Judges

Together with CMA, our Co-Chairs oversee the judging process. We're very proud to have these leading industry professionals take on this role.

Mary MacIsaac
Senior Vice President, Marketing and Loblaw Brands
Loblaw Companies Limited

Mary MacIsaac is an experienced strategist, innovator and executive with over 20 years’ experience achieving share and profit growth across multiple industries and brands. She is known for her ability to lead diverse teams through aggressive change mandates, tapping into unique solutions to propel the organization forward.

Mary is currently Senior Vice President and a member of the Management Board with Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s food and pharmacy leader and the country’s largest retailer and private-sector employer. At Loblaw, Mary oversees the Loblaw Brands function – which develops several of the country’s top private label brands, including President’s Choice, No Name, Life Brand and Farmer’s Market – as well as the company’s vast Marketing efforts. She has been with the organization since 2011.

The functions Mary leads at Loblaw help drive brand awareness, sales and store traffic, and help improve the company’s reputation and standing among the Canadian public. Her teams create not only the products included in the beloved PC Insider’s programs, they are also responsible for the multi-platform, multi-million dollar promotional campaigns that drive adoption.

Mary is a fierce culture champion, and a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advocate, having led Loblaw’s Go Further Women employee resource group to new heights for over 3 years. She is an internationally certified leadership coach (CPCC, ACC),

A proud graduate of Western University, Mary also holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, is an Internationally Certified Executive Coach, and has been an instructor at both the Canadian Management Centre and Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior to joining Loblaw, Mary held leadership positions at BreakOut! Coaching and Consulting, Ontario Craft Brewers, Robin Hood Multifoods, and Corby Distilleries Limited.

In her spare time, she is an avid reader and Peloton member and is constantly looking for the next new challenge to inspire new ways of thinking!

Scott Pinkney
SVP, Executive Creative Director
Publicis

With over 35 years of experience working in New York, the UK and Toronto, Scott is a leading Creative Strategist, Brand Ambassador and Relationship Marketer. In 2015 Scott was brought in to help launch Publicis Hawkeye, a best-in-class CRM Agency. Scott brings his experience and deep understanding of consumer insights, creative strategy, and data intelligence to create Relationship Moments® designed to drive action. Today the agency has grown to 200+ strong working on brands such as Citi, Four Seasons, DQ, Citi, FCA, Hennessey, Rogers, Signet, and UPS.

Before joining Publicis, Scott had the privilege of working at Ogilvy in New York, London, and Toronto. He co-founded Mosaic Direct & Interactive, moved to DRAFTFCB/Rivet, and then to BBDO/Proximity where he deepened his passion for digital.

Scott has had the privilege of judging at the 2006 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the inaugural year of the Direct Category and again in 2023 on the awarding jury for Creative Data.

Scott served on the Board of Governors of the ANA International ECHO Awards for five years and served on the CMA Board of Directors for two years. Outside of his day-to-day client work, Scott helped create and launch ‘This is the Job’ - an important Publicis Groupe initiative to help guide BIPOC students to the exciting world of Advertising & Marketing.

AJ Jones
Chief Strategy Officer
McCann

Ashleigh Smith
Quality Assurance & Creative Operations Associate
Diamond

Andrea Goodwin
Creative Coordinator
Leo Burnett

Björn Bruschke
Vice President - Marketing
Desjardins

Sabaa Quao
Chief Creative Officer
Cossette

Shelley Gainer
Executive Creative Director Retail
Loblaw/Shoppers Drug Mart

Tavia Bakowski
Resource Manager
McCann

Brand Building

Irene Daley
Vice President Marketing
Canadian Tire Corporation

Irene Daley is the Vice President of Canadian Tire Marketing at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). In this role, Irene leads brand strategy and full-funnel marketing campaigns for the company’s Canadian Tire Retail, Pro Hockey Life, and Party City banners, as well as Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. She oversees a best-in-class team of marketers who leverage customer data and insights to drive deeper brand trust and loyalty to further the iconic Canadian retailer’s continued growth and modernization.   

Before being named Vice President in 2022, Irene was the Associate Vice-President, Strategic Marketing, a role she had held since joining CTC in 2016. In this position, Irene led the evolution of many of Canadian Tire’s most iconic campaigns, including Canada’s Store, Canada’s Garage, Tested for Life in Canada, and We All Play for Canada, Canadian Tire’s Olympic and Paralympic campaign. Irene is a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive leader who champions her team and unleashes their strategic creativity with incredible results, evidenced by her team’s reimagining of Canada’s Store and Tested for Life in Canada, which have been highly recognized and awarded, including multiple wins at the Effies, Cassies, and Canadian Marketing Awards. Before joining CTC, Irene spent 17 years in consumer-packaged goods marketing leading large global brands such as Oreo, Ritz, the What’s Cooking recipe content strategy, and the Kraft Hockeyville community platform.

