Nicola Mendelsohn

The Right Honourable
The Lady Mendelsohn
CBE
Mendelsohn in 2018
Born
Nicola Sharon Clyne

(1971-08-29) 29 August 1971 (age 53)
Manchester, England
Education
OccupationVice President Global Business Group
Years active2013–present
EmployerMeta
PredecessorJoanna, Baroness Shields
SpouseJonathan Mendelsohn
Children4

Nicola Sharon Mendelsohn, Baroness Mendelsohn, CBE (née Clyne; born 29 August 1971), is a British advertising executive.[1] Active in the advertising industry since 1992, Mendelsohn serves as the head of global advertising relationships for Facebook, and also sits on the board of Diageo. The Daily Telegraph has called her "the most powerful woman in the British tech industry".[2]

Early life and education

Nicola Sharon Clyne[3] was born in Manchester, England.[4] Her parents run a kosher catering business,[5] and the family maintained an Orthodox Jewish home.[6]

From 1989 to 1992, she attended the University of Leeds, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English and Theatre Studies, and was active in Jewish causes.[7][8][9]

Career

Mendelsohn originally planned to attend drama school and become an actress, but on a friend's recommendation decided to explore advertising instead.[10] After working at Bartle Bogle Hegarty, she became Deputy Chairman of Grey London in April 2004.[7] In April 2008 she became partner and executive chairman at Karmarama, a London advertising agency.[7][9]

In 2013 she was hired as Facebook's advertising Vice President for EMEA, ending the company's half-year search to replace outgoing VP Joanna Shields.[8][11][4][12]

Affiliations

Mendelsohn is co-chair of the Creative Industries Council[13] and director of the Bailey's Prize for Women's Fiction.[4] In April 2011 she became the first female president of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, serving a two-year term.[8][14]

In September 2014 she became a non-executive director of Diageo.[4][15] Previously, she was a board director for Bartle Bogle Hegarty and the Fragrance Foundation, chairman of the corporate board of Women's Aid, trustee of The White Ribbon Alliance, and president of the Women's Advertising Club of London.[7][14][15]

Honours and recognition

In 2015 she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the creative industries as part of the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours.[16]

Also in 2015, Computer Weekly ranked Mendelsohn number 34 on its "50 Most Influential Women in UK IT 2015",[17] she was named one of the Most Inspiring Women in European Tech by the Inspiring Fifty organisation,[18] and Debrett's included her on their "People of Influence" in the Debrett's 500 2015 list.[4]

In 2014 she was included on GQ's list of the 100 Most Connected Women in Britain,[19] and ranked number 85 on The Jewish Chronicle's Power 100 list.[20]

In 2013, she ranked number 69 on The Guardian's "MediaGuardian 100 2013".[21] In 2011 she was named one of Advertising Age's "Women to Watch".[14] In 2005 Management Today included her on its list of the top 35 women under 35 in the business world.[22]

In 2017, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate at the University of Salford.[23]

In 2019, Mendelsohn was 34th in Computer Weekly's 50 "Most Influential Women in UK Tech" shortlist.[24]

She was ranked 28th on Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[25]

Philanthropy

On World Cancer Day (4 February 2018)[26] she made public that she had been diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, an incurable cancer of the blood.[27] Mendelsohn said that she made the announcement to raise awareness about the cancer, describing it as not rare but little-known.[28]

Nicola launched The Follicular Lymphoma Foundation in 2019 – a charity dedicated to funding research into the disease and supporting patients. The organization is dedicated to helping those with the condition “live well”. It will also aim to raise $20m (£15.5m) in its first three years and is hoping to find a cure to the disease within the next decade. [29]

Personal

She married Jonathan Mendelsohn, a British lobbyist and Labour political organiser, in 1994.[8] He was created a life peer as Baron Mendelsohn, of Finchley in the London Borough of Barnet in 2013.[30][31][32] She and her husband are Jewish and are active in their synagogue and Jewish community.[33][8][9][34][13][35]

Selected articles

  • "Do what you'd do if you weren't afraid, says Facebook's Nicola Mendelsohn". Marketing. 30 June 2015.
  • "Reflecting on Women's Achievements on International Women's Day". HuffPost. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.

