For more than two decades, Joe Benarroch has helped media, tech and agency companies shape their growth narratives and grow through storytelling. Now, he oversees communication strategy for NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships division—shaping messages, building trust, and opening industrywide dialogue for a 2000-person global division that generates more than $12 billion in revenue annually.

As Executive Vice President of Global Communications, Benarroch works to make NBCU the leading voice in the $70 billion premium video ecosystem. Reporting to Chairman Linda Yaccarino, he collaborates across Comcast, NBCUniversal and Sky to unite the company’s monetization narrative for its entire portfolio of network, digital and streaming properties. Across every initiative, he guides his team to fulfill and expand NBCU’s partnership commitment through clear, inclusive and consistent communication for every audience, including employees, press, analysts, and partners from the Ad Council to the World Economic Forum.

Before joining NBCU, Benarroch served as Director of Corporate Communications for International Monetization and Small, Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) at Meta. While there, he developed and advanced Facebook and Instagram’s international monetization communication strategy in more than 30 high-growth countries, contributing to the company’s almost $100 billion in annual ad revenue. He also shaped and advanced Facebook’s economic impact narrative, plus helped create Community Boost, a global program that helped hundreds of millions of SMBs leverage the power of free and ad-supported business solutions across Meta, while also providing millions of people with free digital skills training.

Benarroch spent over a decade in the agency and marketing world, including Discover, where he built brand and product communications strategies. He was a founding member of Interpublic Groups’ Media Holding company, Mediabrands, and before that, held leadership roles at Publicis Groupe’s Starcom and Leo Burnett.

Benarroch lives in New York City with his husband, Mark Orsini, a literary agent, and their two kids, Marie Elizabeth and William. He is also the author of the children’s book, Rachel’s Dreams and Hats.

Stacie Barrett is the director of internal communication at Domino’s. She’s responsible for digital and in-person communication to franchisees and corporate team members worldwide. She specializes in integrating messages from all areas of the company into simple, coherent and digestible communications. She leads a team that strategically tells stories through a robust intranet, lighthearted newsletters, compelling video and world-class events. She also leads Domino’s Worldwide Rally, an event that is translated into nine languages and brings 9,000 franchisees and team members from over 85 countries to Las Vegas for education, inspiration and celebration.

Brandi Boatner, manager of Digital Advocacy Communications for IBM, is the social and influencer communications lead for global markets for IBM‘s Global Technology Services in New York. She oversees a holistic digital ecosystem across platforms (including websites, blogs, social media sites and mobile devices) and people globally. Boatner’s responsibilities include developing and driving digital communications and content that supports the way IBM engages external audiences and enterprise IT professionals on topics such as hybrid cloud, enterprise mobility and business continuity. She is a former national president of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and is a social media co-chair for the PRSA Technology Section.

Danielle Brigida is the Senior Director of Wildlife Communications & Strategy at the World Wildlife Fund. She previously served as the Deputy Director of Digital Strategy at for the  U.S. Department of the Interior and leading social media roles for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  She has been lauded as one of the 10 Most Generous Social Media Mavens by Fast Company, one of the 75 Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter by Mashable, and one of 10 People to Follow Who are Saving the World by Mother Nature Network. She’s been interviewed about her social media experience by USA Today, The New York Times, Fast Company, Washington Post, and Mashable. She loves spending time outside and sharing curiosity and wonder with others.

Laura Brusca is Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at Forbes, where she directs strategic corporate communications, thought leadership, issues management, media relations and internal communications. An accomplished and award-winning communications executive, Laura exerts influence that shapes the modern-day narrative at one of the world’s most-storied media brands. She brings to Forbes nearly 15 years of corporate communications/reputation management experience, gleaned from in-house and agency roles, where she worked with established global brands. Prior to joining Forbes, Laura worked in the Corporate Communications practice at Ruder Finn, directing communications for well-known brands including Novartis, Kering (parent to Gucci and PUMA) and H&M.

Laura earned her Bachelor of Communications from Denison University and she was named to PRSA NY’s “Exceptionals Under 35.” She currently serves on three Boards. She is the VP of Communications for New York Women in Communications (NYWICI). She is also on the U.S. Board for Brass for Africa, a charity focused on empowering youth through music education, and on the Board for Superlost Coffee, a Bushwick-based coffee roaster.

