Abbie Baehr is CSO of VML NA. With 2,300 talented people networked together, VML NA is the key market for best-in-class capabilities integration, offering the best of BX, CX and Commerce all under one roof for clients like Colgate Palmolive, Coca Cola, New Balance, Dell, Mondelez and Ford.

Originally from London, Abbie has lived in NYC for the last 13 years, leading to an identity crisis, and picking up multiple awards in effectiveness and creativity for American Express, Walmart, SAP, Verizon, and Coca-Cola.

When she’s not inside the office, she’s outside in the fresh air: skiing, hiking, and gardening with her husband, Max, and their rat-bag dog, Pickles.

With 6+ years of experience in advertising and PR, Amanda Brohman is a PR Strategist at NORD DDB and works across channels and markets to develop integrated campaign strategies that tap into cultural contexts and engage target groups in new and effective ways. She also heads DDB’s department Nord ECHO: where community insights, true social and influencer marketing are used to to help break brands into pop culture and increase their relevance in a modern media landscape. She is also a recurring columnist PR expert in some of Sweden’s biggest media outlets.

Amanda earned her Bachelor’s Degree from The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, NY, where she also lived and worked for several years. She is now based in Stockholm, Sweden.

Nicky Bullard is the former Group Chief Creative Officer for MullenLowe Group UK. She was the first creative woman to become chair of a UK marketing agency, that being multi award-winning MRM//McCann in London. Creatively recognized across nearly all the major shows, Nicky thinks she’s probably worked across every media and sector - but direct and digital are where her heart lies. She’s been writing professionally for 30 years and despite running a huge operation, she also keeps her hand in writing and ideating as often as she can. She is a fierce champion of the customer and believes insight is all. She is also hugely passionate about effectiveness - it’s only great work if it works.

Nicky says that the campaign of her career is the one we’re all living right now, the campaign for equality. Nicky has been featured in the Financial Times HERoes list for the last two years.

Jasmine joined McKinney in early 2018 as director of strategy before being promoted to chief strategy officer in late 2020. Her strategic insights helped secure wins for brands like Little Caesars, Pampers, and Blue Diamond. Jasmine has driven successful brand and business growth for a diverse range of clients at Chiat\Day, Deutsch, and C-K, with a specialty in food and retail. Her inspiration for consumer insights comes from many sources—from subway observations to the field of behavioral psychology. A member of Northwestern’s Council of 100, Jasmine was named to the Adweek 50 of 2025, and recognized on the Campaign US 2025 Agency of the Year shortlist, underscoring her impact as a standout strategist. She was also named a 2026 Working Mothers of the Year by She Runs It.

I am most curious and passionate about people, human behaviour and about how social dynamics impact us. I believe in the power of brands and technology to shape up culture and create more sustainable world.  

My superpower is asking the right questions to unlock truths, briefings, ideas or a business opportunity. This is how I plan to beat Chat GPT.

I have a mixed profile as strategist and managing director, which is for me the perfect sweet spot for leveraging my passion for strategy and business.

I have worked for a range of independent consultancies and large advertising agencies, bringing together creativity and results. I started my career as a market researcher in Datamonitor London and New York; then worked as a consultant in the beverage industry for Canadean Ltd in Madrid.

I joined Added Value, a Marketing and Innovation consultancy, as a strategist in 2005, becoming General Manager in 2008.

When it comes to agencies, I was Head of at Tapsa Advertising Agency for years, being appointed Managing Director when it was integrated in Y&R.

Previously as Chief Strategy Officer at VML, i made brands and businesses stronger by connecting them to people in a meaningful way.

I feel very fortunate to have worked for incredibly inspiring local and global brands, such us Coca Cola, Vodafone, Heineken, Santander, BBVA, LEVIS, Campofrío, Iberia, Movistar and P&G over my career.

I was part of the Jury at the Spanish Effie Awards in 2013 and at the National Creativity Awards in 2020.

Outside work I work I find inspiration in my son, friends, live music and art.  I am always thinking of my what my next adventure will be, from travelling to learning a new hobby or skill.

Head of Strategy & Insights, Publicis Communications KSA

With over 17 years in communications, Dina has built her expertise across strategy and account management, working with brands in F&B, Telecom, Beauty, Automotive, and QSR at Leo Burnett and other leading agencies in the MENA region. Her experience on the multinational client side adds a strong foundation in business and data-driven insights.

Driven by a deep passion for people, culture, and impactful ideas, she is constantly keen on uncovering revelatory insights and collaborating with teams to shape work that inspires. She believes in strategy that is both effective and creatively powerful, driving ideas that don’t just deliver results but elevate the game.

