#SandageSymposium
We are excited to present the following speakers and panelists at the Sandage Symposium on Friday, September 18, 2026.
#SandageSymposium
We are excited to present the following speakers and panelists at the Sandage Symposium on Friday, September 18, 2026.
Former Agency Executive and Professor at Northwestern University
Judy Franks is a Professor at Medill Northwestern University, where she teaches media and consumer insight courses in the Integrated Marketing Communications degree programs at the Medill School. Judy joined Northwestern in 2008 following a 23-year agency career in Chicago, where she focused on media planning and connections strategy for some of the world’s most beloved brands: P&G, Allstate, Hallmark and LEGO, among others.
Judy’s passion is for all things media, and she has been a student of the media ever since she could read the Nielsen ratings in the Detroit News. She is the author of “Media from Chaos to Clarity and Back Again” (Bloomsbury Academic, 2026).
Advice for Advertising students: Don’t become discouraged by the bumps in the road. Every advertising generation has its shiny objects and its epic failures. History is a great lesson. Look back. Look for patterns. They’ll help you look ahead.
Senior Vice President, Strategy Director at Leo Burnett
Lacey Gilbert is a Senior Vice President, Strategy Director at Leo Burnett. A true integrated marketer, Lacey has 15 years of experience in media buying/planning, comms planning & brand strategy. Lacey has experience working iconic with many CPG, alcohol and retail brands injecting modern consumer centric insights to drive cultural relevance and creative effectiveness. Lacey graduated from the college of media with a MA in Advertising in 2011.
Advice for advertising students: Be as weird as possible. Meaning….be authentically yourself. Don’t try to fit in, but proudly be unusual or not the norm. Don’t be afraid to be outspoken about an off the wall, unexpected idea. Ask the “dumb” question. Connect dots that seem unrelated. Weird is powerful. Embrace your weirdness.
Senior Program Manager, Talent Development at Global Overview
Jana Smith is a Senior Program Manager of Talent Development at Global Overview (GO). Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of roles spanning operations, technology, communications, and project/program management. In her role at GO, she is focused on supporting the training and development of employees at all levels across the organization, from internship through to senior leadership. She is passionate about empowering those around her to thrive! In her free time, you can find her powerlifting, spending time with her 2 dogs, traveling, or trying out the latest board game release with her husband.
Director of Brand Communications at McDonald’s
Adam leads Global Digital & Social Media for McDonald’s, where he oversees corporate social and digital storytelling. He founded McDonald’s Global Story Lab, the company’s first newsroom-style content organization, bringing together editorial strategy, storytelling, and owned media to help one of the world’s most recognizable brands communicate with greater speed, relevance, and impact.
Whether it’s the return of the Snack Wrap, a Cactus Plant Flea Market collaboration, or bringing FIFA to fans around the world, Adam is passionate about turning business priorities into cultural moments people actually care about. A two-time Illinois graduate, he believes the best communications happen at the intersection of strategy, creativity, and culture.
On advertising trends: The brands that will win are the ones that stop trying to chase culture and start contributing to it. I’m excited by the shift toward more authentic storytelling, creator partnerships, AI-enabled creativity, and communications that feel genuinely useful rather than interruptive. Technology is changing how we create and distribute content, but the brands that stand out will still be the ones with a clear point of view and something meaningful to say.
Co-founder, MXML Creative
Greg Morrison is the co-founder of MXML Creative, a full-service creative agency in Chicago launched in 2024, with clients including Fanatics, Rocket, Motorola, AssuranceAmerica, and Chicago Fire FC. Before starting his own agency, Greg spent 17 years at BBDO Chicago, joining as an intern after graduating from the University of Illinois College of Media and rising to SVP, Client Service Director and Social & Content Lead. Greg’s clients at BBDO included Jack Daniel’s, Champion, Orbit Gum and The General.
Memorable experience at Illinois: Competing in the National Student Advertising Competition is how I developed myself as an account leader, how I succeeded in pitching with my classmates (and had a blast doing it), and how I met my wife. Win-win-win, I’d say.
Global Social and Creator Lead, Mars
Jessica Jorsch is the Global Social & Creator Lead for Mars, makers of your favorite snacks and treats. Jess sets the strategy for bringing Mars’ iconic brands to life and building community with our consumers with paid media, owned social and creator partnerships.
