Samira Ansari has over 20 years experience working in the ad industry across three continents.

Her career began at Cummins and Partners in Australia, working on planes, trains and automobiles. She was part of the team that successfully launched Virgin Airlines in Australasia. This campaign was so successful, it forced Qantas to launch its own low budget airline to compete with the new sassy Virgin brand.

She then landed at Saatchi and Saatchi Paris where she led the agency’s P&G laundry business across EMEA for 4 years.

In 2008 Samira arrived in New York. While at JWT NY, she created the brutally honest, award-wining campaign for U by Kotex, revamping the female sanitary product market. At Chiat Day NY she produced a multi-award winning campaign for Wheat Thins. And at Grey, Samira and team took Pringles to the Super Bowl for the very first time. She spent a year at Johannes Leonardo as Group Creative Director in charge of Mass Mutual and Gap. The agency was ranked #3 on Adage’s Annual A-list that year.

Samira joined FCB NY in January 2020 as Executive Creative Director responsible for the agency’s ABI portfolio taking Michelob Ultra Courtside at NBA's covid-safe bubble in Orlando. Her team also launched Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer at the Super Bowl with great success. FCB was named Adweek Global Agency Of The Year in 2020 and Cannes 2020/2021 Global Network of the year. Samira was also the most awarded ECD in NA at The One Show.

Over the years, her work has been recognized by local and international award shows; The Cannes Lions festival, The D&AD, Clio, The One Show, the ADC, and the Effies.

Samira is not at all related to comedian Aziz Ansari, but once convinced the maître d at the Bellagio in Vegas that she was to get the penthouse, free of charge.

Matt pushes the creative limits of 72andSunny by helping lead its commitment to experimentation with art, technology and entertainment. He’s a born tinkerer, and is always looking for new ways to create opportunities with all of our brand partners. Matt’s passion for partnership has produced unlikely collaborations, including rallying millions of girls to code holiday trees on the White House’s lawn, turning the Tinder App into an interactive adventure called Swipe Night that led to matches IRL, and promoting a fake athlete to be a company’s “MFCEO.”

Philadelphia native, John “JP” Petty III is Executive Creative Director at Wieden + Kennedy Portland, where he helps lead that office alongside MD Jess Monsey and creative partners Ana and Hermeti Balarin, overseeing all creative output for brand partners, including Nike, Old Spice, Visa, Fisher Price, HP, and Samsung to name a few.

Prior to his elevation to ECD, JP was head of social at WKNY, where he led a team of 15 social strategists working across Anheuser-Busch InBev, Ford, McDonald’s, Kraft-Heinz, vitaminwater, HBO, Sprite, Jordan Brand, and Lyft.

During his time in the New York office, JP helped launch WKNY’s Bodega — an internal social-first creative group that aims to ignite conversation and advocacy by working cultural moments into brand storytelling, versus trying to push brand storytelling onto culture.

JP was also on the team behind the explosive McDonald’s “Famous Orders” partnerships with Travis Scott, J. Balvin, BTS, Saweetie and others, leading to the creation of numerous TikTok trends and an ingredient shortage around the country. He also helped launch the highly anticipated Ford Bronco after COVID cancelled automotive shows, pivoting to an entirely organic digital and social push, leading to sold out pre-orders in under 24 hours and becoming the #1 trending Twitter topic––all without any paid social media.

He’s shaped culture-defining campaigns for brands by putting social at the center of creative work. In doing that, JP transformed Wieden + Kennedy’s creative output for a new media landscape, while shaping trends for the type of work that will guide the next generation of advertisers. He’s also championed an inclusive recruitment approach that is welcoming a new, diverse group of creative talent into the industry.

Formerly, as the Director of Social at Translation, he spearheaded the development of engagement strategies for the likes of State Farm, NBA, HBO, Champs Sports, Budweiser Made In America, NFL, and the Brooklyn Nets. While there, he worked closely with music and advertising industry veteran, Steve Stoute to launch the artist services company, UnitedMasters, and was instrumental in the development of their 2018 NBA sync deal. Before joining Translation in 2013, JP served as a Social Strategist and Columnist at Raine Magazine.

In 2009, he received his Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from the nation’s first HBCU, Lincoln University, and in 2012, a Masters of Science in Project Management from Drexel University. JP is a hip-hop and Philly sports fanatic, whose motto is “Get On. Put On.” and dedicates all of his past and future work to his late mother, Wanda.

Jeff joined Tombras two years ago as their first Chief Creative Officer - with a mission to challenge the way people and brands think about how data and creativity can work together. Since joining, Benjamin has brought in a flurry of new business including Big Lots, Mozilla Firefox, Hotels.com, and Edible.

Previously, he was a Partner at Barton F. Graf. He also led a reinvention at JWT, where, as Chief Creative Officer for North America, he took one of the oldest and largest agencies in the world and helped it to rediscover its pioneering soul, attracting creative talent and winning brands like Puma, Nokia, and Google along the way.

