We’re so grateful for these diverse senior powerhouses from marketing, client services, design, creative, tech, strategy and business leadership disciplines.
You might see some familiar faces, as well as a few extraordinary new recruits. And remember â your mentor doesn’t have to work in your desired role.
Some of our most successful pairings have come from vibes and values.
Simone Waugh
Managing Director, PublicisWW
Simone is the Managing Director of Publicis, a full service agency with the mission to Lead the Change for brands with digital, creative and media solutions. She recently led the communications for the winning Olympics Brisbane 2032 bid and is building tourism, sport and experiential engagement experiences in preparation for the event.
Simone has worked for large corporates, has extensive experience with government, and has a passion to give back to charities. Category experience includes financial services, healthcare, education, food service, and FMCG. A leader of inclusivity and diversity initiatives and a focus on wellbeing in the workplace.
See full profile
Christine Gannon
Managing Partner, CHEP
Christine is the Managing Partner of CHEP in Brisbane, one of Australiaâs most successful and awarded creative, cx, data and tech agencies. Brisbane born and bred, she has worked in the industry for over 25 years across a range of agencies and clients including RACQ, TAFE Qld, Michael Hill Jeweller, UQ, TEQ and more. She is a hands-on strategic leader who brings enthusiasm and a problem solving attitude to everything she does.
See full profile
Georgia Ball
Brand Partnerships Director, SoPost
Georgia is currently working as Brand Partnerships Director at SoPost. Prior to starting at SoPost, Georgia was General Manager at Vivo, a local digital agency that builds custom digital products for clients like National Storage, Diabetes Australia, UQ, QUT, Poolwerx, Jetts Gyms and Spicers Retreats. Now at SoPost, Georgia heads up our operation in Australia as they start to scale up in APAC and grow their client base with brand partners like Aesop, Tom Ford, Clinique, LancĂ´me and L'Occitane, among others.
She started her career in digital at a London based tech incubator and since then she's worked both agency side and within startups designing and implementing growth strategies. Georgia was also the first Brisbane Chapter Director for Interactive Minds.
See full profile
Jessamy Ross
Senior Copywriter at VMLY&R & QLD AWARD SCHOOL Head
Jessamy is a Senior Copywriter at VMLY&R. Over the past 10 years, she's earned her creative stripes working on campaigns big and small for some of Australia's most interesting clients (and others she's had to work to make interesting along the way).
As a past Award School winner (2014) big, bold ideas get her out of bed in the morning. But, as a Masters-degree-qualified nerd, she also thrives on finding her way out of a strategic quagmire or behaviour change puzzle. Outside of advertising, her writing has been published in The Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Wellbeing Magazine.
See full profile
Caroline Starecky
Director of Innovation & Ventures at Monitor Deloitte
Caroline recently become Director of Innovation & Ventures at Monitor Deloitte after the innovation consultancy she was working for (GLASS) got acquired by Deloitte. Caroline develops innovative initiatives leveraging the human-centred design lens across BX/EX/CX/UX and technology, processes, data for large-scale organisations across Australia. Caroline also spent over 15 years in integrated agencies cultivating brands and developing impactful outcome-focused strategies in North America and Australia.
See full profile
Kylee Ratz
Group General Manager, Cutting Edge
Kylee Ratz' career spans more than 28 years and includes an impressive 14 years as Cutting Edge's Group General Manager in which she leads a team of over 100 people. Kylee thrives on rapport building and delivering high-quality products that not only meet but exceed client expectations. Her passion for the industry, aptitude for client service and high-quality output has cultivated a highly-regarded reputation and she looks forward to sharing her knowledge with the Assisterhood for the fourth year in a row!
See full profile
Ash Ivory
Head of Product at Askable
Ash Ivory is the Head of Product at Askable. Most days you will find Ash asking the hard questions in an easy way, splitting hairs over good user experience (donât worry, they studied graphic design), dodging gender norms (theyâre openly queer), helping their product team to find and solve the right problems (Ash is passionate about building a great product with real purpose), upskilling the office in brewing coffee (coffee, err, that's all). Oh, and riding their motorcycle (it's basically meditation).
See full profile
Ashton Tuckerman
Chief Marketing Officer at Gathar
Ashton is the CMO and Australia GM at Gathar, the private chef start-up changing the way the world gathers. With a decade of industry experience (woof, when did that happen?) spanning both specialist and generalist roles, Ashton has worked both in-house and agency-side for global game changers (Flight Centre), industry disrupters (Youfoodz), and award-winning agencies (Red Havas). Content and brand are Ashton's bread and butter, but her skillset is spread across all things marketing, from SEO to PR, CRO, and other acronyms. Helping people find their âwhyâ and making the work week feel less like a bunch of Mondays strung together is what gets Ashton out of bed every morning (as well as thinking about what sheâll be eating that day).
