IVAN PEREZ-ARMENDARIZ – HEAD JUROR
EVP, Head of Digital Experience, Deutsch LA
LinkedIn

As Head of Digital Experience at Deutsch LA, Ivan leads a team of over 50, merging strategy, creativity, and technology to build category-leading digital experiences that drive business growth. His leadership has positioned Deutsch LA among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for its generative AI marketing strategies. Ivan's accolades include being a 2024 AdAge Creativity Award winner and an Entrepreneur Magazine Top 100 awardee. Formerly CP+B's Global Chief Digital Officer, he drove Domino’s e-commerce innovations, including emoji ordering. Additionally, he oversees Deutsch LA's LatinX ERG group, nurturing LatinX talent. A Stanford alum, he now enjoys beach life in Los Angeles.

STEVEN ERICH – HEAD JUROR
Co-Founder & President, Erich & Kallman
LinkedIn

Steve Erich is the Co-Founder of Erich & Kallman, honored by AdAge as the Small Agency of the Year in 2024. Erich & Kallman has produced business-driving, award-winning work for Amazon, Disney, General Mills, Great Wolf Lodge, Hershey, Impossible Foods, iRobot, Kelly Services, Meineke and many others.

As a business strategist and account lead at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Chiat/Day and the Martin Agency, he led some of the most successful work of the recent past including American Express “Small Business Saturday”, Burger King “Whopper Freakout” and “Subservient Chicken”, Microsoft “I’m a PC”, Taco Bell “Yo Quiero Taco Bell”, and Kraft Mac & Cheese “You Know You Love It”.

KRISTIN VAN NOTE – HEAD JUROR
Head of Strategy, JOAN Creative
LinkedIn

Kristin Van Note, or “KVN” as she’s known by colleagues and clients alike, is the Head of Strategy at JOAN. She began her career in research at Hall & Partners almost 20 years ago, where she led a team that uncovered rich consumer insights for global powerhouse brands such as American Express, Jameson, Dunkin’ Donuts & Marriott. Kristin joined GREY in 2013 to serve as the strategy lead on P&G’s global hair color and styling brands. In the years that followed, her portfolio expanded to include leading CPG food & beverage brands (Smucker’s, Jif & Folgers), and retailers (Best Buy, T.J.Maxx). Upon joining JOAN in 2021, she spearheaded strategy across eBay, ZenBusiness and Ad Council, earning the title of AdAge’s Small Agency Planner of the Year in 2023.

Jurors:

• Elise Alverson, Ogilvy

• Brian Anderson, The Perception

• Jorge Becerra, Alma DDB

• Adam Blankenship, PETERMAYER

• Michelle Bregozzo, Casanova//McCann

• Margaret Dick, Ogilvy NYC

• Nukte Tuncok Fischer, Havas Creative Network

• Kevin Joyce, Liquid Advertising

• Sara Macfarlane, Sara Macfarlane Consulting

• Jordan Newman, Lewis

• Lara O'Shea, WPP

• Raul Rios, Walton Isaacson

• Shawna Ross, Dentsu Creative

• Erin Schlissel, Deutsch LA

• Sara Singh, Deutsch LA

• Elizabeth Thompson, The Mayor

• Andy Woolard, BarkleyOKRP

PELE CORTIZO-BURGESS – HEAD JUROR
Global Chief Strategy Officer, ​Assembly

Pele joins Assembly as Global Chief Strategy Officer from Initiative, where he started as CSO and later became the Chief Culture & Inclusion Officer, defining and increasing accountability efforts in DE&I. His previous roles have included MEC, Saatchi & Saatchi, Chiat\Day, St Luke's, impacting brands such as Air New Zealand, Got Milk?, PlayStation, GE, Citibank, Tiffany & Co., and Nike. He was also Head of Creative Strategy at ITV Studios. An Adweek Media All-Star, Cortizo-Burgess has contributed to the industry as a guest lecturer, at Parsons and Miami Ad School, and has held judging positions at international industry events like the Cannes Lions, Festival of Media Awards, and the EFFIES.

JAMIE SHUTTLEWORTH – HEAD JUROR
CSO, Dentsu Creative
LinkedIn

Jamie Shuttleworth leads a dynamic team of over 100 creative strategists at Dentsu Creative, dedicated to visionary thinking that drives sustainable growth for clients. Jamie believes that true success comes from embracing creativity not just as a deliverable, but as a pervasive mindset that rewrites the rules and influences every aspect of a client’s business.

Under Jamie's leadership, creativity becomes a transformative force that drives business evolution. His deep understanding of market complexities, combined with his unwavering commitment to leveraging creativity as a strategic advantage, defines his approach. Jamie ensures that Dentsu Creative continually pushes boundaries, delivering exceptional work that achieves significant business outcomes through innovative thinking and strategic insight.

Before Dentsu Creative, Jamie was Chief Strategy Officer at mcgarrybowen and Foote, Cone & Belding, working with iconic clients across various verticals. He always believes that while every problem is unique, creativity is the critical element in solving them all.

MISHA MUKHERJEE – HEAD JUROR
SVP, Managing Partner, Portfolio Management, Universal McCann
LinkedIn

Misha is a seasoned media executive with nearly 20 years experience working across major brands like NBCU, Sony, and Levi’s. He currently oversees the global Crunchyroll, Behr Paints, Nutribullet, and Movember accounts at UM. Misha prides himself on finding the right balance between modern performance marketing and major brand campaigns that insert clients into the cultural zeitgeist, while simultaneously driving the bottom line. Misha has been a part of innumerable #1 box office openings, has helped to drive major programs like Levi’s Station to Station, and launched the #1 video games of 2022 and 2023, both driving over $1B in sales within the first ten days of release. He’s a regular instructor at the 4As Institute of Advanced Advertising Studies and has previously sat on the membership board of thinkLA.

