The YES& TEAM

As CEO, and founder of Yes& Bob brings 38 years of experience in marketing and communications, offering boardroom-level strategy combined with versatile writing and creative skills. His expertise spans branding, market research, internal communications, crisis communications, copywriting, speechwriting, and video production and his industry knowledge is deep in healthcare, financial services, homeland security, and association leadership. He is a results-oriented facilitator of strategy and planning sessions, insightful interviewer, and speaker on communication and stakeholder engagement topics. During his career Bob has served Fortune 500 corporations, leading associations, and multiple federal government agencies while leading the growth of an agency recognized by the Inc. 5000 four times and currently ranked as #1 Visual Art and Design firm based in the greater Washington, DC area. Bob has been known to reverse time simply by thinking about it.

Jeb Brown is a legend in the Washington advertising industry. At age 27 he took over his father’s 15-person PR firm and grew Earle Palmer Brown into the largest privately owned ad agency in the United States, with 13 offices across the country and England, and over 1,000 employees.  Known as an expert in the Mergers & Acquisitions of communications firms, Jeb pioneered the creation of a fully-integrated marketing communications shop, combining advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing, digital marketing, graphic design, and management consulting into one organization. Jeb sold Earle Palmer Brown in 2000 and spent the next ten years engaged in a number of entrepreneurial ventures while sitting on Boards of start-ups, schools, and non-profits. From 2012 to 2020 he taught Marketing Communications as an Adjunct Professor in the MBA Program at the University of Maryland’s RH Smith School of Business. Simultaneously he consulted with local Washington area advertising and marketing agencies, which connected him to PCI Communications. In 2016 he joined PCI full-time and become Chairman/COO in 2018. Under his watch PCI has grown from a staff of 24 to today’s staff of 175. Today he oversees the day-to-day operations and finances of the company. Jeb is a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Washington & Lee University and has a MBA from Harvard Business School. He has been a member of YPO since the 1980’s.

Zihla delivers operational leadership and contributes to growth across YES& in areas such as new business development, mergers and acquisitions, and talent development. She has spent her career running formidable agencies and building networks. As the Founder and CEO of Conspiracy Theory, she created an advertising and marketing services network by successfully acquiring world-class specialist agencies that came together to serve Fortune 500 clientele. She built this organization from the ground up having designed the vision, secured the financing and successfully worked with agency partners to develop new business and build a unified solution offering. Prior to Conspiracy Theory, Zihla served as the U.S. CEO and Global CMO of ENGINE, a full-service media and marketing services company. In this role, she oversaw the organization’s global brand identity as well as the integrated media, strategy and creative capabilities in the U.S. She actively mentors young women and supports programs such as Girls Leadership, serves on the board of directors for the Marcus Graham Project and is a member of the MAKERS Community.

Carmel McDonagh is a Senior Vice President, Account Management at Yes& Agency.  In this role, she leads the business-to-government practice supporting clients in Public Sector IT with a variety of marketing services including brand strategy, public relations, content creation, events, digital marketing, creative support and advisory board services.  Carmel has almost 20 years of experience in the B2G community working with many of the biggest and brightest firms serving the Federal government. With a background in Enterprise & IT Media, she also understands how to tell a story that connects and champions a brand. She is the proud Mom of two girls, Hannah and Delia, who are avid Chess and Roblox players.

Jeff is the Chief Client Officer, bringing 20+ years of marketing, branding and agency leadership experience to Yes&. Before joining us, Jeff spent over 12 years at Hill Holliday in Boston, MA as Executive Vice President of Account Management where he led the Bank of America, Optum, Fireball and American Lung Association relationships. During this time, he oversaw all brand, CSR/ESG and sponsorship work in some of the most complex, highly regulated industries in the world. Prior to Hill Holliday, Jeff spent several years at Arnold Worldwide in Boston, running the Gillette/Oral Care business as well as Vonage (telecommunications) and The Hartford (insurance/financial services).  Jeff has come full circle at Yes&, as he started his marketing career in Washington DC at Earle Palmer Brown. He holds a BS in Economics from Trinity College in Harford, CT and currently resides in Andover, MA with his wife, Cristen and two daughters, Grace and Eleanor.

