2025 Jury

Advertising

Advertising Co-Chairs

Jordan Doucette
Chief Creative Officer
McCann

Brian Murray
Chief Creative Officer
Zulu Alpha Kilo

Brian Murray is Chief Creative Officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo in Toronto. Brian has been ranked the #1 Creative in Canada multiple times on the One Show rankings and the #2 Chief Creative Officer in Canada on the Strategy Magazine Creative Report Card.

Brian has worked in both Toronto, CAN, and London, UK, alongside many talented people, and is one of the only creative directors in the country to have won multiple Cannes Lions Grand Prix trophies.

He was a key contributor to a Grand Clio in Creative Effectiveness, a One Show Best in Discipline in Creative Effectiveness and a Penta Pencil.

Also, Brian has an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. (Advertising is a business after all.)

Advertising Jury

Marie-Eve Best
ECD, Brand Storytelling
LG2

Marie-Eve is known for being a versatile brand-builder who is well-versed in brand writing, design, advertising, content and digital. She has collaborated with local (Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Éco Entreprise Québec, Tourisme Montréal) national (Desjardins, RBC, Public Mobile, Riviera), and international brands (Sephora, Nespresso, L’Oréal, Maybelline, Essie, Breville) on wide-ranging mandates that include 360 campaigns, digital platform re-designs, immersive activations, content strategies and visual identity transformations. She is known for her ability to mobilize teams from varying expertises around a common goal and to think outside the box so that brands can coherently and creatively bring their unique stories to life over time. At LG2 since 2022, she now puts her diverse experience to work as an Executive Creative Director focused on Brand Storytelling.

Anthony Chelvanathan
Global Creative Partner, CCO
Edelman

As Global Creative Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Edelman Canada, Anthony spearheads creative innovation and strategic direction amongst the team of Canadian creatives. Prior to taking his current position, Anthony served as Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett.

Anthony has earned global acclaim, winning over 500 international accolades including more than 80 Cannes Lions recognitions and multiple Grand Prixes from various international award shows. Notably, Anthony was a driving force behind Dove’s Keep the Grey campaign and the IKEA project ‘Cook This Page’. A first for any PR agency in the country, Anthony led Edelman Canada to their first ever Gold win at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for Ikea’s Secondhand Tax (SHT) campaign.

Along the way, he’s participated as a jury member and coach in numerous judging panels and mentorship programs, becoming the first judge to represent Cannes Lions in Sri Lanka and representing Canada on numerous occasions.

When he’s not unleashing juggernaut creative ideas onto the world Anthony can be found in his kitchen, treating his friends to his latest spicy curry recipe.

Vini Dalvi
CCO
Publicis

Vini Dalvi’s 15+ year advertising career spans Brazil, Italy, the UK, and Canada. A former Wieden + Kennedy copywriter and TBWA/Media Arts Lab Creative Director, he’s led campaigns for Apple, Heineken, and Diesel, earning the very awards he was told he had to win at the start of his career.

Pam Danowski
Creative Director
GUT

Pam Danowski is a Creative Director at GUT Toronto. Throughout her career, she has
worked on campaigns for Dove, American Express, Huggies, Kotex, Pizza Hut,
Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and Tim Hortons.

Her work has been recognized by Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Clios, Communication
Arts, The Marketing Awards, and more. In 2021, the One Club named her one of the
Next Creative Leaders.

When she isn’t coming up with ideas, Pam loves to indulge in terrible reality TV and
hang out with her dog, who may (or may not) be named after a reality TV star.

Skye Deluz
Creative Director
Broken Heart Love Affair

Skye Deluz is a Creative Director/Art Director with nearly 10 years of experience. Within her time in the industry, Skye has been awarded top honours at nearly every local and global award show, including a Gold Lion at Cannes on her recent campaign, Heinz “Ketchup Fraud”. Before joining Broken Heart Love Affair, Skye worked at Rethink with award-winning experience on brands such as IKEA, Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Scotiabank, YWCA, WestJet and Molson. Skye was also recently an instructor at Miami Ad School and a guest speaker on panels such as the ADCC Craft Club Panel and Applied Arts Speaker Series.

Hemal Dhanjee
Creative Director
Courage

Hemal Dhanjee is a Creative Director at Courage, one of Canada's fastest-growing independent creative agencies. With over 100+ awards to his name, he has won top honours at nearly every major advertising award show, including multiple Webbys, Cannes Lions, Clios, and One Show Golds.