Jeff joined JWT from Crispin Porter + Bogusky where he was a Partner and Co-Chief Creative Officer. In 2003 he joined CP+B as their first Interactive Creative Director and helped grow the agency by creating some of the most provocative and effective ideas in the world. During Jeff’s career at CP+B they were named Interactive Agency of the Year three times at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, and Agency of the Decade by Advertising Age. Prior to CP+B, Jeff worked at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Jeff’s work has been recognized by every major industry award show, winning multiple Grand Prix and Titanium Lions at Cannes, Best of Shows at the One Show, Grand Clios, and Grand Effie. Jeff has appeared in ‘Creativity 50.' In 2010, he received the Irving Wunderman Award for Lifetime Achievement, and later that year was honored by the One Club for two of the five best interactive ideas of the decade.

The work Jeff has created for brands such as Burger King, Volkswagen, Domino's Pizza, Macy’s, Hewlett-Packard, Band-Aid, Best Buy, MINI, and American Express are among the most successful marketing campaigns of all time.

Aisea (pronounced like ‘Isaiah’) was born to Tongan parents in New Zealand, growing up in Australia and now calls Los Angeles home. All that means is that he has a lot of passports and can quickly tell you when the best times are to organize a call between all those countries.

Aisea is Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Anomaly Los Angeles, where he’s overseen its growth from just himself as the first employee to a team of 80 serving the likes of General Mills, Masterclass, Jimmy John’s, Uber and Coca-Cola. He was previously Co-Head of Planning at Anomaly New York with leadership stints at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney and New York and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Los Angeles.

Tim Ellis was named by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell the Chief Marketing Officer of the NFL in August of 2018.

As the NFL’s Chief Marketing Officer, Tim is responsible for all aspects of the NFL’s marketing organization and directly oversees research, content development, consumer engagement, advertising, promotions, marketing operations, and branding.

In his first year at the NFL Ellis made an immediate impact. After two consecutive seasons of dips in viewership, media consumption of NFL games rose 5% for the 2018 season. Ellis oversaw the direction and production of the League’s 2019 Super Bowl commercial titled 'The 100-Year Game'. The commercial, which kicked off the NFL’s celebration of its 100th season won USA TODAY’s prestigious Ad Meter, a ranking of Super Bowl ads by consumer rating.

Behind fresh and creative marketing, the NFL’s momentum would continue in 2019. The 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville shattered ratings records as nearly 50 million fans viewed the Draft while over 600,000 fans – another record – filled the streets of Nashville to watch the event in person. Viewership of the 2019 NFL regular season again rose 5% as 47 of the top 50 shows of the year were NFL games.

The 2019 season culminated with the Ellis led creation of the NFL’s Next 100. A short film which aired on FOX moments before kickoff at Super Bowl LIV, Next 100 won four Sports Emmy Awards.

Ellis’ work in 2019 led YouGov’s BrandIndex Buzz Rankings to recognize the NFL as showing the strongest growth in buzz of 1,700 brands measured for the year. Additionally, the NFL reached an all-time high in the size of its fan base, driven by youth and female fan segments.

Set against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 NFL Draft brought a fresh set of challenges – and opportunities – for Ellis and his team. With an adjusted tone and shift in marketing and promotion, the 2020 NFL Draft soared to new heights with all-time highs for media consumption in every category. Telecasts of the three-day event reached more than 55 million total viewers, up +16% from 2019. Additionally, an average audience of over 8.4 million viewers watched all three days of the 2020 NFL Draft, easily breaking the previous high of 6.2 million viewers set just a year prior.

Alex is one of the most accomplished and awarded brand marketers and creative storytellers of this generation. For nearly a quarter century Mr. Lopez has defined, differentiated, and dimensionalized the Nike brand, shaping its positioning and messaging, driving enterprise- wide alignment, and leading teams around the world to best-in-class execution. Alex has been at the forefront of evolving the ways Nike connects with consumers both at scale and on an individual basis via traditional avenues and through the use of existing and emerging technology and platforms.

Alex led some of the most noteworthy efforts in Nike’s history, most recently leading the Dream Crazy, Equality, and You Can’t Stop Us campaigns. Alex also led efforts to launch new sport categories like Nike Skateboarding, the brand’s launch into Digital Sport via the Fuel Band, and most recently its efforts into premium long-form entertainment by co-founding and leading Waffle Iron Entertainment. Mr. Lopez has worked across the portfolio of brands within Nike, Inc, and has overseen a diverse set of functional expertise departments like Advertising/Brand Communication, Social Media, Media Planning & Buying, Digital Brand Innovation, Events, and more at both the Global level and across several of its geographies and territories across the world.

