Speakers

Dara Busch

CEO, Havas PR North America

Paula Chirinos

Senior Account Executive, Ketchum

Neby Ejigu

Senior Partner, Digital Transformation, FINN Partners

Evelyn Furia

Senior Marketing Director, Opill & Market Activation, Perrigo

Victoria Glazar

Managing Director, GE HealthCare Foundation, GE HealthCare

Victoria Glazar is a dynamic leader passionate about advancing equitable access to precision healthcare. As the Managing Director of the GE HealthCare Foundation, she spearheads social impact initiatives aimed at making healthcare more accessible, personal, human, and flexible. Building on GE HealthCare’s legacy, Victoria collaborates with nonprofit organizations to remove barriers that separate underserved communities from quality healthcare. 

Her commitment extends beyond funding—Victoria’s work focuses on improving maternal health outcomes globally by training a skilled workforce to provide critical support throughout pregnancy and childbirth. By investing in community-led solutions, she strives to help moms and babies receive the care they deserve, regardless of where they are in the world.

As a strategic communicator over the past two decades, Victoria’s expertise lies at the intersection of social impact and environmental sustainability, where she has made significant contributions to health equity issues and the dialogue on climate change and human health. She has held previous roles at Bristol Myers Squibb, leading ESG reporting and CSR communications, as well as at Verizon, where she directed communications and reporting for the Chief ESG Officer.

Anne Green

CEO, G&S Communications

Paul Holmes

Founder & Chair, PRovoke Media

Paul Holmes, founder and chair of PRovoke Media, has been writing about public relations for more than 25 years. Paul began his career in local newspapers in the north of England and also worked for a newspaper group in South London before joining PR Week as news editor in 1985.

In 1987 he moved to New York to launch the short-lived US edition of that publication, and after that project came to an inglorious end worked with Adweek and Adweek’s Marketing Week for a year.

In 1989, he launched his own company, initially publishing Inside PR, and later Reputation Management magazine, both focused on providing analysis of critical trends and issues in the public relations industry. He created the annual Public Relations Agency Report Card, which included profiles of the leading PR firms in the US, and the Creativity in Public Relations Awards, which grew to become the largest in North America.

Early in 2000, Holmes launched The Holmes Group, which provides knowledge and insight to public relations professionals across a variety of platforms, including a website, an e-newsletter, events, printed reports, research and consulting assignments, and the SABRE Awards competition. The group’s flagship title, PRovoke Media (p/k/a The Holmes Report), covers the public relations business in the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2011, Paul was inducted into the ICCO Hall of Fame.

Rebecca Honeyman

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, SourceCode Communications

Adina James

Account Director, Allison

Aaron Kwittken

Founder/CEO, Prophet, CEO, Stagwell Marketing Cloud, Comms Tech Unit

Jeff Lambert

U.S. Chairman, LLYC

Mei Lee

Design Lead, Retroviral

Diana Marszalek

Senior Reporter, PRovoke Media

Maja Pawinska Sims

Associate Editor, PRovoke Media

Maja Pawinska Sims has been the EMEA editor of PRovoke Media since January 2018. She has been writing about public relations and communications for 22 years, first as features editor of PRWeek and then as a freelance writer and editor for PR agencies and their clients around the world, including three years as Weber Shandwick’s EMEA editor. She was named Journalist of the Year at the Global Women in Marketing Awards in 2019, where the judges noted: “Maja proves how empathy can drive brilliant editorial thinking. She is clearly an absolute expert in her field and proves that you can challenge an industry while also championing it.”

Madison Pietrowski

Director of Brand US, Get Your Guide

Samantha Rothaus

Partner, Davis+Gilbert

Dina Ruden

Senior Director, Public Relations & External Affairs, Goodwill

An experienced communications professional with a demonstrated history of working in the public policy and association industries, Dina Ruden joined Goodwill Industries International in 2023. Her career began in journalism at a daily newspaper and progressed to leading communications teams in travel and tourism, the labor movement and government. Her role as an editor in the travel industry took her around the world from meetings at 10 Downing Street to safaris in Africa. She headed communications departments at private companies and nonprofits, conceiving and implementing award-winning national advocacy campaigns with integrated marketing, member communications, and public education components.

Dina holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in Communications from the University of Hawaii.

Mary-Kate Smitherman

Senior Director of Communications, Oatly

Mary-Kate Smitherman is the Senior Director of Communications at Oatly, where she oversees all external relations for the North American market. With over a decade of experience in communications and brand strategy, Smitherman has managed client accounts across various lifestyle sectors, including fashion, beauty, food, wellness, and hospitality, with a focus on mission-driven, sustainable brands. Since joining Oatly in July 2021, she has played a key role in developing and executing national campaigns and communications strategies, while enhancing the brand's media presence.

Prior to joining Oatly, Smitherman held senior positions at Derris, where she was instrumental in transforming the brand consultancy into a full-service agency with over 80 employees. Her leadership and strategic insights have driven successful brand positioning, media relations, and launch strategies for numerous high-profile clients. Her experience also includes roles at Edelman, Newsweek, and CBS News.

Smitherman earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Indiana University Bloomington and currently lives in Westport, Connecticut. 

Amy Terpeluk

Managing Partner, Global Purpose and Social Impact Practice Lead, FINN Partners

As leader of FINN Partners’ Global Purpose and Social Impact Practice, Amy works across geography, industry sector, and issue profile, leading teams engaged in corporate purpose and reputation, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, sustainability and ESG communications, and employee engagement work on behalf of a wide spectrum of clients. She is a noted expert on shifting narratives and purpose-driven activities to catalyze societal and environmental change and fuel business goals. Amy has been tapped by leading brands, nonprofits, and thought leaders to architect campaigns that are integrated with business strategies and deliver social impact.  Recognizing her expertise, CBS Mornings tapped Amy as a commentator on purpose-driven businesses in our era of increasingly charged public discourse.

Her dedication and effort were instrumental in the launch of the NO MORE foundation, founded to build awareness and drive action to end domestic violence and sexual assault, on whose board she still serves.