In 2024, Strategy Magazine recognized him as the #1 Copywriter in Canada. The previous year, he and his partner Steve Ierullo were featured by ADWEEK as two of the most innovative and visionary talents across marketing, media and culture. By seamlessly connecting brands to culture, Hemal's work has helped push the boundaries of Canadian advertising, all while delivering impactful results to his clients’ business.

Graham Lang
Chief Creative Officer
VML

From Cape Town to London to Toronto, Graham has chased creativity across the globe. He has led creative departments at agencies such as The Jupiter Drawing Room, Saatchi & Saatchi, Y&R, TBWA, TAXI and now VML. He has earned numerous Agency of the Year accolades. His work has been awarded at Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Clio Awards, The Effie Awards and beyond. Graham is a multidisciplinary maker and has applied his craft to iconic brands such as Land Rover, Red Bull, P&G, Guinness, Nissan, Apple, VW and Coca-Cola. Graham believes that creativity is a force for good and has worked closely with organizations such as Operation Smile, Surf Shack and most recently the Canadian Women’s Foundation where he created “Signal for Help”, an internationally recognized hand gesture for domestic abuse. Graham is the CCO for VML Canada and leads creative across Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Jack Latulippe
VP, Creative
Havas

Jack is Creative Leader with Global Experience, and is currently Chief Creative Officer at Havas Creative Canada. His holistic approach has helped redefine his clients’ stories in meaningful ways. He has been having fun at some of the most important agencies in North America, including Lg2, Sid Lee, Anomaly, and more recently, No Fixed Address, as Chief Creative Officer and Partner. In these agencies, he honed his craft on international campaigns for Cirque du Soleil, Bombardier Recreational Products (Can Am, Spyder, Seadoo, Skidoo), Labatt (Budweiser, Bud Light, Shock Top, Stella Artois, Hoegaarden), Virgin Radio, Converse, Nike, Adidas, and Hershey’s. Jack is a board member of NABS Canada, a charitable organization that supports professionals in the communications and marketing industry in Canada, and he is a co-author of a successful cookbook.

Marty Martinez
Chief Creative Officer
Tank

With over 20 years of experience in advertising, Marty combines outstanding creativity with superior knowledge of the industry and constantly pushes the boundaries of creativity by bringing together art and science to inform work that will drive human impact and behavior change.

Marty serves as the CCO of TANK Worldwide, where his creative vision since joining in 2015 has helped TANK become a global leader in the health and wellness space today with offices in New York, Toronto, London, and Montréal. TANK has become one of WPP’s fastest-growing agencies, driven by Marty’s creative teams that are reinventing the role of health/wellness agencies by crafting ambitious, impactful stories.

His work has spanned the globe and won numerous awards along the way across Cannes, the LIA’s, The One Show, The Webby Awards, Clio Health, the Lisbon Health Awards, New York Festivals, the Anthem Awards, Epica Awards, Applied Arts, the Rx Awards, and
Communication Arts.

Marty has sat on multiple juries including the LIA’s inaugural pharma jury, Cannes Lions Health & Wellness jury, The One Show, Young Lions, The Webby Awards, Clio Health, New York Festivals Health, the Lisbon Health Awards, the Anthem Awards, the Marketing Awards, the MM+M Awards and the Rx Awards.

Mentoring young creatives is not limited to Marty’s own agency – he annually participates as a coach in LIA’s Creative LIAisons program.

Marty is also highly sought-after as a guest speaker, drawing on his extensive expertise to offer valuable insights and strategies. His passion for all forms of artistic expression makes him a unique creator who stands out for his ability to solve a problem by turning an idea into a beautiful piece of work that can positively impact human lives.

Katie Muir
Co-CEO, Co-Founder
Heads+Tales

With over 16 years of experience in the marketing communications industry, Katie has spent her career developing strategic communications programs, building profile and managing crises for some of the world’s leading brands. Katie brings a combination of methodical process and creative thinking to every challenge, helping clients develop strategic, integrated programs to elevate brands, engage consumers and drive business results.

In January 2023, Katie launched Heads+Tales with partner Amanda Shuchat, with the vision of transforming the agency model. In its first year and a half, Heads+Tales has demonstrated remarkable growth touting 15 employees and a roster of high-profile clients including Canada Goose, GreenShield, Endy, Humber River Health, Boston Pizza and Toronto Holocaust Museum.

A seasoned communicator, Katie is committed to driving conversation rooted in consumer insights, resulting in five Agency of the Year wins and multiple Cannes Lions. Having spent her career at a number of Canada’s top PR agencies, Katie has counselled global brands across a variety of disciplines including, PepsiCo Foods, P&G, Sephora Canada, Loblaws and IBM.

