The Marketing Academy Australia has selected 30 marketing executives from client-side brands, media owners, agencies, and start-ups to attend its world-class Scholarship Program.
The free but highly selective development program draws on the collective knowledge of C-suite executives to develop the Scholars’ skills and prepare them for their journey towards being board-level business leaders.
Now entering its ninth year in Australia, there are 240 alumni of the program who frequently describe the experience as ‘transformational’. Each of this year’s scholars will also be offered a free ticket to this year’s Cannes in Cairns festival, presented by Pinterest.
Read more – Cannes in Cairns Agenda Revealed
This year’s scholars are:
- Ainslie Williams, CEO, Qualie
- Akshay Sardana, Director, Product Marketing, Optus
- Belinda Drew, Chief Client Officer, The Monkey’s
- Ben Clarke-Groom, Marketing Director, Marvel, Lucasfilm & National Geographic The Walt Disney Company
- Benjamin Cleary, Manager, Performance Marketing & Audience, Insurance Australia Group
- Bianca Mundy, Acting General Manager, Brand, Digital & Design, Coles
- Daniel O’Brien, Managing Director, Frontier Australia
- David Gatt, Director, Deloitte Digital
- David McDermott, Portfolio Marketing Manager, Mars Petcare Inc.
- Edward Huges, Client Services Director, BMF
- James Peereboom, Executive Manager, Brand Communications, Commonwealth Bank
- Jason Thatcher, Head of Brand & Advertising, SportsBet
- Jordyn Evans, Founder, Mingle Seasoning
- Kirsty Bloomfield, Senior VP Global Marketing, Lyre’s Spirit Co.
- Larissa Nery, Global Manager Digital, Mobile & UX, Tourism Australia
- Lauren Small, Managing Director, Carat Australia
- Nick Cook, General Manager, Marketing, Mad Mex
- Prue Mahar, Head of Marketing, Customer Content & Channels, REA Group
- Rachael Townsley, Marketing Director, Indeed
- Rebecca Robertson, Managing Partner, Howatson + Company
- Robbie Brammall, Director of Marketing and Communications, MONA
- Rosie McFarlane, Head of Loyalty, Mecca Brands
- Ruth Goumans, Brand Manager, KFC
- Sarah Rosales, National Marketing & Customer Experience Manager, Toyota Financial Services
- Simon Greally, Global Head of Marketing & Comms, harrison.ai
- Sophie Verow, Senior Strategy & Operations Marketing Manager AU/NZ, Google
- Toby Gill, AAMI Brand & Marketing Manager, Suncorp Group
- Trina Ng, Asia Pacific Marketing, Salesforce
- William Koukouras, National Director, Sport & Entertainment, Publicis Groupe
- Zunilka C. Whitnall, New Product and Innovation Lead, UNICEF
The Marketing Academy scholarship program includes one-to-one mentoring with board-level execs including; Jo Boundy, CMO, CBA; Suzana Ristevski, CMO, NAB; Eric Thomson, Global Marketing Director, Pernod Ricard; Anubha Sahasrabuddhe CMO, Lion; Brent Smart, CMO, Telstra; Sweta Mehra, CMO, ANZ; Jenni Dill CMO, Arnott’s; Susan Coghill, CMO, Tourism Australia; Peter Horgan, CEO, Omnicom Media Group; Stuart Tucker, CMO, Hipages; Mark Coad, CEO, IPG Mediabrands; and Leisa Bacon, Director of Audiences at ABC.
In addition to mentoring, the scholars will each be assigned an executive coach, attend 3 residential ‘Boot Camps’ packed with inspirational speakers, and attend lectures and masterclasses hosted by experts from around the world.
Each appointed Scholar will also receive 10 places for their teams and colleagues to enrol on the online development program ‘The Marketing Academy Virtual Campus’.
The Marketing Academy founder and global CEO, Sherilyn Shackell, said, “Year after year we are blown away by the calibre of talent in Australia and this year is no different. During what may yet prove to be a challenging year for both brands and agencies. The Marketing Academy is deeply committed to supporting these incredible leaders in their personal development, leadership growth and career performance. I’d like to personally thank our selection panel, sponsors, Mentors, Executive Coaches, and speakers for their ongoing generosity in what many Alumni call a ‘life changing’ program.”
Emma Terry, CEO South Australian Tourism Commission and alumnus of the Scholarship Program added “The Marketing Academy Scholarship is a development program like no other. Its combination of presenters, mentors, coaches, peers, alumni network and content is nothing short of life-changing and enables real and genuine leadership growth. The program enabled me to open my eyes, expand my horizons and build my leadership capability to step up from CMO to CEO.”
The Marketing Academy Australia Scholarship Program is funded by long-time sponsors Salesforce, Google, Commonwealth Bank, KFC, IAG, Deloitte Digital and Dentsu. They are joined this year by new partners, Optus.
