Entrepreneur John Dunning Named President of Strategic Creative Agency, Human

The venture capitalist, mentor and consultant has devoted his career to helping people and brands enhance their success

John Dunning has joined Boulder-based agency Human as President, having served multiple times in the past in similar roles at Dignifi, Recall Masters, Accelerate Ventures and others. The entrepreneur, fundraiser and operational executive will be responsible for all day-to-day aspects of the business.

Human is a strategic creative agency whose work moves hearts, minds and its partner brands forward. Recently, the agency expanded Downtown Denver Partnership’s MyDenver by creating its first integrated campaign since its 2022 debut. The digital and outdoor campaign runs through the end of the year in Denver and Denver Metro. Human won the assignment in January. Earlier this year, they created a global back-to-school campaign for JanSport, America’s favorite backpack company. The work included paid media, organic social, a media event in New York and collaboration with influential Gen Z voices in today’s culture. Longer-term relationships have resulted in tremendous wins for their clients, like being named Time 100 Most Influential Companies of 2023, as Land O’Lakes was named earlier this year at least in part due to branding work completed by Human.

“Blazing a new path forward by creating something novel and changing mindsets to enable new growth are all things that can be hard,” Dunning said. “I push teams to break down their problems, be truly candid with themselves and their peers and be decisive about what needs to change to enable improvement. But the real reward for me is I get a huge amount of energy and excitement out of working with top-tier people who are devoted to their craft. The team at Human, for example, is one of the highest-performing groups of people I have ever run across. I am truly fortunate to join their ranks and look forward to succeeding together for the benefit of our clients, our agency and the industry.”

“John Dunning is a consummate professional,” offered John Weiss, cofounder and CEO of Human. “In the agency space, you find many businesses that aren’t really run like businesses. At a time when our industry is evolving rapidly, we have devoted ourselves to proving that the agency model can be recreated to be more successful than ever for our clients and ourselves. Executives like John who uniquely bring the operational, financial and entrepreneurial acumen is not common. I am confident he will be a lynchpin in our future success as an agency.”

Dunning, a 2003 graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management with an MBA, has served as a key team member of several San Francisco-based software startups, CEO/President of three other western-region businesses as well as serving on many advisory boards and executive mentorship teams.

John also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in International Studies, Spanish and Economics from the University of Oregon. A native of Healdsburg, California, he enjoys boxing, hiking, swimming, raising his 10-year-old son and listening to music.

Source: Human

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