President, Sensis

José is the founder and President and Chief Strategy Officer of Sensis, an integrated cross-cultural marketing agency. Jose founded Sensis as a Web development firm in 1998, and one of the first agencies focused on the multicultural digital market. Under José’s direction, Sensis has grown into the largest independent multicultural agency in the U.S. José has more than 24 years of experience in advertising and multicultural marketing across a variety of industries. José has a unique professional background that combines digital technology and advertising with economics, market research and strategy consulting. He has pioneered a new “cross-cultural” approach to reaching the diverse American mainstream.

His thought-provoking analyses of advertising at the intersection of technology and culture are published regularly on MediaPost, AdAge, and numerous industry trade publications. Jose is also a regular speaker at advertising and digital conferences such as RAB OneShow, SXSW, MediaPost, and Hispanicize. A thought leader in cross-cultural and modern advertising, Jose has co-authored multiple studies including the “Hispanic Millennial Project”, the “We are Gen Z” Report” and the “Boomer Cultures Report.”

Jose has an Economics degree from Harvard University and an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Vice President of Media Integration, Zubi Advertising

As Vice President of Media Integration, Isabella oversees all Hispanic strategic media planning and execution for Zubi’s clients, as well as new business development efforts.

She has over 30 years of Hispanic media experience working with many of the largest marketers in the U.S. Hispanic market.
Her passion for marketing to diverse audiences is evidenced in her commitment to always elevating the industry profile, while helping marketers understand and capitalize on the biggest growth opportunity in the U.S.

Her mantra of “in constant pursuit of the perfect balance between art and science” demonstrates her passion for cultural connections, creative innovation and applying the latest technology to measure and optimize performance.

Isabella is considered a thought-leader in the Hispanic marketing industry and is often called upon to share her insights and experiences in industry conferences and trade publications.

She currently serves as Chair and Executive Board Member  for the Hispanic Marketing Council, Advisory Board member for Texas Tech University’s Institute for Hispanic and International Communication and serves on the South Florida March of Dimes Board.

Vice President, Network Sales, Telemundo Group

In this role, he oversees all of the Southeast’s advertising sales for Telemundo Network, Telemundo.com and Universo Cable. Additionally, he manages the strategy, commercial innovation and integrated monetization of all tent poles for Telemundo Enterprises.  

He is an experienced and versatile media executive with 25+ years of network, spot TV, interactive sales and branded entertainment experience.  Prior to joining Telemundo, Gian Pablo was Regional Sales Manager for Spanish Broadcasting System Radio where he managed sales for its four largest stations in South Florida.

Having attended Florida International’s School of Marketing, as well as Wharton’s School of Business and IAB trained, Gian Pablo has a strong grasp on research, cultural insights, strategic planning and their respective impacts on marketers’ “Key Performance Indicators”. His experience, business acumen and certifications in “Building Essential Leadership Skills” and General Electric’s Green Belt Training have earned him speaking appearances for fortune 500 Companies, and Universities such as Florida International University and University of Miami.

Executive Director, Multicultural Strategy, Collage Group

Victor is a successful marketing and advertising executive with proven experience in building practices that drive brand equity, sales, traffic, and qualified leads. His marketing experience spans sectors such as entertainment, hospitality, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and direct-to-consumer services. Throughout his career, Victor has led multidisciplinary teams of strategy, digital, media, promotions and public relations experts in building effective integrated marketing platforms.

Prior to Collage Group, he was the Executive Director of Account Planning at Lopez Negrete Communications. Paredes was responsible for leading a team that applies cultural intelligence to inspire work that matters and work that engages today’s Latino consumer. And previously he was VP Creative Strategy at UWG.

His passion for marketing and branding began in the music industry, propelling artists like Marc Anthony and extending into marketing communications. His professional career has been a rewarding journey of connecting iconic brands with myriad diverse audiences including Latinx, black, and LGBTQ. Paredes excels at empowering brands with cultural relevance to succeed in a diverse America and a global economy.

Victor has had the privilege of fostering enduring success for iconic global brands including Target, Heineken, MasterCard, Nestlé, McDonald’s, Kleenex, Sprint, and Walgreens. His healthcare experience also includes Pfizer OTC, GSK pharmaceuticals, and Humana Vitality. Today, he has vast experience across many categories including wellness, automotive, beverages, financial services, beauty, and fashion.

