Keith Weaver is the executive vice president of global public policy and external affairs, climbing the ladder at the company where he started as senior vice president of government affairs in 2002. He launched Uncle Nearest alongside his wife and CEO, Fawn, in 2017. The company has positioned itself as the “best whiskey maker the world never knew,” has launched six whiskeys, and is available in over 25,000 stores across all 50 states and 12 countries, per its website.

Dr. Marcus Collins is an award-winning marketer and cultural translator. He is the former chief strategy officer at Wieden+Kennedy, New York, a marketing professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and the author of the best-selling book, “For The Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and Who We Want To Be”. Marcus is an inductee into the American Advertising Federation’s Advertising Hall of Achievement and a recipient of the Thinkers50 Radar Distinguished Achievement Award for the idea most likely to shape the future of business management. His strategies and creative contributions have led to the launch and success of Google’s “Real Tone” technology, the “Made In America” music festival, and the Brooklyn Nets, among others. Before his advertising tenure, Marcus worked on iTunes + Nike sport music initiatives at Apple and ran digital strategy for Beyoncé. He writes a column for Forbes CMO Network and contributes to business scholarship.

Les Brun is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ariel Alternatives, LLC, where he chairs the investment committee. He is also a board director for platform company, My Code—a leading multicultural media and marketing services firm. Les has over 42 years of investment banking, commercial banking and financial advisory experience, including as founder, CEO and chairman emeritus of Hamilton Lane, a leading global private markets investment management firm. In addition to his role at Ariel Alternatives, Les is chairman and chief executive officer of Sarr Group, LLC, a diversified holding company for his personal investments. He is currently lead director of Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc., serves on the board of directors of Corning, Inc. and the advisory board of Guardian Capital Partners GP, LP. He is also a senior advisor to G100 and World 50, a private platform of peer-to-peer communities for senior executives and directors from some of the world’s largest companies, and an advisor in Bank of America’s enterprise executive development program, where he helps coach and develop executives. Les serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Hill Harper is a humanitarian, an award-winning actor, best-selling author, entrepreneur, health and wellness ambassador/educator and philanthropist. Harper is perhaps most recognizable for his starring role in the CBS hit television drama CSI. Harper is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering underserved youth through mentorship, scholarship and grant programs.

Kaleeta McDade is the chief experience design officer at VML, North America. Kaleeta bridges creative storytelling, technology, design, and user experience for clients across VML’s client portfolio.

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Creative, traveler, culturist—Shannon Washington is a busy woman.

Currently, Shannon serves as Global Chief Creative Officer for gotham, the global boutique creative brand in the McCann Worldgroup network of agencies. Shannon returned to gotham in 2024 to lead the creative evolution and expansion of the agency, from a legendary, 30+ year player in the beauty space, to a full-stack creative powerhouse for a new set of categories, brands and talent.

Shannon previously served as the US Chief Creative Officer, Connected Communications for R/GA US, the network’s largest and flagship region where she focused on reshaping the region’s campaign creative vision, fidelity and work culture.

At R/GA, her intersectional and craft-centric style of leadership led to a renewed creative vigor in the office, resulting in an impressive set of award wins, including a Webby Agency of The Year win, a #2 sport for AdAge’s A-list, and three impressive award seasons, with a net of campaign awards the network had not seen since 2016. Business-wise, Shannon successfully led a host of winning pitches for Uber, Sephora and TurboTax, which was the second largest win for IPG in 2023. In addition, her approach has earned her three distinctive honors: Ad-Age CCO of The Year, The AdWeek 100 and one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.

Shannon joined R/GA after a stint in Los Angeles with Media Arts Lab, where she helped launch Apple TV+ and build a foundation for original content marketing in the Apple ecosystem, and at Deutsch Los Angeles where she led the H&R Block team. Before that, Shannon was at Droga5 NY, where she led the culture-driven “I Am What I Make Up” relaunch of CoverGirl and the launch of You Invest with Chase.

When she can, Shannon can be found actively adding to the discourse around the culture of leadership and inclusivity in advertising through panels and public conversations. When she’s not in front of a monitor, Shannon is working on adding another stamp to her passport or attempting to run a 10-minute mile.

Shannon is a proud and loud graduate of Howard University and lives in New Jersey.

Personal Website

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