Simon is the CEO of LIONS, the global organisation behind WARC, Effie, Contagious, and the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Following a career in advertising, he joined LIONS more than a decade ago and held several key roles before stepping into the CEO position in 2019. His leadership has been pivotal in transforming LIONS into a year-round global platform that inspires and equips the global marketing industry with the tools they need to produce consistently creative marketing that builds business, shapes society, and has long-lasting impact.

A champion for creativity’s transformative power, Simon has expanded LIONS’ offerings and solidified its reputation as the global destination and benchmark for creative excellence and effectiveness . In 2018, he founded the Global CMO Growth Council, uniting the world’s leading Chief Marketing Officers to remove barriers to international growth – with creativity as a driving force.

Simon’s deep understanding of the creative marketing ecosystem, coupled with his ability to navigate its complexities, has earned him recognition as a respected thought leader and trusted voice in the industry. Based on his work at LIONS, Simon is a passionate advocate for initiatives that promote equality, inclusion, and opportunities for the creative community to thrive.

Bio coming soon.

As Head of Client Inclusivity and Impact for Digitas North America, Danisha Lomax develops programs focused on authenticity, cultural influence, and impact. In this position, she works to bring clients along the inclusive journey through the Multicultural Center of Excellence – a collective that sits at the intersection of race, culture, identity, and brand responsibility. Danisha strives to further establish Digitasas a leader in the DE&I and CSR space and engage with clients to drive a thoughtful strategy to create more inclusive work in-market for their consumers. Danisha partners with client and capability leaders to influence and accelerate inclusion in client work across the intersections of marketing, content, creative, media, and measurement.

Danisha was instrumental in developing Sephora’s The Beauty of Blackness, a documentary about Fashion Fair Cosmetics, the first Black-owned beauty brand, and The Foundation of Belleza which tells a generational story of Latina beauty and cultural pride through the eyes of Latina founders. With TikTok and Sephora, she co-developed an industry-changing Incubator partnership. It is the first program that provides access, opportunities, and overinvestment to BIPOC beauty founders and rising creators.

Her experience allowed her multiple nominations and awards, including ADCOLOR Rockstar Nominee (2023), AdMonsters + AdExchanger Top Women in Media & Ad Tech Awards, DE&I Champion (2023), Campaign US’ Media Planner of the Year (2021), among others.

Bio coming soon.

Lola Bakare is an innovative marketing strategist and the creative force behind the #responsiblemarketing movement. As the founder and owner of be/co, a boutique consultancy firm, Lola empowers brands and marketing leaders with strategic guidance, coaching, training, and workshops. Her groundbreaking initiative, Maximize The Movement™, won gold at the inaugural Anthem Awards, which celebrates mission-driven work globally.

With a career spanning leadership roles at The Daily Dot, PepsiCo, New World Pasta, Diageo, and Dell, Lola has shaped initiatives for iconic brands such as Gatorade, Ronzoni, and Smirnoff. As a consultant and speaker, she has partnered with notable companies across industries including Merck, Novo Nordisk, Typeform, IBM, LinkedIn, Irvine Company, OCVibe, Wilmington Trust Bank, Taylor Morrison Homes, Thought Exchange, Vimeo, The Tory Burch Foundation, Pinterest, & LiveRamp. Her contributions to the industry earned her a spot on Adweek’s 2023 Creative 100 List and recognition in Insider as one of the 13 Top Consultants and Experts advancing diversity in advertising.

A sought-after industry thought leader and accomplished writer, Lola’s insights have been published in major publications including Harvard Business Review, Marketing Brew, Adweek, and Contagious. She has shared her expertise as a panelist, moderator, and keynote speaker at prestigious events including Cannes LIONS, Brandweek, Reuters Strategic Marketing, SXSW, LinkedIn B2Believe, and Female Quotient spaces, as well as universities nationwide.

Named a LinkedIn Top Voice, Lola engages with a vibrant community of over 40,000 thought leaders and changemakers. In December 2024, she released her highly anticipated debut book, Responsible Marketing: How To Create An Authentic & Inclusive Marketing Strategy (Kogan Page)

Shannon Washington is an award-winning creative director, creative business leader, brand builder and culturist.

After a storied run within IPG, recently serving as the Global Chief Creative Officer at Gotham/McCann Worldgroup, a role she assumed after a successful tenure as US Chief Creative Office at R/GA, Shannon finally pivoted back to one of her first loves—sports. Today, she is Chief Creative Officer & Managing Partner at 11Ounces, an award-winning creative studio focused on the culture of sport.

Throughout her career, Shannon has steadily established herself as one of the rising voices of the new generation of Madison Avenue leaders, with the wins and accolades to back it all up. At R/GA, she successfully navigated the brand’s flagship office through a global pandemic, personally leading, pitching and converting over $30M in creative business to include TurboTax, Uber, Samsung, ESPN and Sephora. At Gotham, she helped to craft the re-evolution of the world’s number one color cosmetics brand, Maybelline New York, with creative work that helped to claw back market share and net some of the brands first ever creative awards. Currently, Shannon is working to literally change the game of sports marketing with impactful storytelling, cultural relevance and

Most importantly, her penchant for cultural levity, transparency and mentorship has proven to be her most important asset in her career. In her spare time, Shannon can be found actively leading and participating in industry conversations around creative leadership, cultural inclusion and technology.

Shannon is a proud graduate of Howard University and reluctantly resides in the suburbs of her beloved New York City.