10 Marketing and Communications Leaders to Inspire You in 2021

Even the best of marketers can be challenged in times like those we’ve all experienced over the past 12 months. But it is those who rise above those challenges that fuel the inspiration we all need to succeed in our industry.

On this blog, we’ve made a point to highlight inspirational marketing voices with lists of top marketers by discipline (B2B marketing, social media marketing, content marketing) and our famous lists of Women Who Rock in Marketing since 2010. Over the past few years, we’ve tried (not hard enough) to be more inclusive in these lists to represent women and people of color.

During Black History month, many brands have made efforts to shine a light on contributions made in the world by individuals the black community. But why should honoring such contributions be limited to one month? For our small part, how we represent marketers of color in the content on our blog, on social networks and in marketing content as well as the influencers we work with has changed significantly over the past few years. It’s not enough, but we’re continuing to learn and grow our awareness, understanding and action when it comes to the importance of diversity and inclusion.

As I reflect on those who inspire me on a daily basis to be more, to be better as a marketer and marketing leader, the following list of women of color stand out. I encourage you to learn more about their backgrounds, achievements and to pay attention to the contributions they are making to the world of marketing and communications in both B2C and B2B.

Beverly Jackson @BevJack – in/beverlyjackson/
Vice President Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at Twitter

With past experience working at The GRAMMY Awards, Yahoo!, MGM Resorts and Activision Blizzard, Beverly now serves as Vice President of Global Brand and Consumer Marketing at Twitter. Beverly is a dynamic, senior marketing executive adept at building, mentoring and managing high performance entertainment and digital marketing teams while establishing long-term strategic relationships to drive revenue.

Beverly has extensive agency and in-house experience launching brand extensions and new products, utilizing metrics to analyze growth, developing innovative digital strategies to drive brand loyalty and awareness via social media, mobile and community engagement. We’ve interviewed Beverly in the past and recognized her several times on our lists of top marketers over the years. She joined Twitter as VP in January 2021.

Bozoma Saint John @badassboz – in/bozoma-saint-john/
Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix

Boz got her start in marketing at Spike Lee’s advertising agency, Spike DDB. She then went on to manage brands within the PepsiCo beverages portfolio, before becoming Head of Music and Entertainment Marketing at the CPG giant; followed by Head of Global Consumer Marketing at Apple Music & iTunes; then went on to serve as Chief Brand Officer at Uber; before taking on the CMO role for Endeavor (including WME, IMG, UFC, Miss Universe, 160over90 etc).

Boz launched a podcast alongside award-winning journalist Katie Couric, “Back to Biz with Katie and Boz,” which explores the ways thought leaders, CEOs and innovators are responding to the societal shifts that have been ushered in by the coronavirus pandemic. Boz’s philanthropic efforts include representing Pencils of Promise as a Global Ambassador to Ghana and serving on the boards of Girls Who Code and Vital Voices. With such contributions, Boz was an easy pick to recognize in our Women Who Rock in Marketing list. She took on the CMO role at Netflix in June 2020.

Dr. Candace Steele Flippin @CSteeleFlippin – in/candacesteeleflippin/
Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands

Candace has 20+ years serving B2B and B2C domestic and international companies in the financial services, medical device, biopharmaceuticals and pharmaceuticals industries before taking on the role as SVP and Chief Communications Officer at Acuity Brands.

Candace is a globally recognized multigenerational workplace scholar, TEDx speaker, industry thought leader and author that specializes in development and implementation of Corporate Communication and Public Relations strategies that support business growth, navigate change and mitigate crises. She has a Doctorate in Management from and is also a Research Fellow at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Candace took on the SVP role at Acuity Brands in November 2020.

Dara Treseder @daratreseder – in/daratreseder/
SVP, Head of Global Marketing & Communications at Peloton Interactive

A veteran Chief Marketing Officer, Dara was previously the CMO of Carbon and the CMO of GE Business Innovations & GE Ventures. Earlier in her career, she led marketing and growth efforts at Apple and Goldman Sachs. A champion of public health, women’s issues, and diversity initiatives, Dara is the Vice Chair of the board of the Public Health Institute (PHI). Dara also serves on the board of PG&E.

Dara graduated cum laude from Harvard University with highest honors in field and holds an MBA from Stanford University. We were happy to recognize Dara in our 10 year anniversary list of women who rock in marketing. She joined Peleton as SVP and Head of Global Marketing and Communications in August 2020.

Deirdre Findlay @deirdre_findlay – in/deirdre-findlay/
Global Chief Marketing Officer & Consumer Revenue at Condé Nast 

As a former Google, Stitch Fix and eBay marketing executive, Deirdre is a passionate marketer with progressive experience in integrated marketing – brand, product, customer relationship marketing, loyalty, offline and online direct marketing, business to consumer, and business to business.

