ABOUT

Prior to his role at The Agency, he was the Global Chief Client Officer and Chief Growth Officer for WPP’s Possible, a digital agency with 24 offices globally, which became one of the fastest growing and most successful agencies in the WPP portfolio.

At The Agency, Laurent spearheads the strategy, service offering, business development and partnership activities. He webs together the individual goals of clients and students into a single, cohesive vision for the organization. In line with keeping the rhythm of The Agency alive, he’s also quite the dancer.

With a public relations background and an extensive experience in account management, Mark fills multiple vital roles at The Agency on a daily basis. Prior to this role, Mark gained professional experience managing state campaigns and serving as an account coordinator at Washington, D.C., lobbying firm Ballard Partners on a foreign government account. 

At The Agency, he handles account direction, marketing strategy and daily operations. When he’s not receiving updates on project progress, Mark gets his hands dirty by joining creative and strategic brainstorms and advising student teams to help them reach their potential for client success. Mark was recently awarded the prestigious Cannes Lions 30 Under 30 Brand Marketer recognition for his impact both at The Agency and across the industry. He is well-loved by our students for his relatability, candor and sensational taste in fashion.

Natalie is a lecturer in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Florida. Most recently, she was head of social media at BODEN, a leading cross-cultural communication agency based in Miami, where she oversaw the McDonald’s USA scope of work as Hispanic agency of record.

Natalie works directly with the students at The Agency to improve engagement. She is currently in New York City helping to expand The Agency’s network and presence beyond UF by showing the power of student work to major communications firms. Natalie was recently honored as the PRNEWS 2022 PR Educator of the Year. She has been dubbed the “Agency Hype Woman” by our students for her reassurance, reality-shifting care.

For more than 30 years as a brand strategist and innovator Mickey has been leading agency professionals to develop award-winning campaigns for clients. As the former managing director of Ogilvy Atlanta and now as a professional in residence in UF's College of Journalism and Communications, Mickey leads the professionals and students in assisting clients to realize their brand promise.

A brand strategist turned advertising instructor, Dan is passionate about understanding people and finding new ways to solve every communication challenge. Dan now serves in an advisory role to the students within

The Agency.

Anna is a graduate student working towards her master’s in marketing after earning her Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. She started her Agency career as a Project Coordinator before managing all events as the Events Lead for The Agency. Anna’s event management skills create a natural harmony with Sofia Portugal’s relationship-building skills to help team members achieve success across all client accounts. Over the past two years, Anna has interned with Royal Caribbean and Paramount/Showtime as a Loyalty Marketing Intern and Corporate Communications Intern respectively. As an undergraduate student she balanced her responsibilities at The Agency with her work at WUFT, a television station owned by the University of Florida. In her free time, Anna is usually going to concerts with friends or working out to Taylor Swift’s greatest hits.

Sofia Portugal is currently earning her master’s in Information Systems and Operations Management after graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising. As a data analyst at The Agency, Sofia helped develop Gen Z insights for new business pitches and led survey development for client accounts. In her current role, Sofia is responsible for helping new Agency members build strong relationships throughout the onboarding process and facilitating the development of thought leadership articles. Last summer, Sofia interned with Netflix as a Social Marketing Intern curating content for the streaming service’s social media channels and tracking performance to develop insights for future campaigns. She also interned with Spotify in 2022 as an Artist & Label Partnerships LATAM Intern, which allowed her to build insights about consumption habits and online behavior of the company’s Gen Z audience.