Laura Correnti is Partner at Giant Spoon, a full-service advertising agency that focuses on the intersection of creative and media through the lens of culture. In 2018, she was named to the AAF's Advertising Hall of Achievement, along with helping Giant Spoon win the honor of Adweek's Breakthrough Agency of the Year.

 

Correnti built and oversees the agency’s media practice, designed to have an expertise in content-driven partnerships. A firm believer in abandoning the RFP process of media planning, Correnti focuses on integrating strategy and communications planning back into media. Under her tenure, Giant Spoon’s media clients include GE, MassMutual, Synchrony, Cole Haan, Stitch Fix, and more. Her track record of disrupting legacy models and creating market firsts has developed into work that includes two Top 10 branded podcasts on the Apple charts, the first live TV ad on CNN, an Audiozine with the NYT, and brokering an exclusive direct-to-consumer brand partnership with NBCU. Her creative media approach has reeled in Cannes Lions, Adweek Media Plan of the Year, Clios Awards, and Webby honors.

 

Correnti’s media know-how culminates on her industry podcast ADLANDIA, a biweekly listen that challenges age-old industry thinking and pushes for creativity, diversity, and new ideas in advertising and marketing.

Tracy Corrigan is the Chief Strategy Officer of Dow Jones, a role she assumed in December 2014. She is responsible for developing and implementing strategy across the business globally.

 

Corrigan joined Dow Jones in January 2011. Based in London, she spent two years as Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal Europe. She then moved to New York in June 2013 where she was Editor of WSJ.com. In this role, her responsibilities included social media and development of the website and apps, including a redesign program.
Prior to joining Dow Jones, she was a columnist for The Daily Telegraph in London and previously held several senior roles at the Financial Times, including Editor of FT.com and Editor of the Lex Column.

 

Corrigan graduated in Modern Languages from St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.

Morgan DeBaun, Founder & CEO of Blavity, started her career in Silicon Valley. She is a serial startup entrepreneur, whose passions include building technology at the intersection of creativity and culture. Since its launch in 2014, DeBaun has scaled Blavity to be one the fastest growing digital media startups, currently operating five brands: Blavity, 21Ninety, Travel Noire, Shadow and Act and AfroTech.

CRO & CMO

Pamela Drucker Mann was named chief revenue and marketing officer of Condé Nast in September 2017. In this role, Drucker Mann oversees all ad sales and consumer revenue efforts for the company in addition to all consumer and industry marketing.

 

Drucker Mann was appointed chief marketing officer for Condé Nast in January 2017.  Prior to that role, Drucker Mann served as chief revenue officer and publisher of The Food Innovation Group (FIG).  In 2014, Drucker Mann added Epicurious to her Bon Appétit portfolio and shortly thereafter formed The Food Innovation Group to jointly sell the industry’s leading food content brands together, creating meaningful audience scale for the company’s advertising partners.  In October 2015, Drucker Mann created the FIG Video Network, which catapulted to the #1 food video platform within the lifestyles-food category.  

 

Drucker Mann joined Bon Appétit in January 2011 as publisher and vice president.  Under her leadership, sales results and market innovations have earned the brand a position for five consecutive years on The Advertising Age A-List and five years on the Adweek Hot List.  She is an Advertising Age Media Maven, the 2015 Advertising Age Publishing Executive of the Year, an Adweek First Mover, a 2016 Folio Top Women in Media in the Entrepreneur category and a member of Adweek’s inaugural 30 Most Influential People in Food.

Sara Fischer is a Media Reporter for Axios, covering media trends.
 
Previously, she was a digital producer for The Washington Post, where she produced and edited segments for live and digital audiences.
 
Fischer’s media background includes writing, reporting, subscription and advertising sales, as well as corporate research. She came to The Post from The New York Times where she was part of The Times’ political advertising team.
 
Fischer joined The Times from CNN in 2014, where she wrote breaking news stories for CNN Politics and co-authored the network’s political newsletter, Gut Check. Before joining CNN, Fischer served as a Business Development Associate at POLITICO, where she helped manage sales operations and client engagement for the company’s advertising team.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University in Political Communication and a Master’s degree from The George Washington University in Legislative Affairs.

Emily Goligoski is Research Director for the Membership Puzzle Project, a collaboration between the Dutch journalism platform De Correspondent and New York University. She previously worked as a user experience research lead in The New York Times newsroom and brought design research to Mozilla Foundation. Goligoski completed her Master’s in Learning, Design & Technology at Stanford while conducting user research at Intel Labs. She previously worked at Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) and studied journalism at Northwestern. She is on the board of Youth Radio. Goligoski has written for The Guardian, Columbia Journalism Review, and other sites that produce coverage worth paying for.

