2024 IAB PlayFronts

Anthony Alexander is the Chief Revenue Officer at Livewire, with over 15 years of experience in ad tech, influencer management, and revenue generation. Anthony’s early career started out in the influencer space where he founded Mango Music Management to help artists advance their careers. As President and Co-Founder of Mango, Anthony’s business acumen and innovative perspective of entertainment, digital and technology helped to catapult his talent from performers to global brands, earning accolades of Grammy Winner and Billboard #1 album. In 2011, Anthony moved to Playwire where he climbed from account executive to Global EVP of Sales and oversaw all Playwire’s direct ad business.

Creative and innovative, Carolina Alonso uses her cross-contextual experiences (from in-house, for-profit and industry-pacing to nonprofit, regulatory, policy-making and academic) to address issues from all sides and tailor the appropriate practical and forward-looking outcome for domestic and international clients.

Carolina Alonso’s practice is focused on privacy, data protection and advertising. She has a range of experience, from international privacy and advertising compliance to data security issue spotting to business deals, including acquisition due diligence and contract drafting and negotiation. She is also skilled in a variety of coding languages, including Python and HTML.

Carolina encourages companies to self-regulate and guides them in using best practices to facilitate future privacy trends. Carolina is the founder and leader of the video game law working group at the firm, which connects clients to the firm’s team of attorneys with video game experience, including those who are gamers themselves. She is also a
member of the Video Game Bar Association. In addition to counseling business leaders in the video game and mobile app game industries, Carolina’s passion for gaming translates to an in-depth understanding of the challenges associated with XR technologies and multiverse platforms.

Carolina has experience with children’s and student data, including COPPA compliance and FERPA application, as well as biometric and genetic data, including BIPA and CUBI analysis. She also advises clients on certain advertising issues, including children’s advertising and CARU enforcement. Additionally, she has general experience in intellectual property issues, having advised companies and individuals on copyright infringement and fair use.

Before joining BakerHostetler, Carolina worked in law and policy at a number of technology-centric organizations, including the Future of Privacy Forum, Public Knowledge, Yahoo and Facebook. She also has basic reading and writing skills in Japanese.

With over 13 years of marketing experience, and 8 years in the gaming industry, Pete’s professional pedigree includes Twitch, Twitter and PlayStation. He got his start in marketing in the early days of branded social media, leading digital strategy for brands at General Mills.


As Wavemaker’s Director and Global Lead of Gaming & Esports, Pete leads the Gaming & Esports team within the global Content & Innovation practices. He specializes in connecting non-endemic brands with the gaming audiences via partnerships, integrated media & content programs, creator marketing partnerships, and experiential activations.

As Director of Emerging Connections at GALE, Max helps clients understand and navigate new marketing channels with a primary focus on gaming.


Following an eight year stint in the marketing agency world, he joined Immortals Gaming Club in 2019 as Marketing Lead for their esports teams competing in Call of Duty, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow Six, and CS:GO. In his 2 years with Immortals, Max built community engagement programs and developed platforms for sponsors including Progressive, Toyota, Betway, and American Express.


Today, Max helps to lead GALE’s efforts in the gaming space for clients including GonnaNeedMilk, Wells, H&R Block and others.

Anzu’s Co-Founder and CEO, Itamar Benedy, is the driving force behind the global intrinsic in-game advertising revolution that has transformed how game developers monetize their titles and advertisers reach gaming audiences.

When Benedy co-founded Anzu in 2017, he had a degree in Computer Science, a background in marketing and advertising, had been recognised by Forbes Israel as part of their ‘30 Under 30’ program, and had led AdTech giant Glispa as CEO. Ultimately, these experiences have culminated in him building and leading a company that bridges the gap between advertising and gaming, and is the most advanced intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse.

Ricardo Briceno is the Chief Business Officer at Gamefam, a leading metaverse game developer and publisher that creates connected experiences with the largest gaming communities and well-known brands. As the first executive hire at Gamefam, Ricardo oversees the company’s brand partnerships, advertising network, as well as franchise development for the company’s growing portfolio of IP. Additionally, he is responsible for off-platform marketing, communications, social media strategy, finance and business operations.

