IAB Women Visionaries

As EVP of Industry Initiatives at IAB, Anna Bager spearheads the strategic oversight of the digital media and marketing industries’ most vital and fastest growing platforms which include mobile, digital video, audio, measurement, and data. Under her leadership, she brings together and drives growth for three of the organizations’ paramount centers of excellence: The IAB Mobile Center, representing the mobile marketing, advertising, and media marketplace; The Digital Video Center, encompassing Advanced TV, OTT, and The Digital Content NewFronts, and The Data Center, developing consumer identifiers, data quality, industry benchmarks, and tools for data activation and automation. She is a driving force in building a one-stop shop for producing thought leadership, innovation, research, and best practices for these thriving industries.

Prior to joining the IAB, Bager was heading business intelligence at Ericsson Multimedia and head of research at Ericsson’s Business Consulting unit. Earlier, she was Research and Consulting Manager for IDC EMEA. Anna has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including being named “Most Important Women in Mobile Advertising” for Business Insider, and one of the “Top Women in Media” by Folio Mag for the past consecutive five years.

Galyn is the co-founder and co-CEO of Primary, a children’s clothing brand on a mission to help every child dress with confidence. Founded by two moms, the brand offers a curated assortment of classic, gender-neutral styles in a rainbow of colors and patterns for babies and kids size 0-12. The entire collection is made from soft, Oeko-Tex certified (or better than organic), premium fabrics and are delivered to customers pre-washed.

Galyn was previously VP of Retail at Quidsi (acquired by Amazon in 2010), where she launched and ran three brands for kids specializing in toys, books, and sporting goods. Prior to Quidsi she held various strategy and marketing roles at Cole Haan, Kraft Foods, and The Walt Disney Company. Galyn is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Princeton University.

Lynn Branigan has what she calls “the job of a lifetime.” As President and CEO of She Runs It – formerly Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) – Lynn’s mission is to pave the way for more women to lead at each stage of their careers in marketing, media and tech. In that pursuit, Lynn works closely with corporate executives, influencers, mentors and sponsors across the industry to develop programs that empower women to achieve their professional goals.

Lynn joined AWNY in 2012, and immediately embarked with her Board of Directors on a journey to reimagine the organization. Recognizing the industry had become more than just advertising, and more than just New York, they looked to rebrand the organization, expand into new geography, and refresh the mission.

Fast forward to 2019.

• The Chicago chapter of She Runs It was created in the Fall of 2016 and is already more than 1,200 members strong. She Runs It will offer programming on the west coast over the course of the next year.
• The organization was rebranded from Advertising Women of NY (AWNY) to She Runs It, a move that was announced during Advertising Week in September 2016, and quickly became part of industry vernacular.
• Lynn orchestrated an alliance between She Runs It and Diversity Best Practices to the launch the Inclusion and Diversity Accountability Consortium (IDAC). IDAC launched in December 2017 with a goal of creating a more inclusive workforce across the marketing, media and tech. Twenty corporate members have committed to the fundamental principles of the consortium: measurement (the first tool of its kind in our industry), dialogue and action.

Prior to She Runs It

Lynn’s career has spanned digital media roles in entrepreneurial and corporate environments.

Early in her career she was a digital pioneer who worked for one of the first online services (Prodigy).

She then served as the Founding Partner of one of the industry’s first digital agencies – which was sold and went public after seven successful years.

She then moved on to become the Vice President of Marketing for Washington Post Digital, and then for the Online Publishers Association (now Digital Content Next), before joining AWNY in 2012.

Lynn is a proud graduate of Boston College and received her MBA at NYU. She has two grown children, loves racquet sports and anything on the water. She lives in Larchmont, NY with her husband George.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Jennifer Catto oversees the Company’s global marketing, communications, and research initiatives.
Jennifer is an award-winning media executive with over 15 years of leadership experience at both emerging and established companies. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing at Evolve Media where she led marketing strategy, video production, and research and insights, across the company’s three publishing divisions, Crave Online, TotallyHer, and Martini Media. Prior to that she was Vice President, Head of Branded Entertainment and Partnerships at Say Media where she directed a new agency model that married programmatic capabilities with integrated marketing for the entertainment industry. Earlier in her career, Jennifer served as Creative Development Director at Condé Nast where she developed television, video, and digital advertising programs.
She began her career as a founding member of Site59.com, which was acquired by Travelocity for its yield-management platform.
Jennifer is a graduate of Middlebury College.

Lynda Clarizio has spent the last 18 years as a successful executive in the media industry growing and scaling businesses with a particular focus on data and technology. From 2013 thru 2017, she was the President of Nielsen U.S. Media, responsible for leading the performance of Nielsen’s U.S. Watch business providing media and advertiser clients with measurement and marketing effectiveness solutions across television, digital, audio and other media. Prior to Nielsen, she was Executive Vice President for corporate development and operations at AppNexus, a leading programmatic advertising platform. Before joining AppNexus, she was the CEO and President of INVISION, Inc., a leading provider of multi-platform advertising solutions. Clarizio previously had a decade-long career at AOL, which she joined in 1999. She was the President of AOL’s consolidated advertising businesses, then called Platform-A. She also served as the President of Advertising.com, then the industry’s largest third party online advertising network. She was Executive Vice President of AOL’s audience business responsible for strategy, finance and business development, and also AOL’s Senior Vice President for corporate strategic and financial planning and Senior Vice President for acquisitions and strategic investments. Prior to joining AOL, Clarizio was a partner in the leading Washington, D.C. law firm Arnold & Porter, where she practiced law from 1987 thru 1999.

