• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 26, 2024

Alycia Mason, a long-time media agency exec who spent the last six years on the client-side at McDonald's, has been named U.S. CEO of GroupM's Wavemaker unit.

She fills a role that has been vacant since April 2021, when Amanda Richman -- now vice president-global media sales at Microsoft -- left to become North America CEO of Mindshare.

Mason, who reports to GroupM North America CEO Sharb Farjami, most recently served as field vice president at McDonald's, formerly was Chief U.S. Customer Experience Officer for the fast-food giant.

Prior to that, she held a variety of senior media and account management roles at Publicis Media's Starcom, Omnicom Media Group's OMD, client Luxottica, and GroupM's Mindshare, where she also began her career as a media planner in 2001.

Mason also is co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of an innovative confectionery startup, Candycopia, which she launched in 2021 with her family.