Since joining Gamefam in 2021, Ricardo led the creation of the Gamefam ad network, which has generated millions in revenue and delivered over 2B brand engagements in campaigns for globally recognized brand partners, including Hasbro, Spin Master, Wowwee, Netflix, Paramount, Ubisoft, Sega, Sony, Mattel, and more. Ricardo also oversees the special events and concerts team at Gamefam, responsible for the development of two of the top-rated concerts on Roblox from 24KGolden and The Chainsmokers, and the launch of the #1 branded music game on Roblox: Festival Tycoon by The Chainsmokers. Under his leadership, the company has scaled to over 250 team members and established business processes to allow Gamefam to deliver 11 quarters of consecutive growth.

Ricardo brings a wealth of knowledge in franchise management and marketing from his previous position at Mattel as the Vice President of Franchise Management. There, he was responsible for developing strategies to extend Mattel’s portfolio of brands, including iconic multi-generational properties such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Thomas and Friends, Monster High, UNO, Masters of the Universe, and American Girl across digital gaming, live experiences, video content, and consumer products. He also launched Mattel Creations, the company’s direct-to-consumer business targeting adults as consumers with collaborations between Mattel brands and leaders in arts, fashion, and entertainment.

Prior to Franchise Management, Ricardo was the Global Head of Brand Marketing for Hot Wheels, where he led the integrated marketing process from strategy to execution. In this role, he implemented plans to maximize brand buzz, engagement, and revenue for Hot Wheels – finding innovative ways to delight millions of consumers and help build a 50 year old heritage brand, maintain relevance and play in pop culture. He created the world’s largest traveling car show, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour, where fans around the world could enter their life-size custom cars and compete for the chance to become the next Hot Wheels toy car. Ricardo led the brand’s hugely successful expansion into gaming through brand integrations with top console and mobile racing games including Need For Speed: No Limits, Racing Rivals, Rocket League and Microsoft’s Forza; and with a fully branded, top-rated mobile game: Hot Wheels Race Off. During his tenure on Hot Wheels, Ricardo guided the brand to doubling its revenue after seven years of consecutive growth.

Ricardo, 43, is a native of Venezuela and bilingual in English and Spanish. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Simon Bolivar and his MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He is based in Los Angeles and loves to spend time with his adopted dog, Lucas.

Paul brings nearly 20 years of experience in the advertising industry, working primarily in the news, gaming, and kids verticals. Before joining Playwire, Paul was Head of Video Sales for Bloomberg Media, where he was instrumental in growing revenue across social, streaming, and digital channels. Joining the team at Playwire has been a return to Paul’s roots in gaming and kids media, having started his career at IGN.com, where he ultimately led US brand sales. Paul then led global partnerships at Rovio, and launched the first-of-its-kind playable ads solution during his time at TreSensa.

David Cohen joined IAB in April 2020 as President and was named Chief Executive Officer in September 2020. Cohen is a widely respected advertising agency leader who, prior to IAB, served as President, North America for MAGNA, Interpublic Group’s (IPG) centralized media intelligence, investment, and innovation arm. In this role, Cohen was responsible for more than $20 billion in media spend. During his tenure, Cohen structured and executed large global transactions on behalf of IPG and its clients, with such major IAB member companies as Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Spotify, Twitter, and Verizon Media.

Prior to MAGNA, Cohen served as Chief Investment Officer of UM, ensuring that digital innovation, data, and technology acumen flowed throughout the agency to drive performance. From 2001 to 2011, Cohen served in critical, transformational roles at UM during the explosive growth of digital advertising, including Chief Media Officer, Chief Digital Officer, and Executive Vice President, U.S. Director of Digital Communications. In the late 1990’s, Cohen was responsible for launching and building IPG’s digital practice.

