After years of disrupting TV at Tubi, Roku, DISH and others, Bastian has turned her creativity to expanding Teads into new markets and products.

Defining innovation: It’s about creating something better to solve a problem. The key is to put yourself in the position of whom you’re trying to solve for and work backward.

Finding inspiration: The common traits that inspire me are raw vulnerability and grit. When someone opens up and exudes vulnerability, you see that wall breaking down, leading to an expansion of ideas, collaboration and ultimate action. But it’s the grit in that action that inspires others and creates positive change.

Game-changing moment: Together with leadership this year, I am thrilled to have co-led the organization’s launch of Teads’ Techquity Assembly, which empowers gender equity and inclusion to drive a positive impact on the business. We’re mapping out our mentorship events throughout the year and this Assembly aims to foster inclusive professional development and career advancement while retaining diverse talent globally.

Under Doskow’s leadership, Burnett had one of its best-performing years—13 new clients and a 90% win rate.

Game-changing moment: Writing the email to my team that we’d become the second-most winning agency in the world in 2022 and knowing that we were ready for more, rather than feeling the need for a break.

Advice for fellow leaders: Think people-first, always. One of my favorite Leo Burnett quotes, among his many, is “The growth of a company can’t be any bigger or better than the people within it.”

Defining innovation: It means changing the rules of the game. In my world, for example, new business can often be a source of burnout and frustration for the agency’s top talent. But I refuse to accept that. As a result, I’ve worked to build a new business engine that keeps people at the center. I strongly believe it can be a source of energy vs. a draw on it if leaders prioritize the right culture.

Duckworth is one of the rare examples of women rising to the top in sports media, as she guides the streamer’s original sports programming.

Game-changing moment: Launching the Maximum Effort Channel with Ryan Reynolds and his team. Our partnership with Ryan came together as a result of innovation—thinking bigger than we ever thought possible—and through sheer perseverance. I cold-emailed Maximum Effort and, after months of relentless pursuit, James Toney, their chief strategy officer, got in touch. It turned out that Maximum Effort was also a fan of Fubo, and they were excited to brainstorm some creative ideas. The deal quickly came together after that and we launched the network, among other joint projects, in less than a year. It proved taking risks can have tremendous rewards.

Defining innovation: To me, innovation means doing things that have never been done before and not being held back by outdated, stale ideas. I joined Fubo seven years ago because it was such an innovative brand. I was really impressed with our ability to compete with streaming services owned by massive tech companies with seemingly limitless funds. Fubo was doing things like streaming in 4K way before the other guys. When CEO David Gandler had the idea to start Fubo Sports, he came to me to run with the idea. 

Hwang has led the way for the candy’s inclusive branding where everyone feels they belong—a world for all “funkind.”

Defining innovation: Innovating means authentically redefining how people experience and buy our brands in a modern world. At Mars, we’re doing that by not only investing in R&D but reaching people in different ways with our award-winning brand communications and partnerships.

Game-changing moment: I’m proud to be leading the ongoing transformation of M&M’s brand strategy built on purpose, which promises to use the power of fun to include everyone, with a goal of increasing the sense of belonging for 10 million people around the world by 2025.

Advice for fellow leaders: Think about how you can be a modern version of authentic leadership that is representative of the diverse and dynamic world we're living in and unify teams where possible, so you are all working towards the same goal. Personally, I choose to lead with a down-to-earth style and a sense of humor.

As the leader of the company’s marketing, McAdams has been instrumental in the creation of the Basis Technologies brand from its Centro roots.

Defining innovation: Innovation involves embracing risks and, in return, reshaping the realm of possibilities. Cultivating a mindset that not only accepts but appreciates failure as a sign of pushing boundaries is crucial for nurturing an innovative team and culture.

Finding inspiration: It inspires me when I see someone experience a breakthrough after they’ve been stuck doing or thinking about something in a way that just wasn’t working for them. Working with people who are focused on personal growth, and willing to give me candid and honest feedback to fuel my growth, both energizes and inspires me.