Prior to Mars, Jess graduated from the University of Illinois College of Media and went to work at a mix of media agencies like Mindshare, Digitas & EssenceMediacom as well as tech startups. She worked on a range of clients including Google, Sprint, Disney and Mars (from the other side!). She’s taken the opportunity to pivot to different types of roles from Media Strategy to Program Management and now Social & Creator, showing that a career in advertising can take many shapes.
Advice for Advertising students: Being part of AAF was so valuable for meeting friends, learning about the industry and landing my internship at Mindshare. Winning regionals and competing in nationals for the National Student Advertising Competition was a huge highlight, and the Coca-Cola client ended up being my real-life Sprint client a few years later! It’s a small industry.
Executive Vice President, Research, Publicis Media
Helen leads the global Data Intelligence practice at Publicis Media, a central team that provides strategic insight, measurement solutions, best practices and thought leadership in analytics and research. Helen oversees global data and research partnerships for Publicis Media and is a trusted industry expert on data quality and reliable measurement.
Helen began her career as an advertising professor at Michigan State University. She is an Adjunct Professor at both NYU and DePaul University. The 9th edition of her textbook “The Media Handbook” was published in April, 2025.
Memorable experience from her time at Illinois: It’s hard to pick just one! Going to many concerts at State Farm Center (aka Assembly Hall); walking to class through 6 feet of snow; registering for classes in person in the Armory; and (I guess!) meeting my future husband.
Talent Acquisition Partner at Ogilvy
Melissa works as a Talent Acquisition Partner at Ogilvy. She specializes in the Public Relations space but has recruited across traditional advertising roles including Account Managers, Strategists, Social Strategists, HR professionals & more. Ogilvy leads with empathy and believes “if each of us hires people bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.
CEO and Co-founder, Kelly Newman Advisors
Michael J. Kelly (BA ‘79) is a digital media, advertising, and technology pioneer with more than four decades of industry leadership experience. He has served as CEO of The Weather Channel, President at AOL, Publisher of Entertainment Weekly and held other senior leadership roles across some of the industry’s most recognized media and advertising businesses.
Today, he is Co-founder of Kelly Newman Advisors, where he advises and invests in growth-stage media, marketing technology, and AI-enabled companies. He also serves on corporate and nonprofit boards and focuses on how technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping media, marketing, and business growth.
Memorable experiences at Illinois: I played rugby, participated in intramural sports, tended bar, took classes well outside my major, and generally said yes to opportunities that came my way. What I learned is that in a large institution, your network doesn’t get assigned to you – it finds you through the things you choose to do. Over time, I built a smaller community inside a much larger university. Looking back, that was tremendous preparation for the business world.
Editor, Fortune Magazine
John Buysse is an audience engagement editor at Fortune. He leads audience strategy and content distribution for Fortune across social media, search, editorial platform partnerships and anywhere else Fortune content is consumed. Buysse joined Fortune in 2017. Prior to that he served as a social media strategist and Arizona’s state digital director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, managing Secretary Clinton’s official presence on Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn. He began his career as a brand strategist at the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. A native of the Chicago area and a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Media, Buysse lived in New York City for several years before returning to Chicago in 2018.
Ashley is Head of Marketing, Audience & Growth at Meta, where she leads global initiatives spanning creator economy strategy, audience expansion, and go-to-market programs – including a recent pilot that identified a major new opportunity in creator-led marketing and built the strategy to bring it to life from the ground up, work she’s shared on stages including the Consumer Electronics Show, Cannes Lions, and Miami Ad School.
Her path to Meta ran through Microsoft, Under Armour, and several advertising agencies, giving her a well-rounded view of the industry from multiple sides. A longtime advocate for diversity in advertising since her time as VP of Diversity for the University of Illinois AAF chapter, Ashley now serves on the board of ADCOLOR and remains passionate about mentoring the next generation of marketers. She lives in Chicago with her husband, David, whom she met at the University of Illinois, and their daughter, Raine.