Kristen Hare covers the transformation of local news for the Poynter Institute. Before coming to Poynter in 2013, Kristen covered race, immigration, the census and aging at the St. Louis Beacon and wrote features for the St. Joseph, Missouri News-Press. She's a native Missourian, a former Peace Corps volunteer, a mom and the author of 100 Things to do in Tampa Bay Before You Die. Her work covering the media has earned her a Mirror Award nomination.

Meredith Kopit Levien was named executive vice president and chief operating officer of The New York Times Company in June 2017. Kopit Levien oversees the teams responsible for digital product, design, audience and brand, consumer revenue, advertising, live events and new product development.

 

She was most recently executive vice president and chief revenue officer, a position she held since April 2015. In that role, Kopit Levien was responsible for the generation of all advertising and subscription revenue from The Times’s products and services and for leadership of the advertising, marketing, video and live event teams. Kopit Levien joined The Times Company in August 2013 as head of advertising.

 

She previously served as chief revenue officer at Forbes Media, where she led the North American and European revenue operations for Forbes.com, the Forbes Magazine Group and Forbes Conferences since 2011. Kopit Levien began her professional career in 1993 at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC., did a two-year stint at digital ad agency and website development firm i33 Communications, and worked in various sales and marketing roles at Atlantic Media Company from 2001 to 2008. Kopit Levien is a current Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, an executive committee member of the board of the Ad Council, on the board of the IAB, and a co-chair of the Lincoln Center Media and Entertainment Council.

 

She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia in 1993. Kopit Levien lives in New York City with her husband and son.  She is a passionate advocate of sustaining the independence of high-quality original journalism, a fan and follower of great literary fiction and has been the executive sponsor of The New York Times Women’s Network since January 2014.

Former SVP Global Brand Management, Under Armour
Incoming Marketing Executive, Nike

Adrienne R. Lofton is dedicated to inspiring and empowering the world to unlock its greatest potential.Formerly SVP of Global Brand Management, Philanthropy and Marketing Operations at Under Armour, she served as the brand’s compass with the primary goal of ensuring authenticity and strategic differentiation in all aspects of the business.

 

Lofton was responsible for driving key initiatives such as the rejuvenation of the company’s mission, vision, values, and brand positioning during a pivotal growth period. She developed multiple revolutionary and award-winning global campaigns with the intention of upending the industry conversation including “Unlike Any” a movement celebrating the unprecedented achievements and challenges of female athletes. And the creation of the multi-year “Rule Yourself” platform, which revered commitment and the pursuit of greatness of every athlete. This work resulted in all-time high Olympic viewership and engagement as well as Lofton being named part of AdWeek’s 2015 Brand Genius class.

 

Lofton has extensive cross industry experience from both the client and agency side spearheading efforts to drive brands such as General Motors, Gap, Target, and Dockers into new markets by tapping into the multi-cultural consumer and identifying unmet consumer needs.

 

Lofton sits on the board of Howard University’s School of Business where she is a proud graduate, Division I Volleyball alum and initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. And is a member of the AdWeek advisory board. She is currently on sabbatical waiting out a non-compete before joining Nike in an Executive Marketing Leadership role where she will continue to inspire and empower millions of athletes all over the world.

Lucia Moses is a deputy editor at Business Insider on the media/advertising/telecom team. She started in November 2018. She previously was executive editor at Digiday. Earlier, she reported on media at Adweek.

Alison Overholt is vice president, editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine and espnW. In this dual role, she is responsible for developing comprehensive, multiplatform content strategies for espnW and for driving collaborative, innovative approaches to storytelling in ESPN The Magazine, with oversight of producing ESPN’s multiplatform enterprise content. Overholt is the first female editor-in-chief of a national, general-interest sports magazine. In December 2017, she added oversight of all of ESPN.com’s long-form content, and in 2018, she became the lead ESPN executive for The ESPYS.

 

Overholt first joined ESPN in 2005 as general editor, sports business and lifestyle for ESPN The Magazine. In 2007, she was elevated to senior editor, special projects, ESPN The Magazine. In 2009, Overholt was part of ESPN’s early efforts to research and develop a sports media offering for women and was espnW’s founding editor. Overholt departed ESPN in 2010 to found her own digital content strategy company. She returned to ESPN in 2014.