Outside of work, Katie is the mom of two boys. When she’s not in the hockey arena or on the baseball diamond, you can find her in the kitchen working on her second passion and side hustle - cookie business, @sugarbykatie.

Gail Pak
ECD, Art Director
Freelance

Gail is an internationally awarded creative whose work has been celebrated at The One Show, Communication Arts, Cannes, ADCC, LIA, Applied Arts, and more. Gail started her career as an Art Director at Maclaren McCann, and has worked for some of the world’s most renowned creative agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, Leo Burnett, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Zulu Alpha Kilo, and more. As an expert on craft and creativity, Gail now teaches at Miami Ad School and OCAD University, and freelances.

Rose Sauquillo
CD, Senior Art Director
Freelance

Craft

Craft Co-Chairs

Dhaval Bhatt
Founder & CCO
Courage

Yael Staav
Director
Merchant

Yael Staav’s career kicked off in 2007 with a Cannes Lion Grand-Prix for Dove “Evolution”. In the ensuing years, she has honed her craft to prove to herself worthy of the early accolades.

Yael has directed multiple episodes of the much-loved comedy Workin’ Moms (CBC) and was nominated for a 2023 Canadian Screen Award for the show's last season. She was also nominated for the 2022 DGC Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for the same show. Previous to that, Yael was honoured by the Directors Guild of Canada for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series for her work on Baroness Von Sketch (CBC/IFC). She also garnered a Canadian Screen Award for Direction for that same show.

Most recently, The 2024 DGC jury nominated her for her "Bed Bugs" episode on CBC's comedy "One More Time".

Yael’s commercial work for Amazon, Coke, Campbell’s, Volkswagen, and Delta – with agencies including World Famous, DDB, Leo Burnett, Wieden + Kennedy, and Saatchi & Saatchi – taps into small, incidental moments that reveal who we are at our core. Much of her work is about self-discovery, examining incidental details that often go unnoticed in a world that’s all too much, too fast.

Always up for an adventure, a laugh, an early call-time, a shared cry, or a craft burrito – the process and the journey of telling stories keeps Yael at it with fiery dedication.

Craft Jury

Mooren Bofill
Partner, CCO
123W

Mo is a Partner/Co-Owner and CCO at One Twenty Three West (123w) – based out of Toronto,
Vancouver and Montreal, where she oversees and helps executes design across all agency clients.

Born and raised in the Philippines, and growing up in Ontario, she brings a diverse point of view that mixes her passion for design, creativity and business strategy to Canadian design and advertising.

Mo has helped transform some of Canada’s most iconic brands from the ground up: Saje, Breast Cancer Canada, Canadian Tire, Bell, President’s Choice, Loblaws, Home Hardware, Winners, Shoppers and Koodo, to name a few. She has also worked on global brands like Coca Cola, Apple, Plenty of Fish, KFC, Corona, Audi, Subaru, Mitsubishi and helped them become relevant brands to Canadians.

She believes in building brands through a human experience: How can we bring humanity into how we work together, approach work, and communicate as people and as brands? How can we design something that has a direct impact on our everyday experience? She believes that we should use creativity to not only build business, but to use creativity to appeal to the best in us all.

Outside of driving business growth for her clients, her work has also been awarded and recognized internationally by D&AD, One Show, Cannes Lions, The Webby's, Luerzer’s Archive, How Design Awards, Communication Arts, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada, Applied Arts, Marketing Magazine, among others.

Graham Chisholm
Founder, Editor
Nimiopere

Sean Cochrane
Owner
the Vanity

Emma Du Boisson
Vice President, Production Director
Leo Burnett

Ryan Egan
Executive Creative Director
Dentsu

Ryan oversees a talented team of copywriters, art directors, designers and editors at Dentsu Creative, developing integrated advertising solutions for clients across North America. Before joining Dentsu Creative, Ryan held positions as a copywriter and creative director at JWT, Grip Limited and Isobar. From innovative fundraising platforms to disruptive automotive retail experiences, Ryan has helped transform brands and delivered outsized impact through a style of medium-agnostic thinking that’s critical to success in today’s increasingly complex advertising landscape. His work has been recognized and awarded globally.

Frank Falcone
President & Executive Creative Director
Guru Studio

Frank Falcone has been bringing film and television projects to life as an animator, director and executive producer for over 25 years. Under his creative vision, Guru Studio has become a leader in character-driven storytelling and high-quality animated entertainment for kids and families around the world. Guru’s roster of hit shows include: the global phenomenon PAW Patrol, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Big Blue, Justin Time, Ever After High and most recently Mecha Builders, the Sesame Street animated spin-off. The company just finished production with Moonbug Entertainment on the widely popular YouTube hit, My Magic Pet Morphle and the family mini series Charlotte’s Web with Sesame Workshop for Max. Frank also served as an Executive Producer on the Academy Award nominated film, The Breadwinner, where, under his watchful eye, Guru’s team contributed visual development which brought the rich ‘story world’ sequences to life. Frank recently co-created preschool series Pikwik Pack, which launched on Disney Junior US and Treehouse Canada.