References

  1. ^ "Birthdays today: Lady Mendelsohn, 43". The Times. 29 August 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. ^ Curtis, Sophie (23 March 2015). "Meet the most powerful British woman in the tech industry". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Celia Clyne Banqueting Limited". Endole Ltd. 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Nicola Mendelsohn". Debrett's 500 2015. Debrett's. 2015. Archived from the original on 27 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  5. ^ Deutch, Gabby (8 September 2022). "The social media exec pitching the metaverse to the world". Jewish Insider. Retrieved 18 December 2024.
  6. ^ Lobell, Kylie (18 January 2023). "Nicola Mendelsohn: An Observant Jewish Leader at the World's Largest Social Media Platform". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d "Nicola Mendelsohn". LinkedIn. 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Nicola Mendelsohn gets top Facebook job – and insists on working a four-day week so she can see her family". Capital Bay News. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  9. ^ a b c Taub, Rebecca (3 April 2013). "Nicola Mendelsohn – Executive Partner and Chairman of Karmarama and Co-Chair Elect of the Creative Industries Council". You and Us. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  10. ^ Stone, Jason (9 May 2013). "Levi's, The Godfather, Boddingtons, Alien: Desert Island Clips with Facebook VP EMEA Nicola Mendelsohn". The Drum. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  11. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (7 May 2013). "Facebook Appoints Ad Vet Nicola Mendelsohn As Its New VP For EMEA". TechCrunch. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  12. ^ Shead, Sam (25 March 2015). "Baroness Joanna Shields vs Lady Nicola Mendelsohn: The battle for the title of the most powerful female in the UK tech sector". Tech World. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  13. ^ a b Gardner, Jasmine (1 July 2014). "Nicola Mendelsohn: the London-based Facebook boss who wants to share her status". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  14. ^ a b c Hall, Emma (30 May 2011). "Women to Watch: Nicola Mendelsohn, Institute of Practitioners in Advertising; Karmarama". Advertising Age. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Nicola S Mendelsohn". Diageo. 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  16. ^ Smith, Oliver (15 June 2015). "Tech stars headline Queen's Birthday Honours". The Memo. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  17. ^ "34. Nicola Mendelsohn, Managing director, Facebook Europe". Computer Weekly. 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  18. ^ "Meet the Most Inspiring Women in European Tech". Inspiring Fifty. 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  19. ^ "GQ and Editorial Intelligence's 100 Most Connected Women 2014". GQ Magazine. 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  20. ^ "JC Power 100: Numbers 100 – 51". The Jewish Chronicle. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  21. ^ "69. Nicola Mendelsohn". The Guardian. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  22. ^ Moorhead, Joanna (27 June 2005). "The faces of the future". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  23. ^ "Honorary degree for 'most powerful woman in UK tech' | News portal | University of Salford, Manchester". news-archive.salford.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  24. ^ "Computer Weekly announces the Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2019". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
  26. ^ Petroff, Alanna (5 February 2018). "Facebook's Top Exec in Europe Has Incurable Cancer". CNN. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Facebook executive has 'incurable' cancer". BBC News. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  28. ^ Dixon, Hayley (4 February 2018). "Facebook Boss Nicola Mendelsohn Reveals She Has Incurable Cancer". The Telegraph. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  29. ^ Cullen, Interview by Helen. "Facebook's Nicola Mendelsohn on living with an incurable disease".
  30. ^ "No. 60621". The London Gazette. 9 September 2013. p. 17761.
  31. ^ "No. 60637". The London Gazette. 24 September 2013. p. 18815.
  32. ^ Morris, Nigel (1 August 2013). "Doreen Lawrence and Brian Paddick among 30 new peers in House of Lords". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  33. ^ "House of Mendelsohn: Jon Joins Lords, Nicola Leads Facebook to Israel". Algemeiner Journal. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  34. ^ Jackman, Josh (16 November 2015). "Facebook boss and political insider are Norwood's new presidential couple". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  35. ^ Cullen, Interview by Helen. "Facebook's Nicola Mendelsohn on living with an incurable disease". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 October 2021.