Kerel Cooper is President of Advertising at Group Black where he leads Group Black's advertising revenue & operations team including sales, ad operations and customer success. Cooper is an award-winning executive with 20+ years of digital media experience building Advertising Operations, Account Management, and Marketing teams. Before joining Group Black, Kerel was the Chief Marketing Officer at LiveIntent, where he led teams that managed campaigns for key publishers and advertisers, and teams that helped the company better understand the customer’s journey. He is the co-founder and co-host of Minority Report Podcast which highlights people of color, women & LGBTQ+ leaders within business, media, and technology.  He has been widely recognized for his leadership and innovation. Kerel was included in Crain's New York Business Notable Black Leaders and Executives 2021 list. He is the recipient of the 2021 AdWeek Readers’ Choice best of tech diversity advocate of the year award, the 2021 Diversity Advocate of the Year award by Campaign Tech Awards and 2021 Award of Excellence by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts.

As President of GroupM Multicultural, Gonzalo plays a key role in all aspects of the multicultural and diverse media and marketing efforts initiated by all GroupM agencies: essencemediacom, Wavemaker and Mindshare. The goal of the division is to provide clients with a truly relevant and informative point of view of diverse audiences across the US, resulting in tailored communications strategies based on in-depth knowledge of consumers. Under Gonzalo’s leadership, GroupM Multicultural handles $1B in billings from clients such as Nestle, Target, L'Oréal, General Mills, Uber, JP Morgan Chase, Mars, Unilever, AARP, Bayer, Universal Pictures, Coca Cola, Doordash, Purina and Google. Gonzalo first joined the GroupM family in 2003 as Managing Director of MEC Argentina. During his three-year tenure he developed a reputation for creative media thinking and activation. In 2006, he moved to New York to launch MEC Bravo and in 2010 he was instrumental in combining all the agencies under the GroupM Multicultural banner. In 2014 Gonzalo was awarded Media Maven of the Year and in 2016 he was nominated for the Crain’s Visionary Award. In 2017 he won the Executive Leadership Award and in 2018 he was recognized as one of the most influential Latinos in New York by El Diario. In 2019 Gonzalo was recognized by AdWeek as one of the Stellar Marketing Execs. In addition to his role at GroupM, Gonzalo is currently the Chairman of the Hispanic Marketing Council (HMC). Gonzalo started his professional career at American Express Argentina and prior to joining GroupM he worked for BBVA, Hachette Filipacchi and Editorial Televisa.

Lashawnda Goffin has a 16-year leadership track record delivering results across media planning, buying, negotiating, sales and ad tech programmatic development. Since taking on the leadership role of Colossus SSP in 2019, Goffin has exponentially increased the business by more than doubling the company’s growth year-over-year in 2020 to reach record levels. Prior to Colossus SSP, Lashawnda held key programmatic demand roles at TrustX and Tribune Publishing. Earlier in her career, she worked at Havas Media as a programmatic trader and local broadcast media buyer. Lashawnda is an exceptional team builder and strong advocate in supporting her community.

Sheryl Daija is the CEO & Founder of BRIDGE.

Louis Jones is a Media and Marketing Consultant and BRIDGE Board Member.

Tish Archie-Oliver is twenty years into a successful career as a Diversity & Inclusion Practitioner and Talent Management expert. After spending the majority of her career in the financial services industry, she decided to transition to the Consumer Packaged Goods industry to diversify her experience and for the opportunity to build a best-in-class campus recruitment function. After five successful years, she transitioned to Tiffany & Co. to serve as the Director of Recruiting Initiatives and Diversity Outreach. In this hybrid role, she was responsible for partnering with senior leaders across the enterprise to identify, hire and retain talent at all levels, developing the recruitment strategy for the Tiffany Academy for Excellence and Diversity in Retail Leadership program (an 18-month leadership program) and developing the diversity and inclusion employee engagement strategy.

Currently, Tish serves as the Head of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at Unilever.

Tish dedicates her life to serving the community and developing the next generation of leaders. She serves as a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Scholarship Cha of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Bergen-Passaic Chapter and an Advisory Board member for Brooklyn College’s School of Business.

Emile Khader is the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy and Chief of Staff to Condé Nast’s Global CMO, Deirdre Findlay. In addition to working closely with Deirdre on special projects, Emile leads research & insights, creative services, and global brand management. Emile is focused on understanding the behaviors, needs and expectations of Condé Nast’s current and potential consumers and ensuring that all marketing efforts, communications, and products deliver on those consumer needs. Emile's team is also responsible for developing and rolling-out global brand positioning, personality and attributes for all titles and tracking the health of Condé Nast brands.

Josh Ott has a lifelong career in sales & marketing and is known for his creative edge and methodology. With over 15 years of experience at a wide range of companies such as ABC, BET, Scripps, MTV, Pivot, The Shade Room, and more, Josh has seen the Media industry from all angles and seamlessly moved between Digital, Cable television, Radio and Social to gain a deep understanding of the Media Industry. These different facets of the business have made him passionate about the tangible impact of a well-executed cross-platform marketing strategy. Additionally, his entrepreneurial experience with a successful grass-fed beef company has given Josh a passion for the growth and development of brands. He is a true collaborator and driven leader. He has won Telly Awards for work with Denny's and multiple internal awards for exceeding sales goals. In his current role at The ShadeRoom, Josh heads up a cross-platform sales team and an e-commerce platform for the World's #1 Social Brand.

