Kate was promoted to Global Chief Executive Officer of MRM//McCann in December 2018. In her previous role as Global President and Chief Operating Officer, she was responsible for spearheading all of the worldwide network’s strategies and policies as well as overseeing daily operations across all of our departments and regions globally. Under her leadership, MRM//McCann experienced major growth in its overall business, creative reputation and capabilities offering.
Her leadership has resulted in MRM//McCann being recognized with some of the industry’s highest accolades, including being designated three years in a row (2017, 2018 and 2019) as a “Leader” in Gartner Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Global Marketing Agencies, as Ad Age’s B-to-B Agency of the Year in 2018, as the Top Large Agency of the Year at the Digital Analytics Association’s Quanties Awards.
Kate first joined the McCann network in Toronto in 2006, rising in 2009 to become General Manager in charge of the GM Canada business. In the spring of 2012, the Commonwealth//McCann agency was created to handle the consolidated global Chevrolet account, with Kate joining the newly formed Detroit-based unit as Director of Global Operations. In 2014, Kate was promoted to EVP, Executive Director of Global Operations. She was named Global Chief Operating Officer for MRM//McCann in 2016, and was promoted to Global President in December 2017.
Kate’s success comes from more than 25 years of marketing communications experience throughout a wide spectrum of categories. She knows how to build strong brands and deliver award-winning work, and is uniquely skilled at providing the vision necessary to ensure global efficiency, consistency and excellence. She began her career in 1992 in her native Canada working on the Procter & Gamble account at Grey Canada. In 1994, she moved to Cossette Communications Marketing Toronto, where she developed integrated communications solutions for accounts across diverse sectors such as retail, financial services and telecom. It also led to her entry into automotive marketing. In 2004, she was promoted at Cossette to VP, National Business Leader with responsibility for a range of accounts, including General Motors of Canada Ltd, Shoppers Drug Mart, the Ontario Lottery Corporation and Petro-Canada.
Kate’s drive and passion are always evident, she brings a unique level of commitment to everything she does.
Kyle Reasor
Senior Strategist
Rufus’ Amazon Prime Video team
Kyle Reasor is a long-time champion of encouraging and lifting voices from all walks of life within the workplace. From receiving the 2012 Outstanding African American Congressional Award, to creating Edelman Griot’s first public panel discussing Black Lives in Entertainment in 2017, to playing a key role in ensuring that Initiative’s D&I program continues to not only inspire change, but drive it, Kyle has dedicated a portion of his career to the cause. Outside of Diversity and Inclusion efforts, Kyle serves as the Senior Strategist on Rufus’ Amazon Prime Video team, where he specializes in using data to make informed decisions and strategies around Prime Video’s stellar list of original shows and movies.
KELLY L. GANZ
UBS
Vice President - Wealth Management
Certified Financial Planner™
Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®)
Corporate Stock Benefit Consultant
Kelly is a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) and Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®). Kelly started her career as a client service associate with UBS in 2004. Today, as a Financial Advisor, Kelly creates and revises comprehensive financial plans to assist clients with pursuing their financial goals. She analyzes clients' assets, liabilities, and forecasted cash flows in relation to personal and financial goals. She also works closely with corporate executives to develop stock option exercise strategies.
Kelly is a supporter of No Greater Sacrifice and has been involved in fundraising for The Christopher Reeve Foundation.
Kelly holds a B.A. degree in communications, a minor in Business administration from Villanova University and a MBA from Fordham.
Kelly lives in New York City with her husband and two children. She enjoys running half marathons, practicing yoga and playing tennis and golf with her husband Tom.
Sarah Robertson
President
Rufus US
Sarah has 20+ years of experience partnering with brands like Amazon, Nestle, Disney, and Corona to drive industry-leading growth through creative, future-forward media activations. Sarah is thrilled to be leading the Rufus team at Initiative, where her goal is to drive inspiration and transformation that lives up to Amazonian standards.
Wendy Aldrich
EVP, Managing Partner
UM
Wendy has been the EVP, Managing Director at UM overseeing the Hulu media business in Los Angeles for the last two years. She started at IPG 6 years ago running the global Amazon business for Initiative before moving over to UM. Prior to IPG, Wendy started her agency career working at OMD leading the Visa media business. She loves entrepreneurial businesses and has been fortunate to work on brands in hyper-growth mode during the height of their trajectories.
Before media agency life, Wendy did two stints at The Walt Disney Company, working in both the Internet Group and at Disney Parks, focused on digital marketing. She also worked on several internet businesses including IAC (parent of Ticketmaster, Evite, Match) and Business.com, a speciality B2B search engine. Thinking early on that she would end up in NY on Madison Avenue, Wendy started her career in Account Management working on telecommunications accounts at Ogilvy & Mather and automotive at RPA.
