One of the fastest-growing strategic communications agencies in the CEE region announces changes to its management structure. SEC Newgate CEE appoints a new Managing Partner and strengthens its team with an experienced financial sector expert – signalling that the agency's appetite for further growth is stronger than ever. This is not just a promotion, it is the announcement of a new chapter in the company's history.
Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz Takes the Helm – Data as the New Language of PR
February 2026 brought a significant change at the top of SEC Newgate CEE's management structure. Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz, who joined the agency less than three years ago – in June 2023 – has been promoted to the position of Managing Partner. This is not just a distinction for one person, but a clear cultural signal: at SEC Newgate CEE, ambition combined with concrete proof of effectiveness is what counts.
Her path to promotion was consistent and precisely planned. She joined the agency as an Account Director, bringing with her something rare in classical PR – deeply rooted data-driven thinking. She built the foundation of this competence at SentiOne, where as head of the Marketing & Market Insights team for CEE markets, she spent years designing communication strategies based on advanced social media analytics, reputation reports and trend hunting. In a world where a corporation's reputation can collapse within hours from a single viral post, such a combination of skills becomes not so much an asset as a necessity.
At SEC Newgate CEE, these competencies quickly found their place – they became one of the pillars of the agency's offering in Corporate Affairs and Crisis Management. As Managing Partner, Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz now leads a multidisciplinary team covering three key areas: Transaction & Transformation Advisory, Data & Insight and Digital Corporate Storytelling.
Each of these reflects the directions in which the corporate communications market is evolving fastest.
"At SEC Newgate CEE, we continuously invest in developing our managers' competencies.Jagoda's promotion to the Executive Team, less than three years after joining the agency, proves that we are a place of promise for highly ambitious people who combine their ambitions with business effectiveness and the ability to build relationships."
– Zofia Bugajna-Kasdepke, Founder & CEO SEC Newgate CEE.
Creative Energy from Cannes Lions – Profile of the New Head
The communications and marketing industry knows Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz not only as a data expert. In 2018, Brief magazine placed her on the prestigious list of "50 Most Creative People in Business" – a distinction reflecting the ability to combine analytical precision with creative imagination.
Her projects have collected awards at the most important industry festivals: Cannes Lions, KIAF, The Indie Awards, Innovation, KTR and Złote Spinacze (Golden Clothespins). This is a track record that speaks for itself – effectiveness confirmed by the most highly regarded juries in the world of communications.
It is rare for one person to navigate both the world of hard analytical data and the creative space of communication campaigns with equal skill. Prętnicka-Markiewicz is exactly such a figure – and this is probably one of the key reasons why SEC Newgate CEE decided to entrust her with leading the areas that will define modern corporate advisory in the coming years.
Bartosz Olejniczak Strengthens the Financial Team – a Decade in Economic Media
Almost in parallel with Prętnicka-Markiewicz's promotion, the agency announced a second important personnel move. The position of Account Director in the Finance & Financial Services team, led by Bartłomiej Kupiec, has been taken by Bartosz Olejniczak – an expert with over 20 years of experience in media and public relations, whose portfolio impresses both in breadth and depth.
Before joining SEC Newgate CEE, he was associated with Walk PR agency for years 2020–2025, where as team head he supervised analytical projects and communications for clients from the financial and industrial sectors. His PR activities covered brands such as Santander Bank Polska, Wiener, Compensa, Eques Investment TFI, Ceres Dom Inwestycyjny and the Polish Bank Association. His earlier experience includes work in B2B communications at Canal+ Polska, as well as collaboration with Weber Shandwick and Bridge agencies.
The foundation on which he built his effectiveness in corporate PR, however, is something that cannot be replaced by agency tenure – 8 years working as an economic journalist.
For years he co-created stock market programmes on TVN CNBC and TVN24, participated in building Poland's first business channel, and began his career at TOK FM radio, where as a reporter and editor he prepared economic bulletins and the morning programme "EKG".
This journalistic past translates today into the ability to understand narrative – and to anticipate how the media will interpret every communication move of a client.
"Journalistic experience is an invaluable asset in PR – it teaches you to think like an editorial team, not like a sender. It is a completely different perspective on every story you want to tell."
– the perspective that Bartosz Olejniczak brings to working with clients in the financial sector.
Olejniczak is also an active trainer – he has conducted dozens of workshops for entities in the FMCG, financial, construction and services sectors. His advisory portfolio also includes collaboration with public institutions: ministries, market regulators and non-governmental organisations.
