Our Judges | Women in Content Marketing Awards 2022

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The Women in Content Marketing Awards (WICMA) are judged by an esteemed panel of industry leaders and experts in content marketing. Learn more about our judges!

Lee Ann Antuna is the Creator Inclusion Manager for Twitter ArtHouse, Twitter’s in-house content creation team for brands, where she leads inclusive marketing strategy and operations for the business. In this role, she focuses on driving economic opportunity to creators from historically underrepresented backgrounds through brand partnerships while developing inclusive marketing solutions for Twitter’s advertisers who want to leverage the craft and influence of creators on the platform.

As a former digital producer of creator campaigns for Twitter, Lee Ann has led the influencer marketing strategy for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. Her work has informed best-in-class content across creators of all verticals with a focus on authentic storytelling within advertising markets. She is a proud finalist of the 2021 Women in Content Marketing Award, Rising Star category.

With almost a decade of experience, Layne Bernstein has led content marketing programs for retail and tech companies alike, championing the consumer experience every step of the way. Most recently, Layne led Organic Social + Content at Rothy’s, a sustainable lifestyle brand based in San Francisco. When she’s not crafting go-to market campaign strategies or jumping on Instagram’s latest feature release, Layne can be found hiking a coastal California trail, baking a loaf of sourdough, or organizing a friend’s closet.

Tequia Burt is the Editor in Chief of the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions blog. She is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years of experience covering the B2B marketing landscape. Also, the founder and CEO of content strategy and development firm contented[ED.], she previously was editorial director of B2B Marketing, editor in chief of FierceCMO and news editor of Crain’s BtoB magazine. Throughout her career, a particular focus has been on the impact of race and gender in the marketing world. Join her in the conversation on her blog and on LinkedIn.

Stacie Dauffenbach is Head of Content at ADT, where she is responsible for developing and executing the social and content strategy and the digital media to amplify it. In her two decades of corporate experience, Stacie’s roles across creative, customer care, accounting, and tech support have provided exposure that translates into a uniquely diverse business foundation. Her passion for her past twelve years in content is apparent, earning ADT the designation as a top 5 most engaged brand in 2021.

Aimee joined Alliant Energy in 2018, with more than 25 years of experience in developing, leading, and executing integrated marketing, communications and branded programs for regional and global companies as well as nonprofit organizations. In her current role, Aimee leads a team of talented individuals whose mission is to share stories showcasing how Alliant Energy delivers on its Purpose — serving customers and building strong communities across Iowa and Wisconsin.

Prior to joining Alliant Energy, Aimee served as the Global Director of Marketing Communications and Downstream Engagement for a global material innovation company. In this role, she was the brand steward and led large-scale brand integration projects following billion-dollar global acquisitions. She also worked with well-known global retail brands to integrate material innovation positioning into their new product introductions.

Outside of work, Aimee dedicates her time advocating for causes that support children and young women — including the YWCA and Junior Achievement.

Kristen Geil is the Chief Content Officer of aSweatLife.com, a health and wellness media company based in Chicago. After receiving her master’s degree in Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse, Kristen worked at a boutique digital marketing agency where she learned the art of writing compelling, SEO-friendly content for a variety of clients. She eventually moved in-house for Newell-Rubbermaid, where she focused on their Contigo brand and owned our brand’s voice across every platform. Throughout these careers, Kristen found a passion for running and group fitness, which led her to her current role at aSweatLife. In her spare time, Kristen maintains freelance clients in the health, wellness, and lifestyle space, including Simple Health, Summersalt, Wild Health, and more. She’s constantly inspired by movement, and she’s still in awe that she gets to call herself a professional writer.

Ellen Gerstein (she/her) is Senior Director, Corporate Affairs for Pfizer, where she leads above-brand digital and social content strategy and oversaw digital communications and social media for the organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. A leader with more than 20 years of delivering outstanding results, Gerstein is an award-winning marketer and communicator with a vast background in creating successful social media engagement and innovative marketing strategies. Prior to Pfizer, she held leadership positions at organizations in a diverse range of industries, including Wiley Publishing, Save the Children, BlogHer, and Hachette Book Group. Ellen is a proud recipient of the 2021 Women in Content Marketing Award from Masthead Media.

Annie Granatstein joined Marriott in early 2021 as VP, Content Marketing, marrying her passions for storytelling and travel in one role! Her team spearheads editorial, film, social and digital content globally for 30+ hotel brands and Marriott Bonvoy. Out of the gate, her team’s work received 2022 awards from Native Advertising, Telly, and Adrian.

Prior to Marriott, she ran multimedia content at Edelman, across diverse clients like HPE and eBay. Previously, she headed The Washington Post’s content agency, pioneering multimedia journalistic programs for hundreds of iconic brands, including Mercedes, Coca-Cola, Ikea, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Canon. Her inventive storytelling garnered a slew of industry accolades from leading organizations including Webby and Digiday.

