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Sarah Tomes

Chief Executive Officer

In her role as chief executive officer, Sarah Tomes is responsible for the overall operations and performance of the company—from organizational design to business processes to establishing the strategic vision for its future.

Overseeing a staff of highly diverse teams across five international offices, she brings an objective and integrative strategy to global leadership, identifying and embracing opportunities to improve communication, collaboration, culture and efficiency within the organization.

Sarah began her career with LPK as a finance co-op in 1996 and rose through the ranks, building global brands across industries and categories. She is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati Class 39 and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Thomas More College.

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Nathan Hendricks

Chief Creative Officer

Nathan Hendricks believes there is no excuse for a lousy brand. As chief creative officer at LPK, he brings nearly three decades of experience across virtually every category, merging diverse disciplines to approach brands with innovative methodologies, such as desires thinking.

He has developed winning creative for a long and varied roster of clients, including Gillette, Titleist, Pringles, Beam Suntory, AB InBev, Herbal Essences, Olay and Coleman. In every effort, Nathan challenges his teams to uphold LPK’s philosophy: that every brand should make a powerful and positive difference for the people it serves.

A candid cultural commentator, he’s never afraid to tell it like it is. His industry insights and design methodologies have been quoted in publications like Fast Company, Quartz, AdAge, DMI, HOW Magazine and UX Magazine, among others.

Nathan holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from The Ohio State University, where he majored in visual communications and cultivated an affection for industrial beer.

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Michael Wintrob

Chief Strategy Officer

Michael Wintrob is always looking at both sides of the coin: reconciling human truth with business rigor to create brands that resonate deeply and outrun the competition. As Chief Strategy Officer at LPK, Michael oversees the consultancy’s strategy, insights, innovation and trends practices, developing methodologies and best-in-class practices that prime brands to perform today and tomorrow.

With more than 20 years of leadership experience at LPK, Michael’s work has run the gamut—from Fortune 50s to small startups; consumer-facing brands to B2Bs; higher education to personal care. He has an intimate understanding of the challenges clients face in adopting and deploying branding fundamentals and has presented management and strategy training programs to audiences around the globe.

Michael also has served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business and co-authored a chapter in the textbook Strategic Design Thinking: Innovation in Products, Services, Experiences and Beyond. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from the University of Cincinnati.

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Valerie Jacobs

Chief Growth Officer

Driving a constant state of evolution within LPK and the industry, Valerie Jacobs serves as Chief Growth Officer, overseeing business development, external relations and ongoing development and expansion of capabilities that give way to innovative new offerings for clients. In her 15 years of leadership at LPK, formerly as Chief Insight & Innovation Officer, Valerie founded our trends and foresight practices, providing clients a deeper, future-forward consumer understanding while establishing a clear point of difference for LPK.

Valerie works with an intuition and quick wit that senses and articulates change in consumer behaviors, values, lifestyles and attitudes. Her trend forecasting interweaves research, analysis and translation of trend data—informing the actionable strategies she develops for brands with the nerve to keep up.

Valerie has presented at leading design conferences, spoken on entrepreneurial disruptive innovation and future thinking, and authored a sizable body of publications on innovation for brands across the spectrum.

Valerie is an Honorary Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council. A graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, she holds a master’s degree in design from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), where she has also served as an adjunct professor. From 2013 to 2018, Valerie was a visiting lecturer at Philadelphia University in their Strategic Design MBA program.

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Brent McCoy

Chief Financial Officer

Brent McCoy directs all aspects of the consultancy’s financial services operations, including establishing and measuring against short- and long-term financial objectives.

As chief financial officer, Brent has been a key driver in the formation of LPK’s global presence, developing business partnerships in Switzerland, United Kingdom, Singapore and China. He also continues to oversee LPK’s foreign operations, including establishing and managing budget policies and procedures.

In addition, Brent is responsible for compliance with applicable federal, state and foreign government regulations for the organization—providing legal direction in a broad range of corporate areas, such as corporate structure, leases and client contracts.

Brent is a graduate of Thomas More College, where he earned degrees in business administration and accounting. He is also a member of the Institute of Management Accountants.

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David Volker

VP, Creative Excellence

In his decades of leadership at LPK, David Volker has developed breakthrough expression for a vast array of brands—from Jim Beam to Gillette, Hershey’s to Blue Diamond. As VP, Director of Creative Excellence at LPK, his expertise in heritage branding, corporate identity and innovation has led numerous Fortune 500 clients to growth and endurance through creativity.

His passion and expertise in the wine, beer and spirits category have given way to an extensive portfolio of work, spanning Corona beer to New Riff whiskey, which medaled in both the prestigious World Wine & Spirits Competition and the 2019 Drinks Business Awards. A thought leader in the category, David has spoken on various industry panels, including AIGA Design Week.

David is a graduate of the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce’s leadership program and was named in Cincinnati’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2013. With a deep passion for his community, he co-chaired Bold Fusion 2010 and co-founded Cincinnati’s inaugural TEDx conference, TEDxCincy, in both 2010 and 2012. He holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning.