Clarizio is a recognized leader in advertising and media, having been named one of 2017’s “50 Most Powerful Women in New York” by Crain’s, one of 2011’s top 100 “Tech Titans” in the Washington, DC region by The Washingtonian, one of 2009’s “25 Executives to Watch in Digital Entertainment” by Digital Media Wire, and one of 2008’s “Women to Watch” by Advertising Age. She also was selected one of 1998’s “Top 40 Lawyers Under 40” by The Washingtonian.

Clarizio is a member of the boards of directors of CDW, Adjust GmbH, Resonate, OpenSlate and Human Rights First. She is a 1985 graduate of Harvard Law School and a 1982 graduate of Princeton University.

Beth Comstock is a change maker. Her mission is to understand what’s next, navigate change and help people and organizations do the same. By cultivating a habit of seeking out new ideas, people and places, she built a career path from storyteller to chief marketer to GE Vice Chair.

In nearly three decades at GE, she led efforts to accelerate new growth and innovation, initiated GE’s digital and clean-energy transformation, seeded new businesses and enhanced GE’s brand value and inventive culture. As President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal, Beth oversaw TV ad revenue and new digital efforts, including the early development of hulu.com.

Beth is a director at Nike, trustee of The National Geographic Society and former board president of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in biology.

Her first book, Imagine it Forward, is about working (and living) on the front lines of change.

Nicole founded Worn in 2010 and grew it from a print publication into a full service creative agency. She was born into a family of entrepreneurs from Mexico and Argentina, and grew up in L.A. She has been an entrepreneur since the day she graduated from George Washington University. She speaks four languages and her life’s passion is empowering women in business.

Worn is a mission-based creative agency for women-led companies and initiatives. We’re passionate about working with women and men who are creating products and companies that are changing the world for women. You may have seen some of our work with clients like: Women.NYC, Bumble, and Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Campaign.

Paula is the Director of Partner and Strategic Marketing at Oculus. Highly-respected in the video gaming and tech industries where she has worked for 20+ years, Paula perpetually strives to build highly-inclusive places to work and experiences to enjoy. She is co-founder of the Oculus VR for Good Program, and has executive produced more than a dozen short films focused on social issues that have premiered at Sundance, Tribeca, SxSW and more. Paula envisioned, created, and produced Oculus Connect, the number one global virtual reality developers conference, now in it’s fifth year. Paula supports the growth of female and URG VR developers in the industry by expanding the developer ecosystem through dedicated diversity programming initiatives which engage, educate, and produce content by underrepresented communities in entertainment and technology.

Kathleen Dundas
With a goal of continuing to strengthen and future-proof Zenith’s forward leaning capabilities and client acumen, Kathleen Dundas leads the US team as President of Data Strategy.
Bringing over 15+ years of expertise across multiple facets of the industry, Kathleen will focus on connecting Mar-tech, Meas-ops, Strategy, Analytics and Measurement to build smarter, more cohesive and comprehensive data solutions for clients.

Kathleen has previously led as Neustar’s Vice President of Global Agency Partnership, AOL’s Global Head of Agency, and Executive Vice President, and Managing Director at the former Starcom MediaVest Group where she worked on Microsoft, Mondelez, and Procter and Gamble in her 12-year tenure.

Beth-Ann Eason is President of Innovid overseeing Innovid’s global sales, marketing, and client services teams. Previously, she held several executive roles at Condé Nast, including SVP, Digital Development and SVP/GM of Epicurious. She was part of an exclusive group inducted into the AAF Hall of Achievement. She is a founding member of W.O.M.E.N., a professional women’s mentoring program and served on the boards for the Online Publishers Association, the IAB, the AAF, and the Advertising Club of New York.

JoAnna Foyle is the Chief Operating Officer for OpenSlate. She is responsible for bringing organizational rigor and scale to the company while directly managing several functions including Client Success, Video Platforms Strategy, Business Operations, Human Resources, and General Counsel.

JoAnna served most recently as Senior Vice President, Enterprise Platform Services at AOL, where she managed the division responsible for activating, servicing, and supporting customers of AOL’s SaaS platform, ONE by AOL for Advertisers.
JoAnna came to AOL via the Adap.tv acquisition, where she led the company’s North American Client Services and Ad Operations organization, delivering exemplary service and driving technology adoption across hundreds of brand, agency, portal, ad network, and publisher clients.
JoAnna spent the first half of her career working in digital agencies including MPG | Media Contacts and Carat Fusion with a focus on media and account leadership. She would then go on to work in media and technology companies like Yahoo!, Rapt, and Microsoft. Prior to joining Adap.tv, JoAnna served as VP, Marketing at FreeWheel, creating and building the brand for the publisher-focused video technology company acquired by Comcast.

