2023 GLOBAL ACE AWARD JUDGES

Kristi Armstrong
Director, B2B Digital Product Marketing
Dell Technologies

Kristi Armstrong is a Director of Digital Marketing, responsible for B2B product content for Dell Technologies. She is a global marketer with 25 years of experience in traditional advertising, eCommerce, online merchandising, and social media content across consumer, gaming, and B2B audiences. She believes in delivering a great customer experience that is grounded on elevating a brand’s purpose while building trust and authentic connections with customers.

Mike Bell
VP, Chief Creative Officer
TriCommB2B

With nearly 40 years in the industry, Mike currently leads the creative at TriComB2B as VP, Chief Creative Officer. Mike has a history of accolades and accomplishments throughout his tenures as creative director at marketing and advertising agencies. Over his career, Mike has developed and led campaigns for numerous brands, including: Rubbermaid; Owens Corning; La-Z-Boy; Owens-Illinois; Johnson & Johnson; Cummins, Honeywell and Emerson. Mike believes in non-stop learning, championing great ideas, creating emotional connections and that the best work is built on trust.

David Bernstein
Chief Creative Officer
The Gate

David is the Chief Creative Officer of The Gate/New York. During his tenure at the agency, David has won over 100 industry awards and co-wrote a best-selling business book, Death to all Sacred Cows.

Prior to joining The Gate, David worked at creatively-driven shops such as Ammirati & Puris, Angotti Thomas Hedge and Merkley Newman Harty. His work has been honored by the One Show, the Clios, Graphis and the Museum of Modern Art.

Marina Biglione
Managing Director
Ogilvy

Marina isn’t just internationally bred – she’s internationally tested. She worked with Adidas to make their Originals product line earn their moniker with Chinese Gen-Z. She worked with – and eventually at – Disney to take their home entertainment division a digital expert across high-paced releases. She led Unilever to make Dove’s Real Beauty positioning relevant in China, fighting a crowded local and Asian competition. And for the last few years she has been driving some of our most digital and data-led clients at Ogilvy New York. She knows brand, she knows digital and content, she knows data and she knows how to tie it all together to attract new customers, optimize experiences x-channel and increase customer value and retention.    

Aiden Byrne
Associate Creative Director
Doremus

Aiden’s journey through the ad world has been relentlessly diverse. Working across the country in every vertical from ATL to digital, branding, shopper, and B2B, he’s done everything from write the backs of cereal boxes, to roll a snowmobile filming content in Alaska. Today he’s settled in San Francisco where he’s living out the next interesting turn for his bio.

Christine Connor
Head of Strategy
The Croc

Christine is a senior strategist with extensive experience in FMCG, IT, finance and automotive. She has worked at senior levels at Accenture Interactive, Ogilvy and Kantar for major brands including Nestle, IBM, American Express, BP and Canon. That eclectic spread of experience has given her a unique insight into how great brand communications can be made even greater with digital, data and technology. She puts those insights into action at The Croc where she heads up a team of creative thinkers. Together they’re reshaping the ways that B2B brand experiences are delivered.

Lauren Costa
Executive Creative Director
JOAN

A former journalist, Lauren started her career covering sports and style for publications like the Washington Post. Invaluable experience, as it turns out, as she went on to help launch Wieden+Kennedy’s first Social Media Lab, which created and populated ESPN’s inaugural Facebook and Twitter pages. True content creation has remained at the heart of Lauren’s work, which includes a movie made out of actual atoms for IBM, and a six-episode TV series for Xfinity. Lauren has worked across a wide variety of clients from ESPN and Keds to IBM to S&P Global. She has been recognized by all the major award shows, including One Show, Cannes, D&AD, and the Emmys.

Erin Creaney
Managing Director
Iris Worldwide

Energizer and Challenger in equal measure. Entrepreneur at heart. A Digital, Branding, Technology and Fashion lover. Erin is an expert in Digital Marketing Ecosystem strategy & customer experience optimization with a successful track record of integrated channel strategy and global campaigns. With more than 15 years of experience in B2B, B2C & eCommerce categories including digital consulting, integrated marketing strategy, Media and PR. MBA completed in 2003.

