Large Enterprise Finalists

Daniel Briones began his career as an automotive technician and today serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Crash Champions, one of the largest collision repair companies in the United States. Since joining in 2021, he has helped support the company's growth from 60 to more than 660 locations nationwide. With 25 years in the industry, Briones is known for building brands, elevating executive visibility, and driving growth through authentic storytelling and thought leadership.

As someone who started as a mechanic 25 years ago and today serves as the CMO of one of the largest collision repair companies in the U.S., I've learned that the most important decision you'll make is who you surround yourself with. Over time, you become consistent with the expectations of your peer group. Throughout my career, people have been my greatest asset. I've never been afraid to seek mentors, put my ego aside, learn from others, and be the least knowledgeable person in the room. Those relationships have shaped both my career and my life.

Fernand Fernandez (Fern) is Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Children’s Health, where he leads enterprise-wide communications, marketing and brand strategy. Previously, he served as Vice President of Strategic Communications and Marketing at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and held senior leadership roles at American Airlines. Fernandez brings more than 20 years of executive leadership experience and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Since joining Children’s Health, I have led efforts to strengthen collaboration and maximize impact, ensuring every message reflects our mission to make life better for children. By unifying marketing and communications, we elevated the Children’s Health brand through an integrated storytelling strategy across channels, driving measurable growth in unaided awareness and overall brand favorability across North Texas. We also launched a new creative platform to modernize our voice and visual identity while amplifying national recognition, including Children’s Medical Center Dallas being ranked among the nation’s best pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report and recognized across all pediatric specialties.

Abby Lowe McNeil has spent her career trying to help people—from providing footcare for homeless men in inner-city Oakland to leading marketing and communications for major healthcare organizations, including in her current role, SVP of Marketing & Communications at Global Medical Response. She has led through crises, an IPO and periods of rapid growth. Off the clock, she chases her 6-year-old twins and tries to convince her husband that her Spurs are better than his Suns.

When the Affordable Care Act passed, I worked for a not-for-profit health system where leaders had little reliable data about what the exchanges would mean for patients or the organization. Losing large numbers of commercially insured patients wasn’t sustainable, but leaders also wanted to do right by our communities. Nonetheless, I was trusted to lead marketing and business strategy for exchange enrollment. Our committed team positively impacted the health system and our patients, achieving over $135 million in payments from ACA plans to the system over three years and 200,000 enrollments in our three-state service area in year three alone.

Kerry Perez is CMO at AMN Healthcare, where she leads enterprise marketing across one of healthcare’s largest workforce marketplaces. A former Head of Enterprise Strategy, she brings a unique blend of strategic and operational leadership, helping connect clinician supply, client demand, and workforce innovation. Kerry serves on the American Staffing Association Board’s Marketing & PR Committee and the Advisory Council of the North Texas Food Bank.

As CMO at AMN Healthcare, I led a team that helped the organization navigate one of the most significant workforce disruptions in healthcare while positioning AMN for the next era of workforce solutions. During critical labor disruptions, we supported the sourcing, engagement, communication, and deployment of more than 10,000 clinicians across 250+ sites nationwide, helping healthcare organizations maintain continuity of care when it was needed most. At the same time, we improved clinician acquisition efficiency by 38% & helped evolve AMN’s market positioning, value proposition, and go-to-market-approach to better support healthcare organizations facing workforce shortages, financial pressures/ growing demands for flexibility.

Famous Rhodes is a pioneering marketing executive known for transforming iconic brands and accelerating growth across industries with leadership roles at eBay Motors, AutoNation, Yahoo! and Blue Compass RV, and recently Apex Service Partners. He has built world-class digital ecosystems, scaled high-performing teams, and led breakthrough innovations that reshaped customer experience. A visionary with an entrepreneurial mindset, Rhodes has served on multiple boards and helped companies achieve historic milestones from IPO to recent $10B valuation.

Famous Rhodes has led transformative digital growth across multiple industries by combining customer insight, innovation, and operational excellence. At Apex, he built a modern marketing engine that allowed for over 250 partnerships and recent valuation of $10B in less than 7 years. His leadership unified teams around data-driven decision-making and customer-centric strategy, resulting in measurable gains in revenue, retention, and market visibility. Previously, Rhodes helped scale digital ecosystems and launch brands at eBay, AutoNation, and Blue Compass RV. Launched two brands for category leaders in Blue Compass RV and AutoNation, while innovating the customer experience with multiple patents.