Jake Bjorseth is a youth activist, entrepreneur, and speaker. Jake is the founder and CEO of Trndsttrs, a Gen Z agency helping brands understand and reach Gen Z. In his role as CEO, Jake leads a team of 25+ across their Kansas City, San Diego, and Manila, Philippines offices.

Trndsttrs' client portfolio includes the likes of McDonald's, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, PacSun, The North Face, California Public Utilities Commission, Los Angeles Unified School District, and more...

Neil Blumenthal is a co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. In 2015, Fast Company named Warby Parker the most innovative company in the world.

Prior to launching Warby Parker in 2010, Neil served as director of VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise that trains low-income women to start their own businesses selling affordable eyeglasses to individuals living on less than $4 per day in developing countries. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. He serves on the boards of Allbirds, sweetgreen, and RxArt.

A native of New York City, Neil received his BA from Tufts University and his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Neil lives in Greenwich Village with his wife, Rachel, the founder and CEO of Rockets of Awesome, and their two children.

Sheena Butler-Young is a Senior Correspondent at The Business of Fashion (BoF). She is based in New York and leads BoF's coverage of workplace, talent and company culture. She is the former deputy editor of Footwear News magazine and the recipient of Penske Media Corporation’s Journalistic & Creative Excellence Award for her coverage of diversity issues in fashion. She has a Masters in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Louise Clements is the Global CMO of WorkJam, where she oversees the company’s Go-to-Market Strategy, Strategic Partnerships and the Brand, Marketing, Digital, Social and Communications functions. Prior to WorkJam, Louise held a range of executive leadership roles at enterprises that include McCann Worldgroup, Meta (previously Facebook), MRM//McCann, ICF Olson, Paysafe Group, Bell Canada and AOL.

Louise is a Board Member at the Open Banking Initiative Canada and Earth Rangers and a Strategic Advisor to bciti in support of their mission to help make cities smarter. She is a mission-driven leader, an active and engaged mentor across the technology ecosystem and speaks at a wide range of industry forums on Future of Work, DE&I and Gender Equality including The Women in Retail Leadership Circle, The Retail Influencer CEO Forum, Store Operations Council keynote and The Women Leading Travel and Hospitality Summit.

Louise is a graduate of York University and resides in Toronto, Canada.

Jessica Giles is the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, the largest young women’s media brand in the world. In this position, Giles is committed to serving Gen Z and millennial women the information they need to live their fullest lives—timely breakdowns of what's happening in the news, smart advice on everything from 401Ks to fashion trends to sexual health, deeply reported original features, and more, overseeing all editorial content across print, digital, social, video, and innovative brand extensions.

Giles has been named Editor of the Year by Adweek (2019) and among the Women to Watch by AdAge (2019). Under her leadership, Cosmopolitan has been celebrated as the Hottest in Fashion by Adweek (2021) and was the only media brand named to the inaugural Fast Company Brands that Matter (2021) list recognizing companies and nonprofits that continue to have an undeniable impact on business and culture.

Prior to becoming Cosmopolitan’s youngest editor-in-chief in October 2018, Giles served as the digital director of Cosmopolitan, where she led the site to its highest readership of all time. Earlier in her career, she worked as the digital director at Marie Claire, features editor at Teen Vogue and held various editorial positions at Glamour.

Emily Gittins is the Co-founder and CEO of Archive, a technology company that partners with brands to launch innovative, customized resale programs that meet their business and sustainability objectives.

Emily began her career in strategy consulting working with consumer and technology clients at BCG London. More recently, she worked at Google X on a stealth fashion concept. Her work at Google made her keenly aware of the environmental impact of the fashion industry, and she focused her graduate studies at Stanford University on how the circular economy could reduce fashion’s environmental impact.

Archive, founded in 2020, works with global brands including The North Face, Oscar de la Renta, and Marimekko to build authentic resale experiences that keep clothing in wear, while simultaneously bringing brands new revenue, building customer loyalty, and driving new customer acquisition.

Emily holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a MS MBA in Environmental Science from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Continually pushing the boundaries of experiential retail, Melissa Gonzalez is an award-winning innovator and storyteller. She is a Principal & shareholder at MG2 and the founder of The Lion’esque Group, and MG2 Studio, pioneering the integration of physical environments and digital retail to help brands such as Victoria's Secret, Nordstrom, and Burrow foster consumer engagement and evolve their offering.

A passionate mentor and strategist, Melissa works hand-in-hand with clients to understand their greatest aspirations. She leads creative teams and delivers authentic design solutions from concept to completion, helping clients achieve their ultimate vision. An innovator at heart, she is consistently recognized as one of the leading ‘Women In Design’ and ‘Top 10 Retail Design Influencers of the Year’.

