With 20 years as an entrepreneur in the communications industry, Dana Nae Popa leads pastel with a style that blends humanity, results, and real impact. Driven by a passion for campaigns and projects that can make the world better, she has built an entire ecosystem around this belief. Her attraction to new beginnings and entrepreneurial stories also led to the launch of COPERA Branding four years ago, a participatory brand start-up co-founded with Laura Iane, pastel’s Executive Creative Director. Dana’s commitment to the future of the industry is constant. In her second term as President of the Romanian Union of Communication Agencies, she champions ethical standards, transparency, talent development and retention, and the responsible adoption of AI. Together with Laura Iane, she also helps shape the next generation of advertising professionals as an associate professor at SNSPA. For Dana, communication is more than a profession. It is a way to leave the world a little better than she found it.

Executive Creative Director with 19+ years in advertising, she leads multidisciplinary teams to deliver integrated campaigns across media, markets and regions. She is deeply invested in nurturing emerging talent through both agency leadership and academic teaching, bridging industry practice with education. As a Co-Active Trained Coach, she has deepened her understanding of human behavior and creative processes, and brings that perspective into how teams collaborate, grow and do their best work. She is especially interested in the intersection of creativity and neuroscience, and how behavioral insights can shape more meaningful, resonant ideas. She is committed to craft, bold thinking and cultural relevance.

He’s been through all imaginable departments in a communications agency. Some 20 years ago he settled on planning, 7 of which have been with pastel. A metalhead and animal lover at heart, Răzvan is responsible for all things strategy, liaising with clients, internal departments, media partners, research agencies, and more.

As Chief Operating Officer, she leads the Operations & Finance Department, ensuring operational efficiency and a solid financial foundation to support pastel’s strategic goals.

With over 14 years of experience at pastel, she brings a deep understanding of the agency business, combining strong financial expertise with a pragmatic, solution-oriented approach to operations and internal processes.

Focused on sustainability, clarity, and performance, she helps build structures that empower teams and enable the agency’s long-term growth.

With over 22 years of professional experience, including 10 years in the NGO sector, Andreea has learned that meaningful work is what truly brings her fulfillment every day.

She has coordinated more than 63 projects within the pastel NGO and, together with her team and partners, contributed to winning 4 awards and supporting over 40,000 beneficiaries in the organization’s first five years.

Beyond numbers, she values most the opportunity to do good and create real, positive change in the world around her.

With over 14 years of experience and a certification in Employer Branding, Mihaela plays a key role in project management.

Her role is to bring plans to life, ensuring everything runs smoothly from the initial stages to the moment the last guest leaves. She understands that every detail matters. Beyond coordination and planning, she ensures that every solution proposed is not only innovative but also feasible. There is no room for improvisation when it comes to efficient implementation, staying within budget, and meeting deadlines.

Mihaela also coordinates the strategic partnership between pastel and the Faculty of Marketing at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Andreea pairs an enthusiastic and focused outlook with a clear results-driven approach, bringing valuable experience from both agency and client-side brand management.

Comfortable with dynamic working setups, she leads the new business agenda of the agency, coordinating internal and external teams for successful pitch processes.

Andreea understands complex business environments and has extensive experience in stakeholder management. With a keen eye for data and performance, Andreea stands out as a real partner for the client, seeking the best solutions for the projects’ objectives.

Beyond her work in communication, Andreea is also a jeweller designer and maker, developing her own entrepreneurial project.

With 12 years of experience in the communication industry, Andreea brings a mix of spontaneity and pragmatism.

Her role is not just to manage projects, but to give them direction and coherence, ensuring that every initiative brings value both to the client and to the public. She believes in authentic communication and in the power of a well-told story, one that can spark meaningful conversations and leave a lasting impact. For her, success is not measured solely by commercial results, but also by how a campaign inspires, educates, and builds relationships based on trust.

With over 12 years of experience in the field, including 7 years as part of the pastel agency team, in her role as Account Manager, she is known for her meticulous approach, strong sense of responsibility, and sharp attention to detail. Highly client-oriented, she builds trusted relationships and ensures projects are delivered with clarity, care, and consistency. Challenges energize her and drive her forward. She is the kind of account manager who doesn’t focus on problems, but on finding smart, effective solutions that move brands and teams ahead.