Alex’s work has led to significant business growth and brand affinity and has been received widespread critical acclaim. The Jordan Brand doubled in revenue during Alex’s time leading the Brand’s efforts, and North America revenue grew 25% in two years, delivering its first ever $4B quarter. Nike’s brand strength metrics have grown in all segments, and Nike is the #1 overall brand for its core consumer globally and in each of its key cities. Mr. Lopez’s work has won every significant creative marketing award, including multiple Emmy nominations and one Emmy win, seven Cannes Grand Prix Lions, the D&AD Black Pencil, the Effie 5 For 50, One Show Brand Of The Year, and hundreds of other awards over the years. Alex’s work has also been recognized by being added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.

Alex is an empathetic and empowering team leader who believes the work and results are a consequence of the culture he creates and has coached and mentored many senior marketing and creative leaders in the industry. He has also served as a keynote speaker, external advisor, board member, and subject matter expert for companies and organizations of all sizes and stages of development, both in the for- profit and non-profit worlds. He received his bachelor’s degree from Pepperdine University in 1997.

Amy Weisenbach is senior vice president and head of marketing at The New York Times. She and her team are responsible for the development and execution of all consumer marketing at The Times, including “The Truth Is” campaign, which stands to demonstrate that deeply reported, independent journalism is worth paying for. The campaign has earned top honors at major industry awards including two Grand Prix Cannes Lions, the Grand Clio, One Show CMO Pencil, ADC Best in Show Black Cube and Ad Age Idea of the Year.

Previously Amy led marketing for Wilson Sporting Goods, the world’s leading manufacturer of sports equipment. She led the development and launch of Wilson’s first large-scale brand campaign and helped launch the Wilson X digitally connected basketball and football.

In addition, Amy also held marketing roles at Beam Global Spirits & Wine and Trunk Club. She spent six years at Unilever working on AXE Bodyspray and led the marketing for the North American launch of AXE Hair Care.

Amy received a B.A. from DePauw University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Based in Los Angeles, Sue has spent her career in the commercial and music video world, working with brands like Apple, Nike, Calvin Klein, as well as artists like Jay-Z and Run The Jewels.

Sue executive produced Apple’s ‘The Underdogs’ campaign which followed with its brilliant sequel in 2020. Perhaps the most iconic spot of the pandemic, ‘The Whole Working-From-Home Thing’ was directed by DGA-nominated director Mark Molloy and shot with a minimal crew, innovating the way to shoot with crews in the era of COVID. The seven minute film has continued to sweep award season, earning a Gold for Achievement in Production at Cannes Lions and a Grand Prix at Ciclope.

Prior to SMUGGLER, Sue worked as an Executive Producer for The Directors Bureau, founded by Roman Coppola. She began her career working as an assistant to Coppola, before transitioning into the production space. While at The Directors Bureau, Ahn executive produced Arcade Fire’s “We Exist” music video, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video in 2014.

Half Persian, half Welsh, born and raised in Austria, “DAV” is an EMMY, BAFTA and CANNES LIONS winning producer and the Global President at PULSE FILMS, based in Los Angeles, CA.

Pulse Films is a next-generation film production company with a global footprint that produces both ADVERTISING and ENTERTAINMENT at the highest level. Across 2020/21 Pulse Films have been awarded PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR by SHOTS, LBB, The British Arrows, ADC and Campaign Magazine, finishing runner up at the Cannes Palme D’Or and featured on AdAge’s A-List.

Earlier this year the Pulse Films produced Nike commercial was one of the most awarded films winning the Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix and EMMY, While apple “Bounce” collected the Grand Prix at the ADC and British Arrows.

Aside from the award winning Commercial output Pulse FILMS recently released the EMMY nominated BEASTIE BOYS STORY (directed by Spike Jonze), MOGUL MOWGLI (starring Riz Ahmed), PIG (starring Nicholas Cage) as well as the critically acclaimed SKY TV Show GANGS OF LONDON.

Esther Perls is the Head of Production at Special U.S. Since graduating in 2004 from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Esther has worked at some of the best creative agencies, including RPA, 72andSunny, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, FRED & FARID, and Mother. While at these agencies, she worked on many notable brands, producing content like HP’s Olivia

Wilde-directed short film, “Wake Up,” Samsung’s “The Next Big Thing is Here,” and Apple’s “Frankie’s Holiday,” along with “The Only Thing That's Changed” and “Shot on iPhone” campaigns.

In her current role, Esther is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Special U.S.’s global content creation. She facilitates the creative process, securing talent and ensuring shoots go smoothly to deliver world-class campaigns for clients. She supervises all shoots, including those for Uber Eats’ “Tonight I’ll Be Eating” campaign, which tap into fan culture with unlikely pairings like Wayne’s World with Cardi B and Elton John with Lil Nas X.

When not lending her skills to the world of advertising, Esther’s focus is on causes important to her; she’s taken two career breaks to support Democratic election-year campaigns.