Irene is committed to living CTC’s Brand Purpose – We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better – both inside and outside the company. She is a member of the Canadian Marketing Association’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity Committee, previously served as a Board Member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Irene holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

Brent Wardrop, CM
Founder, Chief Creative Officer
Elemental

Founder/Chief Creative Officer of the award-winning agency Elemental®, Brent has been privileged to work with some of North America’s leading marketing minds, inspiring clients and courageous creatives. 

Curious by nature and driven to adventure, Brent’s interests include international travel, culture, history, music and trying his best not to kill the plants and flowers in his gardens. 

Business/Brand Impact

John Rocco
Vice President - Head of Global Brand
Scotiabank

Mine has been a journey of learning: I’ve had the good fortune to work through some of the most transformative eras of marketing. Through leadership roles at Scotiabank, Target, Loblaws, Indigo, and others, my career has been shaped by driving inspiring teams toward massive brand transformations. I’ve seen amazing things happen when we combine data science and technology with the art of marketing and storytelling.

The craft of storytelling and building emotional connections with customers is what gets me on the train every morning.

Sarah Thompson
Media Executive

Sarah is the former President, Media for Dentsu in Canada. She oversees Carat, Dentsu X and iProspect in Canada as well as the investment arm, Amplifi. She is an integrated planner and strategist with experience in media, creative and analytics. 

Sarah is a vocal advocate to support local media, along with diversity, equity & inclusion in the workplace and representation in media. Sarah’s career experience spans telecom (Rogers/TELUS and Shaw), retail, banking and insurance, consumer packaged goods, electronics, technology and B2B. Her extensive experience spans media strategy, creative and brand strategy, CRM, data and technology.

A frequent and sought after speaker, Sarah regularly discusses responsible media and advertising, representation and the supply chain of media. She has made multiple appearances as a guest lecturer at Schulich Business School, Humber, Centennial, Miami Ad School, and Rotman. She has spoken at numerous industry events and is often quoted in media, including articles for the Toronto Star, National Post and the Globe & Mail. Sarah is also an avid moderator and panelist for Filling the Gap, an organization dedicated to more inclusivity in the workforce. Sarah was also awarded "Media Leader of the Year" in 2020 from the CMDC.

Customer Experience & Shopper Marketing

Sharad Verma
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Marketing
Data Communications Management Corporation (DCM)

Sharad Verma is the Senior Vice-President of Strategy and Marketing at Data Communications Management Corporation (DCM) and a member of the company’s Executive Leadership team.

Over a career of more than 25 years, Sharad has served in a diverse range of leadership, corporate strategy, marketing, and consulting roles. In his current role with DCM, he leads a team responsible for creative development and execution of marketing programs to support the company’s print and digital clients. Sharad also leads corporate strategy and the team responsible for developing the company’s strategic plan, related growth initiatives and M&A activities.

Prior to DCM, Sharad held key leadership roles on the agency side where he helped a diverse set of blue-chip clients create value through the development of innovative marketing programs. As President of Digital Cement, he led the strategy and design of best-in-class digital marketing programs. He later co-founded Bright Blue Wave to help organizations develop and implement social media marketing strategies. 

Sharad began his career in management consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a member of the firm’s Strategic Change practice where he advised with a broad range of corporate clients in Canada and the United States.

Sharad holds a master’s degree in international business & management from the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.

Natasha Dagenais
Managing Director
Leo Burnett

Natasha is a veteran of Leo Burnett, having helped build the business and its reputation over the last 20+ years. Natasha has played a key role in leading growth on some of the biggest client relationships and has always been a champion for ideas that deliver human value. More recently, she helped shape the vision for Leo Burnett’s repositioning to a creative consultancy here in Canada and will continue to help evolve and action this vision in her role as Managing Director.

Engagement

Lisa Mack, CM
Vice President, Brand
TELUS

As Vice-President, Brand at TELUS, Lisa leads the integrated brand and marketing efforts across the organization, including  brand strategy and marketing, social media, consumer insights and creative services. With the mission to make TELUS one of the world’s most trusted brands, Lisa and her team are strategically focused on continually driving business growth, positioning TELUS as a global technology powerhouse, and reinforcingTELUS’ leadership in social capitalism.

Sam Leung
Vice President, Search and Advertising Technology
The Aber Group

Sam manages the search engine marketing, advertising technology and analytics portfolios at The Aber Group.  He leads the agency's efforts in staying ahead of the curve on developments in the IT and technology space that impacts the market industry.  He has a wide range of experience in web development, IT consulting and integrating technology in innovative ways to achieve his clients' goals.  Sam is a member of the CMA AdTech Committee and co-chairs the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Search Committee.

Innovative Media

Rachel MacAdam
Vice President of Marketing
SkipTheDishes

Rachel MacAdam is the Vice President of Marketing at SkipTheDishes where she leads a talented team of marketers responsible for brand strategy, creative, customer engagement, digital media, partnerships and full-funnel marketing campaigns for Canada’s homegrown food delivery network.