This combination – media, corporate PR, public and private sectors – makes him a figure difficult to replace in the area of financial communications.
SEC Newgate CEE – Growth Dynamics Rarely Seen in the PR Industry
Two personnel announcements within a few weeks is no coincidence. Since its founding in March 2021, SEC Newgate CEE has consistently pursued an expansion strategy that is delivering tangible results.
The merger with long-established Polish firm SEC Newgate Polska (formerly Martis Consulting) in 2023 created a 50-strong team in Warsaw. Today the agency employs over 100 consultants in the CEE region, coordinating projects in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine.
The numbers are impressive, but the awards say even more. The global SEC Newgate group received the titles of Global Agency of the Year 2025 and Best Continental Europe Agency 2025 at the prestigious SABRE Awards – regarded as the Oscars of the PR industry. According to the PRovoke Media Global Ranking 2023, SEC Newgate was among the three fastest-growing PR groups in Europe.
This is not accidental growth – it is the result of a well-thought-out strategy and bold personnel decisions, such as those announced in recent weeks.
"The agencies that win today are those that combine deep sector specialisation with analytical and digital competencies. Without these three elements, it is hard to speak of genuine strategic advisory in the era of post-Covid corporate turbulence."
– an expert in the strategic communications industry in Central Europe.
A Market That Is Growing – and Demanding More and More
The personnel moves described fit into a broader trend that has been shaping the strategic communications market in Poland and the CEE region for several years.
According to the ICCO World PR Report 2024 (published in mid-2024), the PR services market in Central and Eastern Europe is growing at a rate of over 8% annually, driven primarily by growing demand for crisis management, ESG communication and digital transformation advisory.
At the same time, the Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 report indicates that only 46% of Poles trust large corporations – which means that building and protecting reputation is becoming a matter that translates directly into business value. In such an environment, agencies that can combine competencies in data-driven communication with sector knowledge (e.g. finance, energy, real estate) gain a clear competitive advantage.
Specialisation in Transaction & Transformation Advisory – one of the areas to be led by Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz – responds to the growing demand of the M&A market in Poland, which according to Deloitte data recorded an increase in activity of over 12% in 2024 compared with the previous year. Every transaction today requires carefully planned communication – both internal and external – and mistakes in this area can cost more than many a financial advisor.
Leaders Build Culture, Not Just Structures
The promotion of Jagoda Prętnicka-Markiewicz and the arrival of Bartosz Olejniczak are two different but complementary signals that SEC Newgate CEE is sending to the market. The first says: we invest in talent from within and give them space for real impact. The second: we look for experts with a unique profile – ones the market does not produce in large quantities.
Zofia Bugajna-Kasdepke, Founder & CEO of the agency, has for years consistently built an organisation that stands out not for the number of awards (though these are not lacking), but for its ability to attract and retain people who can combine analytical thinking with creativity and an understanding of the political conditions of business. She herself is among the Polish female leaders honoured by the Forbes Women Power Rising List in 2022 and featured in the "Women of Success" series in Vogue Poland. This is not coincidental context – the founder shapes the culture, and the culture attracts people.
Sebastian Hejnowski, Regional Head of Eastern EMEA, brings to the agency's board the perspective of someone who has operated on both the PR and advertising sides for two decades – as co-founder of MSL agency, CEO of Leo Burnett and a member of the executive committee of Publicis Groupe in Poland. This over 20-year tenure at the intersection of communications and marketing is the foundation on which SEC Newgate CEE builds its ability to serve clients requiring integrated advisory – covering both corporate affairs and the layer of creative and marketing strategy.
SEC Newgate CEE
SEC Newgate CEE is a strategic advisory agency based in Warsaw, specialising in corporate communications, public affairs, reputation management, crisis advisory and data-driven lobbying.
The agency was founded in March 2021, and after the merger with SEC Newgate Polska (formerly Martis Consulting) in 2023, it created a 50-strong team in Warsaw and employs a total of over 100 consultants in the CEE region (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine).
It is part of the global SEC Newgate group – one of the 20 largest communications firms in the world, with over 1,400 experts in 60 offices on five continents. An interesting fact: just one year after founding, the agency became one of the largest PR firms in Poland – and the global SEC Newgate in 2025 won the titles of Global Agency of the Year and Best Continental Europe Agency at the SABRE Awards.
