2026 HMC STRATEGIC EXCELLENCE AWARDS JURY

Grand Jury

STEPHANIE EADDY
━━━━━━━━━━━━
CO-PRESIDENT OF THE JURY
Cultural Marketing Lead
The Coca-Cola Company

LUIS MIGUEL MESSIANU
━━━━━━━━━━━━
CO-PRESIDENT OF THE JURY
Founder-President-Chief Creative Officer
MEL

PACO CONDE
━━━━━━━━━━━━
CCO
LERMA/

MARA FERNANDEZ
_______________________
Chief Transformation Officer
PRODU

PRISCILLA FLORES DOHNERT
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Brand Director – Gran Centenario Tequila
Proximo Spirits

OSWALD MENDEZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Chief Marketing Officer
Canela Media

Best Hispanic Cultural Insight Jury

AMANDA ALONSO
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Vice President
BODEN

JULIA ESTACOLCHIC
_____________________
Senior Director of Brand Marketing & Head of Brand
Match Group

NAYELLI GARCIA AVALOS
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Co-Founder and Director Wearable Devices MX

JULIANA GOMEZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━
SVP, Strategy & Insights
TelevisaUnivision

TANIA SANJURJO
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Senior Campaign Director
The Ad Council

ANA VALDEZ
_______________________
President & CEO
Latino Donor Collaborative

EMMA VELEZ-LOPEZ
_______________________
Sr. Manager, Brand & Advertising Metro
T-Mobile

BERNICE VELOZ
_______________________
Senior Director, Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing
ANA

Impactful Multicultural Research Jury

SOPHIA CHERIAN
_______________________
Market Research Consultant
UnitedHealthcare

STACIE DE ARMAS
_______________________
Senior Vice President of Inclusive Intelligence
Nielsen

ROY EDUARDO KOKOYACHUK
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Co-Founder & Principal
ThinkNow

ADRIENNE PULIDO
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Vice President – Inclusion Insights
Kantar

Mainstream Impact Jury

DIBRIE D. GUERRERO
_____________________
VP – Growth Audience Marketing
Stellantis North America

SANTIAGO KEMBER
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Lecturer of Cultural Engagement – Department of Advertising
University of Florida

LAURA MARTINEZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Director, Account Management
NGLmitú

Impact on Innovation Jury

BRIANNE BOLES-MARSHALL
_______________________

Responsible Media
General Motors

RICHIE CRUZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━

Co-Founder
JBRC Co.

MARINA FILIPPELLI
_______________________

CEO
Orci

NIDIA SERRANO
_______________________

Vice President, Sales Marketing
SiriusXM Media

Media Connections & Content Strategy Impact Jury

FEDERICO GARZA
_______________________

SVP, Research, Strategy & Insights
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises

LONNIE LIMON
━━━━━━━━━━━━

Head of Cultural Quotient
Publicis Media

KAREN VEGA
_______________________

Culture Marketing Consultant

JENNIFER YEPEZ-BLUNDELL
_______________________

Co-Founder and COO
DRAFTED

Content Creator & Consumer Engagement Strategy Jury

JESSICA GERMAIN
_______________________

VP of Marketing
My Code

ELIZANDRA GRANILLO
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Senior Analyst, Cultural Insights
Collage Group

RONALD MÉNDEZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━

EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead
WPP Media

Creative Ingenuity Jury

PEPE AGUILAR
______________________
Global Head of Creative
FINN Partners

DIEGO ANDRADE
━━━━━━━━━━━━
SVP, Executive Creative Director
Orci

MONICA MARULANDA
━━━━━━━━━━━
Executive Creative Director
alma

JUAN PABLO OUBIÑA
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Executive Creative Director
Gallegos United

Cause Marketing Jury

POPSY AKIN
______________________
Senior Director, Advertising
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

NATALIA ORTIZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sr. Program Lead, Cultural Transformation
American Heart Association

YVETTE PEÑA
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Vice President, Audience Strategy
AARP

ANUAR SAAB
______________________
Director, Strategy & Evaluation
The Ad Council

Shopper AND/OR Experiential Impact Jury

DIANA ANAYA
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Senior Manager of Culture & Inclusive Marketing
Pernod Ricard USA

TALIA LEON-VILLANUEVA
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Sr. Director, Multicultural Commercial Strategy
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits

TANYA RODRIGUEZ
━━━━━━━━━━━━
Senior Cultural Anthropologist
Hormel Foods

Cultural Marketing Lead at The Coca-Cola Company

Stephanie is the cultural marketing lead for the North American Operating Unit at The Coca-Cola Company where she develops marketing strategies and programming to authentically connect with a growing diverse consumer population. In her role, she builds capabilities across the marketing department to foster deeper understanding across a variety of cultures, enabling better marketing in a multicultural world. She brings a well-rounded strategy and communications background to the role, having worked on some of the most integrated and complex programs at The Coca-Cola Company during her tenure. As the Global Coca-Cola Brand Director, she drove growth through recruitment programs that leverage gaming and music passion points. Prior, she defined the Global Beverage Growth Strategy as the Global Growth Director on the McDonald’s Customer Team. Stephanie built her marketing career as a digital marketing expert, working on groundbreaking new mediums and established demand generation platforms and practices ahead of their time in the telecommunications space.

Stephanie is a mother and wife who enjoys experiencing new cultures through travel and food, and can be found enjoying the outdoors or taking in the arts as often as possible.

Founder, President and Chief Creative Officer at MEL

Luis Miguel has played a respectable and influential role in the most important developments in the U.S. multicultural market during an advertising career that spans over 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. Luis Miguel is an innovator, a mentor, and an example followed by many distinguished professionals in the multicultural marketing community.