JoAnna is based in New York where she lives with her husband and three dogs.

Stephanie Fried is executive vice president of research, analytics and audience development at Condé Nast, leading custom insights, sales research, analytics, digital marketing and social/newsletter/SEO across Condé’s portfolio of brands. Fried, who acts as co-chair of the IAB Research Council, joined Condé Nast from Discovery Communications were she was vice president, digital insights and marketing, and oversaw all research and marketing functions across the digital organization.

Prior to Discovery Communications, Fried served as vice president, research insights and analytics at VEVO. She has also held senior positions at NBCUniversal and BuzzBack Market Research, an online consumer market research firm. Stephanie has a BA with honors from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

As President, Data Practice for Epsilon, Stacey is responsible for Epsilon’s suite of data solutions. She and her team help clients create omni-channel marketing strategies that drive business growth. Stacey’s leadership has driven the company’s Data division to unprecedented levels of growth and customer satisfaction. Stacey also works across Epsilon’s Agency, Automotive, Technology and Conversant practices to develop new data-driven solutions acting as a key decision-maker on Epsilon’s executive leadership team.

Stacey has kept her pulse on the data industry for more than 18 years helping clients across verticals determine how data can be incorporated into new and pre-existing marketing solutions. Stacey uses data as a differentiator to help clients make better decisions and address the business challenges of today’s leading brands. She is passionate about helping brands find new customers and drive loyalty within their existing customer base.

Stacey was recently names Direct Marketer of the Year by the Taylor Institute and in 2017 Stacey was named a Woman to Watch by Ad Age and an IAB Data Rockstar for her contributions to the industry, demonstrated excellence in data science and for driving women forward in business.
In 2016 she was awarded a Stevie Award for Women in Business and was honored by Folio as a Top Woman in Media in the category of Industry Leadership in 2014. Stacey was a “Who’s Who” in B2B Marketing in 2005 and 2006.

Stacey is an active leader and speaker in the marketing industry and is passionate about helping women in leadership overcome the challenges they face. In 2017 Stacey co-founded Epsilon’s Women in Leadership initiative which now has participation from over 1,200 women across the globe. Each year she mentors an up and coming woman in the company.

Stacey serves on the Board of Directors for Denver Urban Scholars, a not-for-profit agency in Denver that helps keep at-risk youth in school and help them prepare for college or career.

Stacey holds an MBA from the University of Louisville.

Jessica Hogue was recently appointed to Senior Vice President, Digital Solutions at
Nielsen, where she will lead the Digital Client Sales and Service teams to serve
broadcaster, publisher and platform clients reflecting the evolving media landscape.
Prior to the role, she lead the Product Leadership team roll out and market adoption of
Nielsen’s Total Audience measurement system. As a recognized expert in cross-media,
she is responsible for key industry initiatives including developing standardized,
comparable metrics and evolving currency. She interacts with all facets of the marketing
and media ecosystem, including media owners, agencies and brand advertisers, to help
them maximize value from Nielsen measurement. Within Nielsen, she has operated
across a range of functions including strategy, technology, product design and execution,
marketing and communications.

During her tenure as a Client Business Partner, she led Nielsen’s engagement with a
strategic data partner and managed Nielsen’s relationship with a leading media
conglomerate. She also led a high-performing digital team serving the major broadcast
and cable networks in the US. In these roles, she has delivered consumer insights and
data-driven innovations to navigate the fragmented media landscape. She led
negotiations resulting in long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships and engagements,
and built relationships with corporate decision makers and C-level executives.
Jessica’s passion for disruptive technologies and their impact on consumer behavior first
drew her to Nielsen. She joined in 2007 after the acquisition of BuzzMetrics (later NM
Incite) and was on the lead team developing social and digital strategies for clients in the
FMCG sector, including P&G, Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Pepsico, Clorox, Colgate and
Kimberly-Clark. An analyst at heart, she pioneered research techniques in social listening.
Her achievements led to hallmark studies, including the Power Moms Digital Influencer
Study, which quantified the influence of bloggers and social enthusiasts, digital habits of
women, and sustainability trends. She also contributed to Nielsen’s early work in
e-commerce and consumer segmentation.

She holds a BA in English from Pepperdine University, a Masters of Science from
Columbia University School of Journalism, and an Executive MBA from the Jack Welch
Management Institute. She is an avid reader, running enthusiast and proud mother of
two.

Lindsay Kaplan is co-founder of Chief, a VC-backed startup focused on driving exceptional women into power and keeping them there. Prior to Chief, Lindsay was the VP of Communications and Brand at Casper, where she helped scale the brand into a $300M+ global business. Lindsay began her career in publishing, working in communications and marketing at Oxford University Press, Time Out New York, and ELLE. She jumped into the agency world at Publicis, before taking a sharp turn into Silicon Alley to bring numerous startups to market. She was named to PR Week’s 40 Under 40, Brand Innovators 40 Under 40, and Business Insider’s Most Innovative CMOs in the World.