Since joining in 2023, Rachel has made significant contributions to Skip’s growth and evolution, with a focus on championing a best-in-class customer experience to drive acquisition and engagement through powerful brand storytelling, personalized digital experiences, and an enriched customer value proposition through brand offers, partnerships and sponsorships. 

Prior to Skip, Rachel spent over 20 years with LoyaltyOne. She was the Senior Vice President of Marketing, Rewards and Customer Care, where she grew her leadership scope to 300 team members and played a critical role in building the AIR MILES Reward Program into one of the largest and most recognized loyalty brands in Canada.

Rachel is also a passionate supporter and board member of motionball, a national non-profit that empowers young Canadians to be leaders in their community, raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics through integrated social and sporting events.

Peter Ignazi
Chief Creative Officer
Diamond

Peter is one of the most successful creative directors in Canada. Under his leadership, his previous agency Cossette was named Canadian "Agency of the Year" by Strategy Magazine in 2016, 2017 and 2018. He brought the same honour to BBDO in 2011. In both cases, firsts for the agencies. For 2019 and 2020 he was the number one creative director in Canada on the Strategy Magazine Creative Report Card.

A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Peter has a B.Sc. in Chemistry from McMaster University as well as an MBA from McGill University. After failed attempts at being a research chemist and an account executive, Peter finally found that he could somehow earn a living as a copywriter. He has been gainfully employed as a copywriter and Creative Director in Toronto and New York for such agencies as TAXI, McCann, and Downtown Partners DDB. 

In 2022, Peter brought his skills to Diamond when he became their first Chief Creative Officer. He oversees the creative in areas from brand to influencer to experiential and beyond on accounts such as TD Bank, Post Cereals, Accor and Pizza Hut. 

Active in the industry and his community, Peter has been on the Strategic Committee of the Canadian Marketing Association as well as on the board of Heritage Toronto.

Public Relations

Alessandra Bisaillon, CM
Head of Marketing and Media Relations
Farm Boy Inc.

Alessandra Bisaillon (she/her) is a Multilingual Marketing Executive with over 19 years of experience, driving record business results and building high-performance teams. She is a strategic and well-rounded Chartered Marketer (CM) with a broad range of experience across the Marketing, Public Relations, Sales, Strategic Planning, and Retail Operations verticals.

Alessandra began her career in the Energy sector and held a multitude of roles in Brand Management, Marketing Communications, Category Management, Asset Management, Strategic Planning and Retail Operations. Alessandra then transitioned into the grocery industry with Loblaw Companies Limited and since joined Empire Company Limited in 2022, leading the Farm Boy Company Inc. Marketing and Media Relations division. At Farm Boy, Alessandra spearheaded the development and execution of an integrated marketing strategy for Farm Boy. This initiative focused on enhancing community engagement, social media, content strategy, and digital marketing; integrating all channels and platforms across the board.

Throughout her career, Alessandra has fostered a motivating and engaging learning environment for teams, where out-of-the-box and creative thinking are not only embraced but also encouraged. Her proven track record of transforming strategies into action while successfully managing a variety of stakeholders, suppliers, customers and collaborating with cross-functional teams has achieved not only operational excellence but also profitability for the many portfolios she has managed throughout her career.

Alessandra is also very passionate about giving back to the community. Over the years, she has worked with a variety of Not-For-Profit organizations, such as the United Way, supported the birth of the Petro-Canada Caremakers Foundation, and most recently serves as a member of the Canadian Marketing Association’s Customer Experience (C/X) Council. Alessandra is also an active volunteer within the Halton community, supporting grassroots organizations.

Continuing education has also been important for Alessandra, as she successfully completed various leadership certifications with the Harvard School of Business and beyond. In her spare time, Alessandra enjoys spending time with family and friends, especially her two young daughters. Being an inspiring role model, wife, mother, leader, coach, mentor, friend, and colleague are a few hats that Alessandra interchangeably wears while striving to achieve excellence and make a positive difference in her community.

Nadine Arsenault
VP, Client Service
Blueblancrouge Toronto

For over 20 years, Nadine has been honing her ability to forge strong partnerships, mentor stand-out account teams and provide thought leadership for some of Canada’s most discerning clients, at some of Canada’s most ambitious agencies. She has led Brand Strategy and Communication Planning alongside integrated agency teams, on a wide variety of business portfolios, from Kraft, Cadillac Fairview and Ford to OLG, Fairmont Hotels, Pizza Hut and Desjardins. Her largest client, the Desjardins Financial Cooperative, was recently named one of Strategy’s 2023 Marketers of the Year. 

Before joining Bleublancrouge (BBR), Nadine developed an eye for innovative creative solutions at FCB and Zulu. Her appetite for bold ideas that drive results is superseded only by her talent and enthusiasm for rallying teams. And restoring her century-old home in Elora.