Luis Miguel had the foresight to target this vast and untapped market. In 1994 he started his own Hispanic agency, winning soon after the McDonald’s and State Farm Insurance accounts. Twenty nine years and numerous award-winning campaigns later, both clients still trusted their multicultural strategy to Luis Miguel’s previous creative shop, called alma. alma is a modern culture marketing agency known for highly effective, award-winning segment-led creative campaigns, with a broad roster of clients, including McDonald’s, MolsonCoors, PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, CVS Health, Google, State Farm and others. Under his watch the agency fueled exceptional business growth through creativity, earning 37 Cannes Lions and 30 Effie Awards, as well as numerous Radio Mercury, One Show, Clio, ANA, and New York Festival Awards. alma was named to Ad Age’s prestigious A-List seven times and earned “Agency of the Year ” titles from El Ojo, El Sol, and FIAP.

In 2015, ADCOLOR named Luis Miguel Legend Honoree in celebration of his achievements in diversity through his career, and in 2016 he was selected as juror for the Radio Category at the Cannes Lions Advertising festival, he was invited back in 2022 as a juror for the Sustainable Development Goals category. In 2019 he was inducted into the CMC Advertising Hall of Fame, one of the highest recognitions in the multicultural industry.

He has always been passionate about mentoring and educating a new generation of Multicultural advertising professionals, and has been a member of the Miami Ad School Board and faculty since the school’s inception. He is a professor at the School of Communications at the University of Miami. Luis Miguel was also one of the founders of the US Hispanic Creative Circle more than two decades ago, was elected its first President.

He completed with honors his Executive MBA at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership.

From February 2022 to July 2023, he was DDB’s Global Chief Creative Officer for the McDonald’s account. Messianu oversaw the creative output of the McDonald’s brand across 46 markets, where the DDB network is responsible for the account. He split his time between his role as Founder and Chairman of alma and the global position within DDB for McDonald’s.

In  June 2023 he left DDB and alma, the agency he founded and launched a Multicultural Creative Content Consultancy under the name “Included” going back full circle as a creative entrepreneur who really loves to build cultures and companies from scratch. Soon after he engaged in conversations with Pete Lerma and Richard Edelman, who wanted to partner with him, which in turn are now giving birth to MEL. MEL specializes in developing communication for diverse communities that comprise modern culture., and scales capabilities to build bespoke solutions for clients to help them unlock brand and business growth. The agency has a presence in Miami, New York and Dallas. Their clients include P&G, NFL, Remy Martin, Aaron’s Furniture, Brandsmart and Centenario Tequila from Proximo Spirits. This new enterprise is allowing him to recommit to his personal and professional mission of helping dignify and elevate the presence of Latinos in the U.S.

Chief Creative Officer at LERMA/

Paco is an international creative leader and entrepreneur who has held leadership roles at top creative agencies around the world. 

At Sra. Rushmore in Madrid, he helped establish the agency as the most creative of the decade in Spain. At Ogilvy Brazil, his work contributed to the agency being named Agency of the Year at the Cannes Lions. At BBH London, he led successful global pitches for brands such as Ray-Ban, Absolut Vodka, Google and Axe. 

In 2017, Paco joined Anomaly LA as Executive Creative Director and Partner. A year later, alongside Carl Johnson, founder of Anomaly, and his longtime creative partner Beto Fernandez, he launched a new kind of agency within the Anomaly Group: Activista. A trailblazing company built on the belief that creativity can do more than drive sales. It can shift culture, spark change, and help brands grow by making a real, positive impact on people’s lives and the world.

In 2023, Ad Age named Activista Purpose-Driven Small Agency of the Year, and Fast Company recognized two of its campaigns among the World Changing Ideas. 

In 2025, Paco joined the independent agency LERMA/ as its first ever CCO.

Throughout his career, Paco has consistently found bold and innovative ways to connect brands with their audiences through work that people care about, talk about, and share.

His eclectic body of work reflects both his ability to move seamlessly across genres, media, and technology and his talent for building multidisciplinary teams with a “nothing is impossible” mindset. 

Paco has won nearly every major industry award, including the Titanium and Promo Grand Prix, 65 Lions at Cannes, Best of Category at The One Show, and multiple Yellow Pencils at D&AD. He was recognized by the Cannes Lions Report as one of the world’s Most Awarded Creative Directors for three consecutive years and was included in Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 Most Creative People in the World.

Chief Transformation Officer at PRODU and General Director of FIAP

Mara is Chief Transformation Officer at PRODU and General Director of FIAP (Festival Iberoamericano de la Creatividad), where she leads strategic growth, innovation, and international partnerships that connect the creative industry across Latin America, the U.S. Hispanic market, and the world.

With more than 20 years of experience in advertising, marketing, and media, Mara has been a driving force in transforming PRODU into a leading digital platform and redefining FIAP as a benchmark for Ibero-American creativity in collaboration with Advertising Week LatAm, Cannes Lions, and major global brands and tech partners.

Throughout her career, she has championed ideas that inspire change, bridge cultures, and celebrate creative excellence. Mara’s work reflects her enduring commitment to innovation, diversity, and the evolving intersection of creativity, technology, and business.

Brand Director, Gran Centenario Tequila at Proximo Spirits

Priscilla is an award-winning marketer with a passion for building brands. Classically trained with a bias for challenging the status quo, she brings 20 years of experience creating strategies that drive awareness, growth, and brand love. Her work spans a diverse set of consumer groups including General Market, Hispanic & Latino, kids and families, retailers, distributors across the CPG, beer, spirits, media, and advertising industries.

A proud Nuyorican born and raised in Brooklyn, Priscilla thrives at the intersection of creativity, culture, and business. She is regarded as a strong leader and collaborator with a track record of team building, accountability, passion, problem solving, and humor (because great work should be fun). She currently serves as Marketing Director for Gran Centenario Tequila at Proximo Spirits, Mexico’s #1 tequila, where she leads brand strategy, innovation, partnerships, and activation. She previously led the launch of Gran Coramino, Kevin Hart’s fast growing tequila brand, establishing it as a strong category contender in record time.

Before joining Proximo Spirits, Priscilla held key brand marketing roles at Campbell Soup Company / Pepperidge Farm, NBC Universal & Telemundo Network, Heineken USA, Kraft Foods, and Amazon’s Quidsi division. Her work has earned creative and industry honors including Cannes Lions and Anthem Awards.

