2026 MATRIX HONOREE

Abbey Klaassen

Global Brand President and U.S. CEO, Dentsu Creative 

Abbey Klaassen is Global Brand President Dentsu Creative (DC). In addition to her global role, Abbey also leads Dentsu Creative in the U.S. Her vision for the U.S. market reflects a deep commitment to its 1,000 creative minds, driving growth and transformation for a strategic client portfolio and pursuing bold and focused innovation that continuously elevates Dentsu Creative’s reputation in the industry. Abbey is a member of the DC Global Leadership Team and the Dentsu Americas Executive Leadership Team.

Prior to her appointment, Abbey was New York President, Dentsu Creative, where she built and grew relationships with some of the world’s largest companies, including leading entertainment, CPG, travel, retail, and B2B clients. Before the creation of Dentsu Creative as a single agency focused on transformation brands and businesses through creativity, Abbey was New York president of dentsu’s 360i, an award-winning digitally led agency. In that role, Abbey was responsible for incubating new capabilities, building the agency’s culture, and helping clients capitalize on change. 

Abbey joined the agency world after a decade and a half in journalism, including a decade at Ad Age, five of those years as Editor in Chief. Under her leadership, Ad Age earned multiple awards for business journalism excellence. 

A respected people advocate and client leader, Abbey is passionate about equity in advertising and the impact of marketing and advertising on business. She serves the industry as Chair of the Board of Directors for the 4A’s and is a past board VP of New York Women in Communications Inc. In 2019 she was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s prestigious Advertising Hall of Achievement and in 2013 was named a WICI Award winner, honoring rising stars in communications.

Abbey is a proud graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, has run the NYC Marathon (twice!) to raise money for Brooklyn’s Community Roots School, loves to garden, cook, and work on her golf game.

Presenting the Matrix Award to Abbey Klaassen

Marla Kaplowitz

Board Director & Strategic Advisor

A governance-seasoned board director and former chief executive, Marla Kaplowitz brings more than 30 years of executive leadership in marketing, advertising and media to her board and advisory roles. She has a proven track record of driving business growth and digital transformation across major agencies, a leading national trade association, and publicly listed and private companies.

Now focused exclusively on board directorships and strategic advisory work, Marla applies deep C-suite expertise in governance, strategy, talent, and culture to help companies navigate transformation and growth.

Marla currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the boards of Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN), where she chairs the Nominating & Governance and Compensation Committees; Butler/Till, a leading independent, women-led and employee-owned media & marketing agency; and #paid, a creator marketplace and technology platform where she serves on the Audit and Compensation Committees. She also contributes to the advisory boards of MSQ Partners, a global marketing services firm, and LoopMe, a global leader in AI-driven brand performance advertising.

Prior to her current focus, Marla led the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies) from May 2017- May 2025 as the President & CEO helping to define and shape the future focus for the organization. Under her leadership, the 4As grew 18% in her final three years and grew the NPS grew from -3 to 46 with a 700% increase in member satisfaction. During her tenure, she served on several non-profit Boards including The Ad Council as well as BBB National Programs. 

Prior to joining MEC (now Wavemaker, part of WPP) where she was CEO of North America from 2011 – 2017, Marla spent 12 years at MediaVest (now Spark Foundry, part of Publicis). She began her career at DMB&B before moving to Ammirati Puris Lintas. 

Marla is a member of EWOB (Extraordinary Women on Boards) and the Women’s Forum of New York.