Victor earned his MBA at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and his undergraduate degree at CUNY’s Herbert Lehman College. 

Partner, Chief Contact Strategist, d exposito & Partners

Gloria is an accomplished and widely recognized guru of Multicultural media in America. She has the unique experience of being one of the key promoters and architects of the U.S. Hispanic Market’s media landscape and its growth explosion, playing an exciting, protagonist role at a time when some of the largest brands entered the Hispanic Market in a significant way. As such, she was fundamental in establishing the media commitments from the likes of blue chip clients, including Sears, U.S. Postal Service, Kraft, Bank of America, Mazola Corn Oil and AT&T, among others. As Partner and Chief Contact Strategist at d expósito & Partners, Gloria has continued to introduce new brands to the Hispanic, Multicultural and Broad market media environments, helping to strategically guide clients like AARP, Amica, McDonald’s, various New York City agencies, Point32Health, U.S Army and Tajín, to name a few.

Gloria, a New Yorker who hails from the Dominican Republic, has played historic roles, lending her expertise for the monumental task of properly and insightfully reaching out to the diverse U.S. audiences, including all Latino sub-segments, with messages from the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census decennial counts, thus finally permitting the Census Bureau to assess the numerical impact of the Hispanic population in America. Since then, she has continued building and expanding the DEX media practice beyond Hispanic capabilities to include Multicultural and Broad market campaigns that are multi-channel in scope and lead with cross-platform digital initiatives.

Gloria has many accolades for her media campaigns and leadership in Hispanic and Multicultural marketing. Executive Media Planner of the Year, in 2008, by the National Hispanic Association of Publications (NAHP). She was selected for the Portada Special Award and New York’s El Diario/La Prensa chose her for their 2005 Mujeres Destacadas (Accomplished Women) Award. She is a member of the 4A’s Media Measurement Committee.  She is also a dedicated and nurturing mentor to generations of media practitioners in the industry. 

Executive Group Account Director, Lopez Negrete Communications

Simon is an innovative and insightful marketing and advertising executive who is committed to building and growing relationships with key stakeholders, clients and partner organizations. As head of the Brand Leadership team for Lopez Negrete Communications, he provides best-in-class brand strategy and marketing execution for companies including Bank of America, Hyundai, Motiva, Phillips 66, United Airlines, Sazerac and the City of Houston’s Health Department. 

Formerly the Chief Strategy Officer for the CrossCultural Marketing Group, El Hage has also provided senior leadership for Casanova McCann and DRAFTFCB, where he worked on with top companies such as Walmart, the U.S. Army and a wide array of global pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Arabic.

CEO, Orci

As CEO, Marina drives both business strategy and day-to-day operations for multicultural initiatives at Orci, develops engaging, effective campaigns for brands like Honda, Acura, Dole, VCA, Anheuser Busch and Chevron ExtraMile, and helps global organizations build meaningful relationships with diverse targets in the U.S. and Latin American markets.

With roots in Mexico and Argentina, Filippelli has been passionate about communicating with the Latinx community since she launched her career at Orci years ago, ultimately returning after leading the multicultural division of Heat and client management teams at Zubi Advertising and Conexión. She also spent a few years in the film world working on award-winning, multimillion-dollar productions as well as independent and Oscar-winning box-office successes. A current member of the National Advertising Review Board Panel, Filippelli is dedicated to supporting efforts related to diversity, inclusion, education and the arts, volunteering as a mentor and activist with various non-profits in the Los Angeles area, like P.S. Arts.

CEO, Dieste

Greg joined Dieste as CEO in late 2010. Greg has spent the past twenty years marketing to US Hispanics. First, as a client of Dieste while leading the initial Hispanic marketing efforts of Frito Lay, then leading agency start up, Cultura, and at LatinWorks where he was Managing Director.

Prior to his time at Frito Lay and within Omnicom, Greg spent eight years at Leo Burnett in both media and account management roles across the US and Latin America.

Greg graduated from the University of Kansas with a BS in Advertising and Mass Communications in 1989 and received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 1996. Greg has a wife and two boys (13 and 11). When not working or watching his sons play soccer, basketball, baseball or rowing, he enjoys golf and tennis.

CEO & Founder

Pedro has a vision. He sees a world where all people and all cultures are valued and embraced, and he believes in the power of cross-cultural communications, marketing and branding to reshape it. But Pedro is more than a visionary; he’s an architect and a builder.