Priscilla holds an MBA from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, and a BA from CUNY Brooklyn College, where she helped charter the Lambda Chapter of Omega Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, the first Latina oriented sorority on campus.

She currently lives in New Rochelle, New York with her husband, two sons, and their crazy labradoodle, Pebbles.

Chief Marketing Officer at Canela Media

As Chief Marketing Officer, Oswald Méndez leads all customer-centric strategies and programs to drive Canela Media’s growth in U.S. and Latin American markets. Responsible for overseeing all marketing functions for the company to enable growth across its product portfolio both through user acquisition and retention efforts as well as revenue-generating opportunities and go to market strategy. ​

Prior to joining Canela, Oswald co-founded New Majority Ready, a marketing & business consulting company with the mission to help C-suite executives and businesses realize the impact America’s current cultural transformation has on their existing and future strategies and business growth blueprints that led to new sources of revenue through the lens of the new majority population in the U.S. ​

Méndez also held executive positions at BBC America, MundoFox Broadcasting, and FOX International Channels. Earlier in his career, Méndez spent over two decades working for global and domestic full service and media agencies such as McCann-Erickson Worldwide and was part of the team that launched Universal McCann globally and oversaw a client portfolio in Latin America of over $1 billion USD. He was a Managing Partner at The Vidal Partnership, full-service independent USH agency, and began his career in the multicultural space at Conill Advertising.​

Oswald has a degree from NYU’s Stern School of Business in International Business & Marketing. He also holds certificates in Television and Film Production from NYU’s School of Continuing Education and Blockchain Technologies: Business Innovation and Application from MIT Sloan Executive Education.

Vice President at BODEN

Amanda is a Vice President at BODEN, where she leads high-profile business across a diverse portfolio of iconic brands. She brings more than a decade of experience spanning CPG, retail, spirits, financial services, lifestyle, and travel, with a strong track record of delivering culturally relevant, results-driven communications.

Prior to joining BODEN, Amanda spent nearly a decade at Ketchum leading integrated communications, crisis strategy, influencer programming, and brand storytelling.

A Spaniard, she is deeply passionate about her cultural heritage and is known as a versatile, bilingual communications leader with a collaborative style and creative point of view. She was named a PRSA-NY 15 Under 35 Award winner in 2022.


Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Head of Brand for Chispa at Match Group

Julia is Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Head of Brand for Chispa, the largest dating app for U.S. Latinos and part of Match Group, the global leader in online dating.

Since joining Match in 2017, Julia has led the development of marketing strategies across Match Affinity’s portfolio of apps and sites, helping shape how diverse and multicultural communities connect and find belonging in the digital dating space.

Before Match, Julia served as Managing Director at Dieste, an Omnicom agency, where she led cross-functional teams and brand executives driving business development, marketing strategy, and execution for top brands including AT&T/Cricket, The Hershey Company, Southwest Airlines, Nissan, and P&G. Earlier in her career, she was Director of Marketing at Nexxo, a fintech startup later acquired by MoneyGram, where she led marketing initiatives across multiple business models expanding access to everyday financial services for U.S. Latino consumers.

A Women in Tech, Top Women of Impact, and Unstoppable Women honoree, Julia is a proud bicultural and bilingual Latina with more than 20 years of experience launching and building brands across the U.S., U.S. multicultural markets, and Latin America.

Selected Awards & Recognitions
• 2025 Grand Prix – Strategic Excellence Awards/HMC
• 2024 ADCOLOR Leader
• 2024 Global Industry Leader – Global Dating Insights
• 2022 NBC Telemundo – Mujeres Imparables (Unstoppable Women)
• 2021 Women in TechDallas Business Journal
• 2021 100 Women of ImpactEntrepreneur Magazine
• ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards, Vision Awards, and Imagen Awards for campaigns including Xoom “Save the Pigs”, Nissan “El Reto Final” (Rematch), Chispa’s Amor with no BS.

Co-Founder and Director at Wearable Devices MX

Nayelli is an executive marketing and innovation leader with experience driving growth and transformation across global consumer brands in the U.S., Latin America, and Europe. She is Co-Founder and Director of Wearable Devices MX, where she leads go-to-market strategy, partnerships, and commercialization of wearable health technologies.
Nayelli held senior leadership roles at Nestlé and Abbott, leading equity evolution, portfolio strategy, and award-winning communication for global brands. Her work focuses on accelerating mature portfolios through equity-building commercial strategy, culturally relevant consumer experiences, and AI-enabled marketing, consistently delivering sustained ROI and value-accretive business results. In 2018, she led Nestlé’s “Sad Toys” campaign, which earned a Gold Effie Award for best communication campaign in Mexico’s food industry.
Nayelli holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a B.A. in International Business. She frequently serves as an industry juror, including for the 2025 ANA REGGIE Awards and ANA In-House Excellence Awards.

SVP, Strategy & Insights at TelevisaUnivision

Juliana is the Senior Vice President of Client Strategy at TelevisaUnivision, where she empowers advertisers with deep consumer insights and develops tailored marketing and communication strategies to effectively engage Hispanic audiences. With more than a decade of experience as a Hispanic go-to-market strategist, Juliana partners with brands as a trusted advisor. Bringing expertise in business case development, Hispanic consumer insights, advertising strategy, and campaign optimization.

Before joining TelevisaUnivision, Juliana was a management consultant at Ernst & Young (EY), specializing in the technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) industries.

Originally from Colombia, Juliana has called the Upper East Side of Manhattan home since 2007, where she lives with her husband.

Senior Strategic Planning Director at alma

Born to American parents and raised abroad, Luke has lived his life across several continents and countries. After growing up in Scotland, Australia and Texas, Luke joined the U.S. Peace Corps and spent more than three years living in Honduras, Central America. There he honed his mastery of Spanish and understanding of Latino culture, while helping the local people build gravity-fed potable water systems. After returning to the States, he combined his creative expertise with his cultural empathy and project leadership to launch a career in advertising.

