Nancy Vonk
Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk are co-founders of the Swim leadership lab with an unconventional approach to leadership training called out by Forbes and
Fast Company. They empower clients with a skill set that’s vital to having maximum impact in their roles. They work with leaders at companies like Spotify, Penguin Random House, Droga5, Facebook, McCann Worldwide and many others around the globe.
The duo were Co-Chief Creative Officers of Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto (’98-’12). They’re two of the leaders behind Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty, received 2 Cannes Grand Prix for Evolution, and were named on the Advertising Age “100 Most Influential Women in Advertising” 2012 list. In 2022 they were inducted into the The One Club Hall of Fame. They’re Marketing Hall of Legends winners, recipients of the ADCC Les Usherwood lifetime achievement award and AWNY (Ad Women of New York) Women of the Year Award.
They are authors of Pick Me, a Wiley career guide for ad professionals that’s a staple in schools around the world. International gender finance specialist Joanne Thomas Yaccato calls their HarperCollins release Darling You Can’t Do Both (And Other Noise To Ignore On Your Way Up) the “don’t buy into the bullshit guide for women at work”. Inc. magazine named it a 2017 top leadership book. They’re tapped by companies, schools and organizations that want fresh insights and ideas to remove barriers to women’s success; UCLA, Google and Facebook among them.
Janet was included in D&AD’s 2018 edition of The Copy Book: How some of the best advertising writers in the world write their advertising. Nancy was the first female chair of the Art Director’s Club Awards (NY) in their 87-year history. She served on the board of The One Club for Creativity for 12 years (’09-’21).
Janet and Nancy collaborate with The 3% Movement and they helped to design the leadership pillar of Factry, the renowned Montreal-based School of Creativity Sciences.
