Speakers 

Wesley ter Haar

Co-Founder of Media.Monks & Executive Director of S4 Capital Group

Wesley ter Haar is the co-founder of Media.Monks, a digital-first marketing and advertising services company that connects content, data, digital media and technology services across one global team built from the bottom up. He sits on the boards of SoDA (The Digital Society) The One Club and S4Capital. Under his ongoing leadership for more than 20 years, Wesley has sought to wage war on mediocre digital production, growing Media.Monks from a humble production house into an end-to-end creative and production partner, through aggressive expansion and many mergers throughout the years. Employing over 8,700 people across 57 talent hubs in 32 countries, the Media.Monks team works across time zones and around the world to achieve unparalleled creative quality recognized by many Cannes Lions, FWA Awards, two-time Webby Production Company of the Year, and inclusion on the Ad Age Digital A-List. 

He has spoken around the world at conferences including Cannes, Adobe MAX, CES, Advertising Week NY, Advertising Week LATAM, FIAP and more. Always looking to bring creative triumphs to justice, Wesley is the inaugural president of Cannes Lions' Digital Craft jury and serves on the Cannes Titanium Jury, which celebrates game-changing creativity. In 2018, ter Haar earned a coveted spot on the AdAge’s 2018 Creativity All-Stars list and was inducted into the ADCN Hall of Fame in 2018.

Lizzie Shupak

Co-Founder and Partner @ Curve

Lizzie has spent her career facilitating collaborations that tap right into the culture of an organisation or stakeholder ecosystem, helping organisations like the BBC, the United Nations University, VIVOBAREFOOT and AstraZeneca to get the best outcomes for their stakeholders.

As well as being a trained coach, Lizzie is a mentor at Abbey Road Red (Universal Music's startup incubator), a Fellow of Included VC (a programme to diversify the investor community) and sits on the Campaigning Committee of WACL (Women in Advertising and Communications Leadership). She was awarded in the IPA’s inaugural Women of Tomorrow competition for her strategic work and was profiled in Forbes about creativity and facilitator leadership.

Committed to the task of transitioning to a regenerative economy, Lizzie has a specific interest in facilitator leadership, wayfinding and "healing" journeys in organisational or multi-stakeholder contexts. Alongside the challenges it brings, her ADHD is the source of some of her greatest strengths, and she’s proud to have been recognised in Women Beyond the Box's 2022 list of top Neurodivergent Leaders.

Michael Ventura

Founder, Author & Advisor

For over two decades, Michael Ventura has worked as a leader, facilitator, and educator. Concepts and tools from his first book, Applied Empathy (Simon & Schuster, 2018) have been embraced by influential, respected organizations from the ACLU, LVMH, Google, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Microsoft, and Nike to The United Nations and the Obama Administration. His work is focused on helping leaders and their teams to incite growth and catalyze change.

Michael’s work is widely regarded for its ability to embolden others to feel, think, and act with greater curiosity, and a willingness to deepen their understanding of the different perspectives that influence our inner and outer worlds. His study and practice of modern leadership draws from ancient wisdom to bring about new skills and adoptable behaviors that are thoughtful, provocative, and personal.

A dynamic speaker and facilitator, Michael has shared his work as an advisor to a variety of public and private organizations, as well as prestigious institutions such as Princeton University and the United States Military Academy at West Point. His work has been featured in media outlets such as Business Insider, Fast Company, Forbes, The New York Times, PBS News Hour, and with conference attendees at Adobe’s 99U, SxSW, The TED Conference, and corporate events the world over.

David C. Baker

Advisor to agency leaders and author of The Business of Expertise and The Secret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors

David C. Baker is an author, speaker, and advisor to entrepreneurial creatives worldwide. He has written 5 books, advised 900+ firms, and keynoted conferences in 30+ countries. His work has been discussed in dozens of international publications. The NY Times referred to him as the expert’s expert. He co-hosts the most listened to podcast in the creative services field (2bobs).

Michael Seidler

Founder & CEO at Madison Alley

Michael Seidler is the Founder and CEO of Madison Alley Global Ventures, and also serves as Founder and CEO of MAGV Securities, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and FINRA member firm. Before founding Madison Alley, Michael supported global strategic planning and managed the investment portfolio for The Interpublic Group – overseeing $200 million worth of global investments across 15 companies and four venture funds. He was an Associate at Goldman Sachs before moving to Interpublic, and has also worked at American Online and CompuServe.

Michael holds Series 24, 28, 63, and 79 (investment banking) FINRA regulatory licenses.