Luke’s cultural empathy serves him well as a strategic planner but also as a husband and father of three multicultural kids. Luke leads a truly bicultural life being married to a fiercely proud Mexican woman while also living in Miami – Life and work in Miami is Spanish-dominant and a vibrant collage of many different people from countries all over Latin America and the world. Beyond his day-to-day role as a strategist for Alma clients, Luke helps lead and manage Alma’s proprietary consumer segmentation model and Alma’s suite of tools for data analysis and research. His passion is sparked by the exciting potential waiting at the intersection of art and science – where assumptions are challenged, and new opportunities are found for a deeper understanding of technology, culture, and society. This is where data insights spark inspiring human stories.

Luke has worked in several different agencies over the past 18 years as a strategist. His experience in crafting communications strategy that connects with Latino consumers extends across many brands in multiple categories including: Pepsi, Gillette, Duracell, Head & Shoulders, Mahatma Rice, LULAC, National Pork Board, REI, Cerveza Indio, Carnival supermarket, AT&T, Sprint, Wells Fargo and Eli Lilly.

President & CEO at Latino Donor Collaborative

Ana is a global leader who bridges research, business, and media to produce the economic DATA that proves how U.S. Latinos are not only a cultural and social force but the main engine of American economic growth.

Born in Mexico City, Ana’s global journey spans Mexico, Europe, and the U.S., where she has fused her bicultural perspective with over 30 years of leadership in marketing, media, international development, and public policy. Her trajectory includes key roles at the United Nations, White House, Nielsen, Citibank, and collaborations with multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Together with the power of its board leadership, Ana has transformed LDC into a premier think tank for economic data and opportunity, founding the Latino Data Collaborative to produce groundbreaking research. Under her leadership, LDC has partnered with Columbia, UCLA, ASU, BCG, Nielsen, McKinsey, Kantar, Hill & Knowlton, Accenture, Bain & Company, and other prominent organizations, arming resource allocators with the data they need to drive growth.

As Chair of Southern California Public Radio (2016–2020), Ana led a strategic and cultural transformation that boosted revenue, set record audiences, and brought the organization its first and second Latino CEOs. She has also served on the boards of American Public Media Group, Latino Community Foundation, The Trust for Public Land, Children’s Bureau, and UCLA’s Faculty of Statistics.

Her achievements have earned national recognition: Top 10 Latinos in America (2018), 50 Most Powerful Latinas (2022), LA Business Journal Woman CEO of the Year (2024), LA Times Inspirational Leader (2024), Latino Leaders Top 100 (2025), NASHIMB’s Mujer Brillante 2025, and more. She co-authored the bestseller Extraordinary Latinas and was featured in CNBC’s In Pursuit of Success.

A Forbes contributor, former Fox11 analyst, and global speaker, Ana has lived in Los Angeles for 27 years, championing data truth, unlocking growth, and redefining leadership for New Mainstream America.

Sr. Manager, Brand & Advertising at T-Mobile

Emma is an accomplished award-winning Marketing expert with a track record of turning bold ideas into breakthrough campaigns. She’s made her mark from San Juan to New York City, creating bold campaigns for Fortune 50 brands—on both the agency and client side.

Today, Emma leads the Brand & Advertising team for Metro by T-Mobile within T-Studios Advertising and Social Group, steering insightful creative that reaches both General Market and Hispanic audiences across above and below the line advertising channels and Sponsorship programs. Her team’s work has already made waves—earning the Q1 2024 Rising Above the MIX Award and Portada 2024 Multicultural OTT Advertising Campaign of the Year Award for the Metro Super Bowl campaign —and she’s only getting started.

Beyond the office, Emma is deeply committed to culture and community. She serves as Communications Chair for T-Mobile’s Eleva Network ERG, supports the arts as a NYC MoMA and Whitney Museum member, and proudly contributes to causes like the ACLU, OXFAM, and the Hispanic Federation.

When she’s not crafting campaigns, you’ll likely find her planning her next adventure—whether it’s a new foodie find, a theater night, or a trip with her husband, family, and friends.

Senior Director, Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing at ANA

Bernice is a seasoned multicultural marketing and media executive with more than a decade of experience driving brand growth, audience engagement, and cultural relevance through integrated campaigns. As Senior Director of Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing at the ANA, she leads the strategic development of high-impact initiatives such as the ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing National Conference and the Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards.

Her cross-functional background spans brand, agency, and media environments through previous roles at Charter Communications, Publicis Groupe, TelevisaUnivision, and Company 3 New York. Her ability to bridge strategy and storytelling helps brands connect with multicultural audiences in meaningful and enduring ways.

A born-and-raised New Yorker and proud Afro-Latina of Dominican heritage, Bernice is passionate about music and salsa dancing. She finds joy in spending time with her close-knit family and her beloved puppy, Hershey. Her greatest inspiration is her late grandmother, whose love and resilience continue to guide her both personally and professionally.

Market Research Consultant at UnitedHealthcare

Sophia is a strategic thinker and storyteller committed to consumer centricity and informing data driven decisions.

Throughout her tenure at UnitedHealth Group, she has focused on humanizing data to derive actionable recommendations that are centered on consumer experiences.

Prior to supporting Brand Insights for UnitedHealthcare she focused on experience measurement for Optum, working closely with digital product owners and business leads to design and advocate for stronger member experiences across multiple lines of business.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Bates College and is based in New York City.

 

Senior Vice President of Inclusive Intelligence at Nielsen

Stacie is a pioneering media and entertainment executive driving transformative change in inclusive audience measurement and insights. As Senior Vice President of Inclusive Intelligence at Nielsen, Stacie is at the forefront of redefining how advertisers, agencies, and content creators leverage data to connect with today’s dynamic and evolving audiences. Her work is particularly critical in the evolving media landscape where a new generation of digital-native decision-makers demand authentic connection and clear value.

Drawing on her expertise in audience analytics and media strategy, Stacie provides thought leadership and actionable inclusive insights that empower brands and creators to thrive. She helps organizations understand how media and marketing resonate with growth audiences, ensuring brand storytelling builds trust across every touchpoint.

