 years; she also worked with The Coca-Cola Company and Outboard Marine Corporation. Karen has been recognized with awards including PRWeek PR Professional of the Year – Agency (2016), Ad Age “Woman to Watch” and New York Business Journal “Woman of Influence.” In 2017, she was the first woman to be ranked #1 on the PRWeek Power List. She is a founding member of Omniwomen, which aims to grow the number of female leaders in Omnicom.