Hypothesis Elevates Maria Vallis to CEO

Vallis to Succeed Jeff Seltzer Who Will Join Maria Stark as Co-Founder and Executive Board Member  

LOS ANGELES, June 23, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hypothesis, an award-winning insights, strategy, and design agency, is excited and proud to announce the promotion of Maria Vallis to Chief Executive Officer, following eight successful years as an Executive Leadership Team member, most recently as Managing Partner. As CEO, Maria assumes leadership of Hypothesis' daily operations to steer the Insights Association Top 50 firm into its next generation of growth.   

Vallis succeeds co-founder Jeff Seltzer, who will join founder Maria Stark as Executive Board Member. Jeff will continue to actively support the company as a strategic advisor, while focusing on company initiatives near and dear to his heart, such as the recently announced Hypothesis University.     

Says Jeff, "Vallis played a critical role in supporting talent while growing and establishing Hypothesis' reputation as a go-to strategic partner for incredible clients. Hypothesis has never been stronger and is in the best possible hands with her at the helm. I look forward to where Maria and her incredibly gifted leadership team will take us from here."  

Vallis, who joined Hypothesis in 2014 is a native of Australia and former GM at Kantar Millward Brown. She will continue to position, scale, and grow Hypothesis as a premium insights partner to the world's most important brands with an emphasis on custom creative approaches and sharp strategy designed to spark action within their organizations. Supported by a seasoned and talented leadership team, Maria will honor Hypothesis' core values and its culture of collaboration and empowerment. 

Says Vallis, "I look forward to building upon what Maria Stark and Jeff Seltzer have created, an agency that brings together the best people in the business and empowers them to do their very best work for our clients. By attracting the best talent, and evolving alongside our clients to meet their needs, Hypothesis will continue to help important brands achieve amazing things."  

According to founder Maria Stark, "These are challenging times for CEO's. They require empathy as well as expertise. Courage as well as inspiration. Maria and the diverse Hypothesis leadership team that has been formed in the past few years to support her are perfectly poised to undertake these challenges. I wish her tremendous success and know that Hypothesis and our clients are extremely fortunate to have her in this role."

Hypothesis is an Insights Association Top 50 Company that fuses insights, strategy, and design to help important brands do amazing things. We specialize in high-stakes questions that require creative, multi-dimensional approaches, thoughtful strategy, and a broad business perspective. Our client partners include many of the Fortune 500's most innovative and admired brands. Founded in 2000, Hypothesis remains fiercely independent, with offices in LA and Seattle and talented employees across the United States. Learn more at www.hypothesisgroup.com.

SOURCE Hypothesis