Steve Cody is the founder and CEO of Peppercomm, a fully-integrated strategic communications firm headquartered in New York City, with offices in San Francisco and London. He’s responsible for everything from implementing strategy and counseling clients to leading business development and bringing new products and services to market. He’s also the current chairman of the Institute for Public Relations, a longtime member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a member of the advisory councils of the College of Charleston and the University of Florida.

Michelle Delery advises senior leaders on communications strategy, branding and reputation management, and crisis communications at New Orleans-based Entergy Corp.

During her 20-year career at Entergy, she has directed employee communications strategy during major crises and companywide change initiatives including hurricanes Katrina and Rita, various mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, companywide reorganizations, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic.

She is a New Orleans native and holds an MBA from Tulane University, M.A. in Mass Communications from Loyola University, and a B.A. in Journalism/Advertising from Louisiana State University. She’s a member of Entergy’s Women’s Leadership Advisory Council, serves on the executive committee of the Greater New Orleans’ United Way Women United and is a board member of Dress for Success New Orleans.

She is also the co-owner of UpLIFT NOLA, a yoga, art, meditation and wellness studio.

Paul Dyer is president and CEO of Lippe Taylor. He entered the PR industry as one of the first people to make social media his full time job. He then spent eight years at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), where he was responsible for re-organizing the PR firm into an integrated marketing communications structure while building the agency’s Analytics and Integrated Media capabilities.  In 2017, he joined Lippe Taylor as President and became CEO in 2020. At Lippe Taylor, Paul architected an overhaul of the agency’s creative and digital capabilities, evolving them to be fully integrated, while maintaining the integrity of the firm’s iconic reputation and excellence in earned media. In five years, the agency has quadrupled under his leadership and was named PRWeek’s Midsize Agency of the Year for 2021.

Along the way, Paul received his MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas and was named a “15 to Watch” an “Innovator 25” and a “40 under 40”. His book, Friction Fatigue, was a 2021 best seller according to Amazon, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. It addresses the failings of Big Advertising and the remaking of the media landscape for the 2020s, providing a roadmap for executives and marketers trying to wean themselves off advertising dependency.

Margot Edelman is the Deputy General Manager of Edelman’s New York Office and leads the Corporate Practice in New York. Previously, she led the Bay Area Hub, which spans 170 professionals in Sacramento and San Francisco, and before that, Edelman’s Technology Practice in the Bay Area.

Margot brings a wealth of experience in brand building, corporate reputation and executive visibility to her clients large and small. Margot also leads a monthly “get to know the media” speaker series, with top reporters from The FT, The New York Times, Forbes and other top publications.

Margot has worked for seven years on the press team at the World Economic Forum during its Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where she led broadcast media from Reuters, Bloomberg, Associated Press and others around the Forum and arranged broadcast interviews with participants.

Margot is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard University.

Tulani Elisa is the Global Lead, Social and Editorial at Prime Video. She works on global social/digital data and analytics, campaign planning and cohesive messaging. Additionally Tulani works across social editorial including collaborating with the emerging audiences and genre teams to effectively market the PV brand and titles available on the platform.

Tulani has worked in the digital space for the last 12+ years with most of her career spent working at agencies in New York and Washington DC. Prior to working at Amazon, Tulani was the Vice President of Social Media at FOX Entertainment.

Tulani has created social storytelling and marketing campaigns across sectors, including in government, non-profits, entertainment and consumer, giving her a holistic perspective on the importance of tech and digital, and the impactful role that social media marketing plays in any project. She has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, and a MALD (Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) degree from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

With the voice of a storyteller and the mind of a strategist, Lanita Withers Goins helps organizations craft a cohesive narrative of who they are and where they’re going through effective communications.

Lanita is AVP, Employee Communications with Arch Capital Services LLC, where she oversees editorial content for the company’s global intranet, manages a team of talented internal communicators, and plans and executes company-wide communications that help employees connect with the company’s purpose, vision, values and strategic initiatives. She also serves as an advisor to senior executives and employee leaders, creating and refining communications that take strategies beyond words on paper and into messages able to capture the hearts and minds of their audiences.

Prior to Arch, she worked in higher education communications and started her career as journalist for a mid-sized regional newspaper.

Emily Graham is Chief Equity & Impact Officer at Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) a Fortune 250, and one of the largest media, advertising and marketing conglomerates in the world.

In her role, she advances Omnicom’s vision to achieve systemic equity across the holding company’s global network, which spans more than 1,500 creative agencies and 5,000 clients. A seasoned corporate communications strategist, Emily also serves as Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion Communications at Omnicom. She also counsels an array of Omnicom’s largest clients on DEI matters including AT&T, General Motors and Microsoft.