LERMA/, the agency he conceived and founded in 2009, is a testament to his commitment to creating an omnicultural agency that is not only a beacon for advertising today but long into the future. Pedro knows the importance of being culturally fluent. Raised by immigrant parents in West Texas, Pedro has lived the omnicultural life. It’s in his DNA.

Combining his life experiences with his vast expertise in general, digital, and Hispanic marketing, Pedro is uniquely qualified to guide a growing and impressive list of clients through today’s everchanging and ever-challenging world. Brands like Dr Pepper, Avocados From Mexico, The Salvation Army and The Home Depot rely on Pedro and his team at LERMA/ for leadership, perspective and business results.

Pedro’s passion for caring continues outside of the office. He’s deeply involved in the community serving on the boards of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, Big Brothers & Big Sisters International and the Culture Marketing Council. He also chairs the annual Latino fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and serves on the Refugee Services Task Force for Catholic Charities.

Despite being very busy, Pedro isn’t all work. After hours and on weekends, you’ll either find him riffing on a six-string, launching off the wake behind his boat or chilling with family.

Chief Revenue & Local Media Officer, Estrella Media

As Chief Revenue and Local Media Officer for Estrella Media, Steve Mandala leads Estrella’s network of national and local sales teams, driving growth across the company’s multiple platforms and increasing brand value for each of Estrella’s partners.

Previously, Mandala served as President, Ad Sales & Marketing at Univision, where he was pivotal in growing Univision’s valuation before its sale. Before that, he was at NBCUniversal, where he led sales throughout the cable group, and Telemundo where he drove double-digit sales growth. In addition, he played a key leadership role in integrating cable and broadcast channels following Comcast’s acquisition of NBCU. Mandala has been recognized as “Media Executive of the Year” by both CableFax and HispanicAd and is a featured speaker at many industry events, including ANA Multicultural, Advertising Week and HMC.

EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead, GroupM

Ronald  is a seasoned leader in the multicultural marketing space, currently serving as EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead at GroupM. With a career spanning over 25 years, Ronald has been at the forefront of shaping multicultural marketing strategies that resonate with New Majority audiences. His journey began at Conill Advertising, marking the start of a distinguished career dedicated to understanding and leveraging the cultural nuances that drive consumer behaviour.

In 2015, Ronald took on the role of Managing Partner, Multicultural Lead at MediaCom, a fundamental position within the GroupM family. Here, he was instrumental in ensuring that clients grasped the significant impact of New Majority audiences on their business, both presently and in the future. His efforts were not only about representation but also about driving meaningful engagement across diverse audiences.

Ronald’s expertise and visionary leadership led to his promotion in 2023 to EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead. In this role, he is charged with a critical mission: to establish and steer the agencies toward a responsible media investment approach. This involves setting clear benchmarks based on client opportunities and empowering the planning and investment leadership to meet and exceed these commitments and goals. His work is pivotal in aligning investment strategies with cultural insights, thereby enhancing the agency’s impact on client success.

Before his tenure at GroupM and MediaCom, Ronald was part of the founding team at 42 Degrees at Mediavest, where he dedicated over 13 years. He also led the multicultural practice at MPG and ventured into sales as multicultural business development at Starlite Media. Each role has underscored Ronald’s deep commitment to advancing multicultural understanding and representation in the media landscape.

Ronald Méndez’s career is a testament to his unwavering dedication to cultural investment and strategy. His leadership not only guides his teams and clients towards embracing diversity but also sets a benchmark in the industry for responsible and impactful media investment.

Founder / President / CCO, MEL

Luis Miguel has played an influential role in the most important developments in the U.S. multicultural market during an advertising career that spans three decades. Born to Romanian parents and raised in Mexico City, he has worked in both the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic markets. His professional trajectory is defined by a conscious effort to help pioneer the melding of marketing niches into a nuanced and evolving market. His award-winning work for multinationals such as McDonald’s, State Farm Insurance, Clorox, MolsonCoors, Sprint, Pepsi, among others, is a testament to that effort.