Bringing 30 years of industry experience in marketing and communications, Marla joined the 4A’s in May 2017 to help define and shape the future focus for the association. Under her leadership, the 4A’s purpose is to help empower its members to deliver insightful creativity that drives commerce, and influences culture all while moving the industry forward.

As the former CEO of MEC North America, beginning in 2011, Marla drove the agency’s strategic initiatives with a focus on delivering growth for its people, clients and the industry. Marla led MEC to become a major disruptor in the area of talent management with its innovative approaches to attracting, nurturing and retaining the industry’s top talent. MEC NA was cited in Fortune’s “Great Places to Work” feature and was named in Advertising Age’s “Best Places to Work in Advertising and Marketing” in 2015.

Prior to joining MEC, Marla spent 12 years at Mediavest, where she oversaw the Procter & Gamble Communications Planning assignment for North America, and previously managed a multi-client team. Marla began her career at DMB&B before moving to Ammirati Puris Lintas. Marla serves on the Boards of The Ad Council, Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC), Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), and Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).

Marla is a member of the Women’s Forum of New York. She was recognized by Advertising Age as a ‘Woman to Watch’ in 2012 and was honored by The John A. Reisenbach Foundation in 2016, receiving the Distinguished Citizen Award.

Tara Walpert Levy leads the Americas’ business organization for YouTube and is also responsible for YouTube’s global content verticals, ranging from Shopping to Gaming to News. Tara previously led Agency and Brand Solutions for Google and YouTube and was responsible for Google’s advertising and technology business with the third-party ecosystem: agencies, consultants, channel marketing partners, and trade associations. Tara came to Google in 2011 to help bridge Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley by leading Ads Marketing.

Prior to Google, Tara was the President of Visible World (acquired by Comcast NBCU), building the technology infrastructure and SaaS company into the leading addressable TV platform. She was also a leader of the Global Media & Entertainment and Sales & Marketing practices at McKinsey & Company.

Tara currently chairs the Advisory Board for Next Gen Board Leaders and serves on the boards of Bloomin’ Brands, Inc., a restaurant chain holding company, and Braze, a SaaS marketing technology business. She is committed to giving back to the industry and is an active board member of the Ad Council, MAKERS, and The Female Quotient. She is also a past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and a member of the board of the John Reisenbach Foundation.

Tara writes and speaks frequently on the shifting marketing, media, and technology landscape, the evolving responsibility and impact of private and public boards, and the value of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. She has been inducted into the AAF Advertising Hall of Achievement, identified as a dMexco Global Trailblazer, and named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.”

Tara is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children.

Jesus Mantas is the global leader of Strategy, Offerings, Technology Assets and M&A for IBM Global Business Services (GBS), a $17B unit of IBM. He is responsible for driving innovation and embedding Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, IoT, Cloud, Quantum computing and Data Science in GBS offerings and services to create exponential value for clients. Recently, Jesus established GBS Ventures to expand client joint-ventures, develop innovation ecosystems and enhance internal innovation efficiency. Jesus is a member of GBS’ Global Operating and Global Executive Teams, IBM’s chairman acceleration team and co-chairs the IBM Hispanic diversity council. He is passionate about technology, leadership development, diversity, inclusion, and the development of learning agility to enable clients to reinvent themselves. He is sought after by client C- suite for advice on leveraging technology for digital, business model, talent and leadership transformation.

Prior to his current role, Jesus held IBM various global P&L leadership positions during the last 10 years. As the global leader of Cognitive Process Transformation growth platform and IBM Business Consulting unit, he set up the world’s largest cognitive consulting practice. He lived in Sao Paulo for 4 years and led IBM Latin America Global Business services through 17 quarters of consecutive growth. Jesus joined IBM from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a partner in the High Technology Practice, and a lecturer at the University of California Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business. Prior to moving to the U.S. from Spain, his native country, he worked at P&G in Madrid. He has a Master’s degree in Telecommunications and Software Engineering, a Business Administration degree from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain and served as an officer in the Air Force of Spain. He earned the “Great Minds in STEM” 2017 Corporate Executive Excellence Award in North America.

Melissa Mash is cofounder and CEO of Dagne Dover. Previously, Melissa worked at Coach managing its brick-and-mortar and e-commerce accounts, before being promoted to lead the turn-around at Coach’s first EU/UK store. During that time, she saw an immense opportunity for a high-quality brand with classic silhouettes and smartly-designed interior pockets at a compelling pricepoint. That brand became Dagne Dover. Melissa currently leads business development, recruiting, investor relations and retail partnerships for the company. Melissa has a MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a BA from NYU.