With over 12 years of experience in client service, she is highly organized and results-driven, focused on the smooth execution and success of clients projects. She brings a strong sense of ownership to every collaboration, ensuring timelines, objectives, and deliverables are consistently met. Known for her responsiveness and clear communication style, she acts as a reliable bridge between clients and internal teams. Her ability to maintain a strong overview across multiple projects allows her to anticipate challenges and identify opportunities early on. Warm, approachable, and human in her interactions, she builds long-term partnerships based on trust and transparency. She is deeply committed to delivering measurable results while supporting the agency’s operational excellence and sustained growth.

Bianca is a detail-oriented and thoughtful personality, known for her diplomatic and empathetic approach. She naturally considers multiple perspectives when navigating different challenges, which helps contribute to balanced and well-informed decisions. Receptive and attentive, she values active listening and builds strong connections through clear and calm communication.

With an optimistic mindset, she focuses on solutions and consistently looks for the positive side of any situation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Public Relations, followed by a Master’s degree in Advertising. Her involvement in various volunteer projects is driven by her genuine interest in working with people and contributing to meaningful initiatives.

Currently, she works as an Account Executive, where she combines strategic thinking with strong interpersonal skills to support clients and deliver satisfactory results.

With over 20 years of experience as a producer in communication and advertising, she manages integrated campaigns and audiovisual projects in her role as Head of AV at pastel, working closely with trusted production partners. With high professional standards, international expertise, and strong connections within the arthouse film industry, she consistently identifies and brings together the most suitable creatives and technical teams for each project.

As PR & CSR Manager, Ioana sets out the overall project strategy and PR media implementation.

Ioana builds and implements PR strategies that help brands speak clearly and be truly heard. With over 9 years of experience in advertising agencies, she combines strategic thinking with strong writing skills to translate business objective into communication that delivers measurable impact.

Her expertise spans relationship building, media outreach, client communication and event planning, ensuring alignment between strategy & execution. Ioana also designs meaningful CSR communication, guided by the belief that reputation is built through actions, not just words.

As a co-host of Efectiv Podcast, she gives a voice to ideas that challenge how we think about the impact of communication.

As a Strategic Communications Consultant at pastel, Ana develops and implements communication strategies for brands operating in complex, high-paced, and often highly regulated environments.

With a strong focus on corporate communications, crisis management, and stakeholder relations, she helps organizations navigate sensitive contexts while ensuring their messaging reaches audiences and aligns with brand objectives and overall business strategies. Drawing on her experience across industries such as tech, healthcare, logistics, recruitment, and public sector initiatives, Ana is also very much involved in personal branding strategies for entrepreneurs and C-suite executives.

She works closely with leadership teams to anticipate risks, align messaging across multiple stakeholders, and ensure consistency in moments that define reputation. Her approach is pragmatic and insight-driven, shaped by the belief that, in sensitive industries, communication is not just about visibility, but about accountability, precision, and trust.

Dynamic and data-driven Head of Social Media with 12+ years of experience in digital communication.

Specialized in building impactful brand presence across platforms, with proven success scaling organic communities, shaping content strategies, and elevating brand narratives. Recognized for work with global brands, as well as revitalizing artist identities through social. Creative, strategic, and insight-led.

As a Gen Z Social Media Specialist, Olga stays chronically online to keep up with the latest social media trends and best practices.

With 8 years of multi-valenced experience as a copywriter and creative director across mass media, creative industries, and academia, she approaches communication as a broad spectrum. Olga aspires to help brands expand their identity by guiding them towards authentic online self-expression and reaching their full potential in the digital space.

With 10 years of writing and 5 years of content creation under his belt, his curiosity keeps pushing him to test new formats on social media and explorethis ever-changing digital world. He’s always experimenting—whether through words or video, trying to understand what truly captures attention and what makes people stop scrolling.

All these creative trials led him to a simple but powerful conclusion every brand needs to hear: in a world full of noise, brevity isn’t just a skill, it’s the real talent.

With over 12 years of experience in communication and a second degree in Psychology and Cognitive Science, Ioan works at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and the human side of AI. He designs communication products from the ground up, turning ideas into MVPs and MVPs into independent, scalable projects. His role blends strategic thinking, creative execution, and thoughtful team leadership, with a strong emphasis on organic collaboration.

Openness is a defining principle in how Ioan approaches both work and people, a perspective that also shapes his parallel ventures in human understanding. Beyond his work in communication, Ioan is a clinical and educational psychologist, the founder of a parenting project dedicated to divorced fathers, an associate lecturer at the College of Communication and Public Relations in Bucharest, and a member of the EACA (European Association of Communications Agencies) AI Task Force.

