The Circulo Creativo has today announced María "Maru" Bernal, VP Creative Director at Lápiz, and Norberto "Norbi" Zylberberg, CCO & Founder at Socialisssima, as the entity’s new Vice Presidents starting in August 14th.

Maru and Norbi have been part of Circulo since 2004 and 2003 respectively, as active members of the entity. According to Ciro Sarmiento, president of Círculo Creativo and CCO of Dieste Inc. the VPs were selected based on experience in the U.S. Hispanic market, the value they bring to their agencies, businesses and clients, not to mention their extensive list of accolades over the years.

“Maru and Norbi will help us carry the vision of our organization by bringing fresh ideas that can broaden el Circulo’s activities throughout the year. Gustavo, the board and myself, we are thrilled to have them onboard for the next 2 years", says Sarmiento.

The new VPs will be working together to structure a plan of activities for 2018-2019, including training activities, recruiting new members and promoting diversity within Circulo members. They both will serve as VPs of Circulo till 2019.

Learn more about our new VPs:

Maria “Maru” Bernal: "I’m really excited to become a VP for the USH Creative Circle. Having the opportunity to work with people I’ve known for years, as well as with amazing new talent across all of our agencies, is priceless for me. One thing I love about our market is that we continuously evolve, but there is one thing that has remained the same: the power of our voice when we come together.

Let’s continue bringing this power everywhere we go, we have gone far already, but as Hispanics in the US., we know we can always go further."

María Bernal (Maru) joined Lápiz / Leo Burnett in 2002 and is currently VP Creative Director for the Allstate insurance, Purina USH, Kellogg’s and UnitedHealthcare accounts at Lapiz.

Originally from Mexico, María started her career as a graphic designer and photographer, working in editorial design for Mexican magazines.

She began her advertising career about 20 years ago in a small advertising firm in Mexico City and then as an Art Director ACD at Leo Burnett Mexico working on some P&G brands as well as Kellogg’s and Phillip Morris. She was also part of the team that brought the Corona beer brand to Leo Burnett Mexico.

In 2002, Maru moves to Chicago and joins the creative department at Lapiz / Leo Burnett to work with the Disney, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Wrigley, Jack Daniel’s and Chase Bank brands. She became the P&G group Creative Director for the Pepto Bismol, Always, Bounty Charmin and Gain brands.

In 2005, María won the first Cannes Lion for the US Hispanic Market for the film category. Her work has also been awarded in the Radio, Print and Innovation categories at Cannes.

Her work has been recognized at D&AD, The One Show, Clio, LIA, New York Festivals, Kinsale Shark Awards, Epica, El Sol, FIAP, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, Effie Awards, Communication Arts, The Webby Awards and Lürzers Archive, among others.

Maru is a proud mom of 2 beautiful human beings and she is very thankful for her husband who has always been a huge supporter of her carrier.

Norberto (Norbi) Zylberberg: "I’m glad to become VP of El Círculo Creativo and would love to work together with so many great professionals, friends and organizations with the main objective of expanding our reach, keep growing the Hispanic presence in the creative world and help shaping that "cutting edge voice" that is more needed than ever. Vayamos por más."

Norbi founded Socialisssima in Austin in September of 2016, following the trend of creative people and marketers who feel that this business is evolving like never before.

With 20+ years of experience in small, medium and large agencies in Argentina and the US, he has worked with Fortune500 Corporations, start-ups & tech, and service companies in multicultural and general markets; he has won creative awards in all major regional, national and international advertising festivals, as well as participated as lecturer and judge in places as diverse as Istanbul, Busan, Bilbao, Mexico, Miami, Madrid and Buenos Aires.

After finishing Marketing, Communications and Copywriting In Buenos Aires, he continued his education at Virginia VCU, Berlin School of Business, UCLA, HyperIsland and Georgetown University.

Convinced that social causes should be part of the DNA of every human being and corporation, he continues to push his creative efforts to aim for a better world every day. Please, don’t talk about soccer with him until Argentina wins the World Cup again.