Cohen has a long history of working with trade organizations including IAB and 4As, where he served as chairman of the Interactive Marketing Committee from 2009-2013. He has also been instrumental in initiating several vital industry-wide programs, including the Future of Television, facilitated by EY. Cohen is a Queens native, with a bachelor’s degree in communications from Adelphi University. He was recognized by Adweek as a “Media All Star” and was part of the “Adweek 50” in 2012.

In 2016, David was elected to the Board of Directors of Partnership with Children a non-profit whose mission is to strengthen the emotional, social, and cognitive skills of vulnerable children in New York City to help them succeed in school, society, and life.

David enjoys spending time with his wife and two teenage daughters. A self-described gadget-geek and sometimes fitness fanatic – he ran the NYC Marathon in 2014 and 2019 and Boston Marathon in 2016.

Vincent Coudert is the Global Head of Brand Partnerships and Business Development at Ubisoft. Having started at Ubisoft in 2007, Vincent boasts a 17-year history of developing in and out of game partnerships.


Currently based at the Ubisoft International HQ in Paris, Vincent oversees various activities, including Brand Partnerships (in-game advertising, product placement, bespoke in-game branded experiences, promotions, and other 360° activations), Ad-Tech (dynamic advertising in our console and PC games), Esports Sponsorship, and Web3 Licensing (digital collectibles, IP integration in blockchain-based games,…)


Over the past years, he has collaborated with brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Red Bull, Mercedes, Prada, Hamilton, Reebok, Acer, PayPal, and many others to develop impactful partnerships with some famous video game franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Just Dance, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Riders Republic, The Crew Motorfest, and more.

The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Playwire, Jayson has nearly two decades of experience as a successful entrepreneur and leader within the ad tech industry, and more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience in both online and offline media.

As the Global Head of Xbox Advertising Sales at Yahoo, Sue oversees advertising sales teams across the US, Canada and EMEA. Sue began her career 25 years ago, spending most of that time authentically bringing brands to life through interactive experiences and endemic alignments on Xbox.


Following a partnership agreement in 2015, Sue transitioned from Microsoft to AOL/Verizon and to Yahoo, where she remains committed to building connections between brands and the gaming community.


Sue resides on Long Island with her husband and 13-year old twins, who couldn’t be happier that every television in the house has an Xbox attached to it.

Matt is the President and CCO of Super League (NASDAQ: SLE), a global leader in bringing the world’s biggest brands and intellectual property owners into the 3D internet. Over the past four years, he has built a world class team, spearheaded multiple M&A transactions, forged ground-breaking partnerships, and driven more than 20x revenue growth. Matt’s oversight has positioned Super League as an undisputed immersive web technology and creative pioneer. The company launched the first scalable advertising and digital-to-physical technology solutions on Roblox, and has brought programs to life on Roblox, Minecraft, and Fortnite Creative across every major entertainment, luxury, and lifestyle vertical.


Under his leadership, Super League’s team has built programs with signature companies including the NFL, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Netflix, MTV, Nickelodeon, Warner Music Group, Interscope Records, Mattel, L’Oreal, Walmart, Claire’s, Samsung, Chipotle, Dave N Buster’s, Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, Hamilton and others, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Additionally, Matt has been a member of the executive team responsible for Super League’s NASDAQ IPO and subsequent offerings, raising more than $65M.


Matt began his career building Marvel’s film and television business and launched the original Marvel.com. He went on to oversee digital operations and marketing solutions teams across Endeavor’s global event properties including NY Fashion Week, Miss Universe/USA, Miami Open, Professional Bull Riders, Euroleague, Taste Festivals, IMG College and IMG Academy, while also establishing the digital practice for IMG’s experiential marketing agency.


Matt is an angel investor and has founded, led, and currently advises multiple early-stage companies across gaming, digital media, AI, ecommerce, and Web3.


Originally from New York, Matt resides in Santa Monica with his wife and two children and is involved in several charitable organizations, including the Epilepsy Foundation of Los Angeles, inspired by his special needs daughter.

Sam Fink is the Director of Content Partnerships at the NFL leading social partnership strategy and content marketing for the NFL’s gaming, emerging technology, creator programs and social platforms partners. She previously held marketing and content roles at Peloton, Red Bull, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment and CBS Sports.