Recipient of People’s Choice Award – Integrated Digital Campaign from B2B Magazine, B2B Magazine Editors Choice Runner Up, Horizon Interactive “Best in Category” Award, and Chicago Area Direct Marketing Emerging Leaders Award.

Ed Davis
Director, International Client Relationships
BBN

Ed Davis serves as the International Client Relationships Director for BBN International with the specific remit to oversee business development and international account coordination. With more than twenty years of working on global brands around the world, Davis brings a wealth of experience in media and public relations, crisis and issues management, branding, marketing and business development across a wide range of industries.

Elizabeth Dieckman
Head of Solutions Marketing
LinkedIn

Elizabeth Dieckman is a Director of Integrated Marketing for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the company’s growing marketing and advertising business. In her role, Elizabeth leads a global team responsible for portfolio narratives and messaging, regional product marketing, field enablement, global events, and commercial monetization.

With over a decade of experience in B2B marketing, Elizabeth has worked and built teams for both SaaS and AdTech organizations. Her passion lies in driving new growth opportunities for customers, developing high-performing talent, and leading cross-functional teams to achieve creative solutions.

Jamie Ferreira
Executive Creative Director
Green Dot Agency, Deloitte

Jamie is the Executive Creative Director of the Green Dot Agency at Deloitte. He’s an art director and designer by discipline and has over 25 years of experience building brands, solving complex creative problems, and creating iconic and business-results-driven work. Prior to Deloitte he was at Digitas and was the creative leader for all divisions of the GM account, as well as leading the health and wellness practice.

Prior to joining Digitas, he was the head of digital creative at Mullen and ran the Jetblue, Zappos, Boston Bruins and Timberland accounts, among others. Before joining Mullen he was a GCD at Arnold on the Goodyear, VW, ESPN & Progressive accounts. And prior to Arnold he was a CD at McKinney, where he led Audi, Travelocity, Nasdaq and Victory Motorcycles.

Mike Fredrick
Chief Creative Officer
Nelson Schmidt

Mike Fredrick is the Chief Creative Officer at Nelson Schmidt in Milwaukee. A copywriter by craft, he has worked on multichannel campaigns for clients ranging from Fortune 100 behemoths to local non-profit organizations. Mike has proudly dedicated his entire career to working at agencies in his home city, ignoring the notion that creativity is relegated only to certain locales. His philosophy is that creativity is the most powerful weapon in business today, and he works closely with clients to infuse their brands and organizations with a creative competitive advantage. When not at work, you’ll find Mike’s face in a book or his butt on a bike.

Thomas Gledhill
Associate Creative Director
Goodby Silverstein and Partners

Thomas Gledhill is an Associate Creative Director at Goodby Silverstein and Partners. He began his creative career at FCB New Zealand in 2014, where he developed his love for craft and insight driven work. After winning Asian Pacific Creative Team of the year in 2018, he moved to Goodby Silverstein and has since picked up metal at every major award show, including D&AD, The One Show and The Webbys, for his Cheetos Superbowl campaign and Liberty Mutual’s Spiderman Partnership. Last year Thomas was named one of the ‘35 rising stars of Madison Avenue who revolutionized advertising in 2022’ by Business Insider.

Tom Greenwood
SVP, Group Creative Director
McCann New York

Tom Greenwood is a creative director with two decades of experience building brands in industries from tech to telecom, farming to finance. Driven by the belief that there’s potential in every brief, Tom stays focused on the big picture while never losing sight of the details that make good ideas great. He’s made award-winning work for some of the world's most venerable brands and helped create some new ones along the way. Currently at McCann New York, Tom co-leads the creative for State Street Global Advisors.

Richard Hill
Managing Director, Growth
Quarry

Richard drives growth for Quarry, a top-ranking B2B demand marketing agency exclusive to tech brands. With a background in martech and a passion for winning new business, Richard’s modern approach to generating agency demand has seen Quarry reach new client revenue heights in recent years. Along the way, his work has been recognized with several industry awards, including an ANA B2 Award and several Global ACE Awards for best agency self-promotion. He’s also a drummer in a big hair 80’s band. Seriously. 