When she’s not dreaming up innovative spaces, Melissa can be found seeking in unexpected places (like skydiving 10,000 feet above ground).

Laurie Lam is the Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty, a multi-branded portfolio which includes namesake brand e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Well People and Keys Soulcare. She is responsible for strengthening e.l.f.’s branding and setting its strategy for growth across all categories, as well as championing their mission to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip, face and paw.

Laurie Lam is the Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty, a multi-branded portfolio which includes namesake brand e.l.f. Cosmetics, e.l.f. SKIN, Well People and Keys Soulcare. She is responsible for strengthening e.l.f.’s branding and setting its strategy for growth across all categories, as well as championing their mission to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip, face and paw.

Ahmed Naiem is President of Lily AI, the retail technology platform specializing in AI solutions for retailers and brands. For two decades, he has worked across a range of disciplines spanning the ecommerce and retail industries, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer at EshopWorld (ESW), the leader in ecommerce technology, payments, and logistics solutions, where he was instrumental in growing revenue from $6M to over $1.5B in less than a decade.

With a passion for empowering teams and scaling global businesses, Ahmed leverages his extensive knowledge of the entire retail ecommerce ecosystem to drive growth for some of the world’s top brands, including Nike, Estee Lauder, and J. Crew. Earlier in his career, Ahmed held leadership roles in sales, marketing and product development with Aramex, Cellutopia and DHL. Ahmed holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and is an investor and board advisor to multiple technology startups.

Elizabeth Oates is the Vice President of Consumer Insights at Ulta Beauty where she actively ensures consumers are the heartbeat of the organization. She’s built a Consumer Centricity Center of Excellence that leverages both insights and foresights to influence strategies with in-the-moment relevance as well as implications for the future. Elizabeth’s work has elevated the insights function to operate as a strategic business driver and competitive advantage. Her efforts are fueled with more than 18 years of experience across retail, CPG and financial services.

Elizabeth enjoys developing new leaders and has established nine core skills for insights professionals, each designed to influence organizations to act on insights. She shares her knowledge as a regular guest-lecturer at the University of Wisconsin School of Business. Elizabeth has been recognized as one of the Top 8 to Watch by the University of Wisconsin School of Business and a finalist for the Quirks Media Transforming Insights honor. Elizabeth is a founding member of the Retail Think Collective, a group of future-forward minds leading human-centric innovation in retail.

Outside of the office, Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her family, including her two daughters. She is an ultra-marathoner, avid traveler and a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Hero.

Shawn Outler is a seasoned executive with a proven track record for driving strategy, growth and results. A dynamic business leader with over 30 years of experience in the retail industry across multiple categories and businesses, she has been tapped repeatedly to pioneer or scale key enterprise opportunities. Shawn is the Chief Diversity Officer of Macy's, Inc., a role she has held since 2018.

Over the course of her career, Shawn has distinguished herself as an innovative thinker, a focused and results-oriented business driver, and a strong and inspiring leader. Starting out as an Executive Trainee at Abraham & Strauss before joining Lord & Taylor and then Macy's, Shawn advanced rapidly through the Buying and Merchandising functions before taking on broader management responsibilities over high growth businesses ranging from weddings, gifting and electronics to leased, licensed and culinary/food service.

An advocate for multicultural businesses since 2009, Shawn has a rich history of identifying, working with and developing minority and women-owned opportunities. In 2011, she designed and led a retail development and mentorship program called The Workshop at Macy's. Created to educate and train minority and female business owners for success in the retail industry, the program is now in its 10th year, and has become an industry benchmark and model for retail supplier diversity.

In 2018, Shawn was appointed by the CEO to become the first Chief Diversity Officer of Macy's, Inc. and co-Chair of the Company's Diversity & Inclusion Business Council. In her first year in that role, Shawn developed a bold vision and charter to advance and embed strong, forward-looking D&I practices across the entire Macy's, Inc. organization (Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Bluemercury, STORY). She is the architect of the Company's D&I strategy, structure, focus areas, key initiatives, and performance metrics, and is the voice of the work and its mission within Macy's, Inc. and out to the retail industry.

In addition to being a frequent speaker and panelist on many aspects of diversity & inclusion, Shawn has been been recognized or featured for her professional accomplishments, including: Black Enterprise magazine Women of Power and Most Powerful African American Executives in Corporate America; National Retail Federation (NRF) People Shaping Retail’s Future, Black Retail Action Group Power of Excellence Award, NAACP Community, Business, Service and Multicultural Award, and Syracuse University's Chancellor Citation for Distinction in Retailing and Multicultural Development.