Emily leads Omnicom’s OPEN team, 30+ dedicated DE&I professionals responsible for driving DE&I strategy company wide. Previously, Emily was Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at FleishmanHillard, the first in the agency’s history. While at Fleishman, she was a Senior Partner, Global Client Leader (GCL) and member of The Cabinet – the firm’s executive leadership team. She also founded and led True MOSAIC; a global communication consultancy dedicated to driving DE&I to the center of corporate strategy. Prior to that, she led the firm’s professional and financial services sector in the Americas. She held previous roles at MWWPR and Burson-Marsteller. Graham has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 Honoree by PRWeek and Crain’s New York Business, 15 under 35 by PRSA New York and a Top Diversity Officer in the United States by National Diversity Council.

She serves as board trustee for the Institute of Public Relations where she is Director for the Center of DE&I along with an advisory board member at Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.

Tiffany Guarnaccia is the CEO of Kite Hill PR and the Founder of Communications Week. Under Tiffany’s leadership, Kite Hill has grown to become recognized as one of the top tech PR agencies in the US. Tiffany continues to set the bar high, and most recently in 2019 launched the PR Sprint™ Workflow, an agile model for the industry. Tiffany saw the need for the industry to have a larger platform to showcase innovation in communications and launched Communications Week in 2014, a global cross-industry celebration of the PR, communications, and media industries. Previously, Tiffany was at The Huffington Post as Senior Director of Communications to launch their streaming platform, HuffPost Live, and expanded her role to include PR for Huffington Post Media Group. She has held positions at companies that represented the industry’s reinvention: as the spokesperson for LimeWire in the Arista Records v. Lime Group case, and as the Director of PR and Communications for LimeWire Store, previously eMusic.

Mara Hedgecoth, chief communications & marketing officer at APCO Worldwide, leads the global corporate marketing and communication team and is a member of APCO’s Global Leadership Team. Ms. Hedgecoth sets the strategic direction and oversees corporate communication, including media relations, thought leadership, internal communication, and crisis and issues management. She also directs the development of APCO’s brand and global marketing and business development initiatives on behalf of the company. Ms. Hedgecoth has more than 25 years of events, marketing, fundraising and consulting experience.

She completed the 2017-2018 Arthur W. Page Society Future Leaders Experience and is a member of Page Up. She also serves on the board of directors of Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global. In 2005, she was named “Good Person of the Year” by Goodwill Industries. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a specialization in Hospitality and Tourism Management from James Madison University and a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing Management from Johns Hopkins University.

Amy Jaick is the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Columbia Business School. She works across functions and channels to create integrated programs that bring CBS’s mission, vision, and values to life.

Prior to joining CBS, Amy built and led the first-ever corporate digital marketing and communications team at ViacomCBS and helped launch Goodman Media’s digital business. Jaick has also held the role of Director of Digital Marketing at Estimize, where she implemented acquisition, engagement, and retention campaigns across mediums. Before Estimize, she oversaw marketing for The Economist‘s events business in North and South America, after first serving as The Economist‘s Communications Manager for the region. Jaick initially began her career at Goodman Media designing media relations programs for marquee clients.

As the U.S. Head of Consumer & Product Communications for Pinterest, Meredith Klein leads the communications strategy behind the company’s biggest initiatives and launches, working closely with cross-functional partners to uncover consumer insights to create compelling campaigns and stories that support the brands’ innovative products, bringing inspiration to people around the world.

Prior to her appointment at Pinterest, Klein was the director of PR at Walmart, leading its acquired brands portfolio, including Jet.com, Bonobos, Hayneedle, ELOQUII, Moosejaw and Art.com. In addition to this role, she also led comms for Walmart’s Product organization, including managing thought leadership communications for the company’s first-ever chief product officer.

Before formally joining Walmart, she served as the director of media & public relations for Jet.com, Walmart’s acquired eCommerce site. As the first communications hire for the company, she established Jet’s communication practice and press strategy, responsible for all aspects of communications, from corporate and consumer communications to social influencer strategy.

In September 2018, she led communications for Jet’s brand relaunch to consumers, partnering with teams across merchandising, analytics and marketing to develop a robust communications strategy and drive consumer awareness. Prior to the relaunch, in October 2017, she led communications for Jet’s private label launch, Uniquely J.

