Chief Partnerships Officer, Initiative

Maureen has worked in the Media business for 25+ years as a leader in Strategic Investment guiding both clients and agency teams to driving maximum value in the marketplace.  She has also focused on building relationships with the media partners to better facilitate the negotiations and client’s executions in market. 

Maureen began her career as an Assistant Media Buyer in National Broadcast at the inception of IPG’s General Motors MediaWorks buying unit and was quickly promoted to a Buyer overseeing GM’s $300MM+ Sports investments.  At GM Maureen lead negotiations for various marquee events including their Olympics partnership, NCAA Basketball sponsorship and the NFL. 

In 1997, Maureen then went to work on the sales side at Discovery Communications as a Sales Planner.  At Discovery she learned the sales side of the business which proved invaluable in terms of learning how to negotiate with media partners.  Maureen crafted sales plans and marketing ideas for such clients as Procter & Gamble, Warner Brothers, Universal Studios, Exxon Mobil and M&M Mars.

After Discovery, Maureen went to back to the agency side working at Universal McCann for four years on the Coca-Cola account.  While working on Coca-Cola Maureen ran their high-profile Olympics sponsorship which was more than $100MM in addition to managing their juices and water brands.  At McCann Maureen was the recipient of their prestigious Truth Well Told Award recognizing employees that made a difference in the organization.

Maureen joined Optimedia, NY in April 2004 as a VP, Associate Director in charge of buying for T-Mobile, BMW, ServiceMaster among other brands. 

In March of 2010 Maureen was promoted to EVP of the National Video department overseeing the strategic investments across all clients as well as participating in successful new business pitches including Pizza Hut, Bridgestone Tires and Liberty Mutual representing billings more than $400MM.  

Maureen joined Initiative in February of 2016 and is currently the Chief Partnerships Officer overseeing all investments across the portfolio of clients including Amazon/Amazon Prime Video, T-Mobile, Liberty Mutual, Merck, Gilead, and Lego to name a few.  Maureen works closely with MAGNA to develop strategic partnerships in the marketplace that yield both efficiencies and impact for clients.  

Maureen’s buying experience spans across several key categories including auto, retail, wireless, film/entertainment, beverage, pharma, casual dining, insurance, and packaged goods.

Maureen graduated from Fordham University with a BA in Communications and has since been an alumni sponsor mentoring graduating students in the media field.  In addition, Maureen has volunteered her time giving back to the media business through various teaching and mentorship programs.

As an active member of the media industry Maureen is on the 4 As National Broadcast Committee and the IAB Video Board.

In 2010, Maureen was named as one of Broadcasting and Cable’s Next Wave of Leaders.  Maureen was also named one of the 2013 Working Mothers of the Year as selected by She Runs It and in 2013 AdWeek highlighted Maureen as a Media All Star.  Maureen was recently honored by She Runs It for the Changing the Game awards which highlighted her advancements when it comes to more inclusive buying practices.

Chief Marketing Officer, Ulta Beauty

As Ulta Beauty’s chief marketing officer, Michelle Crossan-Matos creates value and drives sustainable business growth as a change agent who is both a strategic driver and a hands-on pragmatic problem solver. She oversees integrated marketing, creative, customer experience, member loyalty, public relations, consumer insights, and UB Media for the leading beauty retailer. 

A C-suite executive with deep transformational, operational and brand building expertise, Crossan-Matos brings global perspective to business challenges and team development. From private equity to fast-moving Fortune 500 consumer goods and technology companies, Michelle’s expertise, enthusiasm and passion consistently elevate her business prowess and inspire teams around her. 

Prior to Ulta Beauty, Michelle served as chief marketing, citizenship & communications officer at Samsung Electronics America, where she was responsible for leading the company’s U.S. consumer, B2B marketing and communications strategies. Throughout her decades-long marketing career, she has held various leadership roles with Vertu and Procter & Gamble, where she gained extensive experience in beauty and personal care.

Michelle holds a degree in management sciences and manufacturing from The University of Strathclyde. She studied macroeconomics at MIT and digital & social strategy at Harvard Business School. She currently resides in Puerto Rico with her husband and their two children.

Chief Campaign Development Officer

Heidi Arthur brings together leading creative agencies, corporate brands, media and technology platforms, and nonprofit and government partners to drive public education, awareness, and action. She has more than 25 years of experience creating change around pressing social issues like diversity and inclusion, minority education, hunger prevention, Type 2 diabetes prevention, and high blood pressure awareness. Heidi’s work also includes the Ad Council’s groundbreaking COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative, which contributed to building trust and reducing hesitancy nationwide, and she currently leads the Ad Council’s mental health and racial justice efforts. Her campaigns have gone on to win numerous accolades, including Cannes Lions, Effies, Clios, and an Emmy.

To ensure continued creative innovation and excellence, Heidi also manages the Ad Council’s Creative Review Committees, comprising nearly 30 of the industry’s top agency leaders. The committees meet regularly to review, refine and raise the bar on the Ad Council’s social-good campaigns.

Heidi joined the Ad Council in 2000 after spending 10 years in the ad industry at Grey and Wells, Rich, Greene. She is a graduate of Union College and has a Certificate in Corporate Social Responsibility from Harvard Business School. She currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Baylor College School of Medicine, the steering committee for the National Response to COVID-19 (an initiative of the Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention), and the Board of Directors for AIMM (Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing)

President, Publicis Health Media

Andrea has been a media industry trailblazer for more than 20 years, pioneering innovative strategies that have since become standard practice in healthcare marketing.

She has an unmistakable ability to catalyze change in a complex and highly-regulated industry. Her intimate knowledge of healthcare business models and ability to navigate the industry’s complex path to sale, have been critical in establishing a sterling reputation for holistic client delivery and media innovation.

Andrea brings a great depth of experience, having managed cross-functional agency strategy and activation teams, as well as significant holding company level integrations — all with the goal of delivering best-in-class integrated media and content solutions for some of the largest healthcare brands. Her expertise spans pharma, OTC, medical device and technology healthcare service brands, as well as enterprise-level businesses.

In July 2019, she launched The HealthFront, a first-of-its-kind, two-day media upfront designed to explore the frontiers of healthcare and foster connections between brands and consumers. HealthFront is a masterstroke of Andrea’s, bringing together industry leaders in technology, media and content with more than 400 attendees for first-to-market opportunities across the health and wellness space. Andrea has been named an MM&M’s Woman of Distinction, PM360 ELITE 100 and 2022 Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA) Luminary for serving as a role model, actively mentoring and sponsoring others.