Shawn is a member of the LIM College Fashion Industry Advisory Board and The Women's Forum of New York, co-President of the Black Retail Action Group, and a member of the Syracuse University Multicultural Advancement Council. Shawn received an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree and Distinguished Achievement Award from LIM where she delivered the keynote address at the 2018 commencement ceremony.

Shawn is a graduate of the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and resides in New York City.

Sapna is the Chief Digital Officer at Kendo Brands, LVMH (Portfolio of brands include Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, Ole Henriksen, KVD Vegan Beauty and Lip Lab) bringing over 25 years of Digital & Omni-Channel retail experience.

Sapna’s expertise is in building high-performing digital teams and driving step change growth through digital innovation. Sapna previously built digital organizations at both Avon and Clarins Groupe but has spent most of her career at high-growth ecommerce start-ups.

As a true pioneer in the industry Sapna has been profiled in countless media outlets including, Forbes.com and on the cover of Beauty Store Business, has won numerous awards, and has been invited to share her experiences on many stages.

Joon Silverstein is the Senior Vice President Global Marketing, Creative and Sustainability at Coach where she manages the brand’s marketing strategy, digital innovation and omnichannel customer engagement. Joon also leads Sustainability for Coach, driving the brand’s commitment to pioneering circularity in fashion. She has been the Head of Coachtopia since its inception, launching this new sub-brand focused on circular craft and collaborative creativity in April 2023.

Prior to joining Tapestry, Inc., Joon led transformative change at Louis Vuitton and Victoria’s Secret, implementing bold visions for the customer experience and incubating new businesses. She began her career as a cultural anthropologist, receiving a B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University before conducting fieldwork as a Fulbright fellow. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and built her retail and consumer expertise at The Boston Consulting Group.

Before joining Pfizer in 2007, Susman held senior roles at The Estée Lauder Companies and American Express. She currently serves as co-chair of The International Rescue Committee, and on the board of UL Solutions. She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Susman graduated from Connecticut College and studied at the London School of Economics.

Susman was recognized by Forbes as one of the 2022 World’s Most Influential CMOs and by LinkedIn as a 2019 Top Voice.

Breaking Through is her first book.

Stacy Taffet is currently Marketing Senior Vice President of PepsiCo Beverages North America. In this capacity, Stacy leads media, innovation, content, partnerships, and other marketing functions across the portfolio.

Prior to this role, Stacy was SVP of Brand Marketing for Frito Lay where she ran a portfolio of snack brands including Doritos, Cheetos, Lays and Ruffles.

Stacy has been with PepsiCo for 15 years and has held a variety of brand management, innovation, and channel roles across the company. She grew the Water+ portfolio to be the #1 contributor to category growth, led award winning brand campaigns for Pepsi, and launched the Pure Leaf Iced Tea brand.

Prior to PepsiCo, Stacy spent 4 years at American Express. She graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Stacy serves on the Board of two non-profit organizations and has been recognized by the Advertising & Marketing industry with several awards throughout her career.

As Head of Industry, Retail/Fashion/Luxury, Karin Tracy oversees Meta’s retail, fashion and luxury practices, which she built over the past 8 years to help brands drive real business results through their work on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.

Since joining Facebook in 2015, Karin has developed go-to market strategies tailored for retail, fashion, beauty and luxury marketers and built a best-in-class team that has forged senior-level partnerships within the industry. Karin has pioneered initiatives such as CEW’s Digital Learning Series and Facebook & Instagram’s first-ever Beauty and Luxury Summits.

Previous to Meta, Karin Tracy was Publisher of InStyle from 2012-2014, following four highly successful years in senior leadership within Time Inc.’s Style and Entertainment Group as Publisher of Entertainment Weekly and People StyleWatch. At InStyle, she oversaw the magazine’s marketing, advertising sales and brand strategy for the monthly and annual special issues. In addition, she oversaw marketing and sales strategy for InStyle.com and its social platforms, including product innovation, branded content, audience development and ad solutions.

Before joining Time Inc., Tracy was Associate Publisher of Lucky and held Sales Director positions at Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Interview, and Teen Vogue. She began her advertising career at Giorgio Armani and spent a year in Saks Fifth Avenue’s Marketing Department.

Tracy is a lifelong New Yorker, is a board member of CEW (Cosmetic Executive Women) and VP Partnerships on the NY Women in Communications executive board. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a B.S. degree in marketing, is a member of the FIT Alumni Advisory Board and was the recipient of FIT’s 2022 President’s Award. In 2022 Karin was listed as one of BCG/WWD's 25 Most Inspirational Women. She resides in downtown Manhattan with her husband and their three children.