Egle Mazonaite is a performance Media Director at Merkle, overseeing paid search and display campaigns for clients in the retail, travel, and non-profit verticals. Outside of digital strategy and client delivery, Egle has a passion for team management, coaching, and mentoring those around her. Egle is a long-standing member of the Merkle team and has played a critical role in driving and nurturing our local office culture in Charlottesville. She co-leads new hire training, is an active leader in our diversity and inclusion efforts, and, through her close partnership with Google, was one of the founding members of the #iamremarkable initiative at Merkle. Her personal journey has helped her develop a unique perspective: Egle was born and raised in Lithuania, where she completed her bachelor’s degree at Vilnius University. She moved to the United States a little over 10 years ago to pursue her master’s degree at UNC Charlotte. For the last few years, Egle and her husband have lived in rural Virginia. One of their favorite recent traditions is a Saturday morning music class with their three-year-old daughter, Sofija.

One of the “50 vital leaders in tech, media and marketing,” according to Adweek, Kirk is the CEO of GroupM North America (NA) where he leads 6,500 people passionate about shaping the next era of media where advertising works better for people. A member of GroupM’s Global Leadership Team, he is a key player in championing GroupM’s strategy to work with agency and GroupM leadership in the region to use its scale in providing more powerful and effective solutions for clients through the development of technology-enabled services.

With $17.6 billion in media investment billings across the U.S. and Canada, GroupM owns a 22% market share in the world’s largest region. Kirk is particularly driven to help GroupM lead the way in driving real change across the industry to find a new balance of making advertising less interruptive and a valued part of the media experience. He also believes that, as the desire for brands to play their part in leading the way toward real change grows stronger, GroupM is the one to help clients be authentic and bold in this moment.

Kirk served as the Global CEO of Choreograph, and was responsible for launching WPP’s global data company which brought together over 700 technologists, product developers, and data scientists. Kirk and Choreograph focused on helping marketers and brands realize the value of their first party data in the fast-changing data landscape.

Kirk joined GroupM from WarnerMedia’s Xandr where he most recently served as Chief Business Officer in charge of the go to market functions including sales, communications, product marketing, and marketing strategy and execution after holding the role of Chief Marketing Officer for nearly two years.

Prior to AT&T, Kirk was President of PubMatic, the marketing automation software company, and held roles with Time Inc., Fortune|MoneyGroup and CNET Networks, among others.

Throughout his career, Kirk received many accolades including being named to Ebony Magazine’s Power 100 list in 2018, Adweek’s 2014 “12 Stars of Ad Tech Who are Building the Future of the Industry Right Now” list and Business Insider’s 2014 “The 46 Most Important African-Americans in Technology” list, among others.

Kirk is a founding member of the Black Executive CMO Alliance (BECA). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Elanco (NYSE: ELAN), and is a member of the prestigious Executive Leadership Council. He also serves on several other professional and not-for-profit boards including the Ad Council, Advertising Week Advisory Council, and is the co-chair of MOUSE/CI.

Dyllan McGee is a two-time Emmy-award winning filmmaker and Founder and Executive Producer of MAKERS. She is also the Founder of McGee Media, a documentary film company dedicated to producing content that inspires a more fair and equitable world. Executive Producer credits include: MAKERS: Once & For All (AOL/Amazon); Emmy Award-nominated, Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise (PBS); Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (PBS); Emmy Award-nominated 6-part MAKERS series on women in space, Hollywood, politics, war, comedy, and business (AOL/PBS); Emmy Award-nominated documentary, Gloria: In Her Own Words (HBO); Emmy and Peabody Award-winning, The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross (PBS); Emmy Award-winning, Teddy: In His Own Words (HBO); Oprah’s Roots (PBS); and Emmy-nominated, In Memoriam; 9/11/01 (HBO). In 2014, McGee was presented with the New York Women in Communications’ Matrix Award and the Planned Parenthood Visionary award for her work preserving women’s stories. She served on the boards of The Gordon Parks Foundation and The Taft School. She lives in Waccabuc, NY, with her husband and two feminist sons.

Joanne McKinney is Chief Executive Officer for Burns Group and founder of BGIN, Burns Group’s start-up accelerator. Joanne joined the Burns Group in 2010 as Chief Strategy Officer and built a thriving brand consultancy as well as the co-creation practice and platform, BrandInformers(™), which is at the center of Burns Group’s approach. In 2015, Joanne founded BGIN – a new venture focused on bringing essential branding skills to startups, and the bravery of a startup to legacy brands. In early 2019, Joanne was named one of 24 global agency innovators by The Internationalist, in recognition of her transformative work in the industry.

Over the course of her career, Joanne has worked in innovation, advertising and marketing on diverse and global brands both in the U.S. and abroad. Joanne started her career at Grey Advertising serving Procter & Gamble, and joined the Burns Group following her move back to the U.S. from Belgium, where she served as Interim Director of Integrated Marketing for Kraft Europe. Earlier in her career, Joanne was a pioneer in the U.S. mobile industry, cofounding a mobile agency in 2003, that created some of the first integrated mobile marketing campaigns in the U.S. market.

Outside of the workplace, Joanne is the Director of Through The Eyes of Children (www.camerakids.photos), an organization that empowers vulnerable children around the world to tell their stories through photography. Since 2003 she has participated in annual photographic workshops in Rwanda, produced and toured the student’s photography in exhibits around the world and spoken at genocide memorial events at museums and at the United Nations. Her work with TTEC was featured in The Wall Street Journal in 2014. She is currently producing a documentary film called “Camera Kids”.