See full profile
Frankie Young
Design Director, Dotdash
Born in East Germany, Frankie has lived, travelled and worked in London, Buenos Aires, Cologne, and Berlin. For the past decade, she's been based in Brisbane, Australia.
Her career has followed a non-linear path with one common thread - a desire to learn more about design in all its forms - and its impact on our interaction with each other and our environment. As a strategic brand designer, Frankie delivered visual identities, brand experience, editorial, digital, film and video campaigns, strategies and products. As a design teacher and mentor, she inspired young designers to approach design with empathy, curiosity, and consideration for the diverse human experience.
See full profile
Emmagness Ruzvidzo
Marketing Consultant | Empowerment Coach
Emmagness is a Brand and Marketing Strategist with over 10 yearsâ experience. Her focus is on helping companies achieve tangible results through research-based marketing programs.
Emmagness is passionate about driving revenue growth and has successfully designed and executed comprehensive marketing, brand, and digital strategies in various companies across a diverse range of industries, such as Banking and Finance, Health Insurance, Energy, Retail, and Fintech, including a Fortune 500 enterprise.
Her dedication to staying ahead of the curve drives her to continuously research and experiment with new technologies, seeking out ways to enhance both the efficiency and effectiveness of a companyâs marketing efforts.
See full profile
Katie Martel
Owner and Director, Croft Public Relations
Katie is founder and director of Croft PR, Brisbaneâs leading PR and marketing agency for creating âPR with Purposeâ. She's a 15-year award-winning brand and PR consultant and strategist who was named as Inside Small Business 'Top 50 Australian Small Business Leaders.'
Katie founded Croft PR in 2013, and today she leads a creative, savvy and collaborative communications team working with some of Australiaâs leading brands â including Shine Lawyers, Craftâd Grounds and Medela Australia.
Her mission is to help other leaders - in business, charities and government organisations - drive PR with purpose - meaning there is a greater, positive purpose and impact to championing their mission, than just driving bottom-line results. She is also podcast host to the Thriving in Business podcast.
As a mum of two young boys, she's committed to empowering more women and mums in the industry - providing greater opportunities for growth and leadership.
See full profile
Amber Snow
General Manager, Pixel Palace
As Pixel Palaceâs General Manager, Amber is the ultimate âintrapreneurâ with a focus on creating positive change in people's lives through business. As a young emerging leader who achieved GM status at 30, she has accelerated her career by focusing on leading from within, something she teaches the practice of daily with her team of marketers, creatives and developers at the reputable Pixel Palace. Amber's mission both inside and outside the work environment is to spark confidence in people and their abilities so that they can achieve their potential and live more fulfilled lives.
With a Bachelorâs Degree in Business (Mktg), Amber has applied her intrapreneurial business skills to coach people, transform businesses and enjoy a decade-long career that spans from radio, to corporate branding and agency management.
See full profile
Sara Tweedly
Chief Marketing Officer, Canstar
Sara has almost 20 years of experience in the finance, marketing, digital, and communications industries with practical and demonstrated success across paid, earned, and owned media locally and internationally.
In her role as Chief Marketing Officer at Canstar, Sara is responsible for developing and leading the implementation of Canstarâs marketing strategy to drive traffic and brand awareness, improve customer experiences and generate revenue streams. Sara leads one of the largest and fastest-growing teams at Canstar spanning marketing, PR, SEO, and editorial.
Having spent the majority of her career working in financial services across a range of very different organisations, Sara empowers her team to make the complex simple and is passionate about delivering on the brandâs goal of helping consumers to get financially healthy.
See full profile
Nina Ellingsen
Brand and Marketing Advisor, Orange Sky Australia
Nina is an experienced strategic marketing and communications professional with a passion for assisting organisations to deliver on their strategic objectives. Her career spans 20 years working within integrated marketing agencies and leadership roles. Upon returning from a consulting role in New York in 2011, she founded her own boutique marketing agency which she then went on to merge with one of Queenslandâs largest independently owned agencies in 2017.
Her skills span brand strategy, strategic marketing, campaigns, corporate communications, media relations and stakeholder and community engagement. Currently, Nina works on key strategic projects at Orange Sky, a not-for-profit that supports people experiencing homelessness with free laundry, warm showers and genuine non-judgemental conversation. After nearly two decades working in agencies, Nina has found renewed purpose working in the not-for-profit sector, striving to make Orange Sky one of the most recognised and trusted charities in Australia and New Zealand.
See full profile
Camilla Marshall
Head of Marketing, Endeavour Foundation
As the Head of Marketing for Endeavour Foundation, Camilla is well versed in high pressure and data-driven marketing environments. In fact, thatâs where she thrives.
