Judy John, SVP/managing partner/CCO, Leo Burnett, Toronto

Day-to-day, Judy John leads a crew of 40 assorted creatives, production and studio types in Toronto, and on the virtual front, also works closely with deputy CCO Leo B Worldwide, Mark Tuttsel, on global initiatives. John helmed the recent global Samsung Olympics campaign, and was also CD for the LeoBurnett.ca website, working in collaboration with Arc Worldwide, the results of which have been adopted globally.

John was the first CD to develop a program outside the commercial vein for nurturing the creative spark, in the form of the Leo Indie short film fest, an effort which earned her a Fast Company interview. She’s now instigated Inspire Me, an initiative that has the agency’s creative team take the rest of the department to an activity outside the realm of advertising, to help generate ideas. John has worked at some of the country’s top agencies including TAXI, BBDO and ChiatDay. She’s judged at all of the national award shows, and walked home with much of the hardware herself.