LaToya Shambo's passion has always been business, and her interest has always been the Black female audience. The alignment of her purpose both personally and professionally allowed her to birth the award-winning BLACK GIRL DIGITAL, INC. and InfluencerLINKR (iLINKR), where the mission is to be a solution to equity wage disparities for Black and Multicultural creators in the influencer marketing industry. LaToya has worked in corporate America for over 15 years from agencies, and ad networks, to brand direct and while she gained a vast amount of experience and knowledge, nothing has brought her more satisfaction than building her own successful multicultural agency that services the Black and brown creator community. LaToya Shambo is on the rise as a thought leader in the Influencer Marketing space on Diversity & Inclusion. Recently seen in Bloomberg TV, Yahoo Finance, and has been featured in Forbes Culture, Ad Week, Fox Soul, Sheen Magazine, Apple News, and LA Times.

My goal is to use my expertise to help companies successfully enhance their organization through redefining the value of their human capital; how it is defined, measured and managed, and ultimately help executive level management understand the direct correlation between human capital and their 'positive' bottom line.I have spearheaded organizational development, leadership, and employee empowerment initiatives. I have an established track record for identifying complex problems; resourceful and inventive in developing and implementing creative solutions with enhanced sensitivity to cost, efficiency and deadlines.I am an eloquent and effective communicator who easily develops a rapport with persons from rich and diverse backgrounds. My professional philosophy is to be a fair, knowledgeable, consistent and trustworthy leader who strives to build leadership capacity in others, while meeting and exceeding client expectations. Specialties: Leadership and Team development, Organizational Effectiveness, Diagnosis and Needs Assessment, Diversity Training, Personal Development Coaching.

I’m a proud Lebanese - American woman and a Jersey Girl at heart. On my journey, I gained experience working in higher education, talent & leadership development, diversity, equity, and inclusion, programming & partnerships. I have dedicated my career to celebrating people, creating lasting relationships, building leaders, and helping people unlock their purpose. My passion is to encourage, engage, and equip others to believe in the possibilities. I'm a seasoned facilitator, leading workshops and training around diversity, equity, and inclusion and leadership development. I led the 4A's Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to talent, equity, and inclusion strategies in the advertising and creative industry, transforming industry initiatives including the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP); VANGUARD, the 4A's Foundation's educational programs, scholarships, and awards. Currently, I work at Netflix, focusing on Inclusion & Diversity in Creative Planning as we work to create more space for underrepresented creatives. I love the beach, travel, old school video games, my family, food that makes me do a happy dance, and good people.

Carl believes we all hold more agency than we realize. Whether he’s hosting a podcast, coaching a client, or focusing on organizational transformation, this belief is always front and center. With this belief, Carl founded The Boom List, in 2018, to celebrate and highlight creative thinkers of color across varied industries. As haed coach at Homecoming Coaching, he partners with clients to discover their creative process to find action towards their purpose. Carl’s career began anchored in strategy with his work as a strategist at JWT and Translation. From there he spent over six years at the 4A’s, running the 4A’s Foundation and leading the MAIP team as Vice President of Talent Initiatives, before taking his talents to R/GA as the Global Executive Director of Equity Diversity and Inclusion. Most recently as a Director of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix, Carl worked with leaders across Marketing, Publicity, Communications and Awards coaching them along their inclusion journey and providing strategic guidance on all things diversity and inclusion related. Currently, Carl is an Execiutive Coach at Homecoming Coaching helping business and leaders move into alignment with who they are and a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Consultant supporting companies as they navigate their DEI journey. Outside of work he spends his privilege and power with a few organizations and is a active mentor. He has served on the VCU Brandcenter Directors Council, is a mentor for Backstage Capital, has been a MAIP Coach/Mentor since 2008 and looks for opportunities to help in any way he can. A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in Economics, he continued his education at Miami Ad School’s Boot Camp for Strategic Planning and got his Coaching for Transformation certification from Leaderhship that Works. In addition to his continued advocacy for equity, diversity and inclusion, Carl enjoys spending time with his daughter, cycling, tennis, photography, house music, R/C cars, taekwondo, Lego and therapy.

Sarah Bakai has over 15 years marketing experience working in companies focused on empowering people to connect across the technology and telecommunications industries as well as the public sector in Australia and the UK. Prior to joining Meta in 2019, brands Sarah worked for included BlackBerry, Telstra, Skype and Australia Post. As a result of her work experience and international moves, Sarah has an expertise in building strong internal and external working relationships to drive business goals, and has a passion for marketing that starts with people and customers at its core. Having worked in both global and regional roles in companies scaling from 250 up to 80,000 employees, Sarah has a deep understanding and empathy for the spectrum of challenges businesses face today. Sarah is the Head of Safety and Integrity Solutions, and together with her team supports Meta’s work on platform safety, industry partnerships and (the area that brought her to Meta) brand safety and suitability. Australian born, Sarah lives in London, UK and in her spare time enjoys traveling, boxing and weight training. A dancing teacher in her youth, Sarah performed in the opening of the soccer in the 2020 Olympics.