Game-changing moment: Basis Technologies’ digital out-of-home product launch was a proud moment. The entire marketing team touched it in some way. The collateral and campaigns that we produced were stunning, and we leveraged AI in ways we hadn’t before to produce various assets. Seeing individuals embrace new technology to bring the product to life was simply

A Honduran immigrant with a passion for storytelling, Boden advocates for authentically marketing to multicultural communities and investing in them together.

Finding inspiration: My library. From a section on creativity, innovation and business leadership to a section on feminism, women and sports, and fiction by Black and Latina authors, it’s a place I go to find inspiration.

Advice for fellow leaders: As leaders, we have the ability to continue to invest in the sectors of society that are in need of our help. It's not a creative imperative. It's a moral and business imperative. We have the power to elevate these groups and give them a strong platform to enable them to thrive. The business will follow.

Defining innovation: For me, [innovation] means not only staying ahead of the curve in terms of industry trends and technological advancements but also fostering a culture that encourages fresh ideas and empowers the next generation of diverse communication leaders. As leaders we don’t need to have the right answers, we have to ask the right questions.

As a conscious marketer, Christian infuses data, cultural intelligence and creativity into strategy to drive representation, equity and social impact within advertising.

Finding inspiration: My mother’s dedication to completing school while balancing the responsibilities of a job and raising a family always stands out. It taught me about the importance of work ethic, and the effort required to achieve my goals, both personal and professional.

Advice for fellow leaders: Ditch egos and rules of conformity and operate from a place of intention. That requires leaders and industry professionals to hear and respect ideas from every corner of our organizations and industry. It means creating environments where everyone feels safe to share.

Game-changing moment: One of the proudest game-changing moments for me was collaborating with a dynamic team to bring attention to reproductive rights during 2022 New York City Advertising Week. As a country, we are seeing human and civil rights erode; so, having the leadership support to bring this issue to the forefront, while encouraging brands and marketers to act, was amazing. The project has been positively received by the industry.

As the lead for both the Nintendo and Intuit accounts, Holbrook has helped both brands tap into new female audiences for their products.

Defining innovation: It’s about finding new and better ways to solve problems, meet customer needs or stay ahead of the competition. Using a data-driven approach to make small, incremental improvements will also contribute significantly to business growth over time.

Finding inspiration: At home, I find my inspiration through my husband and children, but at work, it is my team. My family will always be my why. At work, I am awed by the passion my team has in constantly seeking ways to help drive our clients’ business growth. When teams are supportive and motivated, it can create a positive atmosphere that encourages innovation and growth. 

Game-changing moment: Concepting and building the “Win Like a Woman” campaign for QuickBooks was a lot of fun this year. It started with investigating if there is a business case for increased DEI spend for Intuit QuickBooks. Doing the exercise to better understand how we can drive business growth through DEI audiences was not only an educational experience, but one we know was the right path for the business. Understanding that authenticity is key when running DEI-focused campaigns, we developed custom programs featuring female athletes and female-owned small businesses to bring this effort to life.

Having worked in local media her entire career, Hungerbuhler’s passion and expertise have helped to shape where the industry is today.

Defining innovation: It’s breaking barriers and chartering the unknown; an invitation to what’s never been done before and is born from the need to address existing challenges to meet evolving needs that drive value. 

Advice for fellow leaders: Foster a culture of innovation by encouraging and supporting experimentation, creativity and risk-taking within your organization. Provide resources, time and space for employees to explore new ideas, collaborate across teams and push the boundaries of traditional media practices.

Game-changing moment: One of my proudest game-changing moments of this year has been transacting and guaranteeing linear TV based on advanced audiences, rather than age and gender. This makes linear TV more targeted and helps us understand audience viewing preferences for more effective program and daypart selections.

After more than two decades at the NBA, Jacobson brings her skill of creating transformative partnerships with leading sports and technology brands to drone racing.

Game-changing moment: This past season, we revamped our global media distribution strategy to give our young, cord-never fans drone racing when and where they wanted to watch DRL. We countered the traditional sports model of exclusively putting our content in one location or behind a paywall, and started simultaneously streaming our races on all social platforms in addition to top linear networks like NBC and internationally. This pivot led to a nearly 25% increase in our global season streaming viewership, helped us achieve a billion social video views in a year, and drove great results for our partners.

