21 Women 2021

Anneka Vestey

Contented Group

Nominated by Nicola Harris, Anneka Vestey is an advocate for both equal opportunity and representation for women in the workplace. Over the last two years, Anneka has worked in a lead role as Executive Producer and Head of Production at Contented Group. During this time, she has grown the female presence in the company from 3 employees to over 10 female employees in diverse roles across the business!

Last year, she curated and launched the first-ever company-wide Diversity & Inclusion policy. Her drive to enact change stemsfrom her own personal experiences and awareness that there is a real need for a workplace policy that fully encompasses women’s health matters. The policy champions cultivating a more diverse and gender-equal workplace and Campaign even asked Anneka to write a blog to promote this work. Follow link to read it ?? https://bit.ly/3uY7wzD

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Anneka successfully involved the whole company in a month-long campaign takeover, across CONTENTED’s digital and social channels. This gave members of the company an opportunity to write a blog covering personal experiences such as body positivity, imposter syndrome and the role of gender stereotypes in the workplace. She shows a great passion for nurturing and developing talent, paving the way for the next generation of women.

Bonita Samuels

MediaCom

Nominated by Fou Brown, Bonita Samuels is the Co-Chair of MediaCom’s Roots ERG. She plays a very active role in educating her fellow colleagues and industry peers about Black History, Black Culture and broader diversity and inclusion through events, newsletters, speaking engagements and much more!

“She is someone I see through company comms and admire through the work she puts out” – Fou Brown

Caroline Wilkinson

MOBKOI

Nominated by Gabriela Lacaci Infante, Caroline is described as ‘the ultimate role model’ of a strong, incredibly capable woman. In her role as President of Client Partnership at MOBKOI, she has carved out a whole new role for herself, which she leads in such a capacity that she is looked up to by all. She is also leading Partnerships at Bloom UK, supporting younger women in their careers, has volunteered as a mentor with the IAA UK many times and continues to be someone to look up to for all the women she encounters in advertising.

Charlotte Williams

SevenSix Agency

Nominated by Amaa Enwo and Sufiatu Abdullahi, Charlotte is the founder of SevenSix Agency, a purpose-led industry body that advocates and pushes for creators of colour to be fairly represented in and compensated for campaigns. With a passion for education for both brands and influencers, Charlotte has helped provide access and opportunities to underrepresented content creators.

In 2021, she launched an industry survey to shine a light on the ethnicity-led disparity in influencer marketing pay. Lifting the Lid: The Influencer Pricing Report gathered data from over 275 brands, agencies and influencers and was the first of its kind to highlight the major discrepancies in pay across the industry. Charlotte has since used the findings to educate black and non-white influencers on understanding their literal and figurative worth.

Charlotte is also a go-to voice for brands wanting consultancy on inclusive marketing strategies and regularly works with platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, alongside sitting on panels with industry figureheads such as the ASA and the Advertising Association. Not only is Charlotte an impressive businesswoman, having made a success of her growing agency, but she is an outstanding example of someone using this success as a platform for positive change.

Emily Roberts & Sophie Toth

The Women in Programmatic Network

We have a special two in one post for 21 Women of 2021 today! Congratulations to duo Emily Roberts & Sophie Toth who have created a women focused, free group for industry professionals called, The Women in Programmatic Network. They have been interviewed by multiple publications with rapid growth. At the moment they have over 150 subscribers and almost 300 followers on LinkedIn, and meet once a month to discuss the latest and greatest in the programmatic world, helping women with the concerns they have and giving support with a team of experts who are pros with programmatic!

Gordana Buccisano

Havas Media Group

Nominated by Fredrik Borestrom, Gordana Buccisano has supported, mentored, coached and empowered women across the industry, and not just in her own teams. During her time at ZenithOptimedia Group I The ROI Agency, Gordana was famous for building strong teams filled with high potential women who she nurtured into leaders of our industry.

Julia Burton Brown

Inskin Media

Nominated by Cameron Townsley, Julia Burton Brown is described as an exceptional role model for those within Inskin Media, but she also shares her passion across the industry – encouraging women to set their goals high and to go for it!

Julia joined Inskin in 2016 as International Sales Director, becoming Commercial Director across EMEA in mid-2020. Along with running the sales teams in Germany and the UK, she’s overseen the launch of offices in the Netherlands and Canada. Julia’s innate leadership skills are driven by her ability to harness individual strengths, helping people flourish in their roles.

Besides the incredible work she produces for the team at Inskin, her character boasts nothing but kindness. Julia is nothing but welcoming and genuine in her approach, providing advice when it is needed and in ways that are actionable and helpful.

Julia Smith

The Digital Voice

Nominated by Cameron Townsley, Julia Smith, has an impressive 26-year career dedicated to creating change within the digital media sector. Dedicated to supporting and helping people grow, Julia is a true champion for adtech and runs B2B adtech PR agency, The Digital Voice.

She has expert knowledge in adtech, martech, brand safety, digital ad fraud prevention, ethical trading & programmatic trading. She is also the co-founder of four adtech industry networking groups.

Throughout her career, Julia has always been the go-to person for help, advice, guidance and support. Having co-founded a women’s support group called SWAT (Supporting Women Ad Technologists) back in 2010, Julia went on to co-found Digital Leading Ladies in 2018 and currently comprises 250+ of the most senior and entrepreneurial women in the digital advertising industry.

The mission that Julia helped create for Digital Ladies is Do. Love. Learn.

Kerry Glazer

AAR, Untold Studios, timeTo

Nominated by Karen Fraser MBE, Kerry Glazer is a volunteer at TimeTo, the campaign to stop sexual harassment in the UK advertising industry. Kerry has fully devoted herself to the advancement of women, she is selfless, incredibly hard-working with a focus on creating an inclusive working environment for everyone.

Namita Singh Thakur

LinkedIn

Namita Singh Thakur leads Global Strategic Accounts for LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, UK. She has been with LinkedIn for over eight years now & has worked in two different cities, Mumbai & London.

Her unique experiences and intersections across these regions have influenced her thinking and seen her emerge as a thoughtful, emotionally intelligent and a strong female leader. She stands by LinkedIn’s belief in leaving people better than you found them. She deeply believes in the concept of paying forward and solidifying one’s own fundamental knowledge by sharing that knowledge and insights with others. Namita is the Co-Chair of the Women@LinkedIn Employee Resource Group (ERG) for EMEA, co-leading the operations for all ten countries across EMEA where LinkedIn has a presence. Women@LinkedIn is the largest and oldest ERG within LinkedIn and consists of individuals at all levels within the organisation, ranging from early-mid career to senior leadership. Members are people who identify as female, non-binary, and allies. Diversity within this group is a top priority.

Namita regularly participates in speaking engagements related to women’s education & empowerment and networking & mentoring opportunities for women. LinkedIn works closely with the Involve People’s Org & Namita is on their 2021 Future Women Leaders Role models list. She truly champions women’s issues and passionately works towards making it a world of equitable opportunities for women.

Trusha Ghelani

Tik Tok

Nominated by Gabriela Lacaci Infante and Ollivia Dale, Trusha Ghelani, has always worked above and beyond in her roles while empowering all those around her. Delivering work at the highest standard while supporting her team and colleagues, and always wanting other women to reach their full potential.

“She is an inspiring woman, with incredible digital knowledge that she is always open to sharing; fun and supportive” – Gabriela Lacaci