Chris Kenna is an entrepreneur and marketeer with over 12 years experience and a passion for diversity in media and marketing.Brand Advance was founded as the industry's first dedicated global diversity media network.We are a communications platform and business that connects brands with diversity audiences, through comprehensive data and insight, media planning and buying, partnerships and content services.

Devinn is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and a Bachelor of Science in Communication. Devinn spent the first half of her advertising and marketing career leading strategic communications planning and media planning and buying for Fortune 500 companies like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. Devinn joined Meta (formerly Facebook) in June of 2015 to help lead and grow the North America Global Customer Marketing team and is now the Director of Global Operations and Partnerships for Reality Labs. Devinn blends an interest in human behavior and a brand-side / agency-side background with extensive general management, operations, strategy, marketing, media, client services, and communications experience to resolve complex problems and propel growth. Devinn lives in Hoboken, NJ with her husband Chris and 9-year-old son Trey. She loves traveling, cooking, and spending time at the beach with friends and family.

Rob is the principal provider of operational, strategic and tactical counsel for solutions for better digital advertising infrastructure and opportunities for revenue growth to some of the worlds largest companies.  Rob publishes a regular monthly column for Marketing Land and his thought leadership has been featured in AdAge, AdWeek, Mediapost, AdExchanger, Business Insider and MyersBizNet.While at The 614 Group, Rob has led strategic engagements for clients such as Condé Nast, Interpublic / Mediabrands, IBM Watson, TAG, and Panasonic and has worked to recruit a world class board of advisors and a team of consultants who properly represent the brand and make customer satisfaction a core value.He has extensive experience in digital media and is a distinguished leader in the Ad Tech industry.  Among his many accomplishments, Rob has served as Board Member and Executive Advisor to the IAB on International Affairs, as the CFO/COO and President of the global advertising network CPXi.

Tracy Elizabeth is TikTok's Head of Issue Policy, Trust & Safety. In this role, she oversees the Minor Safety, Integrity & Authenticity, Harassment & Bullying, Content Classification and Applied Research teams to ensure TikTok's policies are designed to keep youth safe and catalogue content based on age-appropriateness. Tracy holds a doctorate in Adolescent Development and a masters in Risk & Prevention from Harvard University. Prior to TikTok, Tracy managed Netflix's Kids & Family Metadata team and helped establish Netflix's Global Maturity Ratings department. She is a former elementary school teacher, turned entertainment tech enthusiast. Tracy specializes in designing media that bolster kids' and teens' social, emotional, and academic well-being.

Carrie Neill is a past member of the National PTA Board currently serves as the chair of the Leadership Committee. A dedicated advocate for children, families and teachers, Neill has also served in her local PTA for six years in multiple board roles and has chaired her local PTA’s event, literacy, appreciation and membership committees.

Outside of PTA, Neill is a School Board Member and heavily involved with her School District's policy, wellness, social-emotional learning, COVID-19 task force and communications committees. She is also an active member of the New Hampshire School Boards Association and National School Boards Association.

Professionally, Neill works in the Marketing, Digital Design and Social Media Communications field. She feels it fuels her passion and belief in the importance of effective communication as a cornerstone for any organization's success.

Born in South Korea, Neill was adopted and came to the US in 1987. She officially became an American Citizen that same year, and now serves as a Mentor for adoptees and their adoptive families.

In 2019, Neill received the New Hampshire Volunteerism Award for Non-Profits for her efforts in multiple local organizations dedicated to education. She is passionate about educational legislation and policy reform, both locally and nationally.

Neill believes in supporting the whole student through engaging communities to work together and bridging the gap between school, guardians and the community to best serve our youth. She is a proud parent to three girls, a dog and two cats.

Christopher Murphy is SVP, Business Development at Zefr, responsible for data, platform, and global agency holding company partnerships. Zefr is the leading data and technology company that enables responsible marketing for brands, agencies and platforms.  The company leverages a patented AI and machine learning engine, called Cognition AI, to offer brands and agencies more accurate and transparent targeting and measurement solutions on scaled video platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok.Prior to Zefr, Chris held multiple senior roles in ad tech, including Conviva, LiveRamp, Omnicom Media Group, and Yahoo!/Right Media. His leadership has delivered industry-first partnerships, upgraded products in a privacy-first world, as well as global transformation of programmatic practices and operations.

Elijah is responsible for providing products and services to Mediabrands teams around the globe and lead its relationships as they relate to global digital media platforms and partners. Harris also acts as an industry advocate for media responsibility across all media types within Mediabrands. Prior to this newly created role at MAGNA, Harris was Global Head of Social at Mediabrands agency Reprise, responsible for driving growth and expansion of Reprise’s Social craft and developing the agency’s core product capabilities. With nearly ten years of experience across the U.S. and APAC digital landscape and a passion for data-driven performance, he has educated and empowered Reprise strategically to leverage social data and insights and make informed decisions on behalf of Mediabrands clients. Last year, Harris led the creation of Mediabrands’ Media Responsibility Index, a tool to assess the impact of harmful content on social platforms and establish a benchmark for platform responsibility and roadmaps for improvement. Before joining Mediabrands, Harris held performance marketing roles at Dentsu Aegis Network APAC, as well as roles at Channel Advisor, Sensis and Internet Brands. Harris’ approach is grounded in the principles of media responsibility, meticulous consumer analysis and a strong understanding of the ever-evolving media landscape.