A highly sought-after speaker, Stacie has delivered compelling keynotes at prominent events such as SXSW, Sundance, the United Nations, and numerous Fortune 500 companies. Her expert insights have been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, and NPR. Demonstrating her dedication to education, she also serves as an adjunct professor of qualitative research at California State University Northridge and is a former instructor at California State University Los Angeles.

As a first-generation Cubana, Stacie brings a profound personal commitment to fostering genuine representation and authenticity within the media industry.

Co-Founder & Principal at ThinkNow

Roy is Co-Founder and Principal at ThinkNow, a technology-driven cultural insights agency that helps brands and government agencies understand the cultural factors influencing consumer decisions.

He began his career at Warner Bros. Media Research, where he gained valuable experience in media analytics. He then joined Garcia Research Associates as Vice President of Advertising Research, where he oversaw copy-testing for all Procter & Gamble Spanish-language television commercials, directed the company’s online consumer-research expansion, and created a market-research operations-center in Tijuana, Mexico.

In 2010, Roy co-founded ThinkNow with the mission of ensuring that the voice of multicultural consumers is heard across corporate America. Under his leadership, ThinkNow launched DigayGane, the nation’s largest Hispanic online consumer-research panel, expanded its capabilities with ThinkNow Audiences, which provides programmatic multicultural segments to major ad-tech platforms, and introduced ThinkNow Synthetic, an AI-driven synthetic-sample platform. In 2023, he incorporated ThinkNow MX in Mexico to support research and respondent provisioning throughout Latin America.

Born in Buenos Aires, Roy holds a B.A. in Communications from USC Annenberg, an M.B.A. in Marketing from Cal State, LA, and a Certificate in Business Management from UCLA Anderson.

Lead of Inclusion Insights at Kantar

Adrienne Pulido oversees thought leadership and trends for U.S. diversity markets at Kantar MONITOR. She has been designing and leading marketing research for over 30 years in the US and in Latin America.  She has spent half her career as a research specialist and entrepreneur and the other half as a strategist and account planner in the advertising industry.

Adrienne was a partner at an innovative cultural metrics firm and broke ground as the first Research and Account Planning Director of a U.S. Hispanic agency at Publicis, where she later served as COO. She was also Planning Director for D’arcy Américas, covering over 16 Latin American countries under the Publicis umbrella.

Adrienne’s expertise covers the full spectrum of quantitative and qualitative survey design. She excels at developing culture metrics, utilizing cutting-edge tools and techniques, and transforming data into compelling narratives for strategic planning. A proud ambicultural professional fluent in English and Spanish, Adrienne holds an MBA and BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.

Adrienne is a member of the Executive Latina Leadership Alliance (Ellas), member of the 2025 IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access) Council Insights Association task force, Hispanic Marketing Council (HMC) 2025 Strategic Excellence Awards Jury, the ANA Multicultural Marketing Awards Jury and was featured in the book- Think and Grow Rich – A Latino Choice.

VP – Growth Audience Marketing at Stellantis North America

A VP-level marketing maverick known for driving strategic success through tactical truth and actionable accuracy. With over a decade of leadership bringing a disciplined yet imaginative approach to brand strategy, thoughtful process design, and consistent execution.

Focused on serving company’s missions of delivering exceptional customer value through innovative branding, enterprise alignment, and insight-driven initiatives. With a broad foundation across field sales, corporate strategy, consumer marketing, and multicultural communications. Blending data-driven planning and the creativity of storytelling to drive customer experience innovation, and strengthening loyalty in an increasingly complex marketplace.

Specialized in marketing and business strategy, brand positioning, and cross-functional collaboration—connecting organizational ambition with customer-centric solutions that drive measurable impact. Dedicated through a deep passion for inclusive narratives, empowering teams with clarity and confidence, and turning strategic insight into sustained growth.

Lecturer of Cultural Engagement – Department of Advertising at University of Florida

With over three decades of global agency leadership, Santiago Kember has influenced the communication strategies behind iconic brands for renowned agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi, FCB Worldwide, and Visual Latina. His expertise has contributed to successful campaigns for industry giants including S.C. Johnson, Clorox, Colgate, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Kellogg’s, Kraft, HP, Sony, Audi, P&G, Walmart, Wendy’s, Tesco, and Bacardi. Santiago’s career is distinguished by his deep commitment to understanding cultural dynamics in advertising, conducting market research across more than 45 countries to uncover actionable insights. At the University of Florida, he inspires the next generation of advertisers, teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses in Advertising Strategy, Multicultural Advertising in the U.S., Shopper Marketing, and Advertising Campaigns.

Director, Account Management at NGLmitú

Laura is a partnerships and marketing leader currently serving as the Director of Account Management at NGLmitú, where she oversees multimillion-dollar partnerships that accelerate Fortune 500 brands’ ability to authentically engage and grow with U.S. Hispanic audiences across @wearemitu’s social platforms. With experience managing clients such as Walmart, NASCAR, Crunchyroll, and Eli Lilly, she is known for her results-driven approach, operational excellence, and ability to translate cultural insight into measurable business outcomes.

Before joining NGLmitú, Laura began her career at Telemundo supporting executive-led digital initiatives and later worked at Edelman supporting strategic communications for global clients.

She holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business (Go Gators!) and has been honored in 2025 as both a Creative Ladder Rising Leaders Academy participant and a Hispanic Executive 30 Under 30 emerging leader.

Global Marketing Services Diversity Media Strategy & Investment at General Motors

In her current role as Diversity Media Strategy & Investment Lead at General Motors, Brianne continues to champion diverse media and marketing efforts across all GM brands with the goal of ensuring that every investment generates impact for both the General Motors enterprise and its diverse media ecosystem.

For over 15 years, Brianne Boles-Marshall has been a noteworthy leader in the media/marketing industry, leading general market and multicultural strategy on accounts such as MillerCoors, P&G, and Nestlé Purina. During her tenure on those accounts, she spearheaded diversity initiatives that helped each company better realize the growth opportunities made possible by authentic outreach to diverse audiences.

