Marketing & Event Awards Judging Committee
C. Paschal Eze
Director of Community Engagement City of Westland, Westland, Michigan, United States
C. Paschal Eze is a resilient force for good who chairs the boards of impact-making organizations such as The PuLSE Institute and IMA-Global. A 2018 US Congressional Record described him as a man with a “lifetime of leadership.” He serves on the advisory board of Baker College of Business, and appreciated the opportunity to advocate for the rights of over 80, 000 patients while serving on the Recipient Rights Advisory Board of Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network (DWIHN), the largest behavioral health network in Michigan with an annual budget of over $1 billion. He served in the senior leadership role of Vice President for Communications and Spiritual Life at the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, a leading human services nonprofit organization. He also worked as a branding and tourism marketing consultant, serving at one point as Vice President at the International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP). Additionally, he was a founding Vice President of the Global Communication Research Association, which is based in Australia. In 2006, his Christian Book Fair International event, as reported by Christian Retailing magazine, drew 20,000 attendees by featuring independent authors, booksellers, and publishers hailing from various countries. Since 1998, Dr. Eze has written more than a dozen books and edited dozens more. Dr. Eze, who previously worked as a journalist and editor-in-chief of a monthly business magazine, and a daily newspaper, is recognized as “a skilled editor and a prolific author known for broadening the paper’s audience.” As a board member of the sociocultural organization, Dimagu Community USA, Inc., he has actively worked alongside others to promote access to education, ensure public safety, and advance health equity. At present, he is the Director of Community Engagement as part of the mayor's executive team in Westland, the ninth-largest city in Michigan. His numerous achievements in Westland include spearheading the annual Disability Independence Day event featuring Ms Wheelchair Michigan, designing and organizing the annual She Rocks Westland event honoring women achievers, and initiating and leading the 2025 Westland Multicultural Festival, attracting notable sponsors such as Consumers Energy, Sole Construction, Schoolcraft College, SMART Bus, OHM Advisors, Primary Care Plus, Hegira Health, STEP, Don Nicholson Enterprises, Wayne Metro and Garden City Hospital. A proud father and widely traveled Rotarian, Dr. Eze's extensive list of awards includes the Spirit of Detroit Award, the Western Wayne NAACP Community Impact Award, and the World Ebony Network Multicultural Enhancement Award, along with the Michigan Chronicle Men of Excellence Award and recognition from Westland mayor for his dedicated service as a board member of the Westland Housing Commission and Taylor Towers Corp. He has been a judge on American Business Awards since 2018, and had the honor of chairing the 2024 Public Relations Judging Committee. A dedicated mentor and advocate for accessible education, Dr. Eze collaborated in 2024 with the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Citizenship Education Fund to secure a multi-year engineering scholarship for female students, assisting them in reaching their academic aspirations.
Diana Akchurina
Marketing Communications Expert, Independent Consultant, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Diana is a marketing communications expert with 17 years of experience working with technology companies. Her expertise includes organic growth, business development, social media marketing, public relations, event management, and influencer marketing.
Jean Cameron
Head of Field & Channel Marketing, Demandbase, Waterford, Michigan, United States
A results-driven marketing leader with 18 years of B2B SaaS experience, recognized for leveraging data-driven strategy to accelerate growth & strengthen go-to-market performance. A two-time graduate of Central Michigan University, Jean brings analytical rigor and customer-focused leadership to every initiative. Outside of work, Jean enjoys time with her family and playing sports, and she is an avid Redwings fan.
Saraida De Marchena
President & CEO, Markatel Communications, Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Dominican Republic
Corporate communications consultant and strategist with extensive experience in the Dominican Republic, USA, Latam, and Europe. She has 40 years of professional experience, excelling in strategic planning, crisis communications, brand and executive positioning, strategies and management for media and digital platforms, public relations, and events. President of Markatel Comunicaciones.
Derek Gerry
Senior Director of Strategic Accounts, C-4 Analytics, Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States
In his role as Senior Director of Strategic Accounts at C-4 Analytics, Derek Gerry uses the latest AI and measurement tools to drive market share gains and ROI for clients in the healthcare, energy, legal and retail sectors. Derek continues to hold fast to the basic tenets of marketing.
Katherine Goldman
Creative Director/Founder, The Very Thing, Montclair, New Jersey, United States
Katherine has led strategy development and creative solutions for major clients, with a range of work including conferences, events, internal communications, rebranding, and advertising. She became a premier experiential expert when she joined Jack Morton Worldwide. Today she leads The Very Thing, an agency providing strategic solutions for communications initiatives.
Islam Gouda
Global Brand Ambassador and Member of the Board of Advisors, Revenue Marketing Alliance, Egypt, Al Qahirah, Egypt
Dr. Islam Gouda is an award-winning marketing strategist, academic, and global thought leader with over a decade of experience driving growth for brands across the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Dr. Gouda has led and advised organizations on revenue marketing, brand strategy, digital transformation, and data-driven decision-making, working across different industries.
Jacqueline Hetherington
Vice President Sales Effectiveness, Elevance Health, New York City, New York, United States
Proven talent development strategist who leverages an entrepreneurial approach to sales effectiveness and training with business and operations experience, research, workforce planning, and change management. A track record of bolstering business performance to support future growth through staff diversity, engagement, retention, development, and succession planning.
CarolAnn Hibbard
Vice President of Marketing, Freedom Energy Logistics, Westborough, Massachusetts, United States
CarolAnn Hibbard is a seasoned marketing executive with over two decades of expertise in directing strategic marketing for organizations specializing in commodities, efficiency, renewable energy, sustainability, and clean technology. She currently oversees strategic marketing and communications at Freedom Energy Logistics, a nationally recognized energy advisory firm based in the Northeast.
