Connelly Partners

TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
Office Employees	101-200
Total US	101-200
Total Worldwide	101-200

BIOS

Steve Connelly, President, Copywriter

Since founding Connelly Partners in 1999, Steve has methodically built a company based on empathy, humanity, creativity and curiosity.

The prototypical “Everyman”, Steve has used his gifts for human insights and his passion for connecting with people to create not just a growing business, but also a working environment that has been awarded “Best Agency Culture” in the United States by Advertising Age.

A copywriter by trade and a high school basketball coach by night, Steve quite literally can’t sit still as he continues to grow Connelly Partners organically and by acquisition. Prior to starting the largest independent agency in New England, Steve worked at several of Boston’s premier agencies on clients that shaped his perspective of the industry.

“If you don’t have a life outside of here you are useless to me” is his mandate to employees, as he believes robust life experiences are the fuel for creativity and finding relevance with the customers his agency sells to.

Alyssa Toro, Senior Partner, Chief Creative Officer

A 26-year veteran in design and advertising. A mom of two. The founder of a nutrition brand called Goodee™. A former professional gymnast. Connelly Partners’ Chief Creative Officer Alyssa Toro is all of these things (yes, really) and more.

After growing up on the Jersey Shore and graduating from the University of Maryland, Alyssa began her career at creative shops in Providence including Leonard/Monahan, where she quickly rose to the Director of the Design role. Later, she brought her expertise in conceptual design work and integration across many disciplines to both Ingalls and Hill Holliday as VP/Director of Design.

Alyssa found her home at Connelly Partners when she joined Steve Connelly as Senior Partner/Chief Creative Officer. Since then, she has helped to grow the agency from four to 125 people, established a Wellness Practice that reflects her own passion and assembled a robust creative group. Amidst a diverse portfolio, Alyssa is particularly proud of her work that empathizes with the female/mom consumer.

Dana Wantman, Senior Partner, Director of Brand Leadership

With over two decades in the business, the past 14 at Connelly Partners, Dana Wantman has worked with national and regional clients in pretty much every category you can think of: technology, insurance, health care, financial services, packaged goods, entertainment, we could keep going.

Overseeing the brand management department means he’s always in pursuit of a true client/agency partnership and strives to be a great listener and client advocate. Dana is also managing director of Breaktime Media, responsible for finding ways to leverage our shopper marketing-focused arm on behalf of the agency and its clients.

Dana is highly engaged in the industry outside our four walls: he speaks regularly on the importance of client relationships at local colleges and universities and serves on the New England Council Board for the 4As and the 4As National Brand Management Task Force Committee.

As a bit of a health freak (although he wouldn’t use that term), Dana’s an avid CrossFitter and a Certified Holistic Health Coach and Nutrition Counselor with certifications through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Unfortunately this means he does not eat donuts.

Scott Madden, Senior Partner, Director of Strategy & Evolution

A seasoned brand strategist and lifelong student of human nature, Scott has been a Senior Partner with Connelly Partners for 15 years. Scott is our agency’s strategic leader and the path-paver of our own innovation. He has extensive experience in articulating empathic brand strategies and customer experience blueprinting and touches nearly every client on CP’s roster. Scott pioneered CP’s empathy engineering philosophy and proprietary IQ/EQ/BQ process, which emphasizes the importance of identifying shared values between a brand and its audience through affective empathy. He’s led both qualitative and quantitative research programs of national and international scale for numerous clients.

Previously a Managing Director of CGN until the company’s merger with Connelly Partners in 2002, Scott also served as VP, Management Supervisor at Arnold Worldwide working on many agency cornerstone accounts. A regular speaker on the subjects of emotional intelligence and experience delivery at trade and industry events and conferences across the country, Scott is also a professor at Boston College where he teaches a graduate course on evolving marketing strategies in the digital era. He also serves on BC’s Advisory Panel for curriculum development helping transform curriculum to improve learning experiences.

When he’s not working or teaching, he runs, golfs or takes in any genre of live music.

Richard Weinstein, Senior Partner, Director of Media Services

More than a decade ago, Senior Partner Richard Weinstein joined Connelly Partners to forge a media department that has been growing ever since. Clients with all manner of budgets and resources have benefited from Richard’s deep understanding of paid media and harnessing the power of added value.

He’s a true believer in integrated campaigns, working in lockstep with all departments to develop smart media plans. After more than 27 total years of advertising media experience, Richard takes the most pride in leading a time that combines human insight with technological sophistication to maximize every dollar spent. It’s a skill he honed at Arnold Worldwide before Connelly Partners, and one he puts aside only on the golf course.

Richard is an alum of Wesleyan University, a resident of Brookline, and a card-carrying fan of Port Chester’s Capitol Theater. The quickest way to get him talking (aside from dropping an obscure media acronym) is to name your favorite jamband. Prepare for a debate, and possibly a dance-off.

Scott Savitt, Senior Partner, Director of Digital

Since joining Connelly Partners in 2011, Scott Savitt has led the charge of delivering high-impact strategy, creative and technology solutions and expanding the digital capabilities available to our clients. Scott’s role touches all aspects of digital, including user experience, SEO, analytics and creative technology and he’s geeked to work in this golden age of technology.

Before joining Connelly Partners, Scott spent time leading Arnold Worldwide’s digital and direct marketing group, served as SVP, Sales and Marketing at Molecular, SVP, Client Partner at Isobar U.S. and co-founded two Boston-based digital marketing companies.

Scott graduated from Boston University in 1993. If you ever have a conversation with Scott, you will be surprised to learn his degree is not, in fact, in Music, Pop Culture and Bands, but rather in History.

Gary Leopold, President, ISM/CP

For more than 30 years, Gary Leopold has served as an advisor to prominent brands in travel, hospitality and leisure, including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Emirates Airline, Sheraton Hotels, American Express, The Islands Of The Bahamas and Harley-Davidson among many others. Today, he leads Connelly Partners wherever our clients hail from as President of CP Travel.

Previously, Gary was President of ISM and Corporate Director of Public Relations for Sonesta International Hotels Corporation. He also served as the President of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), an organization he remains closely involved with.
A noted expert in travel marketing, Gary has taught, lectured, and written on the subject extensively, including a monthly column in MediaPost Marketing:Travel. Gary has also been honored with the Albert E. Koehl Award for lifetime achievement in travel marketing and advertising by HSMAI, an honor he shares with such previous recipients as Michael Eisner, Bill Marriott and Sir Richard Branson.

As you may expect, Gary’s career has brought him around the globe, but Paris and the Berkshires feel like home as much Boston’s South End.

Courtney Doyle, Partner, Director of Organizational Development

In her 20+ years in the advertising industry, Partner Courtney Doyle has helped lead award-winning campaigns for global companies including Volkswagen, RadioShack, Cadillac and CVS. In Courtney’s work with CP Travel, her focus today is immersed in keeping her travel and tourism clients ahead of the curve.

After graduating from Syracuse and cutting her teeth at agencies including Arnold Worldwide, Modernista and ISM (and even a client-side stint at Fidelity as Director of General Advertising), Courtney brought her expertise in business development, strategy and brand management to Connelly Partners. She specializes in branding and brand renovation, and over the course of her career has been involved in launching dozens of new products and properties.

You could say Courtney’s always all-in, whether she’s exploring every angle to produce sophisticated and effective work for her clients, serving on the regional EFFIEs judging panel, committing to a six-hour bingewatching session of her favorite show or hunting down a coveted reservation to a new South End restaurant.