Professional Position: Founding Partner
Company: Brand Equity Partners LLC
Location: New York, NY
Tom Carroll first learned about ALS when his father, Thomas G. Carroll Jr. was diagnosed in 1969. His father succumbed to the disease in 1973. Tom began his service with The ALS Association as a member of the Board of The ALS Association Greater New York Chapter. He is the co-chair of the chapter’s Lou Gehrig Sports Award Benefit. He has served on the National Board of Trustees of the Association since 2016.
Tom is the founding partner of Brand Equity Partners LLC. BEP invests and leverages the power of brand value to unlock business growth and market-making opportunities.
Tom is the former President and CEO of TBWA Worldwide, a top-10 global advertising network. Aa an entrepreneur, leader, and creative visionary, Tom spearheaded the transformation of TBWA from a formidable independent creative agency into one of the most effective advertising networks in the industry. His ambition was to establish TBWA as one of the 10 most creative companies in the world - not merely in the field of advertising, but among all global companies.
Under Tom’s leadership, TBWA evolved existing relationships with international clients including Apple, McDonald's, Nissan, Gatorade, and adidas. Tom was also instrumental in leading the launch and growth of the TBWA brands: Digital Arts Network, E-Graphics, Integer, and 180.
Throughout his career, Tom has worked across a wide range of global brands. During his first stint at TBWA he worked alongside Jay Chiat, where he discovered his passion for developing big ideas that could transform businesses and change the world, while working with clients in both the Los Angles and New York offices.
In 1989, Tom left TBWA to found Weiss Whitten Carroll Stagliano, whose clients included Citibank, The Guinness Import Company, and Rossignol. After running his own business for 10 years, Tom was lured back to TBWA to be President of the LA office. He eventually returned to New York where a succession of promotions culminated in his becoming President & CEO of TBWA\Worldwide in 2007, and most recently, Chairman of the entire network until 2015.
In 2008, Tom was named “Executive of the Year” by Advertising Age magazine; AdAge declared, “The person who best embodied the spirit of leadership in the agency business is Tom Carroll,” going on to write he was “fit to run a relevant-as-it-gets global network.”
Tom was one of five founders of Advertising Week in New York, he is the former Chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), and he regularly appears at industry, business, and academic events.
In addition to his service with The ALS Association National Board of Trustees, Tom serves on the Board of Directors of the iF Foundation (a Haitian agricultural and educational initiative) and served as Chairman of the YMCA’s Arts & Letters event to benefit after school programs in New York City.
Tom lives in Rye, NY with his wife Kathleen, and their son and daughter Ryan & Julia; he is a member of the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, NY, and the Bel-Air Country Club in LA.
