Meet the jury: the agency leaders judging The Drum Awards for Agency Business 2021

Dynamic senior executive with significant leadership experience across operations, strategy, finance and technology Proven leader during a career built on transforming functions across both large public and private corporations as well as nimble, founder-led organizations and private-equity-backed companies. Compelling communication and interpersonal skills, which have proven effective in setting a vision and leading organizations through complex operational, systemic and cultural changes. Successful in raising capital in both public and private debt and equity markets. Governance experience, including roles as director and treasurer on both corporate and non-profit boards, oversight of large multi-national SEC reporting organizations and member of a corporate audit committee.

Karen leads the Sydney operations for global marketing communications agency, Archetype. She also serves as a member of the APAC Regional Management Board for the agency where she leads the productisation of services and is spearheading the agency's growth strategy with a focus on M&As. Her passion for innovation and change has led her to launch Region-wide people initiatives such as equal parental leave terms, new value-based pricing structures and sustainability programs. As a result, she was recently named on Campaign Asia-Pacific’s '40 Under 40 List’ for 2020 which recognises top-tier talent transforming Asia-Pacific media and marcomms.

Founded in 2007, BrandOpus specialises in all aspects of brand including strategy, identity and design. Before co-founding BrandOpus, Paul was the senior design director at JKR. Paul is responsible for the overall creative output across the London, New York, Chicago and Melbourne studios and works across a diverse portfolio of brands including Britvic, McCain, Molson Coors, Kraft Heinz, UNHCR and First Direct. His work has been recognised by The Design Business Association, D&AD, Pentawards, PAC Leadership, The Drum and FAB Awards.

With over 15 years’ experience at agencies including Engine, Mother and TBWA, Natalie is an integrated leader with a track record of building brands across a breadth of industries and markets, whilst establishing integration between 'brand' and 'customer communications' to build truly relevant and effective brand experiences for customers. Natalie is the co-founder of Wunderman Thompson’s 200 strong women’s network; Rise and a member of the leadership team with a focus on growth.

As a part of the executive leadership team, she drives consistency in brand strategy, leads a dynamic and connected culture, and ensures client service team connectivity, as well as discipline integration among the VMLY&R network offices. Before the establishment of VMLY&R, Beth worked at VML for 15 years, including her time in a previous role of chief client officer. As chief client officer, she worked alongside each department lead on agency service offering evolution and company growth and achieved impressive results on the behalf of VML’s client base. In addition to her role as VMLY&R’s global CMO, Beth is extremely passionate about giving back to her community and helping mould the next generation of female leaders. To that end, she serves on the board of the BMA Foundation and is a founding member and proud supporter of Women@VML.

Dani is responsible for further developing and executing the agency’s strategic vision to build connected experiences and to raise its creative output. With more than 20 years' agency experience, Bassil joined Digitas from J Walter Thompson London where she was a Managing Partner for nearly three years. Prior to that she held senior roles at Possible and Grey. She started her career in Sydney, where she grew up, at Ogilvy and Mather, before moving to the UK 15 years ago, working at agencies like Wieden and Kennedy and VCCP. Dani has worked on some big accounts during her career, such as Shell, HSBC and Johnson & Johnson.

Sherry (Sherzad) Rahmatian is a Managing Director at SYLVAIN. Based in Amsterdam, though a California native, she leads SYLVAIN’s business growth across Europe. Sherry has built her career client-side in the tech industry, most recently with Uber where she led marketing strategy across Europe, Middle East and Africa. At SYLVAIN, she leads key clients including Nike, Uber, WhatsApp and Spotify. Coupled with her background in psychology and a passion for global cultures, Sherry brings a wealth of knowledge on agile thinking, experimentation and fast-growing brands from the tech industry.

Emma has over 25 years of experience advising emerging and global companies on how to utilise data, technology and insights to transform and future-proof their businesses. With a strong track record in delivering result-driven, customer-centred projects, She has worked with market leading companies including E.ON, Santander, P&O, eBay, and Tesco and led the consulting team at the heart of Argos’ digital transformation for 5 years. In addition to consultancy experience, Emma has also worked brand-side for BT, and as Head of eCommerce focused on customer experience (CX) and multi-channel strategies. Emma is passionate about championing diversity and inclusion, especially within the data and technology industry, and is executive sponsor of ENGINE’s Inclusion Programme, as well as supporting other organisations including CodeFirst: Girls.

Dutch born Marc graduated from the University of Leiden with a degree in Media Law. He then went around the world working in Hong Kong, New York and San Francisco. He was offered a position in Tokyo, where as part of his contract he needed to attend an 18-month course in Japanese language, culture, politics and economics. In 2007 Marc took the brave decision to set up UltraSuperNew in Tokyo with the maverick approach of servicing clients with digital strategy, creative and production all under one roof - an ultra super new way of doing things in Tokyo at the time. The Singapore agency was subsequently opened in 2012 and most recently in Taiwan in 2019. The agency has grown from strength to strength with an international team of over 60 people working on campaigns for Uber Eats, Shiseido, Red Bull, Unilever, Heineken, MINI, Pernod Ricard, Skyn condoms, ASICS, Adobe, EA-sports, PUMA, PayPal and Tabasco.

With extensive experience in brand transformation, Angela is a passionate believer in the power of insight and ideas, to challenge beliefs, provoke social change, and re-imagine business. She believes the best ideas always get the most attention and prioritises creativity above all else. While specialising in marketing and brands, Angela facilitates broader business strategy and development for organisations that are at a point of change.

Christine Moore joins FirmDecisions with over 20 years’ of agency and in-house experience in commercially driven roles. Her global knowledge is complemented by an in-depth understanding of the US market and an extensive marketing procurement background. Moore has also served in CFO and COO roles across the agency business. Moore has held roles at the likes of PepsiCo Inc., Interpublic, Dentsu International, MDC Partners and WPP during her career.