KATIE PERKINSON – HEAD JUROR
Director of Strategy, McKinney Health
LinkedIn

Katie Perkinson joined McKinney Health in early 2023 as Director of Health Strategy after having spent 24 years in healthcare marketing launching standard changing diagnostics, devices, technologies and therapies. In her years in the business, Katie has helped uncover insights and develop award winning work for Abbott, Kaléo, Johnson & Johnson, Shire, Takeda and more. Her experience spans from allergy to urology (she needs a brand category that starts with Z to get the full A to Z portfolio), supporting brand positioning and development work for HCP, DTP and DTC campaigns. She is passionate about ensuring insight mining is part of the creative development process and works closely with teams to infuse the voice of the customer into every phase of the work.

AMANDA PETERS – HEAD JUROR
Head of Strategy, Dentsu
LinkedIn

Amanda is always hunting for fresh and unexpected ways to connect brands and people. She combines the magic of storytelling, the detective work of insight mining, and the nerdery of data to help brands unlock as much creativity as possible. And having lived many lives in her career, from brand to digital to CX strategy, she has a great toolbox to dig into.

Amanda is the EVP/Head of Strategy for American Express at Dentsu Creative where she leads global brand advertising and marketing. Most recently, Amanda was Head of Strategy at adam&eveDDB where she managed a team of strategists, led new business pitches, and oversaw the portfolio of clients in New York. With over a decade at WPP under her belt, she’s had the honor of leading strategy for some truly iconic brands like Colgate, Kroger, Pepsi, Unilever, Danone, P&G, Nestlé, and the TJ Maxx Company.

Her strategic work has resulted in industry recognition including Cannes Lion and Effie wins.

Originally from Ohio, Amanda now resides in upper Manhattan with her husband and two kids, both of whom have exceptional hair. When she’s not working, she’s hard at work on her screenplay and is happy to advise you on the finer points of ordering Cincinnati chili.

RACHEL POOL – HEAD JUROR
Head of Strategy, Ogilvy New York
LinkedIn

Rachel is the Head of Strategy at Ogilvy New York and leads a formidable team of 40+ Strategists who work on some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Verizon, IKEA, Coca-Cola, Perrier, Audi and more. Since Rachel joined Ogilvy New York, the agency has turned around their effectiveness and creative credentials, being named the 2nd Best Agency in the US in 2024 at the Effies and winning two Grand Prixes at Cannes in 2024.

Before making the move to the US, Rachel also ran the strategy team at Ogilvy Sydney, which was named the 2nd Most Effective Agency in the World (WARC 2022). It was there that Rachel worked on the brand, creative and digital strategy for KFC Australia, winning numerous effectiveness and strategy awards, leading the business through consecutive quarters of growth and spearheading the brand's digital business. Prior to her career at Ogilvy, Rachel worked for numerous independent agencies and for agencies within Dentsu in both Australia and New Zealand.

A recovering lawyer, Rachel swapped precedent and legal argument for creativity, in order to build robust strategies on behalf of her clients to help them win. That’s shaped not only her innate passion for effectiveness, but her belief of creativity as a multiplier to create impact for brand, business and the world more broadly.

JENNIFER RISI – HEAD JUROR
Founder & President, The Sway Effect
LinkedIn

Jennifer Risi is the Founder and President of The Sway Effect, one of the fastest-growing marketing and communications agencies today. At the heart of The Sway Effect’s work, the agency is focused driving brand reputation while putting diversity, equity, and inclusion at the center of everything of everything that we do. Risi is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years of experience in strategic global media relations, CEO positioning, investor relations and issues management. Risi was named a PR News Top Women in PR for three years in a row and The Sway Effect was named 2023 PRNews Women Owned Agency of the Year and most recently, 2024 PRovoke Media Boutique Agency of the Year.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS – HEAD JUROR
Head of Brand Strategy/Program Lead for Strategy Boot Camp, TRG/Miami Ad School
LinkedIn

Christopher is an Effie award-winning strategist, educator, and member of the 4A’s Strategy Leadership Committee. As the Head of Brand Strategy at TRG, a nonprofit-owned, people-run creativity collective in Dallas, TX (formerly The Richards Group), he brings 24 years of experience and training to the talented team. Since 2022, Christopher has been leading the Miami Ad School’s Strategic Planning Boot Camp, a global program he graduated from in 1999 and has passionately taught since 2007. A regularly visiting lecturer at UT Austin and a former adjunct professor at SMU for 11 years, he also graduated with distinction from the Master of Advertising Effectiveness program.

AMBIKA GAUTAM PAI – HEAD JUROR
Head of Brand, TIAA
LinkedIn

Ambika takes the strategic skillset she spent 15+ years cultivating in advertising, and applies it to evolving challenges in our modern work-life. She applies this kind of thinking on her podcast Corner Office Breakdowns, “breaking down” topics like leadership, parenthood, instinct, activism, mental health, and more.

She is currently the Head of Brand at TIAA, working to help close the retirement gap in her first brand-side role. Prior to TIAA she was the Chief Strategy Officer at Mekanism, a partner at the first female founded and run strategy shop, Wolf & Wilhelmine. She has worked at agencies like BBH, FCB, and Mother alongside other entrepreneurial pursuits.