Justin Fromm is an experienced media executive and a leading expert in the Connected TV and SVOD space. Justin has extensive experience as a data leader, conducting strategic research on the value and effectiveness of TV and digital media as advertising platforms, the marketing of televisual programming, and the effects of new technology on consumer behavior and the media industry.

Jen Grubb, an integral member of the MilkPEP team since 2017, leads the company’s youth marketing efforts. With a deep understanding of youth culture and a flair for creativity, Jen crafts strategies that engage and provide genuine value to the audience. Committed to pushing marketing boundaries and a proponent of community, Jen believes in fostering human connections through innovative programming. Notably, she led the repositioning of Chocolate Milk as ‘The Performance Drink of Gamers’ in 2022, a campaign still live and evolving today. She is passionate about the nutrition milk brings to kids and is excited by the challenge of finding cutting-edge opportunities in the constantly evolving gaming space.

Cambria Haro is an Emmy award-winning storyteller with a career spanning from media, product marketing and branded content partnerships within the sports, entertainment and tech industries. As a Sales Marketing champion at Zynga, she works closely with game studios to craft and curate compelling brand integrations and sponsorships for clients across multiple brand objectives, to deliver effective outcomes.

Gabrielle Heyman is Head of Global Brand Partnerships for Zynga, where she is responsible for Zynga’s direct advertising business. Gabrielle is a leader in Gaming and Digital Media, and has a passion for the revolution in entertainment consumption and its impact on brands.

Asa Hiken is a technology reporter for Ad Age covering Web3, AI and other emerging spaces.

Brian Irving is Vice President of Digital Advertising Sales within Paramount’s Kids and Family Center of Excellence. Irving oversees Digital Strategy and Sales for the Nickelodeon brand and its powerful portfolio of franchises. Irving is responsible for all advertising partnerships spanning SVOD, FAST, YouTube, Social, Roblox and other Digital touchpoints. He leads work streams across multiple disciplines, including ad innovation, programmatic and attribution.


Irving re-joined Paramount in 2022 after a four-year stint at Google. While at Google, Irving held roles across the Global Partnerships and Large Customer Sales organizations. Most recently, Irving founded the Cross-Google Deal Team responsible for leading Google’s largest cross-functional deal pursuits spanning Cloud, Advertising, Hardware, Geo, Retail, Google X and other product areas. Irving began his career in media investment at Mindshare.

Nina Kammer is a seasoned digital marketing expert with extensive experience in immersive web, open gaming world platforms and influencer marketing. With over a decade of experience, Nina is known for her successful contributions within the startup community. She is currently the SVP, Head of Sales at Super League. Previously, she was Head of Sales at Mobcrush and played a pivotal role in leading the mobile gaming platform to a successful acquisition. Prior to that she was the pioneering sales executive at Fullscreen, whose dedication and hard work over five years played a key role in the company’s acquisition by AT&T.


Earlier in her career, Nina held a host of sales, marketing and account executive positions at Digital Broadcast Group and Creative Artists Agency, among others. She holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing from Loyola University New Orleans.

Jack joins the IAB with over 20 years of experience at platforms, brands, and agencies leading global research and insights initiatives that foster smarter business decisions. An enthusiastic data-driven storyteller, he’s passionate about exploring the boundaries of research to elevate industry intelligence and strives to inspire action through insights.

Prior to joining the IAB Jack led and scaled global research, insights, and measurement teams at rapidly emerging digital media platforms including Microsoft, EA, LinkedIn, and Spotify. Most recently Jack was at Reddit, where he established the Marketing Sciences organization responsible for advancing ad measurement capabilities and partnerships, producing research amplifying industry awareness and understanding of online communities, and uncovering contextual insights and identifying audience trends that tell the world about their world.