Samantha Stetson is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of marketing and sales experience in technology and healthcare IT. Samantha’s career reflects a proven track record of building and leading programs that extract a huge amount of impact from small teams.  She is seen as a visionary who can make things happen. She has a deep passion for striving for excellence and pushing the boundaries of what is possible. She has served in a global capacity, which has allowed her to develop a deep empathy for the world we live in and the challenges outside of the United States. Samantha is currently the VP of the Client Council and Industry Trade Relations Team at Meta. The team’s mission is to foster a “customer first, customer best” culture throughout Meta. During her 9 years at Meta, Samantha has been responsible for building Meta’s Client Council franchise. The Councils are made up of top marketing and agency executives from Meta’s key clients and agency partners such as P&G, Unilever, Netflix, Pepsi, Coke, Walmart, etc., and the six major agency holding companies. She grew the franchise from one global council in 2011 to 14 global and regional Councils by end of 2020. Through these councils, she learned how to build deep cross functional relationships and manage complex issues to drive internal and external alignment.  The Councils are seen as an indispensable part of Meta’s commitment to listening to their Customers and building deep relationships grounded in trust. The feedback gleaned during these meetings has helped influence some of Meta’s most important go-to-market strategies Samantha and her team are also responsible for leading relationships with the industry trade associations to partner on some of the most complex challenges facing the future of the digital ecosystem from brand safety to cross media measurement to data privacy.Samantha lives in Newtown Square, PA with her husband David and two children, Hadley (13) and Hunter (15). In her spare time, she enjoys Bikram Yoga and skiing. She grew up as a competitive figure skater and competed in the US National Championships.

Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble (known as Dr. Alfiee) is a pioneering psychologist, scientist, author, mental health correspondent, and the founder of the million-dollar nonprofit, The AAKOMA Project. She also serves as the Chief Mental Wealth Officer, for The Mental Wealth Alliance, founded by Charlemagne Tha God.  As an expert in her field, Dr. Alfiee focuses on mental health and suicide prevention for intersectional youth and young adults of color (including LGBTQ youth and those with disabilities). She is a regular media contributor for outlets including the Washington Post, SELF, CNN, Peacock, INSIDER, Fortune, the New York Times, and many more. She was co-host to Lady Gaga on the short film The Power of Kindness, produced by the Born This Way Foundation and launched on World Kindness Day and recently joined the Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne "Gammy" Norris discussing mental health. With over 25 years of experience and widely recognized for her ability to draw in audiences and inspire, she embodies her belief that there is enough love and light, informed by strong culturally relevant science, to help everyone achieve #optimalmentalhealth.

Tank Sinatra aka George Resch is a digital creator, comedian, entrepreneur and widely recognized “meme king”. Tank has a reach of over 12 Million across his digital platforms and an aggregate of over 4 billion total impressions yearly. Due to millions of reposts without proper credit, he is proud to be the most plagiarized social media personality in the world. He currently hosts the podcast Meme Daddies alongside Adam the Creator which launched in January 2022. The show covers trending internet topics and looks at them through a prism, filtering them through all possible angles, and distilling them down to their favorite form, humor. In Q2 of 2022 Tank will release his long awaited Influencers in the Wild board game, based on his Instagram account of the same name that focuses on the absurdity of the human condition and incessant need for attention we all share. If THE GAME OF LIFE was created by a millennial in 2021, it would be Influencers in the Wild, where you “go places, gain followers and get famous. No talent required”. It will be available exclusively in Target and his website. George created the Tank Sinatra Instagram account in 2015 using relatable humor and almost single handedly popularized the modern format of memes. He began his ascent to Instagram infamy when established accounts like @thefatjewish and @fuckjerry began to repost his original work. Since then he has cemented his path to becoming the most popular meme creator in the world. In 2017, Tank released his first book, Happy is the New Rich, a collection of humor and insights gleaned from his experience of recovery from alcoholism and addiction. He has also expanded his platform beyond memes by launching Tank’s Good News in the wake of Hurricane Harvey so that social media could have a good place to focus on all the good that happens on any given day. Resch started his career in the marketing dept of Island/Def Jam during Jay-Z’s tenure as president before his comedy/digital career. He currently lives in New York.

Alyssa Boyle ( alyssa@adexchanger.com ) covers the TV ecosystem from linear to video and connected TV. She also writes about measurement and data privacy. Her journalistic passions stem from a background in language and translation. She received her B.A. in linguistics and Korean studies from Binghamton University in 2020. When she isn’t writing, she’s probably deep in a history novel or busy performing stand-up comedy.

