From left to right: Cossette Vancouver’s CD Scott Schneider, ECD Katie Ainsworth, general manager Nadine Cole and CD Pierre Chan.

Cossette has bolstered its creative team in Vancouver with the return of Katie Ainsworth to the agency as executive creative director.

She joins a creative leadership team that also includes Lisa Nakamura, creative director of design, as well as Pierre Chan and Scott Schneider, who have been promoted to creative directors.

Ainsworth began her career at Cossette Toronto as a junior writer in 1991. She left the agency in 1993, filling creative roles at various agencies in Vancouver, Toronto and San Francisco over the next several years, including BBDO, Y&R, TBWA\Vancouver, Rethink and Grey.

While at Grey Vancouver, she worked on a campaign for British Columbia Used Oil Management Association and led creative on the agency’s first work for auto service chain OK Tire. Her portfolio also includes campaigns for World Vision, Future Shop and Sobeys.

In a press release, Ainsworth said she was drawn back to Cossette due to the company’s creative work and its “culture of entrepreneurialism and innovation.”

Schneider returned to Cossette in 2015 as an associate creative director, having first started working at the agency in the late 1990s. Chan has been with the agency as an associate creative director and copywriter since 2013.

The hire and promotions follow a number of recent client wins for Cossette’s Vancouver office, including Williams Sonoma, Red Racer, Flight Centre, BrokerLink and Kabam. Earlier this year, Cossette Vancouver’s previous ECD Michael Milardo left the agency to launch creative production company Kiddo.