Clara Kowalkowski
Client Services Director
Earnezt

Clara is the Client Services Director of Earnezt, the New York office of Earnest, London, leading all North American brand and campaign initiatives. Her passion lies in marrying deep strategic insights with impactful creative, and chasing the humdrum out of B2B marketing. With a decade of experience working with brands across retail, fintech, healthcare, non-profit, insurance, higher education and more, she brings a unique, cross-industry perspective to all that she does.

Kristen Kremkau
Director of Content
Park & Battery

Kristen leads Park & Battery’s content team, overseeing everything from strategy to execution. She brings over 10 years of experience ideating, strategizing and writing award-winning content for her clients. Kristen has helped clients from a number of industries bring their content to the next level, including: technology, pharma, financial services, retail, food & beverage, and aviation (to name just a few).

Josh Lieber
Senior Creative Director
Agency Ingram Micro

When Josh was nine, he asked his father, “Dad, how much does it cost to write a TV commercial, ‘cause it looks like fun?" His father answered, "They pay you."  Eureka!

Josh has since worked at notable agencies such as Young & Rubicam and Innocean Worldwide where, as a Creative Director/Copywriter on Hyundai, he helped drive the company to ten quarters of record growth. His agency work has received In-house agency of the year from the Global ACE awards, a Cannes Lion, CLIOs and many others. Currently, Josh is Sr. Creative Director of Agency Ingram Micro, overseeing the creative output for the company and its co-branded B2B campaigns. Josh is also produced screenwriter. His latest film premiered on the Lifetime Channel and stars the late Ed Asner.

Steve Long
Creative Director
Gravity Global

Steve Long joined Gravity Global in 1993, with considerable creative experience gained from years at well-respected agencies such as Grandfield Rork Collins, McCann Erickson and Y&R-Wunderman. He has worked on many prestigious accounts including Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Esso, RAC, Canon and Barclays, as well as serving as Creative Group Head for Ford. At Gravity Global he works across the entire client portfolio. He has sat on several creative judging panels including IPA, IAC, B2B Marketing and The Drum. Outside of work he puts his creative skills to use by writing crime novels.

Cos Mingides
Founding Partner
True

Cos is a Founding Partner of True, the London office of BBN International, who were named Creative Agency of the Year at the 2020 Global Ace Awards. He began his career in business development, supporting the growth of several pioneering digital and mobile agencies where he won and led digital production accounts for some of the UK’s leading advertising agencies, including AMV BBDO and BBH.

Since co-founding True in 2012, Cos has been on a mission to make B2B marketing more effective, more human and more creative. He is a strategic partner to some of the world’s most recognised B2B brands including Volvo, Logitech, Kaspersky and EY, helping their communications live up to the agency’s mantra of ‘Make it memorable’.

Lauren Pajer
Art Director
PJA Advertising + Marketing

Lauren Pajer is an Art Director at PJA Advertising + Marketing with over a decade of experience in design, online marketing, and social media content creation across non-profit arts and B2B marketing audiences. Prior to PJA she was a Digital Design and Content Manager at Boston Ballet where she launched and grew their successful Instagram account, and managed and designed all digital communications and content marketing.  

When she’s not pushing pixels, you can find her in the dance studio choreographing for her dance company.

Michael Pogson
Executive Creative Director
Twogether

Mike has spent over a decade protecting ideas on their difficult journey from birth to fully-fledged campaign. His experience spans consumer, B2B, prescription, and over-the-counter products across every imaginable media channel. With over one hundred industry awards to his name, including eight Cannes Lions, Mike’s work has not only changed the opinions of people but the fortunes of brands.

