MEXICO CITY--Porter Novelli has named Karen Ovseyevitz as Latin America president, the latest in a series of leadership moves by new global CEO Karen van Bergen.

Ovseyevitz is promoted from her existing role as Latin America regional director. She will continue to serve as co-MD of Martec Porter Novelli in Mexico and Porter Novelli’s Florida office.

Ovseyevitz will be charged with developing Porter Novelli’s Latin American presence and establishing best practices and training for its firms in the region.

Porter Novelli currently operates one owned firm in Latin America - Mexico's Martec - along with seven affiliates, including Brazil's In Press Porter Novelli and firms in Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Ovseyevitz told the Holmes Report that an acquisition of In Press remains on the cards and will hopefully be completed by the end of 2014.

"We have a strong network but we need to go a step further and create a much more unified network to start working more as a region and less as independent countries, build new business together and definitely serve the clients we have in the region in the next level of service and development," said Ovseyevitz.

Ovseyevitz termed Mexico and Brazil and "important" markets, but also noted that Colombia and Chile offer plenty of opportunity. She pointed to  IT, healthcare, food and nutrition, consumer and energy as specific growth areas, and also noted that the Porter Novelli will set up regional excellence centers to hone best practices.

Ovseyevitz founded Martec Porter Novelli in 1993, overseeing client strategies, training, media relations and business development. Under her leadership Martec Porter Novelli was named Agency of the Year in 2005 and 2006 in Mexico. She was appointed regional director for Latin America in 2007.

“As a 17-year veteran of Porter Novelli, Karen has the relationships, expertise, deep institutional knowledge and unwavering respect of her colleagues, both across Latin America and our entire global network,” added van Bergen, to whom Ovseyevitz reports. 

Earlier this month, van Bergen elevated Sally Ward to EMEA president in London, after naming Michael Ramah as global chief client officer.