Josh spearheads the creative development of major projects for Yes& clients, leading a team of artists, storytellers, and brand creators. A skilled copywriter, video producer, event director, and marketer, Josh leads the Yes& charge, opening new doors, exploring fresh big ideas, all with an eye on the target: making more possible for clients. Josh has an insatiable intellectual curiosity. He loves facts. He also has a passion for language. It’s no wonder that his meandering career path – actor, writer, director, professor, historian, sports marketer – has culminated in creative strategy. His creative work has served clients such as PBS, The Inn at Little Washington, Sierra Club, US Open Tennis, and Choice Hotels. Before joining Yes&, Josh directed creative for two major league baseball teams, the New York Mets, and the Washington Nationals, where his legacy lives on in four larger-than-life racing presidents.

With over 25 years in marketing leadership, Debbie has combined creative insight with strategic focus to drive brand growth and inspire high-performing teams. As Chief Marketing Officer at Yes&, she leads initiatives in brand awareness, client engagement, and agency growth, emphasizing relationship-building and long-term partnerships for lasting success. Previously, Debbie led Beyond Definition (formerly Bates Creative), a certified women-owned agency, for almost 20 years until its acquisition by Yes& in 2021. Her career is fueled by continuous learning and a passion for pushing industry boundaries, which she shares as a speaker at events by Adobe, the American Marketing Association, and General Assembly to name a few. Debbie is also committed to community service, serving on non-profit boards such as Blossoms of Hope and contributing to organizations like the American Marketing Association’s D.C. Chapter and the Association of Media & Publishing. Her goal is to inspire progress in the industry and make a positive impact locally.

Robb recently joined the Yes& leadership team to lead our agency’s teams and commitment to strategy, research and innovation. Previously, he served as the Chief Marketing Officer for ASAE in Washington, DC for 18 years, among many other executive levels roles at ASAE. As CMO, he was responsible for leading and managing all the activities within ASAE’s Communications Group. His responsibilities included management of marketing, branding, Web site, public relations, social media and Associations Now, ASAE’s flagship publication. In addition to the communications functions, he also managed Innovation/New Product Development and Diversity & Inclusion.

Andy Blenkle is an advertising executive leader with extensive experience in business development and leading national advertising programs for the federal government. Prior to joining Yes&, he served as Vice President at Fors Marsh wherein he helped grow a 70-person research firm into a 400-person research and communications consultancy and certified B Corp. Here he led advertising and research programs for AmeriCorps, US Army, US Coast Guard, National Institutes of Health, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In his past executive-level experience, Andy served as President of ioStudio, a digital marketing firm, and as Managing Director of WPP’s JWT Inside, an internal communications and recruitment advertising agency. Earlier in his career, Andy led the Army National Guard recruitment advertising account for LMO in Arlington, VA, managed and conducted market research for the Coors Brewing Company at FCB in San Francisco, CA, led on-campus marketing efforts for VaristyBooks.com, and served as an infantry and recruitment advertising officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Andy earned a B.A. in Political Science from Villanova University. Andy is a former appointed member of the Arlington Economic Development Commission and President of the American Advertising Federation’s Washington DC chapter.

Alexia leads the consulting and account management team where she is an inspiring and superb listener. An avid runner, marathoner, and volunteer running coach, Alexia also knows the importance of keeping her eyes on the prize. Her tenacity—along with around 20 years of experience in media strategy, consulting, and account management—helps her guide our clients. Alexia has a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago and is a Master Project Manager (AAPM). She tries her best to grow tomatoes in her shady backyard, but finds she has better luck in her local community garden.

Sarah Shirck is the Senior Vice President of Organizational Growth and Development at Yes&. Shirck is an expert in organizational management, project management, Agile product delivery, and transformations. Uniquely, she has relevant experience in both agency- and client-side advertising and public relations. Sarah acts as a trusted coach and advisor facilitating vision, human-centered design, strategic planning, and other custom designed/tailored workshops, supporting executives and senior leaders on their leadership journeys and guiding organizations through transformations, mergers and acquisitions, and maturing internal capabilities. She has directed full life cycle software development using traditional waterfall and Agile frameworks such as Scrum, SAFe and Kanban. She currently provides coaching and advising to a diverse group of chief executives and senior leaders at various stages in their leadership journeys in the commercial, public, and non-profit sectors.     Prior to joining Yes&, Shirck was Business Partner at SEI. Earlier she was with Excella Consulting, Southern Cross Aviation, and McCann Erickson.