Heather Mitchell

Unilever Hair Care

Global Head Of PR And Social Media

Heather has nearly two decades of PR and social media experience, currently leading earned media strategies for Unilever’s global hair care portfolio, including TRESemme, Dove Hair, Toni&Guy and Clear, among others. She previously lead PR and social media for Unilever’s personal care brands in the US, including award-winning and sales-generating work on AXE and Suave. Some of her achievements at Unilever include revolutionizing how the company measures PR by creating a proprietary qualitative measurement system and creating one of the industry’s first and most successful community management strategies in the social media space. Prior to Unilever she held PR roles at Gatorade and Jim Beam Brands, and began her career at PR agencies working on P&G, Mattel, the 1996 Olympics and many other consumer brands. Heather was named the 2012 PR Person of the Year by PR News for her innovative and industry-leading work at Unilever.

Jamal Al Mawed

Gambit Communications, UAE

Founder and Managing Director

Emirati/British/Palestinian hybrid with over 13 years’ experience handling the PR and Communications of multinational brands overseeing more than thirty countries, Jamal’s career before founding Gambit Communications took him to senior roles at leading brands such as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the Dubai Properties Group.

Pioneer in Social Influencer Engagement, Almawed has spoken at over 20 PR and Marketing summits across the world and is a university guest lecturer, senior judge for industry panels, magazine columnist and guest radio speaker for literary book reviews.

Selected by The Holmes Report in the prestigious EMEA ‘Innovator 25’ list for 2019 alongside names such as Greta Thunberg, and in the PR Week Power Book 2019, while in 2016 he was named by The Huffington Post as one of ‘Ten to Watch’ in the Middle East MarComms Industry. Early in his career he was the recipient of the MEPRA ‘Young Communicator of the Year Award’.

Patrick Jephson

Former Chief Of Staff To Princess Diana

International Reputation Expert, New York Times Bestselling Author & Consultant, Netflix's "The Crown"

Patrick is a consultant, journalist, broadcaster and New York Times and London Sunday Times bestselling author, based in Washington DC.  His byline has appeared in every major UK newspaper and international titles as varied as TIME magazine, People, The Spectator, Paris Match, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the National Catholic Reporter.  He is a published authority on corporate and personal branding, addressing conferences worldwide as well as events at the US State Department, the American University and the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. 

He also writes, presents and advises on factual and drama programs, appearing on every major US network as well as British and international platforms.  His two decades of news and current affairs assignments have included on-screen conversations with figures such as David Frost, David Dimbleby, Barbara Walters and Larry King. 

He is founding partner in JephsonBeaman, a boutique communications consultancy specializing in international high-profile, sensitive and UHNW services.  With more than twenty-five years’ experience in the government, luxury and family office sectors, Patrick’s portfolio has included Ferrari, Harrods, Beretta and Hawker Beechcraft as well as national agencies and NGOs.  He has also worked on reputation and legacy briefs with European, Middle Eastern and Asian families, including royalty. 

Patrick owes much of his practical communications experience to Princess Diana, who chose him to be her equerry and only private secretary/chief of staff.  He served the Princess for eight years (1988-96), responsible for every aspect of her public life, worldwide humanitarian initiatives, and private organization.  Under relentless media scrutiny, his tenure covered the period of Princess Diana’s greatest popularity as well as the constitutional controversy of her separation from Prince Charles.  In recognition of his service, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appointed him a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order.

Patrick was born and raised in Ireland and holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Cambridge University.  As an officer in the British Royal Navy he served all over the world before being selected for royal duty.  In March 2015 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Mary Jo Jacobi

Former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, Former Assistant US Commerce Secretary for President George H.W. Bush, British Civil Service Commissioner