In advertising since 1995. Started in TMI (JWT), and walked her way from intern to Regional Account Director Unilever Mashreq in 7 years. Briefly joined Leo Burnett, after which she joined FP7/CAI in 2002, and stayed on for 13 years, 8 of which she was the General Manager, leading on business, training, culture, systems & procedures. After which she fully orchestrated the Momentum relaunch in Egypt in 2016. Across the years, has worked closely on mostly every single category, and across different markets, other than Egypt. Namely the Mashreq zone and in recent years, Yemen. Specializes in setting up companies; operations, systems, policies, culture & teams.

Modjadji Mashatola is the Head of Strategy at McCann Joburg and believes that creative problem-solving can positively affect business performance.

She began her career over a decade ago at The Jupiter Drawing Room, where she honed her skills in interdisciplinary strategy by working and learning on brands such as Burger King, Windhoek Beer, and Hyundai.

Her strategic experience spans various industries, having developed strategies for clients such as USAID, FNB, Absa, Debonairs, Coca-Cola, and Diageo brands. Revitalising Douwe Egberts in South Africa is a testament to her ability to drive brand transformation and growth.

In addition to her strategic roles, Modjadji mentors emerging talent and believes in the power of storytelling to connect brands with audiences. Modjadji was also selected to join a senior group of global strategists within the FCB Global Network to participate in an innovation incubator.

Prerna Mehra is an award-winning Executive Creative Director known for her boundary-pushing ideas and bold storytelling that blend culture, craft, and technology. With over 15 years of experience across top agencies such as MullenLowe, JWT, Ogilvy, and Cheil, Prerna has built a diverse portfolio spanning Asia and the Middle East - leaving her creative mark on global brands including Samsung, Sprite, Honda, Yum Foods, Philips, Eicher Volvo, Morris Garages, The Emirates, MBRGI, Majid Al Futtaim, Shamal, and Dubai Municipality. Prerna’s career has been defined by a restless pursuit of creative excellence. At Cheil, she established Samsung’s design unit, shaping the brand language for its flagship products and spearheading the launch of the world’s largest Samsung experience center. Later, as Head of Art and Design at MullenLowe MENA, she redefined the agency’s creative standards - leading iconic campaigns that not only won awards but also drove social and policy shifts, including gender-conscious AI initiatives. Her work has been recognized by Cannes Lions, The One Show, Clio Awards, The Webbys, Cresta, Caples, Dubai Lynx, Adfest, Gerety, and more. Named one of MENA’s Women to Watch and Most Influential Youth Marketing Professionals, Prerna’s campaigns have also earned titles such as Campaign of the Year at the NY AME Awards. Beyond her creative leadership, Prerna regularly serves on juries for some of the world’s most respected award shows, including The One Show, LIA, Clio Awards, Gerety, Adfest, Dubai Lynx, and Cannes Lions. She is also an inspiring speaker at leading design schools, where she mentors the next generation of creatives. Outside of advertising, Prerna channels her artistic instincts into fashion - designing for Miss India World and collaborating with global brands - proving that creativity, for her, isn’t just a career but a way of life.

With experience across advertising, design strategy consulting, broadcast media & the non-profit world; and having essayed roles across both the business as well as strategy functions, her worldview is strongly anchored in effectiveness.

Having worked across categories from lifestyle to FMCG, BFSIs, entertainment and more, she has worked with diverse clients and businesses, and across areas ranging from brand identity & positioning, to solutions targeted at specific business goals, to designing & orchestrating behaviour change solutions at an ecosystem level.

The range of problems she has worked on has been vast, with a recent noteworthy one being around building a successful market transformation model for the large-scale adoption of LPG over coal-based irons among nano entrepreneurs in India, which involved building out and implementing a strategy across multiple levels of the ecosystem.

In her current role she runs strategy at DDB Mudra while also managing the South operation.

Over the course of her tenure the team has won multiple accolades for effectiveness, from a Grand Prix at WARC, to many metals at the Effies.

Her joy comes from seeing the impact that her work has on the end user, and this drives her to ensure she is getting to the heart of the problem, and finding a solve that will have a positive result on the business as well as the consumer.

2025 AME Grand Jury member Nadine Müller-Eckel is the Chief Strategy Officer and Partner at Anomaly Berlin. With over 15 years of experience at leading German agencies such as Jung von Matt and Heimat, as well as global networks like R/GA and TBWA, Nadine has built a distinguished career in strategy, seamlessly blending creativity and business. She also served as CMO for the DTC start-up Sitzfeldt, further honing her expertise in driving brand growth and effectiveness.

Nadine is passionate about brand strategy, cultural impact, delivering measurable results as well as Emerging Technology. With experience across diverse industries, she has worked with global brands including Google, Nikon, E.ON, Zalando, Spotify, Ferrero, and major automotive players.

