Women In Leadership is a new chapter of the Ad Club dedicated to women in our industry and cultivating an inclusive community. Our goal is to provide a forum for women to empower, support, provide guidance and amplify each other through connections.
Our events and mentoring program connects our next generation of female leaders with a diverse group of movers and shakers who are truly committed to our objectives.
Ad Club Women In Leadership 2023 Mentors:
Nikki Stone, Executive Vice President, Managing Director, Zenith
Nikki is well known as an experienced, entrepreneurial media executive specializing in growth through measurable solutions, Nikki has a proven track record of building, relaunching, and re-engaging with brands.
Currently the Executive Vice President, Managing Director of Zenith Canada, Nikki is a bold leader who pushes boundaries to deliver outstanding client results, connecting the dots between innovation and ROI. Under her leadership, she has helped deliver up to triple-digit year-over-year increases in revenue, unlocking new opportunities for her clients and teams.
Alice Digiovanni, Vice President, Wavemaker
Alice DiGiovanni currently serves as Vice President at Wavemaker, where she focuses on developing and implementing strategies that help clients achieve their growth objectives.
With a passion for innovation and an eye for new opportunities, Alice thrives on the excitement and complexity of the constantly evolving media landscape. She’s a pro at navigating the fragmented consumer journey paths and staying ahead of the curve when it comes to the latest technology trends.
Alice’s expertise in digital marketing and 360 marketing is unmatched, and her creative approach to problem-solving has helped her deliver amazing results for a wide range of clients. Her ability to think strategically and execute with precision has earned her a reputation as a trusted advisor to her clients.
Dawn Bednarski, Sr Director, Cards Marketing, RBC Royal Bank
Dawn began her 20 year marketing career agency-side, doing retail and experiential marketing with brands like Disney, Ubisoft, Coca-Cola, Minute Maid and Unilever.
She moved client-side to Sun Life Financial, where she helped lead national brand campaigns; and then shifted to digital marketing, as Director, Digital Optimization with a global mandate on SEO, digital advertising and lead gen. A passion for insights within financial services led Dawn to move to RBC where she worked on a number of businesses, including leading a team of over 50 growth & digital marketers, supporting 15 start-ups that aimed to provide value to Canadians, beyond their traditional banking needs, as Head of Marketing for RBC Ventures.
Today Dawn is Senior Director, Cards Marketing with RBC, and leading all things cards marketing for a number product lines in the travel and everyday rewards space.
Urania Agas, CEO, EssenceMediacom
Urania Agas is the CEO of EssenceMediacom Canada. In her role, she is responsible for the agency’s overall strategic direction – while also fostering a unique, inclusive culture; developing tomorrow’s leaders through mentorship; and advocating for equity at every level of the organization. Since joining EssenceMediacom over 10 years ago, Urania’s strong leadership has made a tremendous impact on client satisfaction and retention, as well as its peoples’ overall experience.
Karen Wang, Managing Director, Canada, Teads
Karen Wang is the Managing Director of Teads Canada and has 20+ years of experience in the digital media industry. Prior to Teads, Karen held senior roles at Pelmorex Media and Olive Media. Passionate about technology, entrepreneurship and scaling businesses, Karen also launched and ran her own startup for 2+ years. Karen loves mentoring new talent (in particular women) and forging new relationships with people.
Laura Pearce, Head of Marketing, Google Canada
Laura Pearce is the Head of Marketing for Google Canada, where she oversees all marketing to Canadian consumers and customers across Google & YouTube products & services.
Laura is a strategic and innovative marketer with over 20 years of experience in digital/social and multi-platform brand, product and performance marketing. Prior to Google, she has held marketing leadership roles at Twitter, AOL/Huffington Post, Blue Ant Media and more.
Kristie Painting, Country Manager, Pinterest Canada
Kristie Painting is the Country Manager for Pinterest in Canada where she leads the growth of one of Pinterest’s largest markets. Painting has extensive media, advertising and tech industry experience. She was named CEO of Wavemaker Canada in 2018, prior to which she was VP, digital sales and platforms and revenue management for Bell Media. She was a founding executive at Olive Media, and held senior roles at Yahoo! Canada and Checkout 51.
Christine Saunders, CEO, Starcom Canada, CMO Publicis Groupe Canada
Christine is a strong, experienced leader, with over 20 years within the media and advertising industry. After successfully running several of Canada’s largest Media AOR’s, Christine was elevated to her current role as CEO of Starcom Canada in 2021. In this role, she has successfully led the brand to consecutive years of double digit growth and in 2022 won Media Agency of the Year. In 2023, Christine added the role of Chief Marketing Officer for Publicis Groupe Canada to her responsibilities. She credits a lot of her success to the talented team she has built around her and believes her most important role is to develop and inspire her talent. She leads with both empathy and business acumen and is well known for her straightforward counsel.
Caroline Bergeron, SVP, Data Solutions & Digital, Horizon Media
Caroline is a digital media and performance marketing leader specialized in building strategic partnerships with technology and data platforms. She has 15 years of advertising, marketing and digital transformation experience working for Canadian and global organizations.
She is currently the SVP of Digital and Data Solutions at Horizon Media where she is overseeing the rollout of their audience framework and proprietary tools in Canada. Prior to joining Horizon, she led the development and commercialization of GroupM’s programmatic product portfolio and managed technology and data investment for their programmatic units. She also spent time on the supply side of the industry, working for Canadian publishers and media organizations before joining the agency world. She is passionate about innovation & new technology and always looking to learn more about emerging addressable channels in the media space.
Rachel Olive: Vice President, Media and Strategy – Sony Pictures Releasing Canada
Rachel joined Sony Pictures as the digital media manager in 2008 and has been with the company for nearly 15 years. She is the lead on the Sony Pictures’ theatrical advertising business in Canada, and is focused on driving strategic consumer focused innovation in media. Prior to this, she spent eight years working agency side in the Toronto media industry at Starcom Mediavest Group and OMD.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University, majoring in Mass Communications and Political Science, and certificates in Business Administration (York’s School of Continuing Studies), and Entertainment Law (Osgood Hall). She is also a graduate of the Counsel of Canadian Innovators inaugural Innovation Governance Program and is currently pursuing an EMBA with the Quantic School of Business and Technology.
Rachel is passionate about maintaining personal balance, operating at 80% capacity, and actively seeking outlets that fuel the soul – #SelfLove.
Women In Leadership Mentorship Program:
Sign up here for our mentorship program which begins in Fall 2023. Applications are due by August 31, 2023.