Ramona Roopnarine
Global Head of Brand & Recruitment Marketing
Bloomberg

Ramona leads the global marketing strategy for Bloomberg's Employer Brand, Diversity & Inclusion, HR, Climate Finance and Technology & Innovation efforts. She is responsible for creating programs, developing platforms and managing partners that help communicate and strengthen the Bloomberg brand, drive commercial impact, recruit top talent and engage employees. Prior to joining Bloomberg L.P., Ramona was the Vice President of Marketing for NYC & Company, the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for the City of New York. Ramona holds a B.S. in Marketing and Management & Organizational Behavior from New York University’s Leonard Stern School of Business. Ramona is the Board Chair of The Animation Project and also serves on the board of NYC & Company.

Philipp Sens
Group Creative Director
Media Monks

Philipp bridges concepts across advertising, digital, experiential, content and social media for a digital-first world. From game mechanics to integrated global campaigns, he has over the years gathered a broad, in-depth knowledge of the complex workflows within digital, film, traditional and interactive media. With more than 15 years of experience on brands ranging from luxury and lifestyle all the way through to healthcare, Philipp believes there is an opportunity to create outstanding and insight driven work for every brand & audience—no matter how big or small.

Isabel Sierra Gómez de León
Group Creative Director
Square

Isabel Sierra Gómez de León is an award-winning creative director working at the intersection of business, technology and art. She currently serves as the Group Creative Director for Square’s Platform efforts and sits on the board of ANA NYC, the AD ART Show, and was named as one of Fast Co.’s Queer 50 in 2022. She moonlights an artist, using photography and moving images to reflect on today’s political, financial and religious spectrum. Deeply passionate about the environment, believes that our past holds the key to a more sustainable future. This is the focus of her small real estate development company that she runs with her brother, operating out of her hometown of Seville, Spain. These days, Isabel is based in Brooklyn, NYC where she lives with her soon-to-be family of five.  

Wally Stoneman
SVP, Creative Director
Mower

Wally thrives on finding simple, impactful creative solutions to the most complex client challenges. And he’s done so for the past three decades, helping elevate the work of brands like ABB, Carhartt, GE, Georgia-Pacific, IMG and Yamaha.

Representing Mower’s Brand as Friend philosophy, Wally brings a level of humanity to his work that not only helps his clients win customers but has helped his teams win numerous honors, including Global ACE Awards, ECHO Awards, Drum Awards, B2s and others.

A graduate of the UNC School of Journalism, Wally currently resides in Atlanta with his family, where he’s proud to work for the company named a Best Place to Work by both AdAge and PR Week.

Anne Swan
Chief Creative Officer
Prophecy by Prosek

Anne Swan knows design, branding and the power of simplicity. Before joining Prosek Partners, Anne was Chief Creative Officer/Partner at Dear Future. Prior to that, she spent 12 years as the Executive Creative Director for Siegel+Gale – one of the largest and most respected branding firms in the world. Anne has led and built relationships with scores of clients including Hewlett Packard Enterprise, CVS Health, Aramco, The New School, DXC Technologies, Micron, Quibi, Hudson Group, The Philips Academy of Newark, AARP, Kahn Lucas, Florida State University and American Express helping them succeed by leveraging simplicity to activate customers and employees alike. 

A prominent figure in the industry, Anne has led global branding programs in virtually every sector and has received international recognition for her work.

Brian Tafel
Design Principal, Creative Director
IBM

Brian Tafel is Design Principal, Creative Director of IBM Blue Studio. He has deep pedigree in design and advertising, having partnered extensively with the world’s most well-known brands in technology, automotive, fashion, art and music. His work has been featured in numerous global creativity shows and competitions. In his current role, he leads teams across IBM’s businesses in elevating design and creative at IBM, and refining and propelling the IBM brand.

Lee Wardell
Executive Creative Director EMEA
The Marketing Practice

The great thing about a career in the creative industry is how varied it can be. I’ve worked as a Printer, Artworker, Illustrator, Graphic Designer, Art Director, Writer and Creative Director, and each role has felt like an entirely different career. It’s made me respect every aspect of the creative process equally, because the best work and teams I’ve been involved with include all those disciplines, and more, working together.