 

In 2018, Overholt was named a Top Woman in Digital by Cynopsis in the “Game Changers” category. She was also named one of AdWeek’s Most Powerful Women in Sports in consecutive years (2017 and 2016). In 2017, Folio honored her as one of its “Top Women in Media,” a recognition she also earned in 2016, and was named to the 2016 “Folio 100.” She was also honored by the NYC Metro Chapter of WISE (Women in Sports and Events) in 2016 as a Woman of Inspiration, and in 2015, she was named a “Game Changer” by Sports Business Journal and one of the “Top Women in Digital” by Cynopsis. As an editor, Overholt oversaw stories that earned the Dick Schaap Excellence in Sports Journalism Award (2007) and both magazine and internet category wins from the New York Press Club Awards for Journalism (2010). Overholt was a member of the ASME National Magazine Award-winning team for General Excellence at ESPN The Magazine in 2006. In 2005, she received the AAJA National Print Journalism Award for her writing in Fast Company.

 

Overholt began her career as a writer and editor at Fast Company magazine and her writing has appeared in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, Working Mother, Cosmopolitan, Inc., Sports Illustrated: Women and Fitness. Born in New York State, Overholt spent her childhood in Hong Kong. She is a former high school basketball player and an avid runner, having finished the Honolulu Marathon in 2003 and the New York City Marathon in 2013, with several half marathons between and since. She graduated with honors from Harvard University with an A.B. in government.

Shareen Pathak is managing director of editorial products at Digiday Media, where she is responsible for creating new editorial products and experiences valuable to the Digiday audience. She works on special editorial products designed to foster direct audience connections. Prior to this, she was co-executive editor at Digiday, where she led the launches of Glossy, Digiday's fashion and beauty publication, and Tearsheet, Digiday's finance publication. She was previously a reporter at Advertising Age and Dow Jones. She's a graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Marian Pittman is Cox Media Group’s (CMG) Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy and Research. In this role, Pittman oversees CMG’s digital strategy, content and sales efforts for all of CMG’s newspapers, radio and TV platforms. Pittman also is responsible for CMG’s Digital Content Desk, as well as CMG’s Research division. Previously, she oversaw all content and marketing strategic decision making for CMG’s television markets as VP of News and Marketing.

Pittman’s media career includes being station manager for CMG’s flagship WSB-TV, the leading local channel for television news serving the 55 counties in the Atlanta TV market. Pittman’s other career highlights include serving as the assistant news director at CMG’s WFTV in Orlando. She started on the floor crew at CMG’s WSOC-TV in Charlotte, NC, followed by stints at WHIO-TV in Dayton, OH, WSB-TV in Atlanta, and WFTV in Orlando before returning to WSB-TV in July 2006.

Throughout her career, Pittman has been honored with multiple individual and station Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Southeast Chapter. In 2010 the station was awarded the prestigious Alfred I. duPont Award for journalistic excellence, the Edward R. Murrow award for overall excellence, as well as Best Newscast by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters. In 2008, Pittman was awarded Top 10 TV Managers of the Year by Television Week Magazine. In 2007 and 2008 under Pittman’s leadership, WSB-TV was awarded Best Newscast, Best Staff Coverage and Pacemaker Award from the Georgia Associated Press Broadcasters Association numerous times.

She also serves on the COX Fellowship Advisory Board to Emory and The Fernbank Museum of Natural History Corporate Council. She previously served on the Board of Directors for the ABC Affiliate Advisory Board, the Board of Directors for Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless and has been a member of the Radio Television News Directors Association since 2003.

Pittman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in communications from East Carolina University and currently resides in Atlanta, Ga. with her husband and daughter.

Maria Ressa is a Filipino journalist, businesswoman, author, and expert on global terrorism. She is best known as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rappler online news website. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN.

Over the course of her journalism career, Ressa has won the Overseas Press Club Award for Best Documentary, the National Headliner Award for Investigative Journalism, an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, the Asian Television Awards, TOWNS – Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (Philippines) and TOYM Philippines. In November 2017, Ressa, as the CEO of news organization Rappler, accepted the 2017 Democracy Award awarded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) to three organizations at the forefront of the battle to combat disinformation at its annual Democracy Award Dinner in Washington, D.C entitled "Disinformation vs. Democracy: Fighting for Facts". In June, 2018, Ressa also became the recipient of the World Association of Newspapers's Golden Pen of Freedom Award for her work with Rappler.