Jack and his teams have accepted awards from industry bodies such as the Advertising Research Foundation and the Insights Association, and he’s had the pleasure of sharing research findings in publications and on industry stages around the globe. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, earning degrees from the Olin School of Business and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Noam Korin is the Vice President of Brand Partnerships at Overwolf, the guild for in-game creators. In this role, Noam is responsible for leading Overwolf’s direct partnerships with advertisers and their media agencies. With over 20 years of experience in educating brands on the power of innovative platforms to reach and engage gaming communities, Noam led companies like Playstation and Zynga to develop their advertising solutions and brand partnerships teams from the ground up.


Noam served as a founding member of the IAB UK Gaming Steering Group. He is also the winner of the Cannes Lion Award for Innovation (adidas) and the IAB UK Creative Showcase Award (Nike). 

Arisa Lagunzad is the media business development lead at Ubisoft San Francisco Office.


She has been with Ubisoft for 25 years, assuming different roles like producer, content acquisition, studio acquisition, and strategic sales and partnerships.


Arisa is working with dynamic ad tech partners for in-game ads implementations as well as brand partnership focused on Asia/ Japan. Arisa brings in the wealth of experiences in videogames industry, creativity and wide network

Kaci Lambeth is a Technical Program Manager at Niantic, where she manages the Augmented Reality (AR) Ads program across Niantic’s first party game titles including Pokémon GO and Monster Hunter Now. She works closely with advertisers and developers to bring immersive advertising to life with a focus on driving brand value and business impact.


Based in Palo Alto, California, Kaci has worked to build Niantic’s AR ad business from the ground up. Prior to Niantic, Kaci worked in Account Management at Remerge, MediaMath, and PMG.

Dave Madden is the President of PlayerWON®. PlayerWON® is the first engagement and monetization platform for Free to Play console, cloud gaming and PC video games, and EVP, Gaming and OTT for Simulmedia. He is responsible for extending the company’s advertising platform into console/PC video games and OTT platforms. Prior to joining Simulmedia, Dave was the SVP of Global Brand Partnerships at Electronic Arts. In his role with EA, he led the teams that managed all aspects of the game publisher’s sponsorships, in-game advertising solutions and brand partnerships, across mobile, PC, console and esports on a global basis, beginning in 2011. Before EA, Dave was a founding member and EVP of WildTangent, an innovative online games platform company. While at WildTangent, he and his team developed the first “rewarded ad” in video games, BrandBoost, which became the default ad model for mobile video games today. Earlier in his career, Dave was in health and sports publishing with Rodale Press.


A graduate of Princeton University, with a B.A. in History, Dave has done several rotations on the Board of Directors of the IAB and MMA, and also sits on the advisory board of the M-School at Loyola Marymount University.

Ashley McCollum is the Head of Immersive Media Solutions at Roblox where she leads the strategy and education for brands and agencies to help them find success with new media offerings at Roblox. She has been a disruptor and innovator in digital media for well over a decade. Most recently, she was SVP, Revenue & Partnerships at Westbrook Media where she helped grow the business by driving hundreds of deals across brands, platforms and studios.


Before Westbrook, she was an early employee at BuzzFeed, helping grow the business and brand for nearly 8 years. During her tenure, Ashley helped build and manage numerous businesses for the media brand including the beloved food brand Tasty from scratch, turning it into the largest single franchise on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram with over 75 billion views in just three years. She began her career at NBC as a Page and later joined the NBC News Marketing & Communication team.

Candice Mudrick is a Sr Product Manager for GeForce NOW and Graphics Delivery Network at NVIDIA. She has over twelve years of experience spanning gaming, hardware, and business, with a B.S. Electrical Engineering from UCSD and an MBA from the University of Oxford. Before joining NVIDIA, Candice was Head of Market Analysis at Newzoo in Amsterdam. She also spent time at Blizzard Entertainment and Qualcomm.

Ben brings over 10+ years of experience in consumer and marketing insights, as Senior Director for the video games and consumer tech verticals at YouGov, a global market research and analytics technology group. He began his illustrious career at the Publicis Groupe agencies Zenith and Optimedia; led video gaming and esports research at MRI-Simmons and served as Chairman for the Insights & Data Committee on the Esports Trade Association. Ben is frequently featured on the Business of Esports podcast along with various industry publications. He favors RPG Action/Adventure titles, but is currently a fan of Auto Battlers on his phone.