Robert Howells
President, Howells Marketing Consultants, Wyckoff, New Jersey, United States
Robert Howells is an experienced global marketer who has developed and executed marketing strategies from start-ups through to Fortune 500 companies. He has a strong knowledge of marketing technology and lead generation and has led account teams and the international subsidiary of a major public marketing services company. He also acts as the COO of a demand generation agency.
Luiza Liupova
CEO, EasySound, Los Angeles, California, United States
Work experience is more than 10 years in well-known international companies in marketing and sales departments. Managed and coordinated CRM projects (testing, implementation, and landing). Founder and Marketer of Easy Sound—a consulting company on marketing and CRM. Author of Publications in Science Magazines. Judge at many international business and marketing awards.
Lorri Jones
Principal, LIJ Consulting, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Visionary commercial leader with deep expertise in global commercialization, innovation, and patient-centered engagement across the pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences industries. Proven track record leading mergers and acquisitions and post-integration strategies that unlock growth. Built, launched, and revitalized major brands at Pfizer, Novartis, and Astellas.
Violetta Korovkina
Expert in Marketing and Growth Strategies, Beyondness LLC, Mountain View, California, United States
Entrepreneur, marketing professional, and business consultant with 10+ years of experience in growth strategies and product launches. Active in EdTech and media, supporting entrepreneurs. Author of the book Profit Sharing Launch Model: A Profit-Aligned Methodology for Marketers and Consultants, distributed in 170+ countries, a proven system aligning business growth with shared success.
Tina Liu
Manager, Sales Transformation, Goosehead Insurance, Grapevine, Texas, United States
Tina is currently leading multiple initiatives at Goosehead Insurance to drive customer acquisition and topline growth. She graduated from the McKinsey Growth Marketing & Sales practice, with 7+ years of professional experience serving clients in sectors including Consumer, TMT, and Manufacturing.
Sarah Noet
Founder, Be The Change | Global Goals Unity Initiative, Mukilteo, Washington, United States
Sarah Noet is CEO of Be The Change | Global Goals Unity Initiative and a patented inventor advancing scalable infrastructure and economic innovation. Her work addresses structural poverty by aligning sustainable materials, digital twin technology, youth leadership, and cross-sector partnerships to create measurable pathways to economic mobility and generational resilience.
Sakshi Patel
Marketing Operations Manager, Truveta, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States
Sakshi is a Marketing Operations Manager at Truveta, a Microsoft-backed healthcare data company, processing over 120 million patient records in the USA. She specializes in building HIPAA-compliant martech systems, working across Salesforce Marketing Cloud, HubSpot, GA4, and Python in one of the most regulated environments in healthcare.
Natalia Payton
Chief Marketing Officer, North Texas Marketing & Events, McKinney, Texas, United States
Natalia Payton is Chief Marketing Officer of North Texas Marketing and Events, where she drives strategic marketing, digital growth, and high impact experiential initiatives. She is the Owner and Director of Ratrodtober Fest, leading brand development, sponsorship strategy, and multi-channel execution. Her background includes large scale event production.
Susan Saurage-Altenloh, PhD
President & Chief Insights Officer, Saurage Research, Inc, United States
Susan Saurage-Altenloh, PhD, is Founder and Chief Insights Officer of Saurage Research and an Associate Professor in the doctoral business program at Capella University. With more than 30 years of experience leading qualitative, quantitative, and hybrid studies across industries, she is known for balancing methodological rigor, ethical judgment, and real-world impact.
Erica Schumann
Marketing Manager, Customer Relations and Community Experience, Aras, Berkley, Michigan, United States
Erica Schumann is a seasoned B2B marketing leader specializing in demand generation, customer relations, and community experience with experience across global tech companies. She holds an MBA from Boston College and a BA from Michigan State University.
Julie Seireg
Director of Marketing, Parkinson's Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, United States
Julie Seireg is a marketing and communications leader with extensive experience developing strategic campaigns that drive awareness, engagement, and impact for mission-driven organizations. She currently serves as Associate Vice President of Marketing at the Parkinson’s Foundation, where she leads marketing strategy, public awareness campaigns, and outreach initiatives.
Joel Thomson
Head of Strategy and Brand, Green Hat Marketing, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Joel Thomson is Head of Strategy and Brand at Green Hat, Australia’s largest B2B marketing agency. Formerly a Creative Director at Publicis, he co-founded LivePreso, a sales enablement platform, and Story Communications. Joel helps organisations translate complex ambition into clear positioning, messaging and stories that move buyers and markets confidently.
Mila Tkachuk
Digital Marketing Manager, Burke Interiors, South El Monte , California, United States
Digital Marketing Manager with over 6 years of experience in international companies, including New Media Services Pty Ltd and Burke Interiors. Mila specializes in developing and executing comprehensive marketing strategies across multiple channels, leveraging data insights and cross-functional collaboration to optimize performance and achieve business objectives.
Valeriya Vinogradova
Founder/CEO Aesthetic Embassy, Burlingame, California, United States
Founder & CEO of Aesthetic Embassy, an award-winning luxury experiential agency, with 13+ years in marketing strategy, brand development and event leadership. Former strategic marketing lead in the B2B tech sector. Background includes cross-market campaigns, team leadership and large-scale experiential projects.
Wenjun Yang
Account Manager, AI & Data Science Lead, Amazon Ads, Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Wenjun Yang is an advertising leader at Amazon specializing in AI-driven media strategy for Fortune 500 healthcare brands. He oversees large-scale investments and drives measurable business impact through advanced analytics and full-funnel strategy. He also serves on the IAB Commerce Media Committee, contributing to industry standards in AI-enabled advertising.
