PATRÓN Tequila, Vaseline and Burger King are shortlisted for the 2024 Future Leader Awards

For instance, Stephanie Rufo, senior manager of brand PR and influence at PATRÓN Tequila, is a nominee for Digiday Future Leader in the brand category. She manages relationships with communications and social media agencies, provides counsel to senior leaders, and collaborates with internal teams to develop PR, talent and influencer strategies for every brand activation and campaign. Rufo builds authentic relationships with brand partners to foster a community of advocacy for PATRÓN, including its new prestige portfolio.

In the beauty category on the Glossy Future Leader shortlist, nominees include Colleen Green, senior brand manager at Vaseline-Unilever. Green leads all Vaseline marketing, performance and strategy for the brand in the U.S. She has created an immense impact externally with consumers and internally across cross-functional and agency teams. In her role, Green also supports skin equity by finding ways to expand Vaseline’s “See My Skin” program, most recently with “Mended Murals,” a multi-city initiative that sheds light on the importance of caring for skin of color and increasing access to health resources.

Burger King’s Preston Nix earned a nomination for Modern Retail Future Leader in the digitally-native category. As director of loyalty and CRM for Burger King U.S., Nix is responsible for the brand’s digital growth, leading the CRM team and overseeing the Royal Perks program, launched under his leadership in 2021. Since then, the loyalty and rewards program has witnessed 40% year-over-year growth. Nix has pioneered multiple tech-driven campaigns that have accrued more than 10 billion earned impressions, including “BK with a side of Crypto” and, more recently, “Million Dollar Whopper Contest.”

Collectively, the judges’ nominations in 2024 demonstrated how leaders are ensuring their brands are culturally relevant and engaged with their communities, using data and analytics to drive their strategies.

See the complete list of finalists below.

Digiday Future Leader – Agency
Farrynheight – Tatum Pederson
Fohr – Suzannah Tarkington
Group Black – Morgan Wilkinson
Iced Media – Ashley Banks
Nebo – Nicole Palmer
Wonderkind – Elle De Freitas

Digiday Future Leader – Brand
Ad Council – Armani Stewart
DBSI – Jared Jones
MNTN – Regan Przybyl
PATRÓN Tequila – Stephanie Rufo
Provence Beauty – Jeremy Abesera
Verlas – Nidhi Dangayach

Digiday Future Leader – Publisher
New York Times Advertising – Ian Robinson
TIME – Teagan Nurse

Digiday Future Leader – Technology Provider
Adapex, Inc – Doina Josan
AdRoll – Kirsten von der Wroge
Affinity Solutions – Ran Meng
Checkmate – Vishal Agarwal
Integral Ad Science (IAS) – Patrick Stoltze
TalkShopLive – Bryan Moore

Glossy Future Leader – Beauty
amika – Anagha Hanumante
Black Beauty Collective – Leslie Roberson
Debut – Joshua Britton
Iced Media – Ashley Banks
MERIT – Aila Morin
Unilever – Colleen Green

Glossy Future Leader – Fashion
Dagne Dover – Marie-Louise Winther

Glossy Future Leader – Wellness
Bloom Nutrition – Mari Llewellyn, Co-Founder
Mad Rabbit – Selom Agbitor

Modern Retail Future Leader – Digitally-Native
Awe Inspired – Max Johnson
Burger King – Preston Nix
Dagne Dover – Nicole Mullady
Figgy – Rachel Neill

WorkLife Future Leader – DE&I
Eva NYC – Aaliyah Manning

WorkLife Future Leader – HR
FeelSwell Experiences – Keely Antonio
We Are Rosie – Tessa Dillenbeck
ZayZoon – Jocelyn Meyer

WorkLife Future Leader – Recruiting
Fusion92 – Justin Elloitt
Progyny – Annie Panatier
Southwest Airlines – Kelby Tansey
4A’s Foundation – Jacquelyn Green

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