As the Head of Global Partner Programs at Roblox, Julie is responsible for growing and managing the Roblox Partner Program and enabling the platform’s key media partners to scale brand innovation and the global advertising ecosystem on Roblox. Julie works with partners closest to the Roblox ecosystem, including community developers, agencies and resellers, to ensure they are successful in growing platform education, research and measurement, brands’ product/content innovation, and Immersive Ads business.


Julie came to Roblox from Pinterest where she led agency and API partner strategy. Prior to joining Pinterest, she served in various sales leadership roles at a number of fast-growing startups: URX, Ampush, SocialChorus, and Mode Media. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California, San Diego.

Jorge Prado is a visionary entrepreneur and a dynamic leader. Co-founder of Admazing, the largest mobile gaming ad platform for brands. He possesses a deep understanding of the digital landscape and an unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional results for partners and clients.


Under Jorge’s leadership, Admazing has been recognized as an INC 5000 Fastest Growing Company and has established partnerships with several Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, Jorge co-founded Fastmind, dedicated to helping brands measure how their digital marketing impacts multichannel sales, and achieved international acclaim for creating the mobile game Wordie, one of the largest word games ever. Wordie reached the Top 10 charts in over 160 countries.


Jorge has received several awards and recognitions for his work, including being named one of the Top 50 Power Leaders by IESA, earning the Best Mobile Game Developer honor from Google, being deemed Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016 by DLA, and being selected as an International Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2019.


Furthermore, Jorge passionately advocates diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. He actively supports initiatives promoting equality and empowerment, demonstrating his commitment to positively impacting the world around him.

Amanda is a seasoned media and marketing executive with over a decade of experience driving growth and innovation across the digital, gaming, and entertainment sectors. As Chief Revenue Officer at Wildfire, she leads efforts to connect brands with passionate, super-engaged Discord communities by placing them inside of the conversation through thoughtful content tactics. Her focus is on simplifying the process for brands to engage audiences in authentic, meaningful ways.

Before joining Wildfire, Amanda spent nearly five years at Enthusiast Gaming, where she played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s advertising division as EVP, Growth. She oversaw sales, marketing, operations, and strategic partnerships, playing an instrumental part in the company becoming the largest gaming media lifestyle platform in North America with four consecutive years of revenue growth. Amanda pioneered innovative solutions that helped brands tap into the growing influence of gaming culture, focused on content relevance in the gaming ecosystem—spanning esports, content creators, and gaming media platforms—while driving engagement with Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

Amanda is known for her strategic vision, passion for innovation, and hands-on approach to leadership that enables her to break down barriers in order to achieve success. She is highly respected for her ability to be assertive in order to build relationships and create forward-thinking strategies that push the boundaries of what’s possible in advertising.

For the past 16+ years Randy Shaffer has served as Senior Director of Xbox for Yahoo where he has connected some of the world’s most iconic brands with highly-engaged audiences across Xbox.


Shaffer is a gaming enthusiast with more than 90,000 Xbox achievements. He was recently named one of the top 15 Microsoft Advertising Executives driving the company’s ambitious advertising strategy by Business Insider.


Shaffer holds a BA in Advertising Account Management from Chapman University in Orange County. When he is not working, Shaffer enjoys spending time with his wife and son, playing video games, road cycling, and pickleball.

Matt Sharpe serves as Creative Director, Advertising at Zynga, where he helps guide campaigns for brand partners across the company’s portfolio of titles. He is a 15 year veteran of the tech and advertising space with a focus on creating engaging experiences for audiences.

A seasoned research, measurement and insights leader with over 15 years experience, Jordan Shlacter leads research for Activision Blizzard Media. In this role, Jordan oversees the entire research function for Activision Blizzard’s advertising business, developing industry-leading thought leadership and delivering world-class measurement solutions. Previously Jordan was Head of US Measurement for Pinterest and Chief Marketing Sciences Officer at PHD. Jordan has also held senior research positions at Twitter, UM, Nielsen and Yahoo.