She’s a juror for the Webby and Shorty Awards, a member of ANA’s Content Advisory Board, and has led talks at numerous events, from SXSW and the Sundance Film Festival to Content Marketing World and the IAB Leadership Summit. In 2019, Folio named her a Top Woman in Media in the Industry Trailblazer category.

Amy is a data-obsessed, award-winning, strategic content marketing leader with over a decade of experience managing high-performing content marketing, community, influencer, and social teams. She loves creating strategic approaches that attract, engage, inspire, and help educate audiences throughout their complete buying journey. When she’s not online, she enjoys crafting jewelry, hiking the tallest mountain, or diving into the deep blue sea. Connect with her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Michelle Jackson is an expert at having financial conversations. She is the host of the award-winning podcast “Michelle is Money Hungry” and loves having awkward conversations about money. Michelle’s goal is to transform people’s financial lives through increased financial knowledge, empathy and shared resources.

​​Katie Jansen is Chief Marketing Officer at AppLovin, a leading marketing software company providing developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their businesses. Named the 2021 Marketing Leader of the Year by Masthead Media, Katie was AppLovin’s first marketing hire when she started with the company in 2013, and today oversees global marketing strategy and initiatives as CMO. Katie was previously Vice President of Marketing at PlayFirst, a mobile gaming publisher that was acquired by Glu in 2014. She is an advocate for workplace equality and provides mentorship to help other women in tech. Katie also serves as a marketing advisor to organizations such as Women 2.0 and Women in Wireless, and she sits on the board for Amira Learning.

Alison Jarris leads global demand content marketing for Google Cloud. She brings 10+ years of experience building and leading content marketing teams to generate demand and increase brand awareness for Fortune 500 brands including Salesforce, MuleSoft, Booz Allen, and Talkdesk.

Alison is an expert in understanding the audience needs and aligning corporate business priorities to digital touch points to drive demand and convert to quality leads. Her B2B content programs have been recognized by company and industry awards including WICMAs, PRSA, Webby, and Digiday for creating innovative cross-channel content experiences that deliver the right message to the right audiences at the right time.

Kelly Johnson is currently the Senior Director of Content Strategy at Lever.co — one of the most recognized brands in talent acquisition software.

Previously, she was the Senior Director of Content & SEO at Abra, a crypto wealth management platform. And prior to joining Abra, Kelly was Director of Content & SEO at Udacity, one of the leading online learning platforms whose mission is to train the world’s workforce in the careers of the future. At Udacity, she built Udacity’s first Pledge to Equality scholarship program that increased educational and professional opportunities for the Black community and increased representation in the Tech industry.

She has nearly 20 years of experience in building successful SEO-driven content strategies for a range of tech companies in the Bay Area, including TechRadar, Reputation.com, and Forge, to name a few.

Kelly was a finalist for Masthead Media’s 2021 Content Marketer of the Year Award. She was also a 2020 BrightEdge Edgie Award Winner that recognizes excellence in content marketing and SEO.

Chris Kelleher joined Wayfair in March as Head of Organic Social Media, where she’s currently focused on building a team and developing social strategies across Wayfair and their specialty brands: Joss & Main, Birch Lane, AllModern and Perigold. Content is a main area of focus for Chris, leaning into developing bespoke content across channels. Prior to joining Wayfair, Chris Kelleher led Global Social Media at Bose, growing the capability to earn the brand top-ranked status in the CE category on social media. Additionally, she has led social media at PUMA and for a variety of clients while at Boston-based agency Genuine Interactive.

Outside of work, Chris loves being active (just started golf lessons; advice welcome) and working on home and yard updates (advice still welcome). Chris is based in the Boston area where she lives with her husband and two young children.

Lorraine is a top-rated virtual keynote speaker and a leader at the intersection of editorial and tech. With more than 300,000 followers on LinkedIn, she is passionate about helping professionals thrive and succeed in the virtual office. As a speaker, Lorraine has been invited to Fortune 500 companies, tech firms, government organizations, and more. Lorraine is the Head of Editorial at Prezi and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor for the popular course “Virtual and Hybrid Meeting Essentials,” and she has been featured in publications including Inc., ReadWrite, and Entrepreneur. Prior to Prezi, she was a News Editor at LinkedIn.

Brittany Manchisi is a Brand and Messaging Strategist for IBM’s Sustainability practice. In this role, she utilizes market research and data analytics to craft an authentic, consistent, and relevant brand vision. Her passion for tech-for-good storytelling started when she joined IBM Blockchain, a start-up brand that enables trust and transparency through cutting-edge technology. She continued on to lead Content Strategy for the Healthcare, Government and Life Sciences organization within the IBM Global Markets practice, building campaigns for social good initiatives like the COVID-19 vaccine distribution effort. Prior to her time at IBM, she held social and digital content roles at 1–800-Flowers.com. Brittany is a proud recipient of the 2021 Women in Content Rising Star Award from Masthead Media.