Karan leads the exchange business with oversight of all Business Development and Operations working out of the New York office. As one of the first employees of Media.net, he has been instrumental in its rise in the adtech ecosystem. His role over the last 11+ years has been focused on building and managing partnerships across the ad-tech landscape, nurturing strategic alliances and helping drive product strategy.Prior to Media.net, Karan was an attorney in the Technology & Media practice of one of India’s premier law firms. He is deeply passionate about how access to quality education can help alleviate global poverty and spent over a year living and teaching in a remote village in India to improve the educational infrastructure for teachers and students.Karan holds a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics from University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Mumbai University.

Wendi Dunlap built a career in Advertising & Media pioneering new technologies and integrating data into traditional media strategies. She has held senior-level roles at global media agencies, leading Digital Strategy and Planning for brands across verticals including Volkswagen, Best Buy, and The History Channel. She also worked client-side at Microsoft where she drove Global Media Strategy for consumer products & solutions.  Wendi is currently an SVP of Outcome Based Planning at Kinesso where she leads a global Marketing Sciences team in addressable media measurement and optimization solutions. She is also helping to shape the future of data-driven Communications Design and Planning.  Wendi is a graduate of Cornell University where she majored in Africana Studies and Film to nurture her love of both media and culture. She is the recipient of several advertising industry awards including MEDIA magazine's "2004 20 Rising Stars in Interactive Advertising." She is a published dark fantasy writer and the proud mother of a young adult son.

Betsy McLeod (she/her) has worked in international digital media for 11 years, with an emphasis on finance and legal advertising. She is currently the Sr. Marketing Manager for International Media at H&R Block in Kansas City, directing global media campaigns for H&R Block’s overseas audiences. She is a founding member and the first Chair of COLORS, H&R Block’s LGBTQ+ Belonging Group with 800+ members, where she advises the company on LGBTQ+ strategy and messaging and coordinates learning and volunteer opportunities.As part of her work with international media and COLORS, Betsy strives to hold H&R Block accountable for having diverse, inclusive advertising and communications campaigns, and is committed to helping make the company an inclusive place for all. She currently lives in Kansas City with her wife, Diane. Depending on the season, you can find Betsy on the weekends either at her farm riding her horse, Pistol Pete, cheering on the Chiefs, or traveling the U.S.

As EVP, Global Head of Brand Assurance, Deva leads dentsu’s US and Global Media Brand Assurance offerings, bringing together Brand Responsibility, Brand Safety, and Brand Suitability to address evolving media threats and enable clients to make the best, most responsible media decisions. In this role, Deva partners closely with others across the organization, including on the Investment and Economic Empowerment teams, to constantly monitor and understand best practices in deliverability, suitability, viewability, responsibility, and sustainability. Deva is also leading the creation of a global Brand Assurance steering committee. Prior to taking on the Brand Assurance leadership role this year, Deva served as the EVP, Head of Digital Investment, leading marketplace strategy and positioning across digital & publishing for dentsu’s US media agencies. 

A true digital native with nearly 20 years of experience in the media industry, Deva spent several years within GroupM and Publicis agencies, with client experience spanning the Technology, Pharmaceutical, CPG, Retail, Financial Services and B2B verticals. Deva also spent three years on the client side within the KFC Corporation and was responsible for the development and launch of the brand’s digital marketing discipline. 

Gian LaVecchia is DoubleVerify’s Managing Director of the Americas, responsible for revenue strategy, growth and operational leadership across the Americas. Gian has spent his 20+ year career driving digital and mobile transformation in partnership with some of the world’s most recognized brands and agencies, including Digitas, Microsoft, GroupM and, most recently, Teads – where he served as the Head of Agency Development and Partnerships for North America. Gian is a recognized industry thought leader and commentator and has been frequently published and quoted in prominent outlets including AdWeek, AdAge, Fast Company, WIRED and Wall Street Journal, among others. Gian earned his B.A. from Clark University.

Jack is responsible for DoubleVerify’s demand product suite, where he works to build and deliver solutions that help advertisers and agencies optimize media investments, manage brand equity risk and increase campaign and creative performance. Prior to joining DV, Jack served as Global Chief Product Officer, Investment at Group M, where he developed products and platforms that empowered teams to make better decisions about where to invest over $80 billion of media spend. Previously, Jack co-founded the machine learning company Solariat, which was acquired by Genesys. He brings over 25 years of experience in executive strategy, product and technology to his role as Chief Product Officer. Jack holds seven patents in AI and machine learning for signal detection in natural language and the prediction of consumer media.

David Roter is the Vice President, Global Agency Solutions at Snap. His team is responsible for helping advertising and agency customers grow their businesses through Snap's offerings. Previously, Roter oversaw global revenue and partnerships for The Players' Tribune, working to establish strategic relationships and expand TPT’s offerings. Prior to that, he was the Director of Global Video & Agency Strategy at Twitter. Before Twitter, he worked on the Digital Sales & Strategy team at ESPN. Roter also serves on the Board of Directors for Active Minds, a leading Mental Health nonprofit organization.