Joanne serves on the Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Cornell University, her alma mater, and is a repeat guest lecturer at Harvard and Cornell and a speaker at industry events, such as Social Media Week, TMRE and more.

Joanne splits her time between NYC and Old Greenwich, CT with her husband, two sons, and a Belgian dog named Frere.

Shabnam Mogharabi is CEO of SoulPancake, the award-winning digital media and entertainment company founded by actor Rainn Wilson, now a division of Participant Media. SoulPancake is dedicated to exploring “Life’s Big Questions” by creating joyful, uplifting, and inspiring content about the human experience. They produce 30-40 hours of content annually, distributed via social, TV, and OTT platforms, and also produce live events and branded engagements.

Shabnam oversees SoulPancake’s operations, and under her leadership, the company has more than quadrupled its revenue, amassed more than 9 million fans and 300 million video views, and engaged a robust demographic of Optimistic Millennials.

Shabnam is a co-author of the New York Times bestselling book “SoulPancake: Chew on Life’s Big Questions”. She is a member of the 2016 class of the Henry Crown Fellowship, and a sought-after public speaker. Prior to joining SoulPancake in 2009, she was an award-winning journalist and magazine editor and holds degrees from USC and Northwestern University.

In September 2018, Irina Novoselsky was appointed Chief Executive Officer of CareerBuilder, which was acquired by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management in July 2017. She initially joined in October 2017 as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Under her leadership, CareerBuilder is transforming from a legacy job board advertising business to a subscription SaaS business grounded in AI-driven solutions for the human capital industry. Working with her senior executive team and the Company’s 3,000 employees, Novoselsky has driven margin increases and reignited revenue growth. Prior to joining CareerBuilder, Novoselsky served as the President of Novitex, managing the full P&L of the 7,500 employee company and working with the leadership team to transform the company from a declining document services business to a technology-enabled, digital services company. She joined Novitex with Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of the company on October 1, 2013. Over four years, Novitex experienced a 400-basis point improvement in EBITDA margin. The company, which had declining revenues in the initial years of ownership, dramatically realigned the sales strategy and had double-digit signings growth and top-line growth starting in 2017. The transformation culminated in February 2017 when Novitex was sold for approximately $2.8 billion generating high returns on capital for Apollo’s investors. Previously, Novoselsky served as Head of Business Development and interim Chief Financial Officer of Novitex. Prior to Novitex, she was an Investment Strategist at Dubin & Co., an investment professional at Apollo Global Management in the Private Equity Group and an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in the M&A group. Novoselsky is a member of YPO. She was named Female Executive of the Year by Stevie® Award for Women in Business in 2014 and 2015 and recognized in Crain’s 40 Under 40 in 2018. She graduated magna cum laude from the Stern School of Business at New York University. She is fluent in Russian.

Haley currently oversees strategy & innovation on the Diageo and J.M. Smuckers portfolios. During her time at Carat, Haley has become an integral part of the team; leading the strategic direction of Carat, providing thought leadership, and collaborating with clients, media partners, and creative agencies on projects that impact client’s businesses in the long term. Since joining the agency, Haley has also worked on and won several new business pitches, and leads Carat’s Culture initiatives. While she was at P&G for eight years previously, Haley led consumer and brand insights on global and regional brands, giving her the experience of creating innovation pipelines, consumer segmentation, new campaign development, media planning, ecommerce innovation, brand adjacency development, and expanding existing brands to new parts of the world.

As CEO, Nicolle and her team are working to build a smarter, more effective television ecosystem by partnering with and empowering brands to seamlessly connect with audiences wherever and whenever they watch content.

Nicolle previously served as Global Chief Operating Officer at GroupM’s mPLATFORM where she was responsible for global product management, strategic partnerships, and technology development across the largest media investment management organization in the world.

Prior to mPLATFORM, Nicolle was a central figure in the success of Xaxis, a pioneering programmatic digital media business, serving first as Global Chief Revenue Officer, followed by Global Chief Operating Officer. During her tenure as CRO, Xaxis grew revenue to over one billion dollars. As Global COO she oversaw product and technology development, business operations, human resources, and strategic partnerships. Key highlights include leading the audience data activation platform and launching the company’s machine learning technology. She also played an instrumental role in the sale of Open AdStream to AppNexus.

Prior to Xaxis, Nicolle was the President of 24/7 Real Media where she led the company’s businesses in North America and Europe. Earlier at 24/7, she served in the roles of VP, SVP, and EVP, Global Media and Technology Product Management, with responsibility for the overall health and growth of the global business. In these roles, she drove the evolution of one of the industry’s most significant publisher technology platforms and the development of the first global data management platform suite for agencies. She also led the deployment and integration of the joint venture partnership between WPP and Dentsu across Asia.

