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What to expect of our new board members.
A quick-fire Q&A with the members of our board of directors
In 2022, Bader Rutter welcomed three new members to its board of directors. Upon buying the business from Ron Bader, our board of directors was created in 2009 and includes employee shareholders and independent directors who provide counsel to those running the agency. After many Zoom meetings, we’re proud to introduce Mara Swan, Racquel Harris and Jack Rooney as our new board members. To get to know them and what they will bring to our board, we sat down to ask them a few questions:
Mara Swan
Why Bader Rutter? Mara is eager to share her experience with a company that is important to Milwaukee. In describing Bader Rutter, Mara said “it felt like home to me.” After bringing her husband along to a dinner, he also said he wanted to work at BR, and that she should be proud to spend her time with us.
What makes Mara tick? Mara is passionate about moving business forward and helping others achieve their highest potential. She’s always been fascinated by taking complex things and making them simple.
What unique traits will Mara bring to the board? Mara brings her global perspective and broad understanding of different cultures and how to best communicate for impact. She also is intensely curious and never afraid to ask a question or poke around.
Racquel Harris
Why Bader Rutter? Racquel loves our North Star message and the notion of striving for excellence. She also admitted that our sizzle reel broke down some of her implicit bias about B2B.
What makes Racquel tick? Professionally, she’s passionate about the power of high-performing teams and believes in the things that have “never been done before.”
What unique traits will Racquel bring to the board? Racquel likes to tell the story of her career as three chapters: starting in brand management at Kraft Foods, moving to broader management and leadership, and then switching over to retail at Sam’s Club. Her client-side stints with both CPG and retail, as well as living and working overseas, will bring a well-rounded perspective to BR.
Jack Rooney
Why Bader Rutter? Jack has been a longtime admirer of Bader Rutter since the beginning of his career when he knocked on Ron Bader’s door. Since then, he has gone on to run the Ogilvy Chicago office, as well as work at Fiserv and, currently, Intersport. His first impressions of Bader Rutter include “unbelievably healthy,” “openness to new perspective and counsel” and “refreshing humility.” He believes privately held companies have a special advantage in that “they’re only serving one master.”
What makes Jack tick? Jack believes that clients come to agencies to do things that they can’t do on their own, mainly in search of transformative brand ideas. Professionally, Jack is passionate about helping young people get into the industry. He feels that this is an obligation as a leader.
What unique traits will Jack bring to the board? In describing what he will bring to the board, Jack mentions his “empathetic view of creative — and discipline of how an agency is run.”