North America Excellence Awards

Rudolf Hetzel is publisher of international Communication Director magazine, which is distributed worldwide. He is founder and CEO of Quadriga University in Berlin and Helios Media GmbH – the publishing house of Communication Director magazine. Rudolf studied political science at the Free University of Berlin, where he later taught.

An experienced marketer, Rafi has helped multinationals, start-ups, technology companies and governments with the execution of communications programs all around the world. Equally excited at the challenges facing B2C and B2B companies, over the last 10+ years he has worked with companies such as IBM, Philips, MasterCard, Nissan and Kodak, as well as more B2C focused clients such as the Eurovision Song Contest and mySupermarket.com. London born, Rafi now leads global PR efforts for MyHeritage and manages the team of Country Managers who implement the company's social media strategy on a day-to-day basis. He likes running and take-out in equal measures.

Lynn Kenney currently leads the Corporate Communications function for the North American business at RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser), with US operations headquartered in Parsippany, NJ. She oversees all of RB’s internal and external corporate communications strategies including executive communications, employee communications, corporate reputation, issues management, media relations, corporate advertising, social media and community relations in for North America. Lynn began her communications career working for public relations agencies, including Edelman, Cohn & Wolfe and Noonan Russo in New York City, where she supported global communications programs for blockbuster healthcare products for nearly 10 years. Following her agency career, she moved to the corporate side of the business, serving as Director of Global Product Communications for Merck, where she led all global communications supporting the company’s diabetes, respiratory (asthma) and infectious diseases (HIV) initiatives around the world, and as head of Corporate Communications for the US subsidiary of Eisai, a Japanese-led pharmaceutical company

Melissa Womack is VP Global Marketing at KPIT where she responsible for articulating, disseminating and reinforcing the KPIT brand. She leads business unit marketing and develops global and regional marketing programs for customers, partners, analysts and media that span from market analysis and planning through delivery, management and measurement. As a technology marketing leader Melissa contributes to company growth by building brands, developing products and smoothly integrating acquisitions. She inspires global teams to achieve measurable success in marketing, communications and growth.Melissa brings 20 years of experience in marketing and channel partnerships for multinational public companies. She previously served as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Business Development for Software Spectrum, Inc. and Insight Enterprises. She also served as Director - Sales & Marketing for Travelocity, the popular online travel website. She holds an MBA from University of Texas at Dallas and was named as one of the 100 Most Influential Marketing Technology leaders in Asia by World Marketing Congress.

With an emphasis in business value, reputation management, and experience design, Anabell Iglesias has built a 20-year career in international marketing and communications in organizations like Unilever, International Paper, UNICEF, and Kimberly-Clark. A native of El Salvador, she received a BS in Economics and Business Administration from the Escuela Superior de Economía y Negocios in her country and additionally holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management and an MA in Mass Communications from the University of Florida, where she attended as a Fulbright Fellow.
Understanding the shift in marketing and communications in an omnichannel world, she became the first digital strategist for Kimberly-Clark in Latin America, going on to head digital strategy, brand public relations, and corporate social responsibility for the Baby and Child Care (Huggies) priority business. Transitioning to Corporate Communications and heading the function for Latin America, she brought omnichannel thinking to reputation management and built novel frameworks to drive a transformation in the discipline. Her frameworks were adopted as the global standard at Kimberly-Clark, and she additionally received 12 international recognitions along the way, including PR Professional of the Year at the Excellence Awards. Anabell resides in Atlanta and is currently researching applications of Design Thinking for communications to enhance employee experience, drive "Future of Work", and business performance.

Carlos is a visionary professional who has 15 years of experience in the tourism industry. His proactive development in areas of the public, private, and governmental sectors have positioned him as an innovator and strategist with strong relationships with tourism leaders.In 2009 he moved from his hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico to New York City to become part of the team at the Mexico Tourism Board’s office in New York and later a Trade Director in a New York based public relations agency where he developed strategies for tourisms destinations and tourism brands.In 2014 he founded ENroute Communications which he has positioned as one of tourism public relations newts leading agencies signing on clients such as Quito Tourism, the San Miguel de Allende Tourism Board and properties in Mexico and Costa Rica.He has a Bachelor's degree in tourism from Mexico’s Guanajuato University, as well as a Master's Degree in Tourism Development from the University of Madrid, Spain. He is an advocate for the LGBT Rights and dog lover.

Nicholas Ashooh, senior director of corporate and executive communication at APCO Worldwide, focuses on providing corporate communication services to C-suite clients. He is also a member of APCO’s International Advisory Council. Mr. Ashooh has more than 37 years of experience in corporate communications, serving as senior communications officer at five Fortune 500 companies across several sectors, including energy and utilities, financial services, insurance, metals and mining, and entertainment.Most recently, Mr. Ashooh served as vice president of corporate affairs for Alcoa, a global metals and mining giant. There, he was responsible for media relations, community relations, internal communications, marketing communications and corporate reputation. He also oversaw the Alcoa Foundation, one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States, and was a member of Alcoa’s Executive Council, which set strategy for the company.

Pete Wootton serves on the leadership team of the agency's Technology Sector, and partners with Microsoft on their corporate communications and cross-company storytelling. He specializes in brand, corporate strategy and executive transitions, as well as reputation management and financial communications.

David Hoff, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Ledcor, Vancouver, Canada.The Ledcor Group of Companies is one of North America's most diversified construction companies, serving the building, oil & gas, infrastructure, mining, power, and telecommunications sectors. Ledcor also own operations in property investment, forestry, aviation, and marine transportation services. Ledcor employs over 7000 people across 20 offices, and numerous construction sites. At Ledcor, Mr. Hoff is responsible for Ledcor’s brand, reputation and external communications, including marcom, government, media and stakeholder relations.Mr. Hoff's past experience is in corporate communications, marketing and public affairs with Bell Canada, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Canadian Treasury Board.He has also been a corporate consultant for telecommunications, information technology, finance, transportation, manufacturing, construction and environmental organizations.Mr. Hoff is currently serving on three boards of directors: VIA Rail Canada, the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Jack Webster Media Foundation.

Natan Edelsburg is the EVP at Sawhorse Media where he's the senior supervising producer of the Shorty Awards (honoring the best of social media) and handles the business side of Muck Rack (where journalists and sources connect). Edelsburg is also the Executive Editor of The Drum's Found Remote where he covers the future of TV and interviews top executives at TV networks about the impact social is having on their companies. He's previously worked on influencer marketing campaigns for Nokia, Showtime, WellPoint, PepsiCo, BIO, A&E and more. Edelsburg’s also worked at 360i, Bain & Company, Showtime and LinkedIn.