Global Finalists

Judd Anstey is the Chief Communication Officer for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, a non-appropriated fund instrumentality of the Department of Defense. Anstey manages the Exchange’s internal and external communication and brand marketing programs, driving organizational growth, brand awareness, employee engagement and customer loyalty. He also determines strategies for communicating the organization’s priorities to service members and their families as well as a global workforce of 24,000.

The Exchange has never been more visible to the American public and authorized military personnel. Since securing Department of Defense authorization for all veterans to utilize their lifelong, tax-free military exchange benefit (more than doubling the organization's authorized customer base), the Exchange has transformed and modernized marketing, entering into network broadcast agreements, partnering with notable public and military figures, expanding sponsorships and on-site activations, utilizing targeted out of home advertising and more. More than 1 million veterans have created accounts with the Exchange, generating more than $725 million in revenue. The Exchange achieved record earnings of $513 million in 2025.

Mona Charif has over 30 years of experience in the IT services industry, having joined NTT Group in 2016. As CMO, she leads various initiatives, including branding, demand generation, and global sponsorships. Her career includes significant roles at Fortune 100 companies such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lucent Technologies, and EDS, where she has consistently driven growth and innovation.

My team’s greatest accomplishment has been strengthening NTT DATA’s global brand while evolving marketing into a data-driven and strategically aligned function. NTT DATA is the 5th most valuable IT brand globally. We have successfully connected brand, demand generation, communications and client engagement to the broader business strategy, enabling greater consistency and impact as the company continues its transformation into a unified global organization. Another significant achievement has been building a high-performing marketing team that operates with a strong sense of ownership, collaboration and trust. The team consistently thinks beyond functional boundaries and delivers outcomes that support enterprise growth and client success.

Wanda Gierhart Fearing is Cinemark’s EVP and Chief Marketing and Content Officer, leading brand, digital, customer experience, and studio partnerships. She oversees a 100+ person team focused on data-driven growth, loyalty, content, and innovation. Since joining Cinemark, Wanda has modernized the brand and strengthened customer engagement. Previously, Wanda served as CMO of Neiman Marcus Group, CEO of Travelsmith, and EVP of Marketing and Merchandising at DWR.

Under my leadership, Cinemark reimagined marketing by modernizing go-to-market and the end-to-end guest experience. During unprecedented disruption, we built a best-in-class organization that impacted recovery, supported 150+ basis points of market share gains, and positioned long-term growth. We more than tripled digital ticket penetration, launched new communication channels, and reached nearly 9 billion impressions in 2025. Movie Club grew to 1.45M members (+5% YoY, +55% vs. pre-pandemic), and we scaled loyalty to 27M+ members, which generate ~60% of domestic box office. We also executed our first brand refresh in 25 years and launched Cinemark’s first national brand campaign.

Bridget Hall, Vice President of Marketing at Bell, leads the team responsible for brand strategy, integrated marketing, and demand generation across global markets. She has transformed Bell’s marketing function into a strategic growth engine, modernized digital engagement, and elevated Bell’s innovation narrative. Bridget previously led Bell’s enterprise strategy alignment and orchestrated the company’s brand transformation. She holds advanced degrees in communications and has served in multiple community leadership roles.

Bell’s marketing team has grown into a true strategic engine for the company. They unified brand, campaigns, digital, events, content, and analytics into one integrated operating system that increased speed, alignment, and measurable impact across the enterprise. The team strengthened demand generation and attribution, influencing hundreds of millions in pipeline and improving executive confidence in marketing’s contribution. They elevated Bell’s innovation narrative, modernized digital performance, and transformed experiential marketing into a measurable driver of relationships and opportunity. Under Bridget’s leadership, the team’s culture, capability, and creativity now help shape outcomes and position Bell for long-term success.

Derek Thomas is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Ryan, leading the Firm’s global marketing strategy, communications, creative development, and digital initiatives. With more than 20 years of experience transforming marketing organizations for global technology companies, he is known for building data-driven, client-focused strategies that accelerate growth, strengthen engagement, and elevate brand impact. Derek combines analytical rigor with a strong customer orientation to deliver clear, authentic, and measurable marketing outcomes.

Under my leadership, marketing transformed from a traditional corporate function into an integrated global organization spanning brand, digital, communications, and growth marketing. We unified the Ryan and tax.com brands through a new messaging architecture, comprehensive brand evolution, and a fully modernized digital ecosystem across web, automation, social, and data platforms. This transformation created a stronger foundation for enterprise growth, improved client engagement, and a more differentiated market position centered on Ryan’s ability to deliver end-to-end tax capabilities through services and SaaS.