| Connect hankin/As Global Chief People Officer, Deborah Hankin takes a human-centric, design-thinking approach to ensure a superior end-to-end experience for Connatix’s people. She and her team strive every day to envision and execute an exemplary employee experience that matches how wonderful our client experience is. Her deep knowledge of agency life married with her work in innovation and management consulting is a winning combination for Connatix.
Deborah most recently was Chief Talent Officer for Mediabrands, and before that, Chief People Officer at W2O Group (ndba Real Chemistry), a healthcare innovation firm. Prior to that, she was at SYPartners, an innovation management consultancy where she founded and led the Talent function. Earlier in her career, she worked as an Executive Recruiter at a boutique design recruiting firm, Sam & Lori. She worked in account management and strategy at BBDO, Dentsu, Wunderman, FCB, and Deutsch. Her clients included Samsung, IBM, American Express, and Novartis. Deborah also spent extensive time working in Asia based out of Japan and Singapore.
She received a B.A. in Communication Studies from U.C.L.A. and an M.S. in Marketing from Northwestern University and learned Japanese while living in Tokyo. She is a lecturer at Parsons School of Design and Columbia University. Deborah is the author of numerous articles on talent, including “How to Avoid Innovation Imposters,” and was featured on “Good Morning America” discussing “Me Too and Time’s Up” in the workplace.