In addition to her role at GM, Brianne also a rising graduate (c/o 2024) of The Black Executive CMO Alliance’s Future Leaders program, which further prepares Black marketers for corporate and community leadership. She is also a part of the AIMM (ANA) steering committee, ANA’s Diverse Media initiatives, the BRIDGE organization’s definitions steering committee, and is a 2024 inductee in the Advancing Diversity Hall of Honors. She has also been selected to participate as a judge for industry award selection committees, training institutes and she contributed to published works by the ANA on diverse media investment.

A native of Flint, Michigan, Brianne earned her MBA from Wayne State University and her bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Partner and Co-Founder at JBRC Co.

Richie is a marketing leader and advisor with deep expertise in forming effective solutions for consumer brands that impact culture while delivering commercial success.

In his nearly two decades of experience, he has held a range of marketing and leadership roles at PepsiCo, Foot Locker, Inc., and The SpringHill Company.

Fueled by a passion for collaboration and storytelling, his efforts have directly fueled growth for iconic brands, pushed boundaries in the discipline of consumer engagement, and have earned industry recognition (Effies, Clio Awards, Clio Sports, Cannes Lions, and The One Show).

Currently, Richie is the co-founder of JBRC Co., a recently-formed consulting practice that guides partners through complexity by embracing and applying “culture-centric” thinking to brand building and the art and science of demand creation.

Passionate about creating pathways, Richie serves on the advisory board of Camping to Connect, an organization that provides youth with transformative outdoor experiences and experiential mentorship.

CEO at Orci

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

With roots in Mexico and Argentina, Marina 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, as well as spending a few years in the film world working on award-winning, multi-million dollar productions as well as independent and Oscar-winning box-office successes. She 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 LA area, like P.S. Arts. Marina is also a current member of the National Advertising Review Board Panel.

Vice President, Sales Marketing at SiriusXM Media

Nidia is an award-winning marketing executive with nearly 20 years of experience building and scaling insight-led growth platforms across audio, media, and ad tech. As Vice President of Sales Marketing at SiriusXM Media, she leads global teams transforming sales marketing into a strategic engine for revenue growth, brand leadership, and advertiser confidence.

Across her tenure at SiriusXM Media and Pandora, Nidia has architected industry-defining marketing platforms at the intersection of culture, audience intelligence, and commercial impact. She co-founded SiriusXM Media Fluency, a cultural intelligence and marketing practice that has become a core growth driver for the organization, and has led the creation of flagship thought-leadership IP that shapes industry narratives and informs advertiser investment. She also leads global sales marketing initiatives for AdsWizz, aligning demand- and supply-side strategies across the ad tech ecosystem.

Earlier in her career, Nidia held senior leadership roles at WPP and Publicis Groupe, where she drove portfolio growth for global brands including Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, and NBC Universal through insight-led media strategy and ROI-driven planning.

Widely recognized for her leadership and impact, Nidia has earned industry honors for innovation, inclusive marketing, and business transformation. She is known for translating cultural insight into scalable growth, shaping category narratives, and building high-performing teams and platforms that endure.

SVP, Research, Strategy & Insights at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises

Executive Vice President, Cultural Quotient at Publicis Media

Lonnie serves as Executive Vice President and Head of Cultural Quotient at Publicis Media, leading one of the industry’s largest and most influential multicultural media practices as a center of excellence. In this role, he guides the agency network’s cultural intelligence and client focused multicultural approach across all Publicis Media brands. He also partners closely with Publicis Media leadership to advance the acclaimed Once & For All Coalition, accelerating its mission to drive impactful media investment, measurement innovation, and authentic audience engagement at scale.

A veteran of nearly 30 years in multicultural marketing and advertising, Lonnie has helped shape some of the industry’s most celebrated work. He has been part of agencies recognized five times as Ad Age Multicultural Agency of the Year and has led teams honored with Effies, ANA Multicultural Excellence Awards and numerous Addys. His career spans leadership roles at Dieste, LatinWorks, The Marketing Arm, and Inspire!, where he drove double digit revenue growth, led large cross disciplinary teams, and guided iconic brands such as AT&T, McDonald’s, Progressive, Dunkin’, and Heineken USA.

Lonnie began his career at Starcom within Publicis Groupe, making his return to the organization in 2024 a powerful full circle moment. His longstanding commitment to advancing Latino representation extends beyond his client work. He is an active board member of the Hispanic Marketing Council, contributing thought leadership to the industry’s most important conversations on cultural fluency, business impact, and the future of multicultural marketing.

Cultural Marketing Consultant at Karen-Vega.com

Karen is a visionary Creative Architect and strategic leader whose 20-year career has been defined by driving impactful consumer marketing strategies for Fortune 500 clients. She executes this work utilizing a powerful blend of data analytics, cultural intelligence, and digital expertise.  Her transformative decade at Paramount Global cemented her status as an industry force. There, she was the architect behind groundbreaking initiatives, including developing a state-of-the-art social intelligence capability and designing and executing Paramount’s inaugural multicultural ad sales strategy. Prior to this, she successfully scaled the social and digital offerings for independent agencies, leveraging digital engagement to solve complex business challenges for global brands.

Beyond the corporate suite, Karen’s true mission lies in reshaping the perception and increasing the representation of the Hispanic community in media. This commitment has earned her continuous acclaim, securing honors such as being named an Influential Latino in Media by the Imagen Foundation and recognized as a Hispanic Thought Leader of the Year by Hispanic.com, and being a featured speaker on the prestigious United Nations stage at the Hispanic Leadership Summit. 

Karen is working on her own consultancy practice at Karen-Vega.com and advising start-ups, creators, and entrepreneurs on scaling their businesses with A.I. and cultural relevance.

Co-Founder and COO at DRAFTED

Jennifer is the Co-Founder and COO of DRAFTED, a media platform that speaks sports through the lens of Latina culture. With a deep understanding of the New Majority, DRAFTED reaches Latinas through cultural content, community and commerce.

