Speakers

Imisioluwa Grace Adenuga

Student, DePaul University

Sharon Araya

Sr. Brand and Innovation Manager, Opella

Kirsten Axelsen

Economist and senior policy advisor, DLA Piper

Dan Bird

Executive Vice President, Global Head of Innovation and AI, Fight or Flight

Dan Bird is Global Head of AI and Innovation at Fight or Flight, a B2B communications agency. A founding member of the firm, Bird has helped grow the business from five to more than 70 people in six years. In 2022, he relocated from London to New York City to launch Fight or Flight’s North American operation, supporting some of the agency’s largest global accounts and delivering AI-enabled programs for leading technology brands. Previously, he spent four years at Weber Shandwick, advising international clients on integrated communications strategy. Dan was named to PRWeek’s 40 Under 40 (Class of 2025) and PRWeek’s AI 25 (Class of 2026) in recognition of his focus on AI in communications and building practical AI tools and programs for the agency and clients.

Pete Campisi

Head of North America, Current Global

Bethany Chen

Student, Rutgers University

Jeff DeMarrais

CCO, Cognizant

Jeff DeMarrais is the Chief Communications Officer at Cognizant, where he leads global communications at the intersection of AI, reputation, and business strategy. He is a strong advocate for communications teams moving beyond storytelling into the strategic and operational core of the enterprise. Under his leadership, Cognizant’s communications organization has become an early adopter and builder of applied AI—using generative and agentic tools to inform positioning, sharpen competitive intelligence, modernize measurement, and accelerate execution across the business.

A key focus of Jeff’s work has been turning AI insight into action: evolving measurement from traditional outputs to comms‑influenced opportunities and commercial impact; experimenting with generative visibility and LLM‑driven intelligence to inform strategy; and compressing the time from idea to delivery through automation and AI agents. He has also emphasized the role of communications as a catalyst for enterprise‑wide AI adoption, helping bring teams along through practical use cases, governance, and capability building.

Before Cognizant, Jeff held senior communications leadership roles at IBM, GE, Amgen, and CA Technologies, with experience spanning technology, healthcare, biotech, aviation, transportation, energy, and advanced manufacturing.

Paul Dyer

CEO & President, Lippe Taylor/Prompt

Rebecca Honeyman

Managing Partner, SourceCode Communications

Darren Le

Student, The City College of New York

Diana Marszalek

Managing Editor, PRovoke Media

Michelle Peñalver

Student, Florida International University

Daniella Perera

Student, Pennsylvania State University

Sherry Pudloski

Group President, Corporate Affairs, Real Chemistry

Sherry’s career has always been about making lives better. She has worked on behalf of patients from inside some of biopharma’s greatest companies leading in communications and corporate affairs at Novartis, Pfizer, Seagen, and Zoetis. At leading healthcare consultancy Real Chemistry, she is part of creating what’s next in communications by leveraging AI-powered audience analytics and insights to enhance health engagement, activation and outcomes.

In her chief of corporate affairs and communications roles, she built teams and aligned strategy across corporate and product communications, healthcare policy, public affairs, investor relations, and sustainability to grow brands, manage reputation, enhance culture, and drive growth.

She can only do this by building diverse teams with a culture of collaboration and excellence and staying curious. In 2020, she completed the Digital Business Leadership Program from Columbia Business School to enhance her skills and knowledge in digital transformation, innovation, and strategy. She is completing her master’s in education in education leadership and policy to find ways to connect education and health.

She also serves as a board advisor for Ticket to Biotech, a community launched to connect communicators and corporate affairs professionals, and at Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University. 

Kim Sample

President, PR Council

Kathleen Tregoning

Board member, Spero Therapeutics, Former corporate affairs executive at Cerevel Therapeutics, Sanofi, and Biogen

Sandy Waite

Fortune 100 corporate affairs executive with senior leadership roles at J&J, CVS Health, Guardian Life and Novartis,

Carreen Winters

Partner & President of Corporate Reputation & Advisory, MikeWorldWide