For 20 years Tom has founded, built, led and invested in tech companies across gaming, marketing, and data plus AI. With two major exits, and success both in Asia and globally, Tom has a strong track record in creating winning businesses. In 2023 Tom joined global GameTech company Livewire as Chief Executive Officer. Charged with accelerating global brands into gaming, the focus is simple: building and acquiring the strategic, tech, data and creative capabilities to help marketers win in this new paradigm. Tom is also a prominent industry speaker globally having delivered keynotes at ATS, Campaign, AdWeek and MMA events.

Derek J. Smith comes to IAB with over twenty years of experience in the educational and nonprofit industries. As an Experiential Educator, Derek has utilized the classroom and nonprofit spaces to encourage innovation through the creation of technology-forward programs, leadership development workshops, writing and teaching curricula, organizational operations, and serving others! Most recently, Derek was an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Haven, where he taught Esports Basics, an introductory course to the world of esports. Previous positions also include an Educator for Teach For America; a Guidance Counselor for Texas public schools, and Executive Director for A House on Beekman.


Derek has a Bachelor’s in Communication, a Master’s in Educational Counseling, and will attain a Master’s in Esports Business and Management from the University of New Haven next summer. Derek enjoys spending time with his three children, designing bowties, and simracing (virtual car racing) on the weekends.

Bruna holds a degree in Public Relations, with specializations in Marketing and Corporate Finance, and boasts over 13 years of experience in the gaming industry. For the past eleven years, she has been part of Ubisoft in a position of Director for Global Brand Partnerships.


She collaborated with renowned companies such as Coca-Cola, MAC Cosmetics, Nestlé, McDonald´s, Sony Pictures and others.


In 2022, Bruna was selected as a juror for the Clio Awards for Gaming. Additionally, she currently teaches a post-graduation course on “Business in the Gaming Industry” at ESPM in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Zoe Soon has 10+ years of experience building products in technology-driven businesses with a heavy focus on mobile. Six years ago Zoe flew 21 hours from Sydney to NYC for a 30min coffee meeting which led to her first job in NYC. Since then she’s worked with three major New York based media companies, The New York Times, Condé Nast and Business Insider on projects ranging from location-based apps to paywalls. Zoe began her career as a user researcher and UX design consultant working with three of the top five banks in Australia. She was then hired to establish a user insights practice at Fairfax Media, a leading Australian news and media conglomerate. Here she led the user research for the flagship news apps which won Best Mobile News Product at the 2012 Australian Mobile Awards and went on to become product lead for the news sites. In this role she launched a content paywall and a unified user data system to diversify revenue and enable more targeted marketing.

Prior to joining the IAB Zoe was General Manager of apps and email at Business Insider where she was charged with defining the go-to market strategy for these platforms. In this role Zoe launched Insider Inc’s first OTT apps across Apple, Amazon Fire and Roku offering advertisers cross-platform video digital distribution and access to an audience that generates over 2 billion views each month.

Zoe has a Masters in Organizational Psychology and lives in New York. She enjoys burning pancakes, Cuban salsa dancing and talking to strangers in line.

Shahar Sorek is the Chief Marketing Officer at Overwolf, the guild for in-game creators. In this role, Shahar is responsible for leading marketing initiatives, overseeing investor relations, and executing fund investments. With over 15 years of experience in the games and technology industry, Shahar has founded and managed leading startups including 7 Elements Studios, a game studio specializing in massive-multiplayer-online strategy games. Shahar has also held advisory positions at GK8, Flytrex and Treebute.io, and previously worked as a creative producer and actor in Hollywood and Israel. He is a former five-time Israeli national champion in Taekwondo.

Andrew is a Partner at Fixated Studios, leading the charge in merging gaming, technology, and entertainment to drive the company’s growth and commercial initiatives. He co-founded Ader, a pioneering media and talent management company in Esports, known for bridging brands with the global gaming community through innovative campaigns.