Prior to Co-Founding DRAFTED, Jennifer spent over a decade in corporate America working at top agencies leading Multicultural & Sports Strategy. She is a former Collegiate Athlete and her vision of shifting commercial narratives runs deep as a Mom to two-young daughters.

VP of Marketing at My Code

Jessica is VP of Marketing at My Code, where she develops strategy, positioning, and messaging to connect brands with the fastest-growing audiences in the US. With over a decade of industry experience and seven years at My Code, Jessica has been instrumental in navigating pivotal moments, including the company’s 2023 acquisition and its comprehensive 2025 rebrand that repositioned My Code as a global authority on culture-driven marketing. She builds scalable frameworks connecting strategy, design, communications, and sales teams with the end goal to help Fortune brands authentically connect with Black, Hispanic, AANHPI, LGBTQIA+, and Gen Z communities. Jess graduated from Binghamton University and is based in Carlsbad, California.

Senior Analyst, Cultural Insights at Collage Group

Elizandra is a Senior Analyst on Collage Group’s Cultural Insights team, specializing in Multicultural research. Drawing on her Anthropology degree from San Diego State University and a nuanced understanding of Hispanic transborder communities, she helps brands forge authentic connections with diverse, Multicultural audiences.

EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead at WPP Media

Ronald is a seasoned leader in the multicultural marketing space, currently serving as EVP, Cultural Investment & Strategy Lead at WPP Media. 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 behavior.

In 2015, Ronald took on the role of Managing Partner, Multicultural Lead at MediaCom, a fundamental position within the GroupM family (now WPP Media). 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 WPP Media 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’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.

Global Head of Creative at FINN Partners

Pepe is a creative leader and cultural activist with 30 years of experience in advertising across North and Latin America. His work has been recognized with 18 Cannes Lions and 26 Effie Awards, among other international festivals.

Aside from FINN Partners, Pepe has also led creative teams for companies such as Grey, Lowe, JWT, and Gallegos United. He has built brands in almost every category, working for clients such as Apple, Bacardi, Casa Cuervo, Cemex,Coca Cola,Comcast, Epson, Ferrero, Ford, Gerber, Got Milk?, GSK, Heineken, Hispanic Star, Honda, HSBC, Keurig Dr Pepper, Kimberly-Clark, Nestlé, NFL, Nike, Novartis, Pfizer, P&G, Papa John’s, PlayStation, Renault, Sony, Southern Poverty Law Center, UDV,United Way, Visit Philadelphia, Walgreens, Walmart, and many others.

Guest lecturer in prestigious events, including Hispanic Leadership Summit (United Nations), Cannes Lions, Rebels & Rulers (Romania), Cannes Lions Edit (Ecuador), and Grey’s Global Creative Council.

Pepe performed as judge in Effie Awards, London International Advertising Awards, U.S. CírculoCreativo, Mexico’s CírculoCreativo, Creativepool, Cresta Awards, Sabre Awards, Ojode Iberoamérica, and Grey’s Global Creative Council.

Pepe has an MBA from Berlin School of Creative Leadership. He was given the Excellency Award with his bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design. He has lived in the US, Mexico, Canada, Ecuador, and Peru. He is also a certified yoga teacher.

SVP, Executive Creative Director at Orci

Diego is the SVP, Executive Creative Director at Orci and a lover of all things diverse and intersectional. Proudly Mexican, unapologetically queer, and raised on a steady diet of mainstream pop culture, Diego is a super nerd for many fandoms who brings almost 15 years of creative marketing and content creation experience to the table.

Executive Creative Director at alma

Executive Creative Director at Gallegos United

Juan Pablo spent nearly three decades in advertising and marketing, leading creative work across the U.S. and LATAM for brands ranging from tech to retail to CPG. His focus has always been the same. Build ideas that travel. Ideas that stand out in culture. Ideas that move both people and business.

He held leadership roles in some of the U.S.’s most influential agencies, founded his own independent shops and content studios, and served as President of the Círculo Creativo. Along the way, he helped shape campaigns for brands such as Got Milk?, Taco Bell, Movistar, Uber, Target, Volkswagen, Home Depot, Absolut, Xfinity, DoorDash, and many others.

Throughout his career, the work he created with his teams has been recognized by major global festivals including Cannes Lions, Clio, Effie, Webby, and others. A personal milestone was seeing a campaign he developed two decades ago selected for the Smithsonian’s permanent advertising collection.

Beyond advertising, he writes and directs – Short films, screenplays, a children’s book series, and most recently a theatrical play. A short film he wrote and directed earned Best Screenplay at both the Tribeca Underground Film Festival and the Beverly Hills Short Festival.

Across disciplines, his goal remains consistent. Build teams and ideas that win people’s attention, spark participation, and thrive in both cultural and algorithmic environments. Work that strengthens partnerships and naturally creates new opportunities.

Senior Director, Advertising, Marketing and Communication at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Popsy is the Senior Director of Advertising at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she shapes and executes strategies that build brand equity and drive patient acquisition. She oversees end‑to‑end creative development, paid media, and performance measurement, ensuring every investment delivers a measurable impact. Through innovative, cross‑channel storytelling and data‑driven decisioning, Popsy advances MSK’s mission to make world‑class cancer care accessible.

Before joining MSK, she led high‑profile, results‑oriented programs at leading agencies, most recently spearheading integrated marketing accounts at 360i in Chicago. A past winner of the HMC Strategic Excellence Awards, Popsy is a regular juror of creativity awards, including the ANA Multicultural and In-House Excellence Awards. 

Vice President, Audience Strategy at AARP

Yvette is a purpose-driven leader and award-winning marketer with over two decades of experience in building strong brands and advancing inclusion across the nonprofit and corporate sectors. As Vice President of Audience Strategy at AARP, she leads national strategies that elevate the voices and needs of Hispanic/Latino communities and People with Disabilities, while championing cross-cultural initiatives that drive social impact.

Yvette’s work is rooted in what she calls “heartwork”—a deep commitment to creating meaningful change through strategic storytelling, inclusive campaigns, and authentic engagement. Her leadership has shaped digital outreach, media partnerships, and culturally resonant programs that connect diverse audiences with resources to thrive as they age.