Prior to her in-house career, Klein spent over a decade on the agency side, holding leadership roles at Makovsky and Golin where she managed account teams and led the agency’s key clients, including WebMD, Cisco, Adidas and Walmart, respectively. She also helped launch the Consumer Practice at Makovsky while managing startup tech brand launches at leading conferences including the Consumer Electronics Show.

Klein resides in New York with her husband and two children. In addition to being on the Advisory Board for Ragan’s Communications Week, she sits on the Board of Quinnipiac University’s School of Communications.

Jessica has held various roles across communications in both information technology and biotechnology. In 2019, she joined Blueprint Medicines to design the internal and brand communications capabilities and today is continuing a focus on all-things employee, change, executive and brand while developing Blueprint’s corporate social responsibility strategy. Prior to Blueprint, Jessica worked on the Global Communications team at Dell Technologies where she held various roles across internal communications, digital communications and executive communications, including working on the integration team for the Dell-EMC merger and driving 360° communications for the President of Dell Technologies’ largest organization. Jessica earned a B.S. in business administration from Bryant University, a M.S. in corporate and organizational communication from Northeastern University and is an active member of Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council. Jessica was recognized as one of Ragan’s Top Women in Communications in 2021 and through her leadership, her teams have won multiple awards for excellence in communications.

Lisa Lanspery is a senior vice president for external communications at Synchrony, a Fortune 200 consumer finance company. With more than two decades of expertise in corporate communications, Lanspery has a range of experience in public relations, issues management, storytelling and brand positioning. At Synchrony, she has worked on multiple change management programs including a CEO transition, COVID-19 communications, acquisitions and other corporate reputation projects.

Prior to joining Synchrony, Lanspery was vice president of communications at IBM where she led a global team of internal, external, executive, and social media leaders to help tell the company’s cloud and systems hardware story. She also held public relations roles at GE and at barnesandnoble.com where she took the company through an initial public offering. She started her career at Burson-Marsteller.

Lanspery was part of the team that won the PRSA Silver Anvil award for IBM’s Centennial “IBM at 100: Modernizing the Way the World Sees Big Blue.” She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Ohio University.

John Looney is Vice President of Internal Communications for Mass General Brigham. Prior to joining the Mass General Brigham executive leadership team, John held senior level roles at several Massachusetts-based health care organizations including Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Lahey Health, Winchester Hospital and Jordan Hospital, which is now part of the Beth Israel/Lahey Health system.

John holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing and organizational development from Boston College, a graduate public relations certification from Emerson College and a Master of Science in Management from Bridgewater State University. He serves on the Ragan Communications Leadership Council, has served on the Board of Directors for the New England Society for Healthcare Communications for many years and is also a member of the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.

Howard Mortman is communications director for C-SPAN, the public service providing television coverage of the U.S. Congress. A veteran of Washington, D.C. media organizations, he has observed Congress from positions at MSNBC, National Journal’s Hotline, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and New Media Strategies. Mortman’s first book was just published: “When Rabbis Bless Congress: The Great American Story of Jewish Prayers on Capitol Hill.” He graduated from the University of Maryland and has appeared on stage performing stand-up comedy at the DC Improv — although the two aren’t related.

Nicole Neal is Vice President, Head of Internal Communications, for Zurich North America. With a multifaceted career in multicultural and general consumer marketing communications, issues management, public relations, executive and employee communications, Nicole Neal has helped brands and leaders lean in so that they can tap into the diverse passion points of employees and customers. During her broad career spanning more than 15 years in corporate communications and agency leadership, Nicole has crafted creative strategies and integrated communications solutions for global B2B and B2C brands in commercial real estate, restaurant/hospitality, technology, pharmaceutical, financial services, event marketing, food and beverages, tourism, higher education and supplier diversity.

Sarah Plaster is the senior director of change management and ESG communications for SAIC. In this role, she is responsible formalizing and accelerating SAIC’s environmental, social and governance communications as well as leading major change management communications for the company. Previous to her current role, Plaster spent more than 11 years at Aflac in a variety of roles. As the director of ESG communications, Plaster was responsible for advancing the reputation of Aflac’s ESG objectives and leading the communications that supported of the company’s objectives in this area. As the director of organizational communications, she was responsible for communications to all internal audiences and, as a member of the Corporate Communications leadership team, led strategic efforts such as acquisition and crisis communications. She was also involved in the development and leadership of the Aflac WorkForces Report, a thought leadership employee benefits study examining trends and attitudes for 10 years.