Former Senior Executive, HSBC, Lehman Brothers, Royal Dutch Shell And BP America

Mary Jo Jacobi Jephson is a renowned expert in reputation, brand and crisis management drawn from her extensive experience at senior levels of the corporate, public and voluntary sectors on both sides of the Atlantic. Most recently, Mary Jo was Executive Vice President of BP America during its response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Previously she led reputation management for Royal Dutch Shell, Lehman Brothers, HSBC Holdings and Drexel Burnham Lambert. She also devised and executed the award-winning global brand strategies for Lehman and HSBC, including the first-ever use of airport jetties for brand projection and thought leadership. She is a non-executive director of the Weir Group PLC, Mulvaney Capital Management and Panafsat and a member of the advisory board of Fink Africa. She is also a Visiting Fellow of Oxford University'ss Centre for Corporate Reputation. Mary Jo was the first woman to chair the board of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and subsequently served on the board of the Ladies European (Golf) Tour. She is a frequent broadcast commentator, lecturer and public speaker around the world.

Tom Webster

CISCO

EMEA Paid Social Media Manager

Richard Harless

Shazam Entertainment

Country Manager, Germany

Richard Harless is the Country Manager, Germany of Shazam Entertainment, Ltd. In his current role, Mr. Harless is responsible for all of Shazam’s commercial activities in the German market. Prior to Shazam, he served as EU Director for mobile advertising network Airpush launching their European based operations. Previously he worked in the US as Strategy Director for mobile advertising startup Mobile Posse and at AOL where managed the XM Radio implementation with AOL Radio. Mr. Harless holds a Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University and Master of Business Administration and Master of International Management degrees from the University of Maryland.

Irina Pashina

SAP SE

Certified Leadership and Team Coach | Leadership Culture & Development Expert

Irina is a certified coach (PCC, CPCC), a seasoned mentor of individuals and teams, a leadership expert, and a leader specialized in transformation. Her passion for people development, leadership, and public speaking took her to five continents, where she inspired and drove change in various industries such as technology and non-profits. 
Leading a content strategy function at SAP, the market leader in enterprise application software, she feels fortunate to shape superior customer experiences with a focus on digital transformation. Irina also builds bridges to people leadership topics such as a transformation to a newly established leadership culture. Her ability to connect with people across cultures and functional areas has been a key factor for meaningful connections and success in all her roles.
A requested speaker on leadership and communication topics, Irina is a transformational leader who inspires and helps people discover more, develop, and bring about a positive change in the world.

Timothy White

TEVA Pharmaceutical

Vice President & Head of Global Digital Commercial

Lazar Dzamic

Google ZOO NACE

Former Head of Brand Planning

Lazar helped Google ZOO turn light into heat: Google's data into compelling brand stories for client and agency partners. He built the 'golden standard' strategy team, including the new breed of 'creative data scientists' to transform how data powers creativity. Lazar is also writer and lecturer at the Faculty of Media and Communications, Belgrade and Lecturer in Direct Marketing for the Marketing Agencies Association UK. He is Top 10 digital player on Marketing Direct’s Power 100 list for three years in a row and a regular group leader in several digital categories at the UK DMA Awards

Amy Gray

VisitBritain

Head of Tourism Affairs

Amy Gray leads the Tourism Affairs department at the national tourist boards VisitBritain and VisitEngland. VisitBritain has a unique role in raising Britain’s profile worldwide, increasing the value of tourism exports and developing Britain’s visitor economy. Amy’s previous roles include leading on public health and employment policy for Britain’s largest retailer Tesco and defence spokesman for the Conservative Party.

Noha Bashir

Facebook

EMEA Team Lead, Blueprint Training

Noha currently leads the Blueprint Training team at Facebook in Dubai. Previously, she was Director of Digital and Social Marketing for CEMEA (Central Europe, Russia, and Middle East & Africa) at Visa. Prior to joining Visa, Noha worked at Proximity/BBDO based in Dubai, where she led the Social Media Department and managed clients such as Visa, Dubai Tourism Authority, #MyDubai Initiative, Axiom Telecom accounts, among others. Before relocating to Dubai In 2011, Noha worked at BBDO Egypt as Public Relations and Public Speaking specialist for 3 years. Noha was also a television presenter at Egypts Channel 1, broadcasting worldwide. Noha has extensive knowledge in digital first strategies, online Influencer engagement and content creation & ignition.