A recognized leader in the media industry, Nicolle is a member of the Ad Council Board of Directors, IAB Board of Directors, and the VAB Board of Directors. In 2020, she was the recipient of Adexchanger’s Leadership in Advertising award and named to Cablefax’s 100 and Cablefax’s Most Powerful Women. Previously, Pangis was named to the Adweek 50 list, AdAge’s 40 Under 40, Crain’s 40 Under 40, Business Insider’s 30 Most Powerful Women in Mobile, Cynopsis’ Top Women in Media and Multichannel News’ Women to Watch. She is an active supporter of SOS Children’s Villages, City Year, and StepUp Network, and proud leader of her daughters’ Girl Scout troops.

Lydia Polgreen is Editor-in-Chief of HuffPost. She was named to the position in December 2016 after spending nearly 15 years at The New York Times, where she led an initiative to expand its audience outside the United States, with an initial focus on Latin America. Previously, Lydia was Deputy International Editor, the South Africa bureau chief, a correspondent for the New Delhi bureau and chief of the West Africa bureau.

Before joining The Times, Lydia was a reporter in Florida and New York state. She began her career as assistant editor and business manager for The Washington (D.C.) Monthly.

Lydia was a 2006 recipient of the George Polk Award for foreign reporting, in recognition of her travels deep into the war-torn western regions of Sudan to report on the carnage in Darfur. She received the 2008 Livingston Award for international reporting, for her series, “The Spoils,” an account of how mineral wealth has brought misery and exploitation to much of Africa. In 2007, she was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

She currently resides in New York.

Leah Schwartz is a Vice President at Allen & Company, where she advises and invests in companies in the technology, consumer, healthcare, and media sectors. Leah is a Board Member and advisor to Andie, a digitally native women’s swimwear brand. Leah graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, where she was co-captain of the women’s varsity lightweight crew team.

Lisa Sherman is an innovative leader and accomplished operating executive with deep experience in the private and non-profit sectors. She has over 35 years of experience building, transforming and growing organizations. As president and CEO of the Ad Council, she leads all aspects of this national institution. Working at the intersection of media, marketing, technology, entertainment and advertising, the Ad Council convenes the world’s best marketers to create public engagement campaigns. By leveraging cutting-edge products, approaches and digital technologies, the organization tackles the most pressing issues facing the country.
Prior to the Ad Council, Lisa was at Viacom, where she built a powerful media business, launching and leading Logo TV, the first cable network for LGBTQ audiences. She also held a number of senior operating roles at Verizon, IPG agency Hill Holliday and the Women’s Sports Network, the VC-backed marketing company she co-founded.

Lisa a board director of My Code Media, a privately held company and the largest tech enabled multicultural digital marketplace. She also serves as an advisor to Guild Education, an EdTech Unicorn preparing the workforce of today for the jobs of tomorrow. In additon to her accomplishments in the commercial world, she is an experienced non-profit board member and serves as a Trustee at her alma mater Dickinson College, and is on the World Economic Forum Stewards Board.

Lisa is a thought leader, frequent public speaker, and was recognized as the 2020 Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association, and in 2021 was named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business.”

Candi Castleberry Singleton is the Vice President of Diversity Partnership Strategy & Engagement at Twitter. She is also the founder of the award-winning Dignity & Respect Campaign, which has helped organizations create more inclusive work environments. As an experienced diversity and inclusion leader, she created The Bolt-On to Built-In Model™ featured in her chapter of Crossing the Divide: Intergroup Leadership in a World of Difference. She has developed successful strategies and initiatives in technology, telecommunications, and healthcare including Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Motorola, and UPMC.

Candi has served as adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She received an MBA from Pepperdine, a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, and completed the Stanford Executive Human Resources program.

Christopher Slover is Andie’s Director of Finance and Operations. Prior to Andie, Christopher spent his career in finance, most recently as an investment professional at a large credit manager, Hayfin. Christopher studied Management & Business at Skidmore College.

As President of U.S. Advertising Sales and Marketing at TelevisaUnivision, the world’s leading Spanish-language media and content company, Donna Speciale leads advertising sales and marketing across the company’s portfolio of broadcast, cable, digital, audio and live event platforms in the U.S. – including its renowned entertainment, news and sports properties and its ad-supported streaming service, ViX.

Since joining the company in January 2021, Speciale has transformed and modernized TelevisaUnivision’s U.S. ad sales business to deliver record ad revenue growth. An industry trailblazer, Speciale has propelled the world’s leading brands and agencies to embrace the growth potential of U.S. Hispanic consumers. She has shepherded several initiatives that have enhanced the company’s suite of capabilities for marketers to reach and engage U.S. Hispanics – including new advanced advertising products and cross-platform partnerships, a new Spanish-language branded content studio and the launch of the TelevisaUnivision Household Graph – an industry first. Under Speciale’s leadership, TelevisaUnivision has welcomed over 200 new clients to its roster of advertisers in the U.S.

Speciale has extensive knowledge of sales optimization spanning over two decades. Prior to this role, she served as President of Advertising Sales at WarnerMedia where she oversaw advertising revenue for the company’s domestic entertainment, news and kids multimedia brands. During her tenure, Speciale played a critical role in the groundbreaking launch of OpenAP, the first open platform for TV advertisers to reach audiences across publishers. Before WarnerMedia, she was President of Investment, Activation and Agency operations at MediaVest Worldwide, overseeing the agency’s integrated digital, broadcast, print and out-of-home practice. Speciale also held senior roles at WPP’s Mediacom earlier in her career.

