Toronto multicultural agency AV Communications is under new ownership as co-founders Anna Maramba and Marvi Yap step away from the agency to pursue other interests and opportunities.

Managing partner Joycelyn David will be taking over operations and the strategic direction of the agency, working alongside its leadership team. That team includes Shaharyar Irfan, business director of AV Communications and managing director of Digital Avenue East, and Zeno Lam, CD of AV Communications and Digital Avenue East. Digital Avenue East is a digital media agency owned by AV that specializes in advertising on social platforms WeChat and Weibo.

David joined as managing partner at the beginning of the year, having previously spent 11 years in different marketing, digital and consumer engagement roles at Western Union, an AV client. Irfan joined AV in 2014, while Lam has been with the agency since 2007.

Maramba and Yap co-founded AV Communications in 2003. Aside from Digital Avenue East, it has also added experiential and insights divisions to its offering over the last 16 years. Beyond Western Union, other AV Communications clients include World Vision, Tim Hortons, Winners, H&M, Estée Lauder and Cineplex.

“As we move on to pursue other interests and opportunities, we are certain that AV Communications, under the leadership of Joycelyn, will continue to build upon the values the agency was founded on: the steadfast commitment to client and employee success, and the earnest desire to serve multicultural communities,” Maramba and Yap said in a joint statement.