Jeffrey Cole has been at the forefront of media and communication technology issues both in the United States and internationally for the past three decades. An expert in the field of technology and emerging media, Cole serves as an adviser to governments and leading companies around the world as they craft digital strategies. In July 2004 Dr. Cole joined the USC Annenberg School for Communication as Director of the newly formed Center for the Digital Future and as a Research Professor. Prior to joining USC, Dr. Cole was a longtime member of the UCLA faculty and served as Director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy, based in the Anderson Graduate School of Management. Cole founded and directs the World Internet Project, a long-term longitudinal look at the effects of computer and Internet technology, which is conducted in over 35 countries. At the announcement of the project in June 1999, Vice President Al Gore praised Cole as a “true visionary providing the public with information on how to understand the impact of media.” Twenty years into the project, the World Internet Project, through its unique data on Internet users around the world, is the leading, unrivaled international project examining the ways in which technology changes our lives. Cole regularly presents trends and insights of the project to the White House, FCC, Congress, Department of Defense and heads of governments around the world. He has worked closely with the CEOs of GroupM, Ericsson, Telstra, Wesfarmers and others. On the advisory side, his long-term relationships have included Microsoft, Sony, Time Warner, AT&T, AARP, CBS, NBC, ABC, CPB, PBS, HP, Coca-Cola and many more as they learn to navigate the digital future. He also sits on Unilever’s (the world’s second largest advertiser) Global Digital Strategy Board. In 2016 Cole was one of the founders of the Global Disruption Fund (GDF), a technology investment fund based in Australia (www.globaldisruptionfund.com.au). Cole is one of the members of the Investment Committee identifying innovative companies and those about to be disrupted, making investments based on his work. The Fund is now worth close to $1 billion and growing; it achieved a 40% return in its first year. Since 2017 he has written a popular and widely circulated column on disruption, media, technology and entertainment (www.digitalcenter.org/cole). Under Cole’s leadership, the Center has conducted deep examinations of the entertainment, sports media, transportation and banking industries to identify where the next wave of disruption will occur. More than just identifying trends, the Center works closely with industry to create policies and make the concrete changes that will keep them competitive. That work includes all five (formerly six) motion picture studios, all four networks and now streaming companies, as well as sports networks, leagues, automotive companies and banks. In the 1990s, Cole worked closely with the four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) dealing with television programming issues under an anti-trust waiver that allowed the networks to work together for the very first time. He issued annual reports to the television industry, Congress and the nation. Upon the release of the 1996 report, Cole held a joint press conference with President Bill Clinton, who referred to the Center for Communication Policy as “the premier educational institution setting trends in entertainment.” Nationwide there was unanimous praise for the quality of the reports and their contribution to the television content debate. Cole has testified before Congress on television issues and has been a keynote speaker at more than 750 conferences on media and technology (many can be seen on YouTube). He has worked with the White House during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations on media and telecommunications issues. He regularly makes presentations across the U.S., Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Cole was a member of the Executive Committee of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) from 1997 to 2001 and was the founding governor of the ATAS Interactive Media Peer Group. At UCLA, Cole taught over 35,000 students. Twice he received UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2022 Cole received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor awarded to distinguished Americans including Presidents, Nobel Prize Winners and CEOs who exemplify a life dedicated to their community and the world at large.

Dave Byrne is the Director of Brand Safety at Spotify, where he works cross functionally and with external partners to improve the digital advertising ecosystem. Dave represents Spotify in discussions around building trustworthy and safe creative environments for brands. Previously, Dave was at TikTok for 3 years and Google for 11 years - working out of Dublin, London, and New York during that time. Outside of Spotify, he is a startup mentor, podcast host and runs storytelling workshops.

Susan Schiekofer is the Chief Digital Investment Officer for GroupM U.S. She is responsible for digital and cross-platform partnerships and trading across GroupM’s agency clients including Mindshare, essence/MediaCom and Wavemaker. Susan’s digital skill set, coupled with her broader knowledge of trading best practices across all media formats ensures that GroupM continues to lead the market with the most valuable and accountable digital and addressable solutions for clients of GroupM agencies.  She is figurative in GroupM’s efforts to improve the integrity of the digital marketplace in the U.S. by championing viewability, anti-fraud safeguards, measurement, and standards. In addition, Susan is one of the key architects of GroupM’s Responsible Media platform – including support of Responsible News and Diverse Media initiatives. Susan has been a leader in the digital media space at WPP and GroupM since 1994. She founded the digital media offering at Ogilvy & Mather, which was later rebranded to Neo@Ogilvy. In 2010, Schiekofer joined MEC to head up the AT&T digital business, and soon became responsible for all of digital at MEC. In July of 2014, she moved to GroupM to lead digital investment for Maxus and MediaCom, and to assume responsibility for all of online video. Susan has been leading all digital investment for GroupM since 2016.

Rob is the principal provider of operational, strategic and tactical counsel for solutions for better digital advertising infrastructure and opportunities for revenue growth to some of the worlds largest companies.  Rob publishes a regular monthly column for Marketing Land and his thought leadership has been featured in AdAge, AdWeek, Mediapost, AdExchanger, Business Insider and MyersBizNet.While at The 614 Group, Rob has led strategic engagements for clients such as Condé Nast, Interpublic / Mediabrands, IBM Watson, TAG, and Panasonic and has worked to recruit a world class board of advisors and a team of consultants who properly represent the brand and make customer satisfaction a core value.He has extensive experience in digital media and is a distinguished leader in the Ad Tech industry.  Among his many accomplishments, Rob has served as Board Member and Executive Advisor to the IAB on International Affairs, as the CFO/COO and President of the global advertising network CPXi.