As an advocate for DE&I and the future of talent in the creative industry, Anomaly Berlin stands as one of the market's outspoken voices championing these topics. Nadine is also an active member of the German GWA Effie and Diversity Board, where she remains dedicated to shaping the industry's approach to creative effectiveness, belonging, equity, and inclusion."

Paola Ortega - Head of Strategy - Quality Meats

Born in Mexico, and raised in Texas; the curiosity to understand her own upbringing and how that impacted how she engaged with the world and with brands was the spark to her career in advertising. Having spent the beginning of her career in multicultural agencies helped give her the foundations to always dig deeper, to push past the obvious to read between the lines and never assume that one size fits all.

She’s taken her skills and love for the craft to agencies like Mekanism, Preacher, DDB and BBH, giving her the unique opportunity to work across a range of industries and creative challenges. She’s spent some time in CPG, helping brands within the General Mills portfolio (Yoplait, Cheerios, Progresso, Old El Paso) connect with Hispanic audiences and helping iconic American beers (Budweiser, Coors Light, Coors Banquet) regain their footing in the midst of the craft beer craze. She has also helped take a once niche bourbon brand, Basil Hayden's, expand its audience while protecting its non-mainstream appeal, and translated Crate & Barrel’s heritage in style and design for a younger audience entering a new phase of life. Previoulsy Paola was Strategy Director at BBH USA, where she worked on Mattel, Barbie and Lionsgate, as well as leading the agency’s DE&I Taskforce.

Carolina Pinheiro is a business leader and impact strategist specialized in inclusive communication, with over 20 years of experience in law, marketing, and advertising. She is co-founder and partner of Inbrax, one of Chile’s leading independent creative agencies, internationally recognized and awarded multiple times as Agency of the Year. She has been recognized as Leading Women 2025 by AdLatina, Future is Female 2024, and one of the 100 Leading Women, among other distinctions. She has served as a board member in several organizations and currently serves as a board member at Conar. She is also a mentor in multiple leadership and professional development programs and is a regional reference in female leadership. She holds postgraduate degrees in law and marketing, is a professor in the Master’s in Marketing program at Usach, serves as an academic advisor at Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) and Universidad Diego Portales (UDP). She has served as a jury member at major global creative festivals, including Cannes Lions and The One Show. Currently, she leads Belong Communication Lab, promoting communication strategies focused on diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Malavika is an experienced, integrated, cross category brand strategist with a love for problem solving, storytelling and human behavior. With 20+ years of advertising experience in both the account handling and strategic planning disciplines across several categories from auto to beauty, she brings a unique understanding of clients' business challenges and brand priorities. Of Indian origin, raised in Dubai, educated in the US and empowered by constant wander lust, she has a unique global perspective and an impassioned point of view that aids the creative process. She seeks to create evocative brand experiences that are steeped in culture and layered with meaning and deliver growth for clients and agency alike.

Heather has spent 25 years exploring what drives consumer behaviour as an account lead, qualitative market researcher, and strategic planner for global brands. She has worked across industries including packaged goods, food and beverage, lottery, travel, entertainment, automotive, and financial services. Her strategic insights have fueled globally awarded creative campaigns, earning her recognition as one of the country’s top strategic planners. All this keeps her busy--until her baking career takes off.

An experienced and interested strategy leader, Ali is CSO at VMLY&R in Australia and Aotearoa NZ.

She partners with senior clients and team alike, to create a culture of effective Connected Brands that grow and achieve commercial and societal goals.

During her 20-year career, Ali’s worked across categories from tech and media to retail and financial services, and across brand, commerce, brand architcture and CX-based projects. Starting at TBWA\London, she’s worked at Wieden+Kennedy, client side at Apple Europe, at Australian independent BMF and now at VMLY&R.

Ali is a highly awarded strategy leader, particularly in Effies, D&AD, APG and Jay Chiat. She’s also keen on contributing to the future of strategy, having served on juries including Effies Worldwide and Cannes Lions, being an industry mentor and a columnist for Brandingmag and Mumbrella.

She’s also the slightly frazzled parent of two young girls, so there’s a lot of LEGO involved.

Huiwen heads up the strategy team for APAC. A creative strategy leader with experience across client and agency sides, driven by purpose, meaning and fun. She has always been drawn to projects and roles with the potential to impact culture and human behaviour. Her ultimate achievement to date is fending off the neighbourhood police at an opening party involving pole dancers & fake dollar bills.

Gilda Valle is one of the most respected and admired strategy directors in Ecuador, with 20 years of experience. She is now recognized as a significant figure in the field of strategic planning.

Currently, she leads the strategy department at BBDO Ecuador, developing valuable strategies for the country's and the region's main advertisers. She has served as a judge in the most important advertising festivals such as Effie Latam, Effie Ecuador, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, New York Festivals, Young Lions Ecuador, Fiap, etc.

She is one of the most awarded women in her country.