Melanie Hider
Partner, Editor
Saints Editorial

Melanie Hider is a partner and editor at Saints Editorial and has been editing commercials for over a decade in Toronto, working on brands including Google, TD, Winners, Lays, No Name, and Destination Canada. She loves all types of storytelling but has made her mark as a comedy editor.

She grew up in South Africa, lived in London, UK and then settled in Canada, which has left her with quite a mess of an accent. Melanie’s work has garnered various awards over the years and she remains as passionate as ever. She is dedicated to developing those around her through mentorship, and in addition has built and led editing workshops at the University of Toronto that explore Editing in Advertising.

Tyson Kuteyi
Partner, Senior Music Director
Grayson Music

Tyson Kuteyi is a quattro-threat Producer, Engineer, Voice Director, Composer and Partner at Grayson Music, one of Toronto's leading music and sound studios. Splitting his time between Nashville, NYC and Toronto, Tyson has directed and composed on award-winning brands such as Nike, Taco Bell, Ford, Chevy, DoorDash and more of note.

With the help of his infectious personality, talent and 20+ years experience and expertise under his belt, Tyson has built an impressive body of work with recording artists across Canada and the US and with a multitude of brands.

Since joining Grayson in 2018, his passion for music, creative problem solving and love for people has made Tyson a key addition to Grayson. Tyson continues to push boundaries in music and sound both locally and south of the border.

Jenny Luong
Creative Director
Zulu Alpha Kilo

Jenny is an award-winning creative director that has lent her creativity to top agencies across North America, including DDB Chicago, John St. and Zulu Alpha Kilo. Her love for smart, insightful ideas has led her to produce effective campaigns for Coca-Cola, Loblaws, Home Hardware, Bell, MillerCoors, MARS Wrigley, Tangerine, and many more. Her work has been recognized by international award shows, and featured in BuzzFeed, Fast Company, Huffington Post and more. She is passionate about mentoring up and coming BIPOC talent.

Andrea Ogunbadejo
VP, Production
Cossette

British-born, Toronto-based production executive Andrea Ogunbadejo is on a mission to revolutionize production by ensuring it plays a key role in the creative and strategic process, emphasizing the importance of the how.

She has worked at agencies in London, New York and Toronto, most recently as the Head of Production at Eleven in the US, where she oversaw production strategy for brands like Samsung and Kraken Rum, as well as VaynerMedia London, where she established and led the agency production and in-house content studio department for such major accounts as TikTok, Kraft Heinz, Durex, 7UP, UNICEF and Shell.

Andrea currently serves as both VP Production for Cossette, and Managing Director for Magic Circle Workshop, a full-service production company within the Plus Company network, overseeing production for clients including McDonalds, Walmart, Google and Amazon Prime Video.

With a film school background followed by a career in independent feature films, shorts, and scripted TV, Andrea specializes in telling compelling stories, where she aims to bring together content, marketing and entertainment.

Andrea is also a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as sustainability in the creative space. She has been featured in Adweek, Campaign, LittleBlackBook, AgencySpy, and Shots.

Jordan Worth
Production Designer
Jordan Worth Inc.

Mark Zibert
Director
Scouts Honour

Design

Design Co-Chairs

Vanessa Eckstein
Founder, Creative Director
Blok Design

As the visionary force behind blok design, Vanessa's life has been dedicated to the belief that design is at its best when it serves society. Her work spans iconic projects transcending cultures, causes, and disciplines—from collaborating with Iggy Pop to shaping the artistic landscape of MOCA—blending cultural awareness, humanity and a love of art to advance society and business alike.

Her experiences living and working in Buenos Aires, LA, New York, and Mexico City have given the studio a unique international perspective, partnering with some of the world’s top talents, from leading contemporary artists and photographers to architects and thinkers around the world.

Vanessa has led some of the most distinguished design juries and showcased her expertise on
international platforms, from Tokyo to Mexico City. She is a global member of the League of Innovators & Scholars at The Brookfield Sustainability Institute (BSI) and has recently been inducted into The Canadian Academy of Arts. This year Vanessa will be speaking at the Brand New Conference in Salt Lake City as well as participating in the exhibition "Feel Me", presented by Trapholt in Denmark and “ExhibitionIDENTIFICAR-X - Celebrating ArtCentre’s Latinx/e Alumni Community'', in Los Angeles.