A champion for growth markets, Yvette has built bridges between institutions and all the people they serve, ensuring that public service and marketing efforts reflect the lived experiences of multigenerational audiences. She is a trusted advisor and mentor, serving on the Latinas & Power Advisory Council and the COLLAGE Consumer Advisory Board, and was recognized in 2024 as one of ALPFA’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas.

Born and raised in New York City, Yvette is a proud Afro-Latina of Dominican heritage. Her personal journey as a long-distance caregiver has shaped her understanding of community care and resilience. She resides in Washington, D.C., and Florida with her husband, Lazaro, and continues to champion inclusive strategies that uplift families, caregivers, and changemakers across the country.

Director, Strategy & Evaluation at The Ad Council

Anuar is a Director, Insights & Analytics, at the Ad Council, the national nonprofit that mobilizes the energy and talents of the marketing, media, and technology industries to make a measurable impact on today’s most critical social and health issues. Anuar has been at the Ad Council for seven years and leads strategic research & planning, as well as evaluative research, for several of the Ad Council’s 30+ public service campaigns.

Anuar is a graduate of Florida International University and resides in New York City.

Senior Campaign Director at The Ad Council

Tania is a seasoned marketing and advertising professional with more than 17 years of experience in the general, US Hispanic and Latin America markets. Currently she is a Senior Campaign Director at the Ad Council working alongside a cross-functional team to bring national and multicultural mental health PSA campaigns to life as part of the Ad Council’s unprecedented multiyear initiative to address the mental health crisis in the U.S.

In previous roles, she led the creative development of the Ad Council’s COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative, “It’s Up To You”, one of the largest public education efforts in U.S. history. In that role, Tania led development and production of a suite of PSAs, including a historical partnership with the Vatican, featuring Pope Francis and leaders from the Catholic Church in Latin America and the US. During her time at Alma DDB, she supervised the McDonald’s US Hispanic business, leading countless national ad campaigns targeted to the Hispanic audience, including the renowned HACER Scholarship. She’s also had experience with multicultural campaigns for brands like Diageo, Marriott International, BBVA Compass, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals USA, Nationwide Insurance, Pizza Hut, Levi’s and Frito-Lay, among others.

Tania was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Venezuela before moving to the USA twenty-seven years ago. Her lived experiences as a Latina living in the US and her professional background, give her a profound understanding of the US Hispanic market.

Sr. Program Lead, Cultural Transformation at American Heart Association

Natalia has over 15 years of experience in Marketing, Communications, and Development across non-profit, for-profit, and agency sectors, working with both regional and national clients. Throughout her career, she has led teams to develop award-winning campaigns addressing some of the world’s most pressing issues, including global warming and heart disease.

As the Senior Program Lead for cultural transformation at the American Heart Association, Natalia leads strategies focused on multicultural, multilingual audiences. She drives awareness and education while developing programs that address shifting population trends and cultural influences. Her work aims to enhance public health outcomes and support the Association’s mission to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke in under-resourced communities.

With extensive experience in multicultural marketing and communications, Natalia brings a deep understanding of the cultural nuances and trends that resonate with Hispanic audiences. She is passionate about crafting impactful, culturally relevant campaigns and programs and strongly advocates for advancing health equity in her work.

Senior Manager of Culture & Inclusive Marketing at Pernod Ricard USA

Diana is Senior Manager of Culture & Inclusive Marketing at Pernod Ricard USA, bringing over 20 years of experience in brand marketing and multicultural strategy. She currently leads inclusive consumer engagement across brands like Chivas Regal, Jameson, and Malibu, with a focus on shopper marketing, experiential, and strategic partnerships. Her work drives cultural relevance through cross-industry collaborations that bridge consumer passion points and foster meaningful connections with diverse audiences.

Named one of HispanicAd’s Top Hispanic Market Thought Leaders in 2025

Sr. Director Multicultural Commercial Strategy at
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits 

Talia is the Senior Director of Multicultural Commercial Strategy at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits’ Commercial Intelligence Group, the world’s preeminent selling, logistics, and data insights company for alcoholic beverages.

With over 20 years of experience shaping multicultural business strategies for Fortune 500 brands including The Home Depot, JCPenney, Darden Restaurants, and DISH, Talia champions culture as a powerful business strategy for connecting with diverse consumers. At Southern Glazer’s, she leads initiatives that educate suppliers and retailers on population shifts, consumption trends, and cultural influences within the adult beverage category to drive growth and innovation. She also oversees the Diverse-Owned Brands Program, creating a platform to elevate Hispanic, Black, AAPI, Women-, and Veteran-owned brands.

Before joining Southern Glazer’s in 2019, Talia held marketing and advertising leadership roles across multiple industries, all focused on engaging multicultural audiences. She is an active advocate for the Culture of Belonging, serving in leadership roles within Southern Glazer’s business resource groups, including as a founding member and Marketing Director of Caregivers’ CAN and CHEERS to Las Raíces, where she promotes data and insights driven cultural fluency.

When Talia isn’t educating peers and beverage alcohol suppliers on the multicultural opportunity, she’s instilling the values of passion, discipline, and teamwork in her two children, both in the classroom and on the soccer and baseball fields. She brings those same principles to life through her love of family and dancing.

Senior Cultural Anthropologist at Hormel Foods

Tanya Rodriguez, Ph.D., is part of Hormel Foods’ Brand Fuel team, where she applies cultural intelligence to uncover insights, forecast food trends, and amplify diverse consumer voices. She champions food equity and sovereignty while advocating for research and creative campaigns that authentically represent consumers across ethnicity, gender, education, income and more. With expertise in multicultural consumers, generational cohorts, and cultural fluency, Tanya brings deep qualitative research experience and storytelling skills to innovation.

As a South Texas native, she is passionate about her own Tex-Mex culinary diaspora and enjoys exploring other food cultures. She holds degrees in anthropology, sociology, and social work and serves on the Governing Council for the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology.