Michelle Keefe
President and CEO
Publicis Touchpoint Solutions, Inc.
Lifting Companies to New Levels
If Michelle Keefe ever writes a book, it will be entitled, Don’t Let Opportunity Pass You By: Be Your Own Advocate! Early on, she thought that asking for something (e.g., a promotion or raise) was brash and egocentric. But at a fairly junior stage in her career, a coveted marketing internship position opened within her company—which someone else asked for and subsequently got. Since then, Michelle established a carpe diem mindset that has become the foundation of her success—including being named the first woman President and CEO of Publicis Touchpoint Solutions, Inc. this past January.
Michelle joined Touchpoint as Chief Operating Officer (COO) in 2012, and became responsible for all aspects of the company’s commercial business and P&L, including planning, strategic business direction, corporate objectives, operating efficiencies and company budgets. During her tenure as COO, she played an integral role in leading the company to sustained, wholly organic, double-digit growth while continuing to advance and expand the company. She was named the company’s new CEO when former CEO Rick Keefer assumed the role of Global Chief Business Development Officer for Publicis Healthcare Communications Group.
But her success at Touchpoint is just the latest in a series of extraordinary achievements in the 25- plus years she served both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Prior to Touchpoint, Michelle built the Visiting Nurse Service of New York’s (VNSNY) business development function and implanted a process to ensure appropriate use of services and payer verification so that the organization could use the revenue to focus on delivering charitable care and programs to New York residents in need. For her success in this role, Michelle was honored with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York’s CEO Innovation Award.
Prior to VNSNY, she invested more than 20 years rising through the ranks at Pfizer. Michelle excelled once again and was inducted into the Pfizer Hall of Fame. This award designation is accomplished by less than 1% of the sales leadership at Pfizer annually—it only occurs when a leader has obtained six Vice President Management Cabinet Awards.
Michelle exemplifies just what quality leaders look—and act—like.