Vanessa holds an MFA in Identity and Intercultural Studies from the ArtCentre of College and Design.

Dave Watson
Head of Design
Broken Heart Love Affair

If it seems like Dave has a feel for the rhythms of visual communication, it comes to him naturally. A born lover of music, his dreams of playing drums for the Rolling Stones were crushed at an early age. However, he quickly rebounded and turned his attention to design.

Over the last 25 years Dave has honed his craft at some of Canada’s top agencies including TAXI, Mosaic and now Broken Heart Love Affair. His work for brands such as Anheuser Busch, MINI, Nike and McCain have been recognized over 200 times in design awards shows both nationally and on the global stage.

Dave is an idea man. He believes that although visual and tech trends come and go, good ideas are timeless. Today at BHLA, Dave uses this thinking to help his clients transform their businesses. That is of course until he gets a call from The Stones.

Design Jury

Jenna Anderson
ECD, Design
Cossette

Jenna is a people-first creative leader, who is deeply invested in translating business needs into compelling design solutions. With more than 16 years of experience focused in building brands, Jenna prioritizes emotional and behavioural insights to inform how brands meaningfully connect with their communities now and in the future.

During her 6 years with Cossette, Jenna has built a best-in-class design team with expertise across a wide range of channels. Prior to that, she worked at Pigeon brands for 11 years with a focus on package design and retail merchandising. Jenna’s design work has impacted many brands you may know and love, like McDonald’s, Amazon Prime, Harlequin, LCBO, Pfizer, ConAgra, Irving, 3G, Shoppers Drug Mart, Kraft-Heinz … to name a few.

Jan Avendano
Design Director
Art & Mechanical

Jan is a multi-disciplinary creative who has collaborated with a diverse range of clients to provide meaningful and considered design solutions. She is the Design Director at Art and Mechanical.

Louis Gagnon
Co-Founder, VP of Creation
Paprika

After completing a bachelor’s degree in graphic communications from Laval University in Québec City, Louis Gagnon began his career as an art director at Graphème (Cossette), where he became creative director. The adventure then continued in Montréal at design agency Nolin Larosée, before Louis cofounded Paprika with Joanne Lefebvre in 1991. Currently, as Vice-President of Creation, Louis still adheres to the same design principles: simplicity, intelligence, balance, and elegance. With more than 1,000 prestigious national and international awards to his name, his unique style has been widely recognized in Quebec, Canada, and abroad.

The regularity of this recognition—even more than the sheer quantity of awards won—attests to Louis’s constant focus on stripping beauty down to its purest form. It is for this reason that the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec has acquired over 20 of his works for its permanent collection.

In 2007, French publisher Pyramyd released Paprika, the first book dedicated to a North American agency, in its “Design & Designer” collection. Three years later, the Parisian gallery Anatome, one of Europe’s leading centres for contemporary graphic design, paid tribute to Paprika with an exhibition of its work. Paprika-Seripop. Un regard graphique sur Montréal was an acknowledgment of Montréal as a design city and was the first major exhibition in Europe featuring the work of two Canadian graphic design firms.

A member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and the Type Directors Club as well as a judge for the Art Directors Club of New York, Communication Arts, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the One Show Awards, Louis is known for his involvement in the field, his culture, open-mindedness, and his ability to reinvent himself. He was also president of the Grafika Annual Graphic Competition in 2000 and 2016.

Louis Gagnon has been invited to speak at conferences, colloquia, and other design events in both Canada and the United States. For the last 18 years, he has been a course instructor at the Ecole de Design of the University of Québec at Montréal, where he has been sharing his passion for timeless design that sparks the imagination with students.

In 2023, he received Canada’s highest distinction, the Les Usherwood Award, for his lifetime achievements in the field of design and communication.

Paddy Harrington
Founder
Frontier

Paddy is a design innovator and storyteller who helps organizations discover and express their core purpose and long-term ambition. He is the founder of Frontier, a Design Office that collaborates with clients to creates strategic stories, brand strategy and identity, and physical and digital experiences. He is also a member of WXO, a global network of experience leaders and practitioners who shape the future of human experience.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the design field and degrees in literature and architecture, Paddy has worked with diverse and influential clients, like PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Group, Unilever, the Sacramento Kings, and the Holy City of Mecca. He is design and brand strategist, an award-winning writer and filmmaker, and has spoken at Harvard, Brown, and the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is passionate about creating strategic stories that inspire, guide, and empower businesses, people, and the planet to thrive.