In his free time, you can find David at a local brewery, soccer field, or fixing up his 100-year-old house.

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Liz Grubow

VP, Managing Creative Director

Liz’s passion for decoding global beauty standards is a driving force in her expertise and career in the branding business. In her over 20 years at LPK, Liz has led brand-identity programs for some of the world’s leading beauty brands. As vice president and managing creative director, she makes it her priority to observe and understand beauty regimens around the world. Often meeting with consumers and studying their lifestyles in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, her personal devotion and interaction have positioned her to see how beauty standards develop and evolve from one culture to another. They’ve also given her the insight to contrast cross-cultural influencers over time and their potential to impact additional cultures in the future. Her unique insights on the beauty category have been published in the fundamental cosmetic handbook Sustainable Cosmetic Product Development. She is a regular contributor to the Paris-based BW Confidential, as well as Global Cosmetics Industry and Design Management Journal. Liz frequently speaks on global branding issues and at forums in New York and Hong Kong.

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Josh Bokelman

VP, Growth

As Vice President of Growth at LPK, Josh Bokelman works with some of the world’s biggest brands and businesses by providing them with talent and solutions to effectively drive top-line growth. Consulting on each step of the innovation process, Josh guides a project from front-end testing through its activation and commercialization.

Josh is always seeking to improve the current state by pushing current levels of thinking and challenging both company and cultural norms. Keeping the end user in mind, he prioritizes the clients’ diverse needs at the center of the growth strategy.

Fluent in design thinking, trends, insights, strategy, and creative, Josh’s ultimate goal is to be a trusted and effective resource that ambitious clients can utilize to help grow their businesses.

Throughout his career, Josh has amassed a long and varied list of clients, spearheading initiatives for Nike, Bank of America, Hershey’s, Heinz, Walmart, Apple, Sony, P&G, and many others. Josh is a graduate of Miami University and received his master’s degree from the University of Colorado. He is also a competitive distance runner on both road and trail.

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Amie Bracken

VP, Client Engagement

With over 20 years of experience, Amie has a proven record of forging powerful and long-lasting client relationships—ones built on collaboration, trust and a deep understanding of their businesses. Orchestrating resilient partnerships to solve complex business problems is where she thrives.

Amie’s fundamental purpose is to create a culture of connection and co-creation. An advocate at her core, she is a champion of the work, measuring success through the growth and development of her teams as well as her client’s business.

Over the years, Amie has spent much of her time in healthcare and CPG categories. Her clients include Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Allergan, Smucker’s, Procter & Gamble and Bayer. She earned her degree in Marketing and Communications from Georgetown College and is a three-time Boston Marathon qualifier.

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Maura Schilling

VP, Managing Director of HR

As the managing director of human resources, Maura Schilling coordinates human resources activities for the global offices of LPK Holdings, currently comprised of LPK and Spicefire. Over the years, she has earned the trust and confidence of employees worldwide by maintaining a culture of respect and integrity where individuals feel safe to push themselves to new limits.

Maura consistently works to provide rich and affordable benefits, competitive compensation, progressive learning and development programs, and personal coaching and counseling to navigate complex internal and external relationships. She has enhanced the company’s human resources information system, improving the accuracy and timeliness of critical business data and she continues to aid in the development of LPK’s global offices.

Maura is a Certified Professional in Human Resources and a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and the Greater Cincinnati Human Resources Association. She exemplifies LPK’s philosophy to pitch in by serving on the board of Check Your Genes and as an Advisor to the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati Human Resources committee. Maura graduated from WE Lead Class 10, a women’s professional growth and leadership program of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Northern Kentucky University.

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Steve Bowling

Senior HR Business Partner

In his 12 years with LPK, Steve Bowling has been responsible for recruiting, placing and nurturing the talents of both student interns and career candidates alike.

Steve knows the merit of immediate and long-term relationship building in the professional and personal fields, and he understands the value of connecting the right talent to the right team.

In 2011, Steve received LPK’s annual Libby Award, the company’s most prestigious internal honor. Each year, this distinction is given to the employee who best expresses the values and principles of LPK founder Mort Libby.

Steve is also involved in business organizations as a member of the Society for Human Resources Management and its regional affiliate, the Greater Cincinnati Human Resources Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Campbellsville University.

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Jerry Kathman

Founder, Chairman of the Board

As founder, chairman of the board of LPK, Jerry Kathman is recognized within the industry as a leading authority on the role of design in brand building. His global experience has provided Fortune 50 companies with insights into both the opportunities and pitfalls of building a global brand in today’s rapidly changing world.

Jerry is the chairman emeritus of the board of the Design Management Institute. He has appeared on CNN and CNBC and has been quoted or published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Design Management Review, Die Welt and Hong Kong Economic Times. Jerry has authored numerous white papers in academic and professional journals on topical issues in brand design development and management.

He has lectured to business and academic audiences in Europe, Asia and North America, including Columbia University, University of California at Berkeley, New York University, the Hong Kong Design Centre, Singapore Design Festival and the Design Management Institute.

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