An innovator and a mentor, Messianu has been recognized as a Legend Honoree by ADCOLOR, has served as a juror for the Radio Category at the Cannes Lions Advertising festival, and was inducted into the HMC Advertising Hall of Fame, one of the highest recognitions in the multicultural marketing industry. In April 2022, DDB named him Global Chief Creative Officer for the McDonald’s account. Messianu will oversee the creative output of the McDonald’s brand across 46 markets, where the DDB network is responsible for the account. He will split his time between his role as Founder and Chairman of alma and the new global position within DDB for McDonald’s.

President/CEO, Casanova//McCann

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Ingrid Otero-Smart has over 30 years of advertising experience in the U.S Hispanic Market and Puerto Rico. She joined Casanova Pendrill in August of ’08 as President/CEO. The Agency re-branded as Casanova//McCann in 2016 and she acquired the majority stake from Interpublic Group in 2020, making Casanova a minority-owned Agency once again.

At Casanova, she leads the agency operations, managing offices in Costa Mesa, New York, Detroit, and field teams in Dallas, South Florida, and Chicago. Account experience includes Nestlé USA, US Army, US Postal Service, Diageo, Cigna, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, U.S. Bank and Ford Division, among many others.

Ingrid started her career at McCann in PR, and joined Mendoza Dillon & Asociados in California in 1987. She worked there as an Account Director, and left 18 years later as President/COO. In 2005, she joined Anita Santiago Advertising as President.

Ingrid currently serves in the Dean’s Advisory Board of the School of Communications, at California State University Fullerton (CSUF), Agency Advisory Board for the School’s Practical Advantage Agency, and on the Board of Governors of this institution. She is also a founding member of the Latino Communications Institute and currently serves as its Chair.

Chief Revenue Officer, Nielsen Global Audience Measurement

Amilcar leads our global Sales & Marketing team serving our agency, advertiser, broadcaster, publisher, and digital clients. They are focused on driving global strategic engagement, building go-to-market strategies to meet the unique needs of our clients, and sharing best practices across markets.

Amilcar has over 20 years of Nielsen experience across a variety of geographies and businesses. Most recently, he was Executive Vice President of Sales for National Media Clients where he led a U.S. team responsible for customer retention, customer growth and new customer acquisition. Previously, he was Global CRO of Nielsen’s Gracenote and Sports/Esports, Music and Customer Experience, where he led global commercial and revenue strategy across all business units.

Chief Revenue Officer, Prisa Media USA, Inc.

Nestor Perinot is the CRO at Prisa Media with 20+ years creating and deploying strategies that drive sales, open new markets and shatters revenue goals while helping Media companies to grow in the Hispanic market. Specializing in Multicultural Sales, Nestor uses that experience to reach out to companies and brands that are interested in reaching their targeted Hispanic consumers. 

By focusing on the importance of communicating to the Hispanic consumer the right message at the right time within the right content, Nestor has been able to put the MBA he earned at Florida International University to good use. Over the years, Nestor has focused in depth on developing knowledge of current and emerging digital advertising, including sales concepts, tools and technologies, programmatic, CTV/OTT and digital audio/podcast.

When he is not at working at Prisa Media, Nestor is an avid soccer analyst and loves spending time sailing and coaching soccer to young kids.

Executive Director of ELEVATE, Omnicom Media Group

As Executive Director of ELEVATE at Omnicom Media Group, Michael Roca advocates for a more equitable media and marketing ecosystem by highlighting the business imperative of engaging diverse segments.  He has also helped marketers such as Diageo, Google, and P&G diversify the mix of their media partnerships by shining a light on the capabilities of diverse owned, operated, and targeted media.  He has a proven track record of success in building culturally relevant and effective media strategies that drive brand growth and loyalty among diverse segments.

He holds a BA in Communications from St. John’s University and an MBA from Nova Southeastern University.  Michael also advances DE&I causes on the corporate front as the executive sponsor of OMG’s Hispanic/Latin BRG while also sitting on the board of directors of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), Hispanic Marketing Council (HMC), and the advisory councils of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF), and the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at Florida State Univiersity.

Michael resides in America’s most vibrant and eclectic city, Miami, with his wife and their three children.

SVP, Head of Strategy, Alma

Angela is the SVP/Head of Strategy at alma. She has spent 20 + years uncovering the interplays of Global, US and Latinx and other segment cultures, helping brands succeed with segment and non-segment consumers alike.