Marcelo Hong
Design Director
Leo Burnett

Marcelo is a designer specialized in brand identities, editorial, packaging, and environmental design. His work combines innovative ideas with meticulous craft across a wide range of clients within the corporate, cultural, and non-profit sectors. Marcelo's body of work has been recognized and awarded both nationally and internationally by the Type Directors Club of New York, D&AD, Cannes Lions, The One Show, the LIAs, Communication Arts, the Epica Awards, the ADCC, Applied Arts, RGD, and Marketing Awards, among others.

Marcelo is also a design educator, helping foster the next generation of designers. He currently teaches Typography and Information Design at York University.

Omar Morson
ECD, Design
The Local Collective

For over 20 years Omar has honed his design craft on some of Canada and the US’s largest brands. He loves to engage with client partners to think, act and be bold in their shared ambitions. From branding to global campaigns, his multi-disciplined approach pushes the limits of convention for which he has been internationally and nationally recognized.

Omar leads the design team at The Local Collective, ensuring every campaign, project or assignment that is created has a high level of detail and craft that helps to elevate a brand, break through among consumers and creates disruption.

Kim Norwich
Creative Director
Jacknife

With a career spanning more than 25 years, Kim combines a dynamic skill set in brand development with deep design knowledge and strategic insight to create branding that stands out in any category. An OCADU alumni, she has played a pivotal role in defining design for clients like Red Bull, Arterra Wines, MARS, Oxford Properties, Fabletics and Weston Foods. Working across categories from action sports products to immersive brand environments, she brings a rich, nuanced perspective to her work, fluidly integrating strategy and design with precision. Known for her sharp insights and a vision that’s both creative and grounded, Kim’s collaborative approach and dedication to excellence ensure that every project she leads is not just a success but also an inspiring journey for her team and clients alike.

Leah Renihan
Design Director
Camp Jefferson

Leah is currently the Design Director at Camp Jefferson where she collaborates with a cross-disciplinary agency team of strategists, creatives and designers. She is an award winning multidisciplinary designer with over 15 years in the industry specializing in branding with a love for craft and typography. Over the years she’s worked at local design studios to international creative agencies where her clients have included Porsche, The Drake, Koodo, Ubisoft, Kit Kat and CAMH to name a few.

Kelly Small
Founder, Chief Creative Officer
Intents & Purposes

KELLY SMALL (they/them) is an award-winning creative director, designer, writer, and educator with deep roots in communications and a special focus on ethical and inclusive practice. Author of the best-selling The Conscious Creative: Practical Ethics for Purposeful work, Kelly has also been a professor of design ethics at the School of Design at George Brown College and an affiliated design researcher with Emily Carr University.

Kelly holds an interdisciplinary MDes and received the Governor General’s Gold Medal for their research into the ethics of commercial creative work. Kelly has co-created solutions across many sectors of the marketing and design industries for clients including Absolut, Amnesty International, BMO, Doctors without Borders, Fido, the Government of Canada, General Motors, Lego, Plan Canada and World Vision.

Laura Stein
Chief Creative Officer
Bruce Mau Design

Laura provides overall creative and strategic direction for the studio’s brand and design output. She has led some of BMD’s highest profile and most awarded initiatives including ASICS Tiger, OCAD University, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Waterloo Greenway, Project for Public Spaces, Hutchins Center at Harvard, and the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.

As Creative Director, she led a 5-year design agency of record relationship with Sonos, leading her team through the design of multiple facets of the wireless audio brand experience — digital, retail, social, packaging, and Sonos Studio content.

Her formal education is in the Humanities and Fine Art. After spending 6 years in New York City, she joined Bruce Mau Design in 2005. A leader who believes in curiosity and a truly collaborative process, she works to build a creative culture for every project.

Teresa Tam
Creative Director, Design
Freelance

Teresa is an independent creative director and designer splitting time between Toronto and Los Angeles.

She has over 10 years of experience as both a designer and art director, and co-led the award-winning design department at john st. in the late 2010s.

Since declaring her own personal Independence Day in early 2021, she has collaborated with agencies such as 123W, GUT Agency, Metier Creative, Massive Change, LG2, Cossette, and Joan Agency NYC. In the last year, she has partnered with brands such as Saje, Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Her curiosity for people, culture, and brands has always been her driving force for creating meaningful conceptual work. She leads with empathy, and is a firm believer that loving people, specifically the ones you work with, is the secret to unlocking great creative work.

Some other brands she's enjoyed working on: Lululemon, Hudson's Bay, Tim Horton's, Starbucks, Shopper's, Maybelline, KFC and more!