On the future of advertising: I’m most excited about the shift toward creator-led marketing, the idea that the most trusted voice in advertising today often isn’t a brand at all, it’s a creator with an authentic connection to their audience. For students entering the industry, the skill set is changing too, it’s less about mastering one channel and more about being able to move quickly across new formats and tools.
CCO, ARC Worldwide
Chris has built his entire career around architecting award-winning, business-driving campaigns that simultaneously ignite brand love and results. With deep, cross-disciplined experience, he is most inspired by today’s challenge of creating connected brand experiences that engage consumers across multiple points of contact. Prior to Arc, Chris has held senior creative roles at Y&R, Trisect and VSA Partners. He has created memorable work for brands as varied as McDonald’s, Visa, Frito-Lay, Kawasaki, Hilton, Sears, The American Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control. And his work has been recognized by nearly every industry award — including Cannes Lions.
Director II, Enterprise Digital Advancement and Education, Abbvie
Rachelle is the Director of Enterprise Digital Advancement & Innovation at AbbVie, where she leads digital transformation and innovation initiatives across marketing. With more than 20 years of experience spanning agencies, global brands, and technology companies—including BBDO, Leo Burnett, Meta, Mars, and Kellogg—she has led global campaigns, lived and worked in the U.K., and built brands across international markets.
Rachelle is passionate about mentoring the next generation of leaders and serves on the advisory board for the University of Illinois Department of Advertising and the board of HealthConnect One. Outside of work, she volunteers with Little People of America, supports the Haitian community through nonprofit service, and is a member of Jack and Jill of America.
Advice for Advertising students: Don’t put yourself in a box. Advertising and marketing offer so many different paths, and the industry is constantly evolving. Stay curious, be adaptable, and don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself.
VP Engagement Strategy, AblesonTaylor Group
Amy Restko has a deep love for understanding what makes people tick and why they do the things they do. With a background in market research and brand planning, she’s learned how to look beyond what people tell you and understand what they need. Now, she leads the engagement strategy group at AbelsonTaylor Group, taking those insights and crafting engaging customer experience journeys to help move our audiences to make better health decisions. Passionate about giving back, Amy also leads AbelsonTaylor’s corporate responsibility program and serves on the Auxiliary Board for Off The Street Club, a Chicago-based non-profit youth center offering children a safe place to laugh, dream, and reach their full potential.
Advice for Advertising students: The people who make the biggest impact are often the ones asking the really great questions…not the ones with all the answers.
CEO, Bad Moon Talent
After graduating from Illinois in 2007 (B.S., Advertising), Drake began his career at DDB NY on various accoutns including United Technologies, Lipton, Klondike and Breyers Ice Cream. In 2010, he moved to Los Angeles to work on the PlayStation account at Deutsch LA, which launched his career in video games. Shortly after, Drake began working on the Consumer Marketing team for Call of Duty at Activision. After launching five Call of Duty titles, he began to focus on esports at Activision, Blizzard and MLG on the teams that launched the Call of Duty World League and the Overwatch League. In 2019, Drake co-founded Bad Moon Talent, a talent agency specializing in the players and broadcast talent within the esports industries, where he is currently the CEO.
Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Bill Rouse is Senior Vice President of Advertising Sales for Sony Syndication, Game Show Network, and Great TV, where he leads national sales strategy and oversees advertising revenue across linear and digital platforms. A University of Illinois alumnus, Bill has spent more than two decades building innovative partnerships for leading media brands. He is passionate about mentoring future advertising professionals and helping students navigate the evolving media and marketing landscape.
Advice for Advertising students: Stay curious and learn how businesses make money.
Co-Founder and Partner at Ascendant Loyalty Marketing
David Slavick has a B.A. in Advertising and M.S. in Communications from UIUC. His career has progressed from Top 10 ad agency firms leading teams in media/strategic planning, to CRM/Loyalty planning/management for global brands, to consulting at both Accenture Interactive and Deloitte Digital. He is now Co-founder & Partner at Ascendant Loyalty servicing the customer-centric needs of Top 100 clients in: Retail, Hospitality, Cruise Lines and Pure Play e-Commerce sectors. David is a multi-channel retail marketing expert leveraging data insight to drive strategic planning, creative/offer management, customer loyalty program design/strategy, and analytical modeling/segmentation application to drive profitable business results.
