Strategic Advisors

Craig Bromley is an executive and investor with multi-national experience in the U.S., Asia and Canada. Craig resides in Boston, where he most recently led John Hancock Financial Services, a diversified financial company with over $500 billion in AUM, as Chairman and CEO. In that position he drove innovative strategies such as Vitality, the first life insurance product to digitally track and reward healthy behaviors, and new fintech strategies such as comprehensive digital financial planning for individuals. Craig also led John Hancock to an all-digital advertising and branding strategy.

Prior to working at John Hancock, Craig led Manulife Japan, a large life insurance company based in Tokyo, as CEO for seven years. For the 12 years prior, Craig worked in M&A and strategy for various large financial institutions. Craig began his career in consulting and government investments.

Craig’s primary interest currently is helping the management of start-up and early stage companies achieve their growth objectives. Focus industries are fintech and digital marketing companies in both the B2C and B2B spaces.

Creative advertising legend Bob Isherwood is a passionate mentor, coach, and teacher, who shares his knowledge with creatives around the globe as Dean of Breed Worldwide’s Creative Bootcamps, the education model for the innovation economy. With over 40 years of agency experience, Bob also serves as Dean of the Young Creative Academy at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The former Worldwide Creative Director of Saatchi & Saatchi (1996–2009) is one of the top 10 most awarded creatives in the 50 year history of D&AD. In his time as Worldwide Creative Director he led the Saatchi & Saatchi network to win almost 8000 creative awards. Bon initiated the Saatchi & Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas which attracted judges as distinguished as Buzz Aldrin, Edward de Bono, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Danny Hillis, Baz Luhrmann, John Maeda, Lou Reed and others.

Since leaving Saatchi & Saatchi, Bob has taught Creative Advertising at Vanderbilt University and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Communications from RMIT University in Melbourne. He is the co-author of “World Changing Ideas”.

Marcia Roosevelt is the CEO and Founder of Sugar Hill Strategy, a consultancy dedicated to amplifying the value of brands, businesses and services through creative problem solving, strategic vision, and innovation.

Marcia has worked for over three decades in branding, strategic planning, communications, advertising and innovation, with experience at luxury creative boutique Cadwell Davis Partners, packaged goods specialist Warwick Baker Fiore, creative hothouse Wells Rich Greene, and two stints at global ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi.

At Saatchi & Saatchi Marcia was Executive Vice President, Global Planning Director and led a strategic consultancy focused on helping top agency clients such as Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Toyota and Walmart to get to the future faster by bringing creative problem solving upstream in the innovation cycle.

In her work Marcia has helped R&D partners turn nascent technologies into fully fledged market-ready ideas, translated cultural trends into forward-looking marketing opportunities that enabled them to leapfrog over competition.

Johann Xavier is Managing Partner at O2 Advisory Inc., a Toronto, Ontario based firm specializing in strategic advisory for entrepreneurs and small-to-medium businesses.

Previously, Johann was CFO of Saatchi & Saatchi in Asia Pacific and Greater China, Europe, Middle East & Africa, and COO of Saatchi & Saatchi Canada. He has more than 25 years of experience navigating the complexities of finance and operations and charting the best routes to sustainable profitability.

Johann has helped acquire, divest, restructure and grow businesses of various sizes and has a solid understanding of a broad spectrum of industries. He has closed numerous M&A transactions in established and emerging markets. Johann has developed both a passion and an expertise in guiding companies and their management through transactions prior to, during and after the event has closed.

Johann has worked in five continents and is an experienced cross-cultural leader. His ability to work with different groups and cultures is one of his strongest capabilities, as is his passion for greater diversity in leadership in the workplace. He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, UK.

Praveen Kenneth is an Indian Entrepreneur who is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Elohim & Kenneth Ventures. Prior to that he was co-owner and Chairman of L&K | Saatchi & Saatchi as well as the founder and Chairman of Law & Kenneth Worldwide. He became the youngest-ever CEO at Publicis Groupe at just 29 years of age, overseeing the $6 billion group’s operations in the Indian sub-continent.

Along with Andy Law, founder of the iconic British creative agency St. Luke’s, Praveen launched Law & Kenneth Worldwide in the UK in 2004. With 18 offices being launched around the world in the same year, Law & Kenneth became one of the youngest and fastest growing networks. In 2014 Law & Kenneth, which had grown to the largest independent agency in India, became a part of the Publicis Groupe. Through this partnership the agency took charge of Saatchi & Saatchi operations in India and formed L&K Saatchi & Saatchi. Praveen helmed the business.

His primary passion is to build innovative organizations and recruit pioneering souls. He strongly believes in empowering people to be the ‘miracle’ in building strong clients, brands, businesses and relationships.

Brian Sweeney is Chairman of SweeneyVesty, an international strategic consultancy providing communications, public relations, and reputation management services to listed and private corporations, national and global brands, governments, and corporate individuals, in particular CEOs. Founded in 1987 in New Zealand, SweeneyVesty works in complex communications situations involving business growth and transformation, brand and culture building, issues management, competition, and innovation. SweeneyVesty is an independent company operating in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific, and has been awarded Cannes, Clio, Mobius and OneShow awards for PR.

Brian’s consulting experience includes over a decade working in telecommunications during the shift from analogue to digital technologies, and two decades in global advertising. He has a degree in Politics from the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He has been a member of the TED conference since 1993 and in his creative career he has produced music, film, theater, photography and business books.