YARD NYC names Ulrika Karlberg CCO
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The promotion marks a milestone in the agency’s history, with Karlberg becoming its first female Chief Creative Officer.
Agency YARD NYC has promoted Ulrika Karlberg to Chief Creative Officer, marking a milestone in the agency’s history as its first female CCO.
Founded by husband and wife duo Ruth Bernstein and Stephen Niedzwiecki, YARD NYC has remained dedicated to its mission to challenge the norm and elevate female voices in the heavily male-dominated advertising industry. Now, Karlberg will lead the agency’s creative vision and further its ambition to build brand beacons in culture through brilliant strategy, and beautifully crafted and brave creativity.
Karlberg is an award-winning creative leader with experience creating integrated campaigns and brand work for international and national brands such as UNIQLO, Adidas Originals, HBO, Volvo, Walmart, PepsiCo, Crate&Barrel, Athleta, USTA, Wrangler, Rothy's, Jägermeister and many more. Previously, Karlberg has led and created work at agencies including Droga5, digital innovation agency Firstborn, Grey NY, and Forsman & Bodenfors, Stockholm.
“Elevating Ulrika to chief creative signifies a moment of transformation for our agency and for the industry at large as women’s voices continue to drive a broader impact on culture and creativity,” said YARD NYC Co-Founder and CEO Ruth Bernstein. “Ulrika is an insightful and thoughtful leader, and she exudes a sense of vigour and ambition that inspires our team and our clients to be brave. She’s already driven enormous influence and transformative brand work to date, and we’re confident she’s the right leader to drive our longstanding aspiration to build brand beacons.”
Karlberg began her tenure at YARD NYC as a creative director in 2018. After a brief departure in 2021, she returned to the agency as Co-CCO alongside Stephen and will now assume the top creative position as Stephen transitions to the role of Creative Chairman where he will continue his creative impact on the agency at a business and cultural level.
“When I started at YARD nearly five years ago I knew it was a special place, and I’ve been so grateful for the opportunity to grow my career here. YARD is one of the most dedicated agencies to creative craft that I’ve ever worked at, and the team’s unique blend of strategy and conceptualised thinking are superpowers for creativity,” said Karlberg. “Stephen has been my longest-standing creative partner, and I’ve learned so much under his leadership. I’m most excited to nurture our team’s creative strengths to disrupt culture and create genuine emotional connections for the brands we work with.”
In addition to a Grand Prix and Gold in Cannes Lions, a White Pencil in D&AD impact, and a gold trophy in the Andys, Karlberg’s work has been recognised by the One Show, D&AD, British Arrows, Cristal Festivals, Epica Awards, Eurobest, as well as other international and national award shows.
“Ulrika has always demonstrated both an exceptional ability to lead and inspire others, as well as strategic and creative excellence,” said Niedzwiecki. “Over the years we’ve developed such a trusted partnership, sharing an elevated sense of craft and creative impact, which allows for seamless continuity as she steps into this role. I couldn’t think of a more perfect person to become CCO at YARD.”
As one of the less than 1% of advertising agencies that are owned by women or non-binary people today, YARD NYC is a WBENC-certified business with 86% of employees identifying as female, BIPOC or LGBTQIA. Karlberg joins an all-female team of department heads including Caroline Seklir, Head of Strategy; Melissa Shacham, Head of Client Services; Emily Green, Head of Production; and Kat Wiberg, Head of People and Talent.
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