Mike Zaneis has served as President and CEO of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) since 2015, spearheading the digital advertising industry’s efforts to fight criminal activity, increase brand safety, and facilitate threat sharing capabilities. Under his leadership the organization has grown to include more than 700 global member companies, operating in 28 countries across 6 continents. TAG’s programs are proven to stop at least 85% of advertising fraud and have removed 90% of ads from leading pirate sites in North America. TAG is currently designated as the industry’s only Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO).

Prior to taking the helm at TAG, Mike served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).  He created the organization’s first Public Policy Office, headquartered in Washington, D.C. During his tenure, the IAB tripled its revenue and membership, and under his guidance, the Public Policy Office grew to become the leading voice for the digital advertising industry on legislative, regulatory, and legal issues.  He often represented the industry before the United States Congress, federal regulatory agencies, international legislative bodies, and at public conferences. As General Counsel for the IAB, Mike oversaw internal legal operations of the organization and provided leadership on key judicial proceedings impacting the interactive advertising industry.

Before joining IAB, Mike served as Executive Director of Technology and E-Commerce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest trade association. As the chief technology and telecommunications lobbyist, he oversaw issues affecting the business community pertaining to online and consumer privacy, data security, telecommunications, intellectual property, counterfeiting, piracy, and e-commerce. He received his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and both his Juris Doctor and Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University. Mike has served as an adjunct professor for Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

+20 years track record in building and growing EU operations for US companies. Highly regarded in the EU internet advertising industry as a thought leader and top professional. Outstanding team builder and manager. Founder of Abakus, successfully sold to SAP in 2017. Tim also built BlueLithium Europe from inception, the largest UK ad network in 2005-2007, sold to Yahoo.

Rachel Nyswander Thomas is Chief Operating Officer of the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), the leading global initiative fighting criminal activity and increasing trust in the digital advertising industry. She oversees TAG’s work in setting industry standards, facilitating the sharing of threat intelligence, and promoting brand safety, as well as its business operations. She serves concurrently as Chairwoman of the Brand Safety Institute’s Board of Advisors and as an Executive in Residence at Progress Partners.Rachel has spent her career studying, creating, and implementing digital policy in the business, non-profit, and academic sectors. Prior to joining TAG, she served as Vice President of Advocacy & Accountability at the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), advocating before Congress and federal agencies on behalf of thousands of business and nonprofit organizations. She served concurrently as Executive Director of the Data-Driven Marketing Institute, facilitating academic research on how the use of consumer data shapes industry, society, and the economy. Before joining DMA, Rachel led data privacy compliance for The McGraw-Hill Companies, auditing worldwide publishing operations and managing a global corps of 80 Privacy Officials in more than 40 countries.Rachel earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a Master of Policy Management from Georgetown University. She is a Certified International Privacy Professional and was among the first in the advertising industry to become a Certified Brand Safety Officer. Her scholarship on cybersecurity public-private partnerships has been published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Thomson Reuters Press.

Olga O'Donnell is the Global Head of Brand Safety at Twitch, where she helps ensure that advertisers appear alongside safe and appropriate content on the interactive livestreaming service. Before joining Twitch, she was at dentsu, looking after technology partnerships and business operations, and later developed the agency's brand safety consultancy practice. Previously, Olga worked at Yahoo, Microsoft, Gannett and MarketWatch. She began her career at DoubleClick, an ad technology startup now owned by Google, and she considers herself extremely lucky to have had the opportunity to shape the nascent digital media and advertising industry from scratch.

Joshua Lowcock is the Global Chief Media Officer of UM. Joshua is a recognized leader in digital, innovation, online safety, and privacy having worked in senior executive roles in the US, China, and Australia. He is frequently sought out by media organizations and regulators for his perspectives on both the current state and future of the media industry. Joshua’s clients have included Fortune 500 brands such as CVS Health, Walmart, and Procter & Gamble. In addition to his role at UM, Joshua is a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), serves on the client advisory councils of several adtech companies, and is member of the board of a retailer and a fintech company.

Drew Stein is the Founder and CEO of Audigent, the leading data activation, curation, and identity platform, and has been its Chief Product Officer since its inception in 2018. He has been hands-on in pioneering the development of Audigent’s industry-leading private marketplace products which include SmartPMPs, ContextualPMPs and CognitivePMPs. A programmatic innovator, Drew is the architect of the industry’s first cookieless header bidding solution and Hadron ID, Audigent's privacy-centric, cookieless identity framework. More recently, he has become a driving force behind many of the industry's most prominent curated marketplaces - helping agencies, brands and publishers develop consumer-friendly, high performance programmatic solutions. Passionate about data and AdTech, Drew brings over 15 years of years executive leadership and product experience to Audigent, having previously founded Dashbid - a video advertising SSP that ranked as the #2 fastest growing tech company in NYC by Crain’s 2016 as well as advising prominent venture and private equity firms in the ad tech space. Drew started his career on the creative side of advertising where he continues to be Chairman of a thriving suite of advertising production companies that he founded in 2004. An avid art fan, he is the Chairman & President of The Harriet & Esteban Vicente Foundation - a charitable foundation focused on furthering the arts. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and Horace Mann.

