2025 Jury

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Josh Budd
CCO
Citizen Relations

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.