Before joining Aflac, Plaster spent 11 years with financial services and insurance forerunner USAA leading both internal and external communications functions. She holds a Ph.D. in Mass Communications Research from Ohio University, and a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Arts from Purdue University.

Daniel is Head of Communications for BrightDrop, a start-up created by General Motors with a portfolio of products and software designed to decarbonize last-mile deliveries and reduce congestion. He oversees a team focused on both internal and external communications. Before this role, he was the Global Innovation & Growth Communications Lead at General Motors, where he led the communications team focused on GM’s Global Innovation incubator that creates new start-ups for the company and GM’s Global Connected Services. He previously served as Head of State Policy Communications at Facebook where he led the policy communications strategy across all 50 states and served as a spokesperson for tech issues at all levels of the U.S. government. Before Facebook, he led East Communications at Lyft where he managed PR firms in various markets – DC, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami, and others – while overseeing the execution of national campaigns at the regional level. Prior to Lyft, Daniel spent time at Viacom Media Networks; worked at Edelman Public Relations; served in the Obama White House; worked at the National Governors Association; served in the Office of U.S. Representative Elijah E. Cummings; and interned for First Lady Michelle Obama.

Daniel holds a B.A. in Public Policy Leadership from the University of Mississippi and serves on the board of the Washington Government Relations Group that provides scholarships to minority students interested in advocacy work.

Ayanna Robinson has more than 26 years of experience with public relations, issues management, and behavior change campaigns. She serves as Porter Novelli’s chief client officer leading the company’s commercial approach and ensuring clients experience the best of Porter Novelli.

Robinson has worked across industry sectors leading cross-functional teams for clients including Bayer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Habitat for Humanity International. She is adept at building successful integrated communications campaigns that achieve impact. As CCO, she continues to counsel senior leaders in today’s ever-changing communications environment.

Ayanna was named by PR News among the Top Women in Public Relations and has won numerous industry awards. She obtained a Master’s in Public Policy, specializing in social policy, from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Affairs and holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia. Her work has been the subject of articles in U.S. and international journals and presentations.

In his current role as senior vice president, corporate communications at Marriott International, Shackley oversees multiple groups including global consumer PR, creative services and internal communications.

His path to Marriott includes a stint as executive producer of global launch events at Apple where, among other noteworthy feats, he worked on the launch for the iPhone 7 and the first waterproof Apple Watch. From 2013-2015, he was the president and chief creative officer at RedPeg Marketing, driving creative and agency social and digital departments while working with Geico, NBA, Mercedes and producing over 1,500 live events. Before RedPeg, Shackley was head of marketing and communications at Mark Burnett Productions, chief marketing officer at Discovery Channel, the world’s number one non-fiction media company, and vice president, global rvents and promotions at AOL, producing their highest profile projects including the Super Bowl, SXSW, Nascar and the Live 8 concert series.

Carrie Sloane is a creative leader and content creator with extensive experience building out strategies to help companies achieve their business and revenue goals—and connect with their core audiences—through compelling storytelling.

She currently leads internal/external communications for Target, expanding storytelling in support of Target’s sales and strategic partnerships, redesigned their internal newsletter to scale and reach both corporate and field employees, and leads the production of 35 internal events per year ranging from Town Halls to all-company meetings which rally support for their enterprise strategy.

Previously Carrie founded the Global Content Lab at Johnson & Johnson, a new content marketing department she built and launched to do omni-channel storytelling for the company.

She was also head of content at LearnVest, a fintech startup acquired by Northwestern Mutual, where she partnered with the VPs of Sales and Business Development to innovate strategic co-branded partnerships and drive revenue and sales leads for an early-stage startup as we scaled. In the past, she developed branding, content strategy and digital products for JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity, American Express, Amazon and Procter & Gamble.

Carrie first started her career as a journalist and features editor at Conde Nast and Hearst, where she turned trends and ideas into stories which have been published in more than 25 magazines/newspapers, and has been featured in the AP, on the homepage of the Daily News and on the Today Show.

Diane Schwartz is the Chief Executive Officer of Ragan Communications, a leading media company that serves communicators worldwide with education, networking and unparalleled event experiences. Brands include PR Daily, Ragan.com, Communications Leadership Council, Communications Week and Workplace Wellness Insider. She joined Ragan in May 2019 after serving for 23 years at Access Intelligence, where she was senior vice president of the media communications division and oversaw the growth of brands including PR News, Social Shake-Up, Cynopsis, AdExchanger, Admonsters and many others. Schwartz has launched more than 100 conferences, training programs, awards competitions and subscription products that put customer and premium content front and center. A former journalist, Schwartz is a frequent guest lecturer at universities nationwide and a board member of the Institute for Public Relations. She is a wish granter for Make a Wish and a volunteer for the Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County.

