Initiative has made an addition to its Canadian leadership team by hiring Sammy Rifai as its new chief strategy officer.

Reporting to CEO Helen Galanis, Rifai will lead the agency’s strategy team, with a focus on what the agency refers to as “smarter and broader ‘media’ thinking to inform the creation of rich, culturally-led brand experiences.”

Galanis adds that Initiative has “the strongest strategic capability in the industry,” something Rifai’s track record in building cultural connections fits well with.

Rifai spent the last four years as group strategy director at Vancouver creative agency 123w. Joining Initiative also marks his return to the media agency world, having previously worked at the likes of MEC and Carat.

At Initiative, Rifai takes over a role previously held by Nish Shah, who became agency lead at Meta earlier this year.