The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) today announced the re-appointment of Virginia Hyland to the MFA board and the appointment of new chairs for MFA Finance, MFA Interactive, MFA 5+ Melbourne and NGEN Sydney Committees.

Virginia Hyland, recently named CEO of Havas Media Group Australia following Havas’ acquisition of Hyland Media in 2020, returns to the board after having previously served two two-year terms as an independent director. She stepped down at the end of 2019.

MFA CEO Sophie Madden said: “Virginia has always been an active and committed member of the MFA community and the board is thrilled to welcome her back as a director. With her experience in establishing and running a thriving independent agency for 15 years, and now at the helm of the Australian and New Zealand presence of a global network, Virginia provides a valuable perspective in helping to advance the work of the MFA and our industry.”

Hyland added: “I am thrilled to be appointed to the MFA board to help guide and create new industry initiatives. The board lead by Sophie Madden has done an incredible job in supporting the youngest to the most senior leaders in the industry through programs such as the Digital Foundations Certificate, NGEN and MFA 5+. The MFA is at the forefront of how we embrace new opportunities that propel us all forward as the landscape of the media industry continues to shift and reinvent. Off the back of the most challenging year for all of us, my focus will be to support the MFA to supercharge how we add value to our members and drive growth for marketers. I’m looking forward to the year ahead.”

Two of the MFA’s committees also have new incoming chairs, with John Clements, chief financial officer at IPG Mediabrands Australia, taking over as chair of the finance committee, and OMD chief digital officer Sian Whitnall joining as interactive committee chair.

John Clements replaces Vince Meoli, commercial director of Hyland Media, who is retiring from the industry. Meoli had been an MFA finance committee member since 2004 and Chair since 2010. Sian Whitnall is taking the Interactive reins from Stuart Bailey, National MD of PHD.

Both Meoli and Bailey were recognised with an Industry Contribution honour at the 2019 MFA Awards and were praised by Sophie Madden for their tireless work over the years. She added: “Vince has made significant contributions to our industry throughout his career and we’ve been lucky to have the benefit of his innovation, passion and commitment to best practice. The MFA community would like to wish Vince all the best in his retirement. We’ll certainly miss him!

“Thank you also to Stuart Bailey for steering MFA Interactive through important industry initiatives, such as the creation of MFA Digital Foundations and the Australian Digital Advertising Practices. We look forward to his continued involvement as an MFA member.”

In other appointments, WIN Television advertising sales executive Emily Pye and Initiative investment partnership senior executive Michael Cali are the new NGEN Sydney Chairs, replacing Ziff Davis’ Myles Haslam and OMD’s Joe McCabe. Leona Irvine, associate digital director at Initiative, takes over as Chair of the MFA 5+ Melbourne Committee, replacing Simon Schoen (Zenith) and Zoe Edwards (Spark Foundry).

The full board of the MFA comprises:

Sophie Madden, CEO, MFA
Peter Horgan, CEO, Omnicom Media Group ANZ – Chair
Megan Brownlow, Non-executive Director – Deputy Chair
Mark Coad, CEO, IPG Mediabrands Australia
Mark Lollback, CEO, GroupM ANZ
Michael Rebelo, CEO, Publicis Groupe ANZ
Imogen Hewitt, CEO, Spark Foundry
Katie Rigg-Smith, CEO, Mindshare Australia
Mel Fein, CEO, Initiative Australia
Sue Squillace, CEO, Carat ANZ
Aimee Buchanan, CEO, OMD
Jimmy Hyett, CEO & Founder, This Is Flow
Chris O’Keefe, COO & Founder, Match & Wood
Virginia Hyland, CEO, Havas Media Group

MFA Committee Chairs

MFA 5+ Sydney – Emily Cook, Wavemaker
MFA 5+ Melbourne – Leona Irvine, Initiative
NGEN Sydney Co-chairs – Michael Cali, Initiative & Emily Pye, WIN Network
NGEN Melbourne Co-chairs – Ebony Cvrin, Southern Cross Australia & Anthony Lopez, Atomic 212
NGEN Brisbane Co-chairs – Courtney Cholakos, Carat & Cassandra Nott, oOh! Media
Interactive – Sian Whitnall, OMD
Finance – John Clements, IPG Mediabrands
Awards – Joe Lunn, Mindshare
Research – John Grono, GAP Research
Systems – Victor Corones, MFA Independent Representative
Outdoor Futures Council – Jo Dick, Omnicom