Esther Mireya Tejeda was formerly the chief marketing & communications officer for SoundExchange, the premiere music-tech and royalties solutions company in the U.S., building the future of music through technology innovations to create a more simple, efficient and fair industry across the globe. Tejeda oversaw the brand strategy and marketing, global communications and public relations, industry engagement, and government relations and public affairs functions as part of the company’s executive leadership team.

A seasoned veteran of the entertainment industry, Tejeda has held executive posts at Audacy, Univision, PepsiCo, Diageo, and others. Prior to joining SoundExchange, she founded Audacy’s communications practice and led the communications strategy for its acquisition of CBS Radio and launch of digital streaming service, Radio.com. Among other career accomplishments, Tejeda built the communications practice for Univision’s sports business, and led Univision Deportes to national recognition during its 2014 partnership with FIFA World Cup. She was also instrumental in reimagining the marketing communications for the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2012 and 2013, and was key in launching Pepsi’s first-ever global marketing campaign in 2012.

Tejeda has been recognized as a Women to Watch (PR Week, 2019), Top Women in PR (PRNews, 2019), Maverick of the Year (Stevie Awards—Women in Business, 2019), Media Relations Professional of the Year (Ragan’s PR Daily, 2018), and Most Influential Women in Radio (Radio Ink Magazine, 2017–2020), among others. An industry leader, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Women in Media and previously served on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Public Relations Association.

Tejeda earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University, a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from The New School, and an executive certificate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Valerie Barker Waller is the senior vice president and chief marketing & communications officer for YMCA of the USA. A seasoned marketing professional with marketing strategy, branding and integrated communications experience across a variety of brands and industries, Waller is currently responsible for creating opportunities to strengthen the Y brand through strategic marketing and communications efforts, national partnerships, public engagement and collaboration with YMCA locations across the country. Waller came to Y-USA in 2016 after leading local marketing and communications for United Way of Metropolitan Chicago.

Prior to joining United Way, she led brand marketing communications at United Airlines, served as director of marketing and communications for Chicago 2016, and held leadership roles with the Museum of Science and Industry, Ameritech and Leo Burnett. A Chicago native, Waller was recently appointed to the Roosevelt University Board of Trustees. Her civic and professional leadership has included board membership with Chicago Community Land Trust, Women Employed and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) in Chicago, in addition to national work with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the Ad Council. Waller was honored as a 2013 “Top Women in Advertising and Marketing” by Black Enterprise Magazine. In 2009, she was named an Honored Role Model by Heroes in the Hood and a Women of Excellence by the Chicago Defender. As an active member of the National Black MBA Association, Waller was named Chicago Chapter “Member of the Year” early in her career.

As president of MikeWorldWide, Bret Werner oversees all practice groups and geographical markets to ensure best-in-class client service and integrated creative strategy. He has spent the last five years at the agency implementing an insights-driven approach to creating earned-worthy content that moves the needle for businesses across all sectors, with specialized brand-building expertise in the food and beverage, sports and entertainment and alcohol categories for brands including Barefoot, Under Armour, Subway Restaurants, MET-Rx and Vitaminwater. He has earned campaign recognition from top industry award programs and has been recognized for noteworthy contributions to his organizations, clients and industry at large as a 40 Under 40 winner by PRWeek as well as named to the magazine’s Global Powerbook 500 list. Werner’s experience as a senior executive in the industry has won his agency the PRWeek Agency of the Year title in their category size three different times.

Kari Wethington is executive communications director at Procter & Gamble, where she builds company reputation through thought leadership strategies and supports C-suite executive communications. Prior to P&G, she led external communications at Scripps, Rockfish and Central Park Conservancy. Kari started her career in journalism at the Cincinnati Enquirer and ELLE. A graduate of Oberlin College, she resides in Cincinnati with her husband and two children.

Jim Ylisela, co-founder and senior partner of Ragan Consulting Group, is an award-winning veteran Chicago journalist and former publisher of Ragan.com. He brings more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, communications research and consulting. Ylisela has designed and organized newsrooms for many organizations, including Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where he served as a faculty member and co-director of Medill News Service from 1988-2001. He works with communicators to create brand journalism news sites, organize and train writers and editors and restore reporting (and creative storytelling) to internal and external communications.