Speciale has been recognized with numerous accolades throughout her career, including Variety’s “New York Impact Report;” New York Women in Communications Matrix Award, Adweek50, “CableFax 100,” Cablefax’s “Most Powerful Women”, Multichannel News’ “Wonder Women,” “Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame and IRTS Hall of Mentorship Award, as well as “Advertising Woman of the Year,” “Impact Award” and “Working Woman Award” from SheRunsIt. She received the “Reisenbach Award for Distinguished Citizenship” by the John A. Reisenbach Foundation in 2014.

Speciale currently serves on the Board of Directors for National CineMedia and is a member of PTTOW! and the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB). She is also a corporate supporter and active member of She Runs It, as well as an advisor for Home From College and The Forem. Speciale holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Bryant University.

Nada Usina is a member of the Board and CEO Advisory Group and co-leads the Technology Sector for the firm globally, as well as overseeing the Miami office. She is also a member of the Diversity & Inclusion Practice and leads the Digital, Media and Entertainment and Sports Practices. Nada helps companies build excellent leadership teams and Boards, advises clients on leadership topics, succession planning and strategy, and focuses on filling Board, CEO and C-suite positions across companies that are both high growth and undergoing digital transformation or technology enablement. Her clients range from Fortune 500 to top sports teams and leagues, as well as venture capital and private equity-backed companies.

Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Nada was a leader in the digital and mobile industries, having managed multiple profitable business ventures in sports, media and entertainment, many of which leveraged the emergence of new technologies. She served as President of publicly-traded JumpTV, which merged with Neulion to become the world’s leading online video, OTT and IPTV multi-platform provider. Previously, Nada was President of XOS Broadband, which was acquired by JumpTV. Nada has also had responsibility for up to 1500 employees, served as General Manager and President of Nokia Canada, and General Manager, North and South America, for Nokia’s entertainment and media business. She also served as Director of Yahoo!’s entertainment business development and sales programs, where she worked with studios, networks, broadcasters, music labels, game publishers and advertisers. Earlier in her career, as a member of the executive team, Nada led the sports business and marketing team at Broadcast.com, which IPO’d and was acquired by Yahoo! for $5.7B during her tenure. She has also held leadership roles at Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the Florida Sports Foundation and Florida State University athletics.

A native of Toronto, Canada, Nada holds a BS in marketing and international business, and an MS from Florida State University. She serves on the boards of FSU College of Business, Seminole Boosters, FSU Varsity Club and CollegeSpring, while also advising startup founders.

Cecelia is our Chief Video Evangelist and Google’s Global Director of Creative Development. She pioneered strategies for Fortune 500 brands to experiment with effective, creative video on YouTube. She co-authored Agile Creativity and designed the supporting hands-on workshops, bringing Silicon Valley innovation culture to Madison Avenue. She has helped build global partnerships among the world’s largest brands and agencies to drive cutting-edge video work. She shares the magic of what Google makes, so that advertisers can effectively make magic on behalf of brands.

Cecelia’s work encompasses purpose-driven ad strategies for today’s “woke” consumer & brands. She is an avid political activist for human rights and girls empowerment, helped launch “Made with Code” and has consulted with numerous non-profits and school districts on diversifying stem education. She most recently received a United Nations Foundation Leadership Award for her work in advancing the story of Sustainable Development Goals. She has served as a Google diversity champion, chairperson for Women@SFO, and as a founding board member of UC Berkeley’s OWN IT.

A former singer/actress, she loves improv, high kicks and all kinds of music. She lives in the Oakland Hills with her husband and two (hilarious, musical, brilliant, beautiful, perfect) girls and an Irish Setter named Guapo. She likes making homemade pizza with the family, singing along to the Big Night soundtrack, spinning floury dough all through the house.

Johanna is an established business strategist and an accomplished leader for both start-ups and global corporations. Over the past two decades, she has worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers and JPMorgan Chase, and with over a dozen client organizations, including Delta Airlines, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Philips, and Bank of America. Her career has led her to live and work in Canada, China, Indonesia, France, The Netherlands, Mexico and across the USA.

Prior to Gender Fair, Johanna launched The Women’s Debate (www.womensdebate.com) to encourage presidential candidates to focus on issues that specifically pertain to women during the 2016 presidential debates. In 2013, she helped launch Signature Leaders (www.signatureleaders.com), a leadership development program for female executives of global corporations to increase female representation in the C-Suite.

Johanna also co-founded GiveBack, an innovative platform that makes it easy for companies to build authentic and impactful cause marketing, workplace giving and other social responsibility initiatives. GiveBack was launched on the Oprah Winfrey Show during her final season in 2011.

Johanna is originally from the Netherlands and educated in Canada where she earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. She resides in Westchester, NY, where she runs the Women Entrepreneurs Network (250+ members) and serves on several boards, including the CEO Forum.