HONG KONG — Anne Geronimi has quit her role as WE Communications' Hong Kong leader and regional head of brands after just 12 months with the independent PR agency.

Geronimi's exit follows the departure of international president Alan VanderMolen. And, in a similar fashion to that scenario, it is accompanied by a restructuring of leadership, this time in Asia-Pacific.

Penny Burgess, the Shanghai-based CEO of WE Red Bridge, will now oversee WE’s Greater China presence in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, supported by WE Red Bridge head of strategy Nicky Wang, whose role expands to cover Greater China.

In addition, WE Buchan CEO Rebecca Wilson will expand her remit beyond Australia to include Singapore as EVP of those two markets. 

Both Burgess and Wilson report to Kass Sells, who was named WE international president and global COO upon VanderMolen's departure.

Meanwhile, current Australia and Singapore managing directors, Gemma Hudson and Jeremy Seow, will expand their roles to CEO of Australia and Singapore, respectively. Both Hudson and Seow will report to Wilson.

And in Hong Kong, current head of strategy Kevin Hartnett will assume oversight of WE Hong Kong’s office as GM, reporting to Burgess.

These new roles follow the previously announced appointments of Asia-Pacific leaders Wilson, Burgess, AvianWE group CEO Nitin Mantri and Watatawa managing partner Simon Pangrazio to the newly-formed global leadership team, which also includes WE global CEO Melissa Waggener Zorkin, Sells, and Dawn Beauparlant, chief client officer and president of North America.

"WE Asia Pacific businesses have had years of strong growth in both scale and client portfolio,” said Sells. “To maintain this momentum, the expanded remits of our leaders will enable us to better serve our clients by delivering a consistent, seamless, high-quality experience for clients in the region and around the globe.”

Geronimi departs WE after joining the firm from Ruder Finn, where she spent 12 years, most recently as VP and Hong Kong GM.