Hartwick Names Digital Marketing Pioneer Beth LeTendre ’90 2020 Commencement Speaker

January 24, 2020

Beth LeTendre ’90, chief executive officer of GroupM Performance U.S., has been chosen the 2020 Commencement speaker at Hartwick College. The Commencement ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. on Elmore Field on the college campus in Oneonta, NY.

LeTendre, a 1990 graduate of Hartwick College, was the first choice among nominated speakers considered by the Student Commencement Committee and reviewed by President Margaret L. Drugovich.

In 1998, LeTendre and her Hartwick friend Heather Frahm ’90 launched Catalyst, a specialty search, social, and ecommerce marketing agency that now serves Fortune 1000 clients. Eight years later, the pair negotiated the acquisition of Catalyst by WPP, the world’s largest communications service company. Two years later, WPP placed Catalyst within GroupM, the world leader in media.

LeTendre added Catalyst president to her CEO responsibilities in 2013. Today she leads the U.S. search, social, and programmatic efforts across GroupM, overseeing high performing, innovation driven teams comprised of 850 performance-marketing experts across GroupM. She focuses on growing GroupM’s specialist performance businesses and scaling best practices in the group’s performance-marketing centers of excellence.

“Beth LeTendre’s many accomplishments are inspiring,” said President Drugovich. “Our community looks forward to learning from her experiences as an entrepreneur, corporate CEO, and a leader in digital marketing. We are very proud that Beth’s success started at Hartwick College.”

LeTendre studied marketing and economics at Hartwick and majored in political science, played varsity soccer for four years, and was a member of Gamma Phi Delta sorority. She began her career at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, where she excelled at sales and learned the workings of the pharmaceutical industry. She then joined HealthGate Data Corporation as the company’s director of sales and marketing before co-founding Catalyst.

For more information on Beth LeTendre, visit the Catalyst website.

For additional information on Hartwick’s 2020 Commencement ceremony, contact Paul Habernig, Commencement coordinator, at 607-431-4501 or commencementinfo@hartwick.edu.