Dia Simms is an executive, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and creative force. As President of Combs Wine & Spirits, she oversees the strategic execution of all Cîroc Ultra Premium Vodka, DeLeón Tequila and spirits innovation projects for the Combs Enterprises. Combs Enterprises is a portfolio of businesses and investments built and cultivated by music legend and mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. The company is known worldwide for its award-winning, market-defining successes in music, fashion, fragrance, beverage, spirits, marketing, film, television, media and more.

 

Under Simms' leadership, Combs Wine & Spirits has grown and thrived. Simms was a key player in the acquisition of DeLeón Tequila in 2013 and last fall’s brand relaunch. Since 2007, Cîroc Ultra Premium Vodka has experienced over 1000% growth, going from obscurity to one of the most recognized vodka brands on the globe. And CWS has received several awards, including the coveted Diageo Golden Bar Award for ‘Best Spirits Advertising’ and Diageo’s 2011 Global Marketing Brilliance Award for best ‘Synergy 360.’ CWS was recognized at the 2014 Pro Awards for ‘Best Holiday Campaign’ and ‘Best Cause Based Campaign’ as well.

 

Simms' professional journey began rather unconventionally: before joining Combs Enterprises, she worked for the Department of Defense, and later in advertising sales and the pharmaceutical industry. Simms is actively involved with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, provides entrepreneurial training to High School students and sits on the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Morgan State University, a Master’s degree in Management with a concentration in Contract Management from the Florida Institute of Technology and is Level- II Certified by the Defense Acquisition University. Simms balances her work and personal life by commuting weekly from New York to her home in Atlanta, Georgia where she resides with her husband and daughter.

Kara Swisher is the executive editor of Recode, host of the Recode Decode podcast, co-executive producer of the Code Conference, and a New York Times contributing writer. While working at the Wall Street Journal, Swisher and her colleague Walt Mossberg launched the All Things Digital conference and later expanded it into a daily blog site called AllThingsD.com. In 2014, Swisher and Mossberg struck out on their own with the Recode website and the Code Conference. Recode was acquired by Vox Media in 2015.

Swisher is the author of aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads and Made Millions in the War for the Web, published by Times Business Print Books in July 1998. The sequel, There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future, was published in the fall of 2003 by Crown Business Print Books.

CEO

CEO

Evelyn Webster joined Guardian News & Media (GNM) in January 2017 as the interim chief executive officer (CEO) of Guardian US. She was appointed as CEO of Guardian US & Australia in 2018. In this role Webster is responsible for leading the commercial and operations teams, working closely with US editor John Mulholland.

Webster spent more than five years as Executive Vice President of Time Inc, where she oversaw the business operations and strategy for 26 award-winning brands that reached more than 100 million consumers. Prior to joining Time Inc in 2011, Webster spent 18 years at IPC Media, joining as a graduate trainee in 1992 and working her way up to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Webster graduated with a BA in business with marketing honors from the University of Greenwich, U.K. In her spare time, she runs, practices yoga, and volunteers.

Linda Yaccarino is Chairman, Advertising Sales and Client Partnerships, NBCUniversal. In this role, Yaccarino oversees all advertising sales and market strategy for the company’s entire television portfolio including two broadcast, 17 cable and more than 50 digital properties. She reports to Steve Burke, Chief Executive Officer, NBCUniversal.
 
Yaccarino joined NBCUniversal in 2011 as President, Cable Entertainment and Digital Advertising Sales for NBCUniversal. In that capacity she was responsible for all cable entertainment and digital advertising sales for the company, including USA, Syfy, Bravo, E! Entertainment, Oxygen, Sprout, Chiller, Cloo, and their respective digital platforms, as well as Fandango.
Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Yaccarino served as Executive Vice President and COO of Turner Entertainment Advertising Sales and Marketing and Acquisitions.  There, she was responsible for all advertising sales, sales marketing and program acquisitions for the company’s television networks TNT, TBS and truTV, as well as overseeing acquisitions for sister networks TCM, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. She was instrumental in developing and enhancing "inContext," the industry’s first-ever contextual platform that helps feature the right ad, in the right place, at the right time.
 
Among her many industry honors, Yaccarino was recognized in 2013 to The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Power 100, by Adweek in 2011 as one of the "Ten Most Powerful Women in TV" and by Business Week as a "CEO of Tomorrow." Her community and professional affiliations include active involvement with WICT (Women in Cable & Telecommunications) and Penn State University, where she is on the Board at the School of Communications. She resides in Sea Cliff, NY.