Shaun Vincent
Founder, Creative Director
Vincent Design

Shaun Vincent is an artist, graphic designer, and entrepreneur, recently being awarded the 2024 Visionary Indigenous Business Excellence (VIBE) and the 2024 Signature Award for logo design. He earned his Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design, Communication Design from Red River College Polytechnic in 2003.

Shaun’s connection to his Métis roots runs deep, having spent much of his childhood in the community of St. Laurent, on the southeast shore of Lake Manitoba. Métis people have lived on this shore since the 1800s and today, he continues to care for the land, the place where he feels most at home. As an Elder once told him, “The land knows your feet here.”

In 2007, after several years in the design industry, Shaun founded Vincent Design. Driven by a desire to create representational design, he established a branding and marketing firm focused on uplifting Indigenous communities, organizations, and companies. What began in the basement of his St. Boniface home soon grew into a thriving business. In 2017, Vincent Design became incorporated, marking a milestone in Shaun’s journey. Today, the company employs over 35 highly skilled creative professionals.

Shaun learned very early in his career the need to move beyond cliche, overused symbols, such as the oxcart, inukshuk, or eagle feather. Instead, he incorporates animals and plants, representing ideas that transcend Western concepts of borders and boundaries. Influenced by the Woodlands and Cape Dorset styles, as well as traditional Métis beadwork and clothing, his unique approach reflects a deep connection to Indigenous culture. His work embodies "Two-Eyed Seeing," a philosophy that blends Indigenous knowledge with Western practices.

His collaborations with notable Indigenous organizations, such as Southern Chiefs’ Organization and Ka Ni Kanichihk, have cemented Vincent Design as a leading Indigenous-led marketing and design firm in Manitoba.

Digital

Digital Co-Chairs

Nancy Crimi-Lamanna
Chief Creative Officer Canada
FCB

Named by Adweek as one of Toronto’s Brand Stars shaping the city into the creative hub it is today and a CampaignUS 40 over 40, Nancy has helped lead the creative resurgence of FCB – elevating its position to the 2021 Creative Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions, the most awarded agency at the One Show in 2020 and Adweek’s 2020 Global Agency of the Year. Her work has been presented to the UN twice and she also has the distinction of bringing home Canada’s first Integrated, Commerce, Strategy and Creative Data Cannes Lions.

In 2023, FCB Canada was named the #2 North American Agency of the Year by the Cannes Lions, and the Agency of the Year at both the Effies and WARC bringing home several Best of shows and the Cannes Grand Prix in Direct for adidas Runner 321. This year, her long-standing partnership with the Canadian Down syndrome Society was recognized with a coveted One Show Penta Pencil which awards agency/client partnerships that deliver creative excellence; another Canadian first.

Since joining FCB Canada almost 10 years ago, the agency's creative work has been among the most celebrated and innovative in the industry, including its work for Bank of Montreal/BMO Harris, adidas, Ontario Lottery and Gaming and the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. This thinking has helped make FCB Canada Media Innovation Agency of the year , 2 years in a row, Digital Agency of the Year for 7 years and the most-awarded Canadian agency at Cannes for 4 years.

Steve Savic
EVP, ECD
Critical Mass

For over two decades, Steve has been bridging the web and the physical world. His work has covered the digital spectrum and sprawled the digital eco-system, covering anything and everything from transactional to brand-rich campaigns for Nissan, Rolex, Nike, Mercedes, and many others.

These days, keeping his finger on the industry-pulse means finding new ways to apply technology: into stories, into products, across platforms and through experiences. In every case, Steve tries to bring a transformative perspective to storytelling and design by fusing film, music, art, and technology.

The result: Innovation is in his DNA. Steve spearheaded integrated brand experiences that have been selected for tech beta-programs for Disney, Oculus, Google, Microsoft, and Instagram.

Back in 2000, Steve had his first blush with Cannes. It was for a NIKE project. Since then, he has added several Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, ADC and Webbys, as well as awards from The One Show, D&AD, plus many others.

Multicultural

Multicultural Co-Chairs

Jessica Borges
Group Vice President, Business Lead
Visionnaire

Jessica brings a wealth of experience in global insights, creative, strategy, brand development, and management. She has worked in India, Dubai, Oman, with over a decade in the inclusion space in Canada, reaching out to the fastest-growing consumer groups. As CD at McCann and Y&R, VP Creative at Dyversity, CCO & CSO at Maple Diversity, and currently Group VP Business Lead at Visionnaire, she excels at connecting diverse audiences to clients, including Google, Walmart, TD, RBC, OLG, Bell, Koodo, J&J, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Canada Post, L’Oréal, and GM.