Angela’s passion for finding deep cultural insights is a strong source of inspiration for her entire team, which is one of the largest and most diverse planning departments in the industry. The impact of her discipline and mastery of strategic planning is perhaps best proven by 7 of alma’s biggest campaigns of the year all advancing to the Grand Effies Finals, and alma becoming the most effective agency in America in 2022. She also heads up Alma’s Culture Lab, an innovation think tank that leads the marketplace in Cultural Curation, Consulting and Research.

Angela agrees that everyone loves their kids but knows that the way we demonstrate that love varies widely by culture, heritage and experience. Understanding those cultural nuances means understanding when to go traditional vs when to go trendy vs when to be universal. This is essential to good marketing in a world where messages need to be more personal than ever.

Among the brands she currently helps grow by connecting them with consumers in more culturally relevant ways are: Pepsi, McDonald’s, State Farm, Coors Light, Cerveza Sol, Miller Lite, Intuit Quickbooks, Tobacco Free Florida, Memorial Sloan Kettering, Lilly and PNC Bank.

President Advertising Sales & Marketing, TelevisaUnivision, Inc.

In her role, Speciale oversees TelevisaUnivision’s go-to-market ad sales strategy for the Company’s multiplatform portfolio. A trailblazer known for transforming advertising and a pioneering leader in the early days of advanced television advertising.

Speciale has served as an industry leader in the evolution of television advertising with an extensive knowledge of sales optimization for over two decades. Prior to joining TelevisaUnivision, she served as President of Advertising Sales at WarnerMedia where she helped establish the groundbreaking launch of OpenAP, the first open platform for TV advertisers to reach audiences across publishers. Prior to joining WarnerMedia, she was president of investment, activation and agency operations at MediaVest Worldwide, overseeing the agency’s integrated digital, broadcast, print and out-of-home practice. Earlier in her career she held senior roles at WPP’s Mediacom.

She was named one of Adweek’s Top 50 Most Indispensable Executives for several consecutive years and inducted into Broadcasting & Cable’s Hall of Fame in 2015. Speciale has been named to Variety’s New York Impact Report and is recognized regularly by leading publications including AdAge, Multichannel News and Adweek. Speciale has also been honored by Advertising Women of New York as an “Advertising Woman of the Year” and received both its “Impact Award” and “Working Woman Award.” 

President, Multicultural Practice, Publicis Media

As President of Publicis Media’s Multicultural Practice, Cultural Quotient, Lisa Torres has created a more modern, data-centric way to approach the multicultural marketplace, collectively leading over 140 multicultural experts at the largest targeted cultural digital investor in the U.S. Utilizing a research and data-driven approach to help clients better understand their diverse consumer segments, Torres and her team push the marketplace forward with the latest insights, inclusionary marketing strategies and thought leadership. A co-founder of Publicis Media’s Once & For All Coalition, a multi-year, industrywide initiative that aims to remove industry barriers to equitable financial opportunity and representation of underserved and ethnically diverse suppliers, Torres is passionate about talent engagement and inclusion and leads several initiatives across the Publicis Groupe network.

In 2021, Torres was honored with the T. Howard Foundation’s Executive Trailblazer Award and was shortlisted in the Campaign US Power of Purpose awards. She was named a Multichannel News Women to Watch honoree in 2019 and received the Executive Leadership in Hispanic TV and Video award at the 2018 Hispanic TV Summit. She has served on the steering committee for the ARF’s Cultural Effectiveness Council and the ANA AIMM Committee. With more than 25 years of experience, Torres has held positions across agencies including ZenithOptimedia Multicultural, MPG (Havas Media) and Carat (Dentsu).

Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, We Believers

Passionate serial entrepreneur with a robust business backbone, be it leading a manufacturing line at P&G, consulting for the top global corporations with McKinsey & Co., starting a courier & parcel venture for the underserved Hispanic consumer to compete with Fedex, or leading and empowering creative in Advertising Agencies.

Marco has always believed work can only be meaningful when you’ve identified the toughest business challenge that needs to be addressed, and are bold enough to transform the context around it.

He is recognized as one of the sharpest strategic thinkers in the industry, with a focus on creating innovation and effective communication solutions that help a brand’s business thrive and grow. He has earned recognition from festivals such as USH Idea Awards, FIAP, the CLIO Awards, the ADDYs, and Advertising Age.

He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School, and co-authored the book Angel Investing in Latin America.