As Senior Copywriter, Ioana will be in charge with creative concepts developments based on strategic directions, scripting and creative activation.

She is an experienced copywriter with a background across diverse industries, thriving on the challenge of exploring a wide range of topics from a creative perspective. Her passion for words began in childhood and naturally evolved into a talent for storytelling and crafting narratives that genuinely connect with people on a deeper level. With a strong interest in human nature, she combines strategic thinking with empathy to create copy that captures attention, evokes emotion, and drives meaningful results.

With over 8 years of experience, Andrei meticulously blends strategic copywriting with creative content and community building. What started as a love for writing has evolved into a professional journey that seamlessly combines agency expertise with an independent creative perspective.

Andrei focuses on uncovering valuable insights and unique angles. He has a natural knack for finding the right tone and words for any context, skillfully blending humor and depth to create meaningful connections between brands and their audiences.

She is an advertising professional with over 20 years of experience in communication, backed by formal studies in Marketing and International Business, as well as Animation and Costume & Set Design. Her career has taken her across Canada, United Arab Emirates, and Malta, where she gained valuable international experience and a broad perspective on diverse markets and cultures.

Creativity has always been at the core of her work. She is passionate about drawing, animation, film, theatre, and illustration. Cristina is also an accomplished illustrator for children’s books, having her work published in Canada and Romania.

Known for her sense of humor and approachable style, she can balance professionalism with a relaxed atmosphere to foster collaboration, creativity and the birth of brave ideas. A strong team player, Cristina thrives in dynamic environments where ideas flow freely, and projects come to life through both vision and teamwork.

Senior Art Director and Visual Artist with over ten years of experience in advertising, graphic design, and complex visual projects. He has a strong background in developing and leading creative concepts across ATL, BTL, and digital channels, with proven ability to coordinate multidisciplinary teams and deliver integrated campaigns for major clients. His work focuses on clear visual storytelling, innovative executions, and consistent brand expression.

He has collaborated with agencies, studios, and freelance clients on branding, visual identity, photography, illustration, and content production, adapting ideas effectively to different media and business objectives. With formal education in fine arts and sculpture, he brings a solid artistic foundation combined with practical commercial thinking. Technically proficient in Adobe Creative Suite and audiovisual tools, he works comfortably across platforms and environments. Fluent in English and conversational in Italian, he communicates efficiently in international and cross-functional contexts.

Omnipotentialite senior Art Director with 20+ years in design and the creative industry. He blends strategy, taste, and hands-on craft across branding, campaigns, digital, and motion, shaping ideas into clear, high-performing visuals. From first concept to final execution, I bring calm leadership, sharp direction, and work that feels both fresh and inevitable.

Valentin is a refreshing junior graphic designer at the beginning of a promising creative career. He is currently studying Advertising at the Faculty of Communication and Public Relations - SNSPA, where he develops his visual and conceptual expression skills. His approach combines creativity with a healthy dose of humor, which he uses to bring freshness and energy to his projects while helping people escape their daily routine. He is passionate about crafting, drawing, video editing, and many other things - though there isn’t enough room to mention them all in a short description. His hobbies fuel his attention to detail, continuous curiosity, and eagerness to learn. With a young and original perspective, Valentin sees design as a way to communicate emotions and ideas through a visual language that inspires.

As Senior Art Director, Liuba will be in charge with delivering print-ready materials.

With over 14 years of experience in advertising and 31 years in prepress, she has developed extensive expertise in marketing, advertising, and B2B/B2C communications by working on omnichannel campaigns across web, digital,print, social media, and other platforms.

As Traffic Manager, Anne will ensure timeliness of the project.

Her role is to maintain agency efficiency and productivity by preventing bottlenecks and communication breakdowns. She oversees the flow of projects, resources, and information within the agency, ensuring that work is delivered efficiently and on time.

She is an optimistic Financial Controller who combines precision with a people-focused approach. She ensures financial clarity and stability by transforming complex data into actionable insights that support informed decision-making and sustainable growth.

In addition to her financial responsibilities, she manages internal communication, ensuring that information flows clearly and consistently across teams.

With a positive mindset and a structured, yet approachable style, she supports both strong financial performance and a connected, motivated workplace.