R/GA Portland Promotes Two to Support Commerce and Activation Design Capabilities

R/GA has elevated Sam Levy to executive director, client services and Mike Funk to group strategy director in the company’s Portland office. Both Sam and Mike report up to SVP, managing director Tara Moss and will contribute to the Portland leadership team and growth efforts. Both are committed to designing and delivering game-changing ideas, products and services for clients like Nike, Innovasport, and Banana Republic. In addition, Sam and Mike will help augment and fortify R/GA Portland’s commerce, retail innovation and experience design reputation in the marketplace.  

Sam is responsible for shaping and leading R/GA’s strategic client partnerships in the Portland office in his role as executive director, client services. His focus is building and continually strengthening trusted partnerships, along with helping anticipate and navigate disruption, and create impact for clients’ businesses. Since joining R/GA nine years ago, Sam has led R/GA’s relationship with large business units at Walmart and Verizon, and has risen to the role of global engagement lead for Nike, acting as liaison between the full network of R/GA offices actively contributing towards work for the brand. 

As group strategy director, Mike leads a team to apply human-centered design methodologies to gain deep insight into consumers as they engage with digital products and services across various R/GA clients. During his three-and-half-year tenure at R/GA’s Portland office, Mike has worked with Nike to design scalable customization experiences for NIKEiD and the Jordan brand, and led in-field ethnographic studies that uncovered applications for emerging technologies like RFID and NFC, as well as developed category strategies for both Nike+ Membership and Personalization across Nike.com. Prior to R/GA, Mike spent three years leading product and experience innovation for Oakley Custom, and two years as a strategist at Siegel+Gale where he worked with clients like Kubota, SanDisk, and Hightail.

“As the R/GA Portland office continues to gain momentum for our experience design, retail and commerce expertise, we require systematic thinkers and makers to meet the needs of our clients,” said SVP, managing director Tara Moss. “Sam and Mike both offer a combination of high-caliber strategic and problem-solving capabilities and expertise that our client partners come to expect from their global design partner.”