Deirdre serves on the boards at Sonos, Olaplex and Effie Worldwide and has an MBA from Dartmouth. She joined Condé Nast as CMO in January 2020.

Gail Moody-Byrd @gailmoody – in/gailmoodybyrd/
Chief Marketing Officer at Noodle.ai

Gail’s experience at McKinsey & Company, The World Bank, Levi Strauss, and over 10 years at SAP lead her to the CMO role at Noodle.ai. There, she is responsible for delivering awesome brand, demand, digital marketing, events, sales enablement, product marketing and AR/PR by motivating her team to let the world know how great a company Noodle.ai is.

An MBA graduate of Harvard Business School, Gail serves on the Board of Directors at Juma Ventures. focused on empowering low-income youth to transcend challenging circumstances, fulfill their inherent potential, and positively impact their communities. Gail appeared in our 2020 list of Women Who Rock in Marketing. She joined Noodle.ai as CMO in November 2018.

Jeanine Liburd @JeanineLiburd – in/jeanine-liburd/
Chief Social Impact and Communications Officer at BET Networks

Previously serving as VP Communications at MTV, SVP of Corporate Communications at Viacom and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at BET Networks, Jeanine is now Chief Social Impact and Communications Officer at BET Networks where her responsibilities include leading and elevating a portfolio of multi-platform social change initiatives that empower BET Networks’ audiences to have an impact on the critical issues facing the black community today.

Her current role also focuses on utilizing content as a catalyst to create awareness and build action oriented impact campaigns globally. She also oversees strategic partnerships and community engagement at the local and national levels. Jeanine has been recognized in our annual list as a Women Who Rocks in Marketing. She has been in her current position at BET Networks since September 2019.

Leah Frazier @TheLeahFrazier – in/theleahfrazier/
President at Think Three Media

Leah is an experienced Publicist, Content and Influencer Marketing Consultant with a demonstrated history of working with brands in the fashion, apparel, beauty and lifestyle industries.

As a 2X Emmy Award-Winner, Best Selling Author, TEDx Speaker, and publisher of a top 30 Podcast In Marketing, she is skilled in Media Outreach and Relations, Entrepreneurship, Public Relations, Influencer Campaigns, Strategic Planning, and Marketing Strategy. She is also a strong business development professional with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) focused in Law from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Leah has been president of Think Three Media since June 2016.

Lisa Maxwell @LisaMaxwe11 – in/itslisamaxwell/
Vice President Marketing, Data & Services at Mastercard

Lisa Maxwell has a proven track record of reinventing and reinvigorating brands through business turnarounds and creating business reinventions grounded in consumer insights. Lisa orchestrated the successful turnaround, from negative to sustainable double digit growth, on recognizable brands like Nicorette, NicoDerm CQ, Abreva and K-Y brand. She has created several innovating and long lasting omni-channel campaigns that included TV, public relations, electronic consumer relationship marketing (ECRM), social media, digital and shopper marketing. In her current role at Mastercard, she develops integrated campaigns that highlight Mastercard Data & Services solutions across Loyalty & Engagement and Advisor offerings.

Lisa is a recipient of the 2012 Tribute to Women in Industry (TWIN) Award, an alumnae W.O.M.E.N. in America and a Committee of 200 Scholar. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of GrassROOTS Community Foundation. Lisa was promoted to her VP of Marketing role at Mastercard in April 2020.

Tyrona (Ty) Heath @tyrona – in/tyronaheath/
Director, Market Engagement, The B2B Institute at LinkedIn

With more than 17 years of experience in digital and product marketing education at Google Inc, consulting within IBM as a social business manager and leading a B2B agency consulting practice, Ty now serves as the Global Lead for the B2B Institute @ LinkedIn where she delivers thought leadership to help marketers stay on top of the latest in B2B marketing strategy through research, teaching and writing about B2B marketing, social selling as well as leadership, diversity and inclusion.

Ty is also the former President of LinkedIn’s Black Inclusion Group (BIG), Co-Founder of LinkedIn’s annual TransformHER conferences, author of “Marketers of Tomorrow: A Step by Step Toolkit for Inbound Marketing” and a two time Olympic Trials qualifier in track and field. Ty has made numerous appearances on our blog through interviews, covering her industry presentations and recognition on our lists of Women Who Rock in Marketing. She joined the B2B Institute at LinkedIn in September 2020. (LinkedIn is a client of TopRank Marketing)

I am fortunate to call several of these top marketers friends and I appreciate their direct and indirect influence on my efforts to be a better marketer myself. Above all, I hope that this list provides both recognition for their contributions as well as inspiration to our readers when it comes to marketing leadership, best practices and achievement.

Who would you add to this list? Please share in the comments or post a reply to us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

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