Finding inspiration: My kids! I’ve got two teenagers who teach me new things every day—from the latest Gen Z lingo to the biggest YouTubers and coolest tech and gaming releases. I love transforming their first-hand insights into new branded experiences for DRL partners and fans.

Russell leads efforts to deliver on Warner Bros. Discovery’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the camera.

Defining innovation: Innovation means taking risks to create, iterate, ideate and reimagine to birth new genius, drive new content and build new opportunities. Existing outside of the box with scrappy savvy is how I’ve had to innovate in every new space in my media career. 

Advice for fellow leaders: If it feels comfortable, familiar and full of ease, you should be at a spa. If you truly seek to be a game changer, it requires firm movement in the direction of conviction and sometimes opposition.

Finding inspiration: My oldest son (age 11) truly inspires me. He is brilliant, full of facts, thoughtful and kind. He brings a wealth of wit to every space, and he studies human behavior for sport. We learned last summer that he learns differently via dyslexia and ADHD. He works harder than most just to keep up. Yet, he always comes in first for me.

A 20-year media veteran, Kinsella has been instrumental in creating the TV measurement and attribution tools that the industry uses.

Game-changing moment: Taking three months off after selling TVSquared last year is probably my proudest moment. Taking time to reflect and do self-work is sometimes harder than flying around being busy at work. Self-reflection and self-discipline are vital if we are going to keep learning and growing. Stepping off the roller coaster meant it was my time to just be. I kept busy of course, but putting myself and my family first is something I have not been good at, and it’s been my biggest growth. 

Advice for fellow leaders: Be consistent, be passionate, inspire others and do what you say you will. Make every day count and lift each other up. The person that gets in our way the most is ourselves. Trust your intuition and take action. If you want to change the game, set your goal and show up every day to surpass it. No excuses. You got this. 

Under Naragon’s leadership, Akeneo has seen major growth—surpassing its 2020-2023 objectives—and has built a balanced global portfolio of customers.

Defining innovation: It means zooming out and looking at problem sets in a different way, seeing the bigger picture and finding the most elegant, simple solution.

Game-changing moment: I take pride in being able to change another leader’s perspective on a topic. Especially if the change in perspective is not necessarily to the one that I held but we both land on a new shared perspective that was different from our starting perspectives. That’s happened to me about three times this year and it’s those moments that really set the foundation for much more visible and long-lasting game-changing moments.

Advice for fellow leaders: My simple advice would be to challenge yourself. Changing the game in business for me is about the moonshot. I would rather challenge myself to aim for that ambitious, exploratory and groundbreaking project that might not have solid near-term or clearly identified long-term outcomes, than to aim for the incremental certainties.

A master at crafting compelling brand stories, Schwartz works to amplify Daring Foods’ mission to rethink and replace chicken in the food system.

Defining innovation: Never staying complacent. It’s the by-product of a relentless drive to improve, change the status quo and push the world’s culture forward.

Finding inspiration: I find inspiration in authenticity. There is beauty in individuals who navigate the world without any reservations, being their true selves without hesitation. This is something I work toward every single day.

Advice for fellow leaders: Be kind, be passionate, be driven and most importantly be yourself. Lift others up along with you, as your success will be amplified together.

A powerhouse who bridges the worlds of marketing and law, Washington is known as “the contract whisperer.”  

Finding inspiration: My greatest inspiration is the late Andre Harrell—a renowned music executive, multimedia sage, a mouthpiece for my constant evolution and the first person who took a real chance on me.

Game-changing moment: My game-changing moment is defined by the continuous improvement I see and the satisfaction I get from marketers increasingly adopting new contract innovations due to the growing appreciation for the currency a contract holds. I am proud to be a catalyst for this new industry paradigm and help defuse some of the economic pressures that impact brand health today.

Advice for fellow leaders: While you may not be able to change the world, you can certainly focus on making improvements within your sphere of influence because even the smallest of changes will open doors and lead to bigger, better and brighter innovations.