Yale Cohen serves as the EVP of Global Digital Standards for Publicis Media, encompassing all areas of media quality, safety and suitability, and now Brand Integrity to help advertisers understand the value of each individual impression and how culture has impacted marketers’ decision process. He has become Publicis Media’s industry voice for Standards, incorporating client needs for partners to adhere to Publicis’ stringent expectations. Throughout his 18 years of digital advertising experience, 12 of them with Publicis, Yale has worked alongside clients including Bank of America, Verizon, and Kellogg’s to simplify the complexities of our industry. He’s the chair of the 4A’s Advertiser Protection Bureau, honoree of Adweek’s Young Influential list, and part of numerous charity organizations.  Yale currently resides in Jersey City but grew up in Houston. Outside of the office, he is a dedicated father to his son, Cassius and daughter Vera. Fun fact: Yale was an alternate to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens for the sport of Fencing.

Tom Burns is the Managing Director of Partnerships and Standards, EMEA, for Publicis Media. Through his global standards work, Tom is one of the Publicis Media leads across key topics such as media quality, brand safety & suitability and brand integrity. Tom is dedicated to improving media quality across the entire digital ecosystem, ensuring that Publicis teams and clients have all of the resources and direction they need to confidently activate their digital media.

Adam drives revenue growth, leads sales strategy, guides the business and develops careers at Sightly. He is expert at creating and bringing innovative technology to market, and is currently guiding expansion of Sightly’s Brand Mentality platform, leading the real-time marketing revolution. He relentlessly focuses on solving problems for customers and partners, and on helping his colleagues reach their full potential. Prior to coming to Sightly, Adam was the first-to-market Enterprise Executive at Nomi where he helped the company break into the QSR/Retail verticals connecting the online and the offline worlds. He also led sales and business development at Pubmatic, a leading Sell Side Platform, and Yahoo! for several years. Adam received his BA from the University of Maryland in The Scholars Program. He is a dynamic leader with a passion for people, coaching, teamwork and sports.

Rob is the principal provider of operational, strategic and tactical counsel for solutions for better digital advertising infrastructure and opportunities for revenue growth to some of the worlds largest companies.  Rob publishes a regular monthly column for Marketing Land and his thought leadership has been featured in AdAge, AdWeek, Mediapost, AdExchanger, Business Insider and MyersBizNet.While at The 614 Group, Rob has led strategic engagements for clients such as Condé Nast, Interpublic / Mediabrands, IBM Watson, TAG, and Panasonic and has worked to recruit a world class board of advisors and a team of consultants who properly represent the brand and make customer satisfaction a core value.He has extensive experience in digital media and is a distinguished leader in the Ad Tech industry.  Among his many accomplishments, Rob has served as Board Member and Executive Advisor to the IAB on International Affairs, as the CFO/COO and President of the global advertising network CPXi.

Brian Quinn started his digital media adventure by leading the fledgling AdAge.com when it launched in May, 1995. Since then Brian has had digital sales leadership roles at CBS MarketWatch, The Wall Street Journal, and Triad Retail Media, which culminated in its successful sale to WPP in October, 2016. He most recently led global sales and business development for OpenSlate, culminating in its sale to DoubleVerify in 2021. Brian was the Founder and first President of 212, New York's Interactive Advertising Club and was honored with the Ad-Tech Industry Achievement Award in 2014.

Mark Proulx is the Senior Manager for Precision Marketing Data Compliance & Brand Safety for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health. He oversees global compliance for the use of data in personalized marketing and leads efforts around brand safety for J&J Consumer Health Brands. Mark has proven himself as an effective communicator and liaison across the various functions of every organization he's had the opportunity to be part of. Taking complex technical concepts and identifying key aspects that assist different stakeholders in moving towards shared goals. His passion for media is fueled by the desire to help in the creation of a more sustainable and responsible digital environment that serves both the industry and society. Previously, Mark was at The Washington Post for 7 years and Integral Ad Science for 1 year. Mark lives in Jersey City, NJ with his wife and daughter and enjoys spending his free time cooking and being outdoors.

Hesta Prynn is the go-to DJ and music curator for an impressive blue-chip client list with an emphasis on all things tech and female focused. She is a SiriusXM on air host, a regular presence at global leadership summits, and has been featured in numerous fashion campaigns and television commercials, including the Twitter ad that ran during the Oscars which AdAge called “a nod to #TimesUp and #MeToo.” Hesta Prynn acts as musical director for a number of companies and retail space, and is the co-founder of Team Slavin, an award-winning production company that specializes in commercial content creation.She got her start in music as a performer in the Columbia Records female trio Northern State, performing with some of the biggest names in entertainment and attracting the attention of Questlove, drummer for The Roots and musical director of The Tonight Show, who taught her how to spin vinyl.Hesta Prynn holds a masters degree in clinical therapy and uses her expertise in music as a tool in clinical practice and as the host of radio show "Music is Therapy" on Amazon’s AMP platform. Her dual passions for music and emotional wellbeing blend seamlessly in her work both on and off the air.