Thirteen years ago, Simon Dermer started eSSENTIAL Accessibility, a platform that enables purpose-driven organizations to enhance their digital customer experience for people with disabilities.  Since then, he has seen an evolution in accessibility, as well as key shifts in industry response. When he founded eSSENTIAL Accessibility, he spent a lot of time ensuring that marketers understood the size and spending power of the disability market. Now his mission is more about inclusivity, digital usability, and new standards for software and compliance.

Over the course of her 25-year career in media and advertising, Latha Sundaram has become passionate about the role global organizations can play to drive positive social change. While her position as Group Business Leader, Executive Director at MediaCom is to lead purpose-driven marketing and communication strategies for multinational companies, she believes her passion for the “power of people” and her viewpoint as a woman of color and global citizen can have a transformative effect in today’s advertising world.

Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), believes that marketers should be leading the charge in sustainability by communicating consumer demands for action internally, while also demonstrating to customers how an organization can help them make more sustainable choices. As a result, the WFA has announced “The Planet Pledge” – an initiative designed to put marketers in a position where they can help lead brands’ responses to climate change, encourage efforts across the wider marketing industry, and help consumers act more sustainably when using their products and services.

Rob Rakowitz has more than two decades of experience spanning creative, media, research, and strategy functions from both the marketer and agency perspectives.  Now he leads the Global Alliance for Responsible Media or GARM-- a never-been-done-before industry alliance that brings together global marketers, media agencies, media owner platforms and industry associations to work together to improve consumer and brand safety in ad-supported digital media.

As Molson Coors’ Vice President of Media and Consumer Engagement for North America. Brad Feinberg oversees the Centers of Excellence for Media, Precision Marketing, Creative Services, and Partnerships. His passion for analytics and creativity has led to breakthrough media efforts that have delivered successful results, as well as recognition within the industry and from the Molson Coors Executive Team.

Erin Bruehl is Director of Communications at Current, a leading U.S. challenger bank created to serve Americans overlooked by traditional banking institutions.  With a mission to improve financial outcomes, Current believes that banking should be accessible and affordable for everyone, especially people with a variety of modern lifestyles—from those young and starting out to people who are part of today’s growing Gig Economy.

Brenda Tsai leads marketing at Bank of New York Mellon with a focus on creating value across the top and bottom line, while developing initiatives that accelerate the firm’s growth strategies.

June Sugiyama has served as the Director of the Vodafone Americas Foundation for over 20 years. During that time, she has seen an extraordinary evolution of initiatives, as well as changes in consumer and corporate attitudes toward ventures that advance the use of technology for social good.  As International Women’s Day approaches on Monday, she talks about why the Vodafone Americas Foundation now focuses entirely on empowering women and girls through technology.

Allyson Stewart-Allen has been considering how the US will be viewed by the rest of the world as an attractive trade and investment destination—even as the country’s domestic agenda takes center stage for a new administration. She also anticipates a US-EU Free Trade Agreement to take priority over a US-UK trade deal.  The size of the European Union would be a commercial prize for US companies post-Brexit as a trading bloc with nearly 450 million consumers compared to the UK’s 66 million.

Emerson is a $16.8 billion global industrial software and engineering company with over 80,000 employees. Founded in 1890 in St. Louis, Missouri, as a manufacturer of electric motors and fans, over the past 100-plus years, Emerson has grown from a regional manufacturer into a global technology solutions powerhouse. While much growth came through acquisitions, management has worked diligently to create tighter company integration-- mostly through brand solutions and marketing strategy. Emerson’s work in exploring Values to build consistency, defining key Causes that align with various business units, and now identifying Purpose through employee participation has been remarkable.