Voxcomm Welcomes Its First African Board Members

Gillian Rightford and Hassan Rouissi join on behalf of South Africa and Morocco, extending VoxComm’s global board to four continents

VoxComm, the global voice of communications agency associations, today welcomed Gillian Rightford and Hassan Rouissi to its Board, marking the first seats representing Africa since the organisation’s founding in 2020. The appointments extend VoxComm’s board to North America, Europe, Oceania and now Africa.

The appointments come as VoxComm continues to press the case, through its “Redesigning the Agency Value Model” Guidance Paper, for agencies to move beyond time-based remuneration towards models that reflect the value they create for clients and economies. The paper took centre stage at Cannes Lions this year, where VoxComm President Charley Stoney presented its key findings, followed by a panel discussion with Floriane Tripolino, CEO of WPP OpenX, Patricia Corsi, Chief Growth Officer at Kimberly-Clark, and Justin Thomas-Copeland, CEO of the 4As, moderated by Giorgos Vareloglou, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at REBORRN.

“VoxComm gives agency associations access to some of the best and most current thinking in our industry and reminds us that many of the challenges we face are universal. Instead of every market trying to solve the same problems independently, we can share thinking, resources and experience, drawing on the extraordinary work being done by associations around the world”, said Gillian Rightford, Executive Director of the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA). “I’m particularly excited that Africa now has two seats at the VoxComm Board table, through South Africa and Morocco. That matters. It means Africa is not only part of the global conversation, but has a voice in helping to shape it. We have much to learn from the global industry, but we also have a great deal to contribute.”

“I am honoured to join the VoxComm Board and to contribute the perspective of Morocco and the wider African advertising industry. Morocco’s unique position at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Middle East gives us a valuable role to play in strengthening collaboration across markets. I look forward to working with my fellow Board members to champion our industry, promote higher professional standards and help bring Moroccan and African advertising to the world’’, said Hasssan Rouissi, President of Union des Agences Conseil en Communication (UACC).

“Africa’s inclusion is a signal that the challenges our industry faces are genuinely global, and the best solutions come from voices across every market,” said Charley Stoney, President of VoxComm and CEO of the European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA). “Gillian and Hassan bring exactly that: perspectives shaped by markets with their own pressures, opportunities and creative traditions. It’s the same principle behind our Guidance Paper: this transformation only works if every part of the industry, and every region, has a seat at the table. Growing our membership to reflect a truer picture of the international agency landscape is a priority for VoxComm, and we expect this to be the first of several new markets joining us in the years ahead.”