Speakers

As Chief Marketing Officer, Brian leads a global team charged with the guardianship of the Eventbrite brand, attracting more creators to the platform, taking the company’s products to market, and building advocacy and community. Over the past two decades he has led iPhone and iPod Marketing Communications at Apple, Global Marketing for Google where he built the Google Play brand into a premium entertainment product, and the launch of Airbnb’s repositioning from homes to trips as Global Marketing Director. Brian is no stranger to shepherding iconic brands, having spent the early part of his career at Levi Strauss & Co, GE and General Motors.

Eric Lent is Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Upscale Brands at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) As a key senior leader, Eric is part of the core team that runs the marketing function globally. He is also on the Regional Leadership team for the Americas. Eric has strategic and tactical responsibility for the development and delivery of overall category, business and marketing performance, brand and commercial strategy, guest experience, food & beverage, innovation, design, and marketing communications for IHG’s upscale hotel portfolio.

Before joining IHG, he served as SVP, Chief Marketing & Consumer Technology Officer at Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (HFE), where he was responsible for all aspects of marketing operations nationally, as well as an EVP for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Previously, Eric spent over seven years with The Hershey Company in various marketing and general management roles. As part of the leadership team that transformed Hershey into a top performing company, Eric helped drive record quarterly earnings and delivered top-tier shareholder return in the consumer packaged-goods sector.

Prior to The Hershey Company, Eric served as a director with Eastman Kodak and brand manager at S.C. Johnson. Eric has a strong track record with global brands, and has won numerous awards for effective marketing and advertising, including multiple Effie Awards.

Outside of work, Eric's is an advisor to 48in48, an organization dedicated to building websites for non-profits. Previously, he served as Board Chairman for the Towson University College of Business and Economics, where he received the Dean’s Recognition Award for his lifetime of career successes.

Lindsay Levin is a marketing leader with experience in consumer product marketing and scaling and building organizations. Today, she is the CMO and CSO at Fluresh, a premium vertically integrated medical cannabis company with a focus on quality and wellness. Slated to launch in Q4, Fluresh will grow and produce cannabis products and operate its dispensaries out of Michigan to start.

Most recently, Lindsay served as the CMO at RXBAR, a high-growth snack company that was acquired by Kellogg’s for $600M in 2017. She joined the company in its infancy, as its eighth employee, and helped build the organization from seven employees to 250+, with revenues growing 2000% over 3 years. At RXBAR, Lindsay oversaw all marketing disciplines, including branding, advertising, retail marketing, e-commerce and innovative go-to-market strategies.

Prior, Lindsay worked at PepsiCo, where she focused on brand management and global brand strategy for the Quaker brand. Lindsay also worked at Stanford University and Navigant Consulting. Lindsay holds a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Northwestern University. In 2018, Lindsay was awarded the American Marketing Association’s Brand Visionary Award (Chicago Chapter).

Lindsay lives in Lincoln Park in Chicago where she and her husband are raising their two children (a 4.5yo son and 2yo daughter)

Monica McGurk is a passionate advocate for our global food system, fusing strong commercial instincts, technological savvy and market insight to champion consumer and customer needs, navigate ambiguity, and inspire sustainable growth.

She currently serves as the global Chief Growth Officer of Kellogg, the ~$14B maker of such beloved brands as RXBar, Eggo, Pringles, Frosted Flakes and Morningstar Farms, having previously served as its Global Chief Revenue & eCommerce Officer. In her current role she leads Insights & Analytics, R&D, Category Strategy, Global Brands, Marketing, Revenue Growth Management, Sales and Channel Strategy, Digital and eCommerce.

She previously held positions as the Chief Growth Officer of Tyson Foods, helping define the ~$40B company’s agenda for sustainable growth at scale. Prior to this role, she was President of Tyson’s multi-billion dollar Foodservice business, as well as Senior Vice President of Strategy and New Ventures. In this capacity she led strategic planning, spearheaded the creation of Tyson’s first sustainability strategy, and founded TNV, a corporate venture fund and incubator with $150MM in committed capital focused on alternative protein, business models that eliminate food waste and food insecurity, and “the Internet of Food,” leading investments in emerging industry shapers such as Beyond Meat.

Before joining Tyson Foods, Monica worked for The Coca-Cola Company, where she was Senior Vice President of Strategy, Decision Support and eCommerce for the company’s North America Group. While there, her team facilitated the biggest grocery product launch in Amazon’s history and the creation of the bottle personalization website, shareacoke.com, introducing Coca-Cola to the world of special event marketing and consumers to their favorite beverage in a truly customized 8 ounce glass bottle.

Prior to Coca-Cola, she was the founding CEO of the analytics-driven startup, The Alumni Factor, empowering students and parents with the first customizable college ranking system based on actual life outcomes of college alumni. She spent over 15 years at McKinsey & Company, one of the world’s top management consulting firms, where she focused on the consumer and retail sectors. At McKinsey, she co-founded McKinsey’s consumer innovation practice in the Americas and led its consumer organization practice, particularly focusing on capability building in demand-generation drivers such as sales, marketing, and innovation. Monica serves on the Board of Directors of MAA, a publicly listed multi-family housing REIT with market capitalization of ~$14B, and recently completed service on the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Advanced Analytics & Computing, State of Arkansas. She lives in Winnetka, Illinois, with her husband, Tom, and their children. Her personal passions include writing novels, combatting human trafficking, promoting women’s issues, and talking her way into the kitchens of restaurants around the world. Monica holds Masters degrees in Business Administration and Education from Stanford University, as well as an A.B. in Government from Harvard, but is a Gator by Choice.

Sergio Rebelo is the MUFG Bank Distinguished Professor of International Financethe at the Kellogg School of Management, where he has served as Chair of the Finance Department.

Professor Rebelo does research on macroeconomics and international finance. He has studied the causes of business cycles, the impact of economic policy on economic growth, and the sources of exchange rate fluctuations. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the Sloan Foundation, and the Olin Foundation.

He is a fellow of the Econometric Society, the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the Center for Economic Policy Research. He has been a member of the editorial board of various academic journals, including the American Economic Review, the European Economic Review, the Journal of Monetary Economics, and the Journal of Economic Growth.

He has won numerous teaching awards at the Kellogg School of Management, including the Executive Masters Program Outstanding Professor Award and the Professor of the Year Award.

Professor Rebelo has served as a consultant to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the European Central Bank, the McKinsey Global Institute, the Global Markets Institute at Goldman Sachs, and other organizations. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester.