Our Next Speaker

Kristen Cavallo, Executive Director. The Branch Museum; "Rebranding the Branch Museum: Transforming from Passive to Active Engagement"

Kristen is CEO of The Martin Agency and became Artistic Director of The Branch Museum of Design in January 2025 after retiring from the ad industry. Since joining The Branch, she has led a strategic transformation of the institution, positioning it on a national stage.  She and her team have overseen a full rebrand, expanded exhibitions and partnerships, and strengthened the museum’s role as a place where design shifts perspectives and engages the questions shaping our time.

Kristen is a global leader in branding and advertising and is known for driving transformational growth, developing leaders, and defending the integrity of original creative ideas.

Under Kristen’s previous leadership at The Martin Agency, it grew 50 percent in five years, earning  U.S. Agency of the Year honors from Adweek, Ad Age and a place on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list. She simultaneously served as Global CEO of MullenLowe, where she led a rebrand uniting a 55-office global network. Kristen was named Virginia Businessperson of the Year in 2023.

Kristen has a bachelor’s in marketing from James Madison and an MBA from George Mason and serves on the boards of The Richmond Forum and the Cameron K. Gallagher Foundation. She is the mother of Matt and Kate. And….buried in her LinkedIn profile is the fact that she summited Mt Kilimanjaro in 2017!