Wendy has a 12 year old daughter and lives in Simi Valley, CA.
Sneha Ghosh
Analytics Lead
UM
Location: San Francisco
Years at Agency: 2.5 years
Years of Experience: 12 years
Sneha is responsible for leading the Advanced Analytics practice for UM West Coast. Sneha has over 10 years of experience in statistical modeling, marketing research, customer retention analysis and risk assessment. Her experience in media analytics includes technology, CPG, insurance, entertainment, gaming, hospitality, financial, and automotive clients.
Sneha collaborates with strategy and media teams in planning and execution to develop and drive holistic measurement and campaign specific learning plans and monitor progress. She consults on a range of issues including customer satisfaction monitoring, market segmentation, communications testing, market size and share analysis, new product testing, market modeling, and competitive analysis.
As a lead on advanced analytics projects, she has conceptualized and delivered architecture for media mix models, digital segmentation, and attribution models, both for survey responses as well as behavioral metrics.
CELIA AU
Actress
Born in Hong Kong and raised in New York City, Au spent her childhood in her parents’ video rental store where the stories and visions of international filmmakers sparked her passion for cinema. She went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Baruch College (CUNY) in Manhattan, where she created her own major: Graphics, Marketing and Communications and minored in Theatre Arts.
Au has made a splash on the entertainment scene and has become well-known for playing a variety of characters, from an assassin to a surfer, from an escort to a slew of cold-blooded villains. Au can be seen in Netflix’s “Wu Assassins”, Comedy Central’s “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens,” and AMC’s Paul Giamatti’s dramedy series, “Lodge 49”.
Additional television and film credits for Au includes, CBS’s “Madam Secretary,” Marvel’s and ABC’s “Iron Fist,” “In A New York Minute,” Martin Scorsese’s and A24’s action drama, “Revenge of the Green Dragons,” “People, Places, Things,” and an upcoming film “Shoplifters of the World,” opposite Joe Manganiello.
BILL IMADA
Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer
IW Group
Bill Imada is the Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer of IW Group, a full-service communication, advertising, and marketing agency specializing in the multicultural and multigenerational markets. For three decades, Bill and his team have served some of the top global and regional companies, including Bank of the West/PNB Paribas, Coca-Cola, Lexus, McDonald’s, Netflix, Northwestern Mutual, Walmart, Walt Disney, Warner Bros, Wells Fargo, Westfield, and many others. Bill’s areas of expertise include community relations, crisis communications, cross-cultural training, and media training.
Bill is active in the community and serves on 10 not-for-profit boards and advisory councils, including the Advertising Educational Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, Nielsen External Advisory Council, PBS Foundation, and the University of Southern California PR Advisory Council.
Bill co-founded the National Millennial and Gen Z Community, an association devoted to helping companies and organizations connect with young-adult consumers.
KAI CHUAN
Associate Content Producer
IW Group
Kai Chuan is an Associate Content Producer at IW Group. With the agency, he's helped produce dozens of experiential activations and events for clients like McDonald's, Nielsen, HBO,
and several film studios. He also works to build and manage social media strategies for a few of IW's clients. As a young professional in the industry, he is proud to give voice to and represent younger millennials and Gen Z, as well as advocate for the LGBTQ+ community.
ANDREW CHAU
Co-Founder
Boba Guys
Andrew Chau is co-founder and CEO of Boba Guys and Tea People USA, an Inc. Magazine 500 award recipient. He has been featured as a top emerging business leader on CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Vogue, and NPR. Prior to a career in consumer product Goods and corporate marketing, Andrew started and exited his first startup in 2011. In his free time, he loves traveling and is a freelance writer and an angel investor for consumer-driven businesses. His first book with Penguin Random House comes out April 2020. He has his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UC Berkeley. He and his wife are based in San Francisco, CA.
SHAY FU
EVP Head of Global Operations
Craft North America
Shay Fu is Executive Vice President at Craft, a creative production agency within the Interpublic Group. She currently leads global operations and also serves as Managing Director of North America. Craft helps clients bring creative ideas to life, across languages, channels, and cultures, by bringing experts in content, technology, and processes together to build custom production solutions.
Prior to joining Craft, Shay served almost ten years at Saatchi & Saatchi before forming her own consulting company to provide services to Lehman Brothers, Neuberger Berman, JWT, and several boutique digital shops. In addition to joining RAPP, a division of Omnicom, to lead its Creative Services and Talent Operations in 2009, she co-founded Creativeinterns.com to help connect new and emerging talent from across the globe with growing business and startups.
Shay was born in Hainan Island, China, and raised in New York. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in Computer Arts, focusing on Interactive Design, Motion Graphics, and Animation. She is also a proud recipient of RAPP's 2011 Diamond Award and 2018 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award.