Andrew boasts a rich history in the media industry with roles at major companies like FOX Broadcasting, NBC Universal, ESPN, and the Walt Disney Company’s gaming department, emphasizing his expertise in Esports and live activations. His diverse experience extends to strategic advisory positions across gaming and tech startups.


An alumnus of California State Polytechnic University-Pomona with a BS in Business Administration, Andrew’s personal passions include gaming, drone piloting, travel, and supporting the Denver Broncos.

Alnese Thomas is the Sr. Brand Manager for the Bomb Pop brand at Wells Enterprise. She is a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, including strategic planning, innovation, communications, and brand development. She has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing Management from Virginia Tech and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin. Alnese has overseen the marketing efforts of leading brands, including PayDay, Kit Kat, Laffy Taffy, and Now & Later. Her greatest accomplishment in these roles is developing beloved candy, including Hot Cocoa Kisses, Chocolatey PayDay, Birthday Cake KitKat, and Laff Bites.

Louis is an accomplished sales leader with over two decades of experience in Digital Media, specializing in Gaming, Entertainment, and Esports. As the Vice President of Sales at Bent Pixels, he drives strategic partnerships and revenue growth through paid media and custom content across the Bent Pixels YouTube Network, Esports Teams, Talent Agencies, Brands, and Media Agencies.


Before joining Bent Pixels, Louis held key roles at IGN, Maker Studios, and the Walt Disney Company, where he led sales teams that consistently achieved remarkable year-over-year growth. He earned his BA from Vanderbilt University.

Prior to joining SuperAwesome, Walters was founder and CEO of Hopster, the app that helps kids learn through the stories they love. Founded by Walters in late 2012, the Hopster app grew to serve eight languages and over 100 countries, topping the App Store grossing charts in over 20 markets. Before founding Hopster, Walters spent six years at Viacom International Media Networks.

Greg Wester, SVP Marketing, leads Consumer Research, PR, Content Marketing and Digital Marketing functions at Digital Turbine. Greg has worked in mobile and digital/interactive media for +30 years, bringing a penchant for numerical storytelling to sales enablement and market awareness building efforts. Prior to Digital Turbine, Greg was CMO at Mobile Posse and has held leadership positions at the Yankee Group and Organic Online. As a prior Internet analyst, his insights on market trends have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, and CNNfn. He has spoken at more than 50 conferences.

Jason is a creator economy executive and OG creator who started in 2011. Jason has worked with hundreds of creators over the years, including Reaction Time, Infinite, Swagg, Josh Richards, Bryce Hall, and many others. He was initially headed for law school, a career in the FBI, and, eventually, politics. However, his love of gaming and his keen business skills led him into the world of entertainment and Esports, eventually launching TalentX, one of the fastest-growing talent management firms in the world. He also founded the Sway House, one of the biggest TikTok collectives in the world, with stars like Noah Beck, Bryce Hall, and Josh Richards. He then led the efforts for TalentX to be successfully acquired by RektGlobal. Jason is now embarking on a new journey to build the gold standard company of the digital space with his partners called FIXATED.

Bill Young is a games industry veteran located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bill started with Twitch in 2016 as the Global Head of Sponsorships and Strategic Partnerships, with a focus on esports. As Head of Games, Twitch & BPS @ Amazon, Bill works across both Twitch and Amazon to help align strategy and approach between departments where game developers, publishers, and non-endemic brands intersect. Bill also presents a primer on the expanded gaming ecosystem called GamerU for holding companies, advertising agencies, and direct brands to help demystify gaming generally, as well as gamers themselves. Prior to Twitch and Amazon, Bill ran the in-and-around advertising team at Electronic Arts, and was on the launch teams for Shockwave.com, 1UP.com, Massive Inc., and MaxPlay. Bill is a “Top Voice” in gaming and technology for LinkedIn, and is frequently featured by their editorial team for topics such as Metaverse, AI, AR & VR, Entertainment, Media, and of course, Video Games. Bill is also Co-Chair of the IAB Gaming & Esports board, and a member of their Metaverse board as well.