Her ability to deliver effective campaigns and create stronger brands is underpinned by extensive experience in senior marketing and communications roles within B2B and B2C global organisations across industries including aviation, tourism, insurance, assistance, and government.
See full profile
Clare Dlugosz
Group Director - Technology and Transformation, EssenceMediacom
Clare is a seasoned marketing professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry. She currently works as the Group Director of Technology and Transformation at EssenceMediacom, an intrapreneurial role where she is responsible for delivering change projects, using technology to make the day to day of advertising simpler, cleaner, and clearer.
See full profile
Laura Jiew
Marketing Communications Manager, Innovation & Investment - CSIRO
Laura's career has spanned across the areas of education, non-profits, STEM and cyber/information security. She has an undergraduate degree in Science and postgraduate qualifications in Marketing and Event Management. Laura describes herself as people-oriented, tech-savvy and a strong communicator. The human connection and ability to contribute towards a stakeholderâs success story is something she really thrives doing. She's passionate about building stronger, more connected communities within the STEM sector and is currently working at the CSIRO which has proven to be a great fit!
See full profile
Pam Okada
Supporter Engagement - Retention Coordinator, Royal Flying Doctor Services
Pam is a highly focused deadline-driven natural planner. She loves nothing more than managing projects and campaigns from ideation to execution. She thrives in high pressure environment and is results oriented.
Pam started her not-for-profit journey 11 years ago as a Campaign Advisor for yourtown/Kids Helpline in the charitable lotteries team. She was responsible in developing and implementing supporter acquisition and retention strategies to achieve growth targets. After 11 years of selling lottery tickets and making dreams come true, it was time for a new chapter.
Pam is now in the Supporter Engagement team at Royal Flying Doctor Service, fundraising to ensure all Queenslanders have access to medical aid, emergency services and other vital health care services, whenever wherever.
See full profile
Kate Lippett
Chief Client Officer, Publicis Groupe
Kate has been in the media industry since 2003, working across most categories. Currently, Kate leads a team of 35 people on a global brand, with her core focus to inspire creativity and innovation in bringing world-class thinking alive. She's very happy in this role and wants to ensure that she can inspire her team to be the best versions of themselves. She also wants to be able to share the things she's learnt throughout her career with others.
See full profile
Megan Henderson
Marketing Operations Leader, Flight Centre
Megan drunk the Flight Centre Kool Aid 11+ years ago starting as an Advertising Executive in NZ. Megan said yes to every opportunity she could (some good, some bad), which has allowed her to work in 6x different roles, and 4x different brands over the 11x year period. She's now the Global Marketing Operations leader for Flight Centre brand. If someone told her 11 years ago where she would be now with Flight Centre, the experience, opportunities she's had, and friends she's met, it would have been a big "NO F*CKEN WAY" moment.
See full profile
Lieve Torbeyns
Founder/Creative Director, Sgt Purple
Since graduating in 1998 with a Masters in Advertising & Design in Belgium, Lieve has worked in some of the leading communication agencies in Belgium and Australia. Her passion has always been to create concept-driven dynamic brand identities that are engaging, memorable, and connect with their customers. Lieve's expertise is branding, brand development, logo design, conceptual thinking, art direction, visual digital design, and illustration. She started her own design studio, Sgt Purple in 2013 where she helps customers with bespoke branding that successfully communicates, visually attracts, and connects with their target audience.
See full profile
Yasha Chandra
Client Partner at iProspect
With over 13 years of experience in media across India, China, Vietnam and Australia gives Yasha a unique understanding of the cultural context across these nations. While people and their motivations are similar, the way of achieving it differs. Yasha believes that the ability to harness this human capital through shared purpose is the key to sustained growth. This is what Yasha would love to continue doing - raise future leaders who are empathetic, authentic and driven.
See full profile
Kath Usabal
Head of Marketing, Vision6
Kath Usabal is the Head of Marketing at Vision6, Australiaâs most reliable email and SMS marketing platform. In this role, Kath is responsible for leading the marketing team to deliver data-driven, fullstack marketing campaigns to grow the Vision6 brand, increase customer retention and brand loyalty.
With over seven yearâs experience in the digital marketing space, working within an agency and as an in-house marketer, Kathâs expertise spans across B2B and B2C organisations. Prior to Vision6, she worked with brands like Stamford Hotels, Capital Hotel Group, TOP 10 Holiday Parks and BIG4 Holiday Parks. Sheâs been on the judging panel for the Women Leading Tech Awards for the past two years, and is an advocate for empowering women in marketing and tech.
See full profile
Ready to become a QLD mentee?
The best time to apply was yesterday â the next is right now. Let’s shoot for the stars together.