Shelagh McGrogan is the Head of Content Marketing at RBC Royal Bank. In 2016, she leveraged her 20+ years of marketing expertise to help bring RBC’s Content Marketing Strategy to fruition, as a way to successfully engage clients, at top of funnel, in meaningful & relevant dialogue. Shelagh now leads over 25 lines of business & over 50 freelance writers in the development & deployment of thousands of high-quality, award-winning content pieces, optimized across multiple channels.

Nisha Menezes is Principal Content Strategist at Atlassian, where she leads campaign and digital content strategy for Atlassian’s global network of 700+ channel partners. From program management to execution, she uses her critical thinking and communication skills to refine and scale the company’s approach to marketing enablement worldwide. Before this role, Nisha has been working across the B2B and ad tech industry for 15 years and was one of the early pioneers of introducing social advertising at Autodesk. As a seasoned product marketer, Nisha has brought several new products to market across her career in tech. An innately creative person — and someone who loves making things — outside of work, you’ll find her belaying with her toddler rock climber or enduring hot yoga.

Judy Nam is a storyteller with 20 years of marketing experience helping global brands connect with users around the world. She’s currently the VP of Global SMB Marketing at Indeed, where she leads a multi-disciplinary marketing team on a mission to help small and medium sized businesses find their next great hire. Prior to Indeed, she served as the Head of Brand and Product Marketing at Google Fiber, and as the Head of Brand for Google Small Business Marketing across the Americas. She’s advised companies such as Glassdoor, Evernote, and Quora on product, content, and brand strategy.

Nekasha (pronounced “Ne-kee-sha”) Pratt is an award-winning marketer and strategist. She is a VP of Marketing for HarperCollins Publishers and owns Bright Advisory Group, a consultancy that advises boards, CEOs, and business owners. Throughout her career, she has spearheaded campaigns in industries such as consumer goods, tourism, and music, and has held leadership positions at global organizations, marketing agencies, and worked with Fortune 500 companies.

Campaigns Nekasha has helped lead have won over 25 creative awards, including national Webby, Clio, and Effie awards, and international Cannes Lions. She regularly shares her marketing, leadership, and strategy experience at speaking engagements and is a thought-leader who has been featured in publications such as Inc. Magazine, Thrive Global, and xoNecole. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management, is a globally certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and a 2021 WICMA Content Marketer of the Year awardee.

Stephanie Reid-Simons is a creative leader and content strategist whose work combines journalistic integrity with tech-industry agility. She got her start in newspapers — the family business (her grandfather ran a local weekly). Unlike grandpa, Steph covered pop culture and became the first out gay leader in two newsrooms. She led teams and then teams of teams chronicling everything from crime to food to sports to tech. At Amazon, she helped take their video service from dream to stream, crafting a shopping experience and multichannel comms strategy. At Amazon Studios, she helped aspiring screenwriters hone their craft. She managed a team of comedy writers at Woot, the Amazon-owned deals site. At Zillow, she built a small but mighty band of bloggers into a robust internal creative agency. Her focus: Helping people find their way home.

As General Manager of CMI, Stephanie Stahl leads the brand’s event and digital operations — and get to work with the best team on the planet! Previously, Stephanie served as VP of Content Marketing for UBM’s Technology portfolio, providing strategic guidance on content development, content optimization, audience engagement, and go-to-market platforms for our technology clients. She’s worked for Informa (previously UBM), for nearly three decades, helping shape new multimedia content and event offerings. Stephanie lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and they enjoy spending time taking care of their many pets and visiting their two daughters in different parts of the country.

Alyssa Vitrano has over two decades of experience developing multi-channel content strategy for some of the world’s largest brands. Currently, she leads all content for Goldman Sachs Asset Management, creating thought leadership that demystifies complex financial topics for clients. Prior to that, she helped create IBM’s first formal content marketing capability. She led global branding and content for IBM Watson

Customer Experience, driving innovative content campaigns by elevating the storytelling and optimizing it with in-depth data. Her work went on to win the award for IBM’s video of the year. In earlier roles, she was the VP of Content Strategy at Federated Media, where she created branded content programs for American Express, Target, Cadillac, Motorola, and HP. She also previously executed content strategy at agencies Mindshare and Digitas, worked in digital development and production at IMG Entertainment, and in broadcast as a news producer and talent director at MTV. In her spare time, she created grapefriend, a digital and social media brand that makes wine education accessible and fun.

Michelle Wong graduated with a Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu in London and landed a job as a pastry chef at London’s Grosvenor House hotel. The creativity and intensity of the culinary world provided a perfect training ground for the world of advertising.

Over the course of 18 years, Michelle’s advertising career has taken her from Leo Burnett in Chicago to Dailey in West Hollywood where she was the agency’s first female Managing Partner and President in its 50-year history.

In 2021, Michelle became the Chief Marketing Officer at Sprinkles where she leads all consumer and product marketing, drives product innovation and flavor development.

A change-maker in DEI within creative industries, Michelle has spoken at SXSW, 3% Conference and was honored with a ColorComm Circle award in recognition of her outstanding leadership and mentorship to other women of color in the industry.