Earlier this month, Ad Age and Meta convened the sixth class of The List at Meta's offices in The Farley Building in New York. Ad Age Editor-in-Chief Jeanine Poggi, Meta VP of Global Experiential and Industry Marketing Julie Hogan and Ad Age Studio 30 Editor John Dioso welcomed the group of advertising, marketing and media leaders, which included honorees from the Ad Age A-List & Creativity Awards, Leading Women and 40 Under 40, as well as nominees from The List community. (See photos below.)
Members from The List 2019-2023 were also on hand to greet the new class: Ellie Bamford, chief strategy officer, North America, at VML; Åsa Borg, chief marketing officer of Polestar; Tiffany Edwards, global head of diversity and inclusion at Droga5; Shannon Jones, co-founder of Verb; Isaac Mizrahi, CEO of Alma; Charlyn Okigbo, business lead, emerging ad surfaces, at Uber; Priyanka Rathore, senior manager of marketing strategy at The Walt Disney Company; and Jenn Renoe, director, partner direct, at Publicis Health Media.
Introducing The List 2024 This year's members include social media executive Adu Adu, host of the "A Dose of Black Joy & Caffeine" podcast; Abeer Alessa, co-founder and CEO of The Bold Group; Ilia Anufrienko, founder and creative director of Bickerstaff.734; Justine Armour, chief creative officer and partner at Fig; Jared Belsky, CEO and co-founder of Acadia; Ruth Bernstein, co-founder and CEO of Yard NYC; Martha Boudreau, executive VP and chief communications and marketing officer of AARP; Chad Broude, co-founder and creative officer of Highdive; Courtney Brown Warren, VP of marketing at Kickstarter; Melissa Burdick, president and co-founder of Pacvue; Alice Chou, chief creative officer, Dentsu Creative Taiwan; Verna E. Coleman, VP of B2B marketing and brand partnerships at Canela Media; Kate Cronin, chief brand officer of Moderna; Elizabeth Del Valle, senior marketing lead, global creator marketing, at YouTube; Emily Doskow, chief marketing officer of Leo Burnett; Cathy Hackl, CEO of Spatial Dynamics; Awilda Hancock, head of marketing at Amazon; Michael Isselin, partner, entertainment and media at Reed Smith LLP; Himani Kapadia, former global managing director of Oliver+; and Ajay Kapoor, global director of performance driven marketing at General Motors.
New members also include Obinna Keke, head of innovation, SheaMoisture, at Unilever/Sundial Brands; Remi Kent, CMO of Progressive; recording artist Lachi, CEO and board chair of RAMPD; Lesley Klein, senior VP of strategy and brand marketing at Priceline; Adrienne Lahens, global head of content strategy and operations at TikTok; Jasmine Lipford, head of marketing for the NBA's G League; Rachel Lowenstein, global head of inclusive innovation of Mindshare; Janice Min, co-founder and CEO of The Ankler; Travis Montaque, co-founder and CEO of Group Black; Tawana Murphy Burnett, head of global clients and categories at Meta; Marissa Nance, founder and CEO of Native Tongue Communications; Ukonwa Ojo, CEO and founder of Zaia Holdings; Amie Owen, global chief growth officer, Kinesso Commerce; Gautam Reghunath, CEO and co-founder of Talented.Agency; Michele Rousseau, senior VP, global brands and creative operations, at the Expedia Group; Helga Sasdi, chair of We Are Open; Travis Scoles, senior VP of advanced advertising at Paramount; Simona Shakin, VP of product and retention marketing at Etsy; Jess Shuraleff, head of U.S. and Canada delivery ads at Uber; Jared Vestal, VP of growth and journey marketing at Geico; Crystal Vinesse Thomas, VP and global brand leader, lifestyle and luxury brands, at Hyatt; Shannon Washington, global chief creative officer at Gotham; and Lauren Wetzel, chief operating officer and board director at InfoSum.
From 'Ask About It' to Generation Next to 'The Modern CMO Playbook' In 2019, the first List class launched “Ask About It,” a marketing campaign to advocate for better and more equitable family and parental leave policies and collaborated with Fatherly to publish the “10 Companies That Get Family Leave Right.” From 2020 to 2022, The List shifted its focus to diversity, equity and inclusion, ultimately creating Generation Next, a pilot mentorship program to provide support for professionals of diverse backgrounds with three to five years of experience and help them successfully navigate the early- to mid-career challenges that often cause too many to stall—or drop out of the industry completely.
Last year, The List broadened its mission to address the myriad disruptions affecting the marketing and advertising industry. Leveraging Ad Age's custom content Publishing Partner platform, The List 2023 introduced "The Modern CMO Playbook," a four-part thought leadership series focusing on how to navigate a high-risk era, the business case for DE&I and future-proofing the marketing and advertising industry.
During a group discussion at the kickoff meeting moderated by John Dioso, Studio 30 Contributing Editor Devon Smith and Meta Global Marketing Solutions Industry Manager Alena Chiang, the 2024 class was charged with building on the work of the previous year by identifying the major issues the industry is facing this year and into the future, such as the ongoing debate between brand and performance marketing. The List 2024 will add two more chapters to "The Modern CMO Playbook" with thought leadership articles scheduled to publish in Q3 and Q4.
Cannes Lions, Advertising Week and beyond The List will continue the conversations started during the kickoff meeting when it next meets at the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. This fall, the cohort will gather during Advertising Week New York, where selected members plan to speak on panels at the conference to promote "The Modern CMO Playbook."
In addition to adding to the group's thought leadership content, this year's class will further grow The List as a community, meeting regularly with not just 2024 members but returning members from 2019-2023. Using the Ad Age DEI Council as a model, these meetings will serve as an open forum for members to discuss any and all issues dominating their businesses with an eye toward using the collective wisdom of The List to develop article ideas and help one another develop potential solutions to the greatest challenges the industry is facing now and into the future.