I build and direct global teams of creatives to deliver award-winning, standard-setting work in the B2B space, with a strong sense of story and humanity across our work, and our approach.

Reuben Webb
Chief Creative Officer
Stein IAS

As creative leader at Stein IAS, Reuben has been fighting for B2B’s creative standards for 20 years. He leads global teams to enhance a wide range of industries focused on large and small businesses that include Engineering, IT, tech, healthcare and food. Every creative award his team has won was hard fought against an assumption that B2B creative has to be dull and ordinary. Reuben decided to get even with the Abominable-no-man and all the cliché addicts with 101 Clichés – a widely acclaimed book and website which seeks to eliminate creative faux pas forever! Check it out.

Reuben’s expertise spans the development of creative brand positioning to demand generation content strategies. Client experience includes Brother, Siemens IT, Samsung, Veolia, Ingredion, Juniper Networks, ATOS and HSBC.  

Mike Wente
VP, Head of Creative and Brand Design
Verizon

Mike Wente is the Vice President, Head of Creative and Brand Design, bringing Verizon’s brand to life across Retail, Digital, Social, Events and Creative Innovation. In two years, he’s led Verizon through its most creatively awarded period ever, including Golds at every major awards show and the brand’s first-ever Golds at D&AD and Cannes.

Mike is a contemporary creative leader telling stories that live beyond campaigns. Last year, Verizon employed 5G technology to tell novel, immersive stories about the Indy 500, the Met during lockdown, and Verizon’s role reconnecting New York after 9/11.

Stephanie Whitaker
Managing Director
Ignis

Stephanie Whitaker founded Ignis, an integrated agency, over 30 years ago, following a career marketing global brands, including Kit Kat, Olay and Vicks, as well as senior roles in advertising powerhouses Lowe Howard-Spink and Yellowhammer. Ignis’ Clients include Marriott, Britvic, Delonghi, JTI, Campari, and LNER.

Todd Wilcox
Associate Creative Director
Sullivan

Todd is Associate Creative Director at Sullivan NYC where he is responsible for turning the company’s strategic vision into an actionable creative concept that excites audiences while adhering to and pushing brand guidelines. Having over 20 years of experience, Todd has been servicing clients across a number of industries including American Express, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, TD Ameritrade, Weill Cornell Medicine, Duke Medicine, Brown University, and Two Sigma. One of his favorite projects to work on is the annual event experience for Two Sigma where he’s developed everything from a mobile made of code to attract engineers to a VR experience to predict ice cream flavor preferences.

Heather Keets Wright
Co-Founder and CEO
Wright Creative

Heather is a creative and thought leader in the agency and branded content space, having led work for large, complex clients for over a decade. In 2015 she co-founded Wright Creative with her husband, documentary filmmaker Mark W. Wright. Wright Creative’s clients include TIAA, Sunbelt Rentals, Trane, Parkdale, and Kellogg.

A winner of the Women in Content Marketing Award 2020 – General Excellence, Heather is a graduate of Syracuse University—she and Wright Creative blend journalism and brand storytelling to bring diverse thought to content where there is none. Heather recently served as Supervising Producer for Milestone Generations, an HBOMax documentary about the first and only Black superhero universe. Upcoming documentaries from Wright Creative include The Bison Project and Can’t Retire from This.

Kim Wright
Creative Director
BOL Agency

After graduating from the Art Center College of Design, Kim went to work as an art director at Cole Henderson Drake, Atlanta where she created transformative campaigns for The Ritz-Carlton, Bush’s Baked Beans, Atlanta Gas Light, The Organ Donor Foundation, US Forest Service, Amnesty International and Georgia Pacific.

After bringing CHD their first appearances in The One Show and Archive and numerous Addy wins, Kim headed to Saatchi & Saatchi LA. There she spent the next decade creating national print campaigns for Toyota, whose commercial earned her a Cannes Finalist award. In addition to her decade at Saatchi, she’s worked for shops like Chiat/Day, Deutsch, and 72 and Sunny and launched her own agency, Bridge13.