Mo is the newest Partner and Creative Director, Design at 123w – one of Canada’s leading agencies. An independent idea and design collective based out of Vancouver and Toronto. In her new role, she will help expand their offering across Canada and continue to help build agency thought-leadership through the lens of Design. She believes that Design isn’t a department, it’s a way of thinking. It’s how we approach solving our client’s problems and helping them grow. Design is the tangible expression of what a brand is, and it plays a significant role in transforming brands into something people want to be a part of. 

Mo is formerly the Executive Director of Design at johnst., where she spent the last five years building the Design offering from the ground up. At john st., Mo built a growing design business with an award-winning portfolio, and led a diverse team of multidisciplinary design thinkers. Born and raised in the Philippines, and growing up in Toronto, she brings a diverse point of view that mixes her passion for design, creativity and business strategy to Canadian design.

With over a decade of experience, Mo has helped transform some of Canada’s most iconic brands from the ground up: Bell, President’s Choice, Loblaws, Home Hardware, Sleep Country, Winners, Shoppers, and Koodo to name a few. She has also helped transformed global brands like KFC, Coca-Cola, Corona, Audi, Subaru, Mitsubishi and helped them become relevant brands to Canadians. 

She is a relentless optimist; be kind, do good work, have fun, travel often, and eat more fries. 

Outside of driving business growth for her clients, her work has  also been awarded and recognized internationally by D&AD, How Design Awards, Cannes Lions, Luerzer’s Archive, Communication Arts, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada, Applied Arts, Marketing Magazine, among others.

Mo also brings leadership in community engagement. She speaks and mentors regularly through RGD (Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario) is an instructor and mentor at Miami Ad School, helping create the newly founded Design Program and is a leader on the issue of diversity in our industry. Most recently she also joined the Board of Directors of the ADCCs (Advertising & Design Club of Canada).

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