She has been actively involved in inclusion projects, such as WelcomePack Canada connecting brands to newcomers; LiveLoveCanada, a program to engage, educate and support immigrants on their settlement journey; and Diversity Beyond Ethnicity to build inclusivity among 2SLGBTQ+, people with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples. Her leadership has helped clients in competitive planning, and results-driven brand messaging, with an ideas-led focus on marketing campaigns that make an impact.

Her work has been recognized at local and international advertising award shows, including at the Montblanc/Emirates Woman Novella Writing Awards in Dubai.

Jessica has been invited to speak at the Toronto Public Library during Asian Heritage Month, published in Canadian anthologies ‘Canadian Voices’ and ‘Indian Voices’, has conducted ‘creative thinking’, ‘media literacy’, and ‘interactive storytelling’ workshops in Toronto schools, has been Co-chair, panelist and jury member at multicultural conferences like the Marketing Awards, Shopper + Innovation Awards (SIA), and was on the Executive Jury representing Canada at the Gerety Awards, a diverse way of celebrating global work with a 100% female jury.

She was named on The Message Canada’s Mighty Women List for 2023, and Women We Admire’s ‘Top 50 Women Leaders in Toronto 2023’ ranking, for pushing the industry forward in meaningful ways.

Her global experience has made Jessica a mentor to many women of cultural minorities, helping them build networks, providing guidance and sharing her love for Canada.

To learn more about Jessica, listen to her on APG Canada’s GrowOp podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/grow-op/id1612361974.

Whitney Zhan
Co-Founder
DigitalLab of Uwe

Whitney is a true example of cultural diversity, not because of her biological background, but because of her education and career history. She has been applying her mathematics and economics knowledge creatively to marketing and communications for top names in different industries and countries for
about 30 years.

After completing the chemotherapy and radiation therapy in 2015, she founded DigitalLab of UWe in Toronto with the expertise and resources she accumulated from working for The Gallup Organization, Hakuhodo Inc., and Blue Focus Communication. Since then, Whitney and her team have been helping Canadian businesses of different sizes, from small local businesses to Fortune Global 500, successfully connect to Chinese communities in Canada and around the world with their unique targeting technologies and creative tools.

Meanwhile, she has been actively bridging the culture gap between Chinese and other ethnic communities. While introducing the Canadian cultures and other cultures on popular Chinese social media, she gives lectures of Chinese cultures to her clients and help them build up better relationship with the community.

As the founding member of IWB Immigrant Women in Business, a non-profit organization, she has been dedicated to helping immigrant women from different cultural backgrounds to succeed in their businesses.

Public Service Advertising

Public Service Advertising Co-Chairs

Josh Budd
CCO
Citizen Relations

Josh joined Citizen Relations as its first Chief Creative Officer in 2021, the same year he was named one the World’s Most Awarded Creatives by The Drum.

Since becoming the first creative to sit on the Global Executive Team at the agency, Citizen has been nominated for Strategy Magazine PR Agency of the Year twice (winning gold in 2023) and for the first time in its history, Design Agency of the Year. Citizen was named 2023 PRovoke Consumer Agency of the Year, 2024 Campaign Global PR AOY (Bronze) and Josh himself earning NA Innovation Sabres Creative Professional of the Year honours two years in a row (’23,’24).

Josh represented the industry as a juror at shows including Cannes, D&AD, and the Effies, and has worked with the next generation of creative talent at the Miami Ad School. Josh loves comedy, chess, NBA basketball, and pretending he’s knowledgeable about wine.

Denise Cole
Creative Director, Freelance
George Brown College

Denise’s passion for art and design has fuelled her 20+ year journey in the pursuit of making creative work she can be proud of.

Throughout her career, she has embraced various roles. She began as a designer, earning one of the first design bachelor’s degrees offered in Ontario, then transitioned to Art Director as one of the early hires at San Francisco startup Cutwater during its explosive launch in 2007. This was followed by two very creatively rewarding tenures at TBWA Toronto and J. Walter Thompson, leading to global recognition at Cannes, D&AD, The One Show and beyond.

Denise then co-founded Juliet, an agency built from the ground up into a formidable player in the Toronto advertising scene. She has acted as a juror for prestigious awards such as One Show, Strategy, and Applied Arts, and has served on the board of directors for the Advertising and Design Club of Canada. In a full-circle moment, she now teaches advertising to the next generation of creatives at George Brown College.

For submission inquiries, please contact Scott Malloch at smalloch@brunico.com.
For partnership inquiries, please contact Neil Ewen at newen@brunico.com.