We’re thrilled to introduce you to the winners of the 2024 Women in Content Marketing Awards (WICMAs). Concluding its sixth year, the Women in Content Marketing Awards celebrate incredible women across all levels and specialties who are defining the content marketing industry and creating a lasting impact through their leadership.
The 2024 Women in Content Marketing Awards honored women across seven categories: WICMAs Content Marketer of the Year, Content Marketing Program of the Year (New!), Marketing Leader of the Year, Pivot (a returning award), AI Innovator (New!), Rising Star, and Freelance Excellence.
As you’ll see, these women have forged new paths for their brands, clients, and the industry at large. They each bring a thoughtful and innovative approach to their work, and we’re thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments.
The Women in Content Marketing Awards are presented by Masthead, a content marketing agency founded and led by women, and the Content Marketing Institute.
WICMA Content Marketer of the Year
Christie Brown
Director, Creative Operations
Butler/Till
Christie Brown is the Director, Creative Operations at Butler/Till, where she brings a unique blend of creative and operational leadership to content marketing. With an associate degree in Advertising and Commercial Illustration and a bachelor’s in Organizational Management, Christie combines artistic expertise with a strategic mindset. Before joining Butler/Till, she developed a strong foundation in the automotive industry, working in fast-paced, competitive environments.
Christie now leads a large creative team, delivering personalized, scalable content solutions for national brands. Her passion for leveraging technology to streamline content creation drives innovation within her team. She also serves as a board member of the American Advertising Federation’s Rochester Chapter and is an original Butler/Till’s AI subcommittee member. Christie’s leadership style centers on agility, continuous improvement, and servant leadership.
Carolyn Cohen
Global Content Strategy
Lockton
Carolyn Cohen is a Global Content Strategist at Lockton as of November 2024- but is being recognized by WICMA for her work over the last four years prior at H&R Block as a Senior Marketing Manager on the Marketing and Experience team. She managed a team who is responsible for social channels across three lines of business, and worked collaboratively with .com, blog, PR, and media teams. In Carolyn’s role, she was uniquely positioned to work with both field marketing and corporate marketing teams- building plans for activations and IRL events across the country.
She also led H&R Block’s Employee Advocacy program, in its fourth year with 6,000+ participants. Carolyn worked with Go-To-Market teams on yearly plans and overarching content pillars. Partnering with agency teams she provided the POV for our social communities and content performance. Prior to H&R Block, Carolyn has more than a decade in content marketing leadership both at Garmin, Barkley and VML.
Cassie Cope
Director of Content
Ally Financial
Cassie transformed content marketing at Ally when she launched an innovative experience—Conversationally.com. She oversees the editorial team that creates engaging articles, quizzes, visual stories and more that reach consumers through a multi-channel distribution plan. That content nurtures consumers putting them on a path to conversion and delivering business results.
Cassie began her career as a newspaper reporter, then transitioned to corporate content marketing at Honeywell before joining the consumer finance industry at Ally. Cassie’s audience-centric storytelling expertise has helped her thrive as a content marketing leader. She sees around corners and embraces new technologies all while building a strong team culture.
Ebony Jones
VP, Content
Spark Foundry
Ebony Jones is a VP of Content at Spark Foundry, a global media agency brand within Publicis Groupe. In this role, Jones spearheads all media partnerships for The Campbell’s Company’s portfolio of brands. She is responsible for crafting authentic brand storytelling and fostering innovation through partnerships to help achieve Campbell’s business goals and enhance consumer connection.
Jones joined Spark Foundry in 2018. Throughout her tenure, she’s successfully executed innovative content experiences in industries including CPG, technology, and luxury fashion.
Jones has received multiple industry accolades for her work, including an Effies and a Cannes Lion, and has been invited to speak at industry conferences, including ANA Masters of Marketing and Advertising Week New York.
Jones is passionate about mentorship. Outside of work, she serves as a Vanguard sponsor and an alumni advisory board member at her alma mater, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Pooja Vijay Kumar
Head of Platform Content Strategy
Autodesk Inc.
Pooja Vijay Kumar is redefining the intersection of technology and storytelling, making a profound impact in the tech and software-as-a-service industry. Known for her ability to distill complex ideas into accessible, human-centered content, she’s helped brands like Autodesk, Robinhood, Oracle, hyper-growth startups, and top Fortune 500 companies across fintech, enterprise, cloud, and digital software transform how they communicate. A recognized leader, Pooja excels at turning teams into creative powerhouses, bridging the gap between technical precision and user engagement. Her leadership is driven by the belief that content isn’t just information—it’s a catalyst for connection and innovation.
Named one of Silicon Valley’s most influential people by the Business Journal in 2024, Pooja continues to shape the future of content strategy, setting new standards for how technology communicates with the world. Her work isn’t just about crafting content—it’s about empowering industries to use language as a transformative tool, making technology feel more intuitive, relatable, and human.
Sydnye White
Vice President, Content & Storytelling
Special Olympics
Leading the charge in transformative content strategy, Sydnye White's tenure as Vice President at Special Olympics has been defined by steering an in-house team to craft award-winning, high-impact narratives across multiple platforms. Her strategic oversight has resulted in 68 billion impressions per event, reflecting a pivot from charity to inclusion advocacy, which resonates deeply with global audience's.
With an extensive background in executive producing and creative development, she has successfully launched 15 original broadcast shows and produced content that garnered widespread engagement for multi-million-dollar campaigns. Her proficiency in new media and creative writing ensures every story shared not only captures attention but also galvanizes action towards a more inclusive world.
Content Marketing Program of the Year
Michelle Cove & Jesse Moss
GRIEF SUCKS
Experience Camps
In January 2024, Experience Camps—an award-winning national nonprofit that supports grieving children—launched GRIEF SUCKS. This award-winning digital content platform provides teens with strategies for navigating their grief and offering a space of belonging. We know that loneliness is typically one of the hardest parts of grief for all ages, especially teens. GRIEF SUCKS normalizes grief by showcasing celebrities talking about their own grief journey and providing teen reviews of grief-related pop-culture content, kids’ candid stories, irreverent videos, and more.
The reason this is so important: Six million kids in the U.S. alone will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18 and grieving youth are more likely to endure mental health challenges, poor academic performance, and negative long-term physical and financial outcomes than their non-grieving peers. Left unaddressed, childhood grief can undermine a child’s future. However, with the proper interventions and support around them, grief can lead to remarkable resilience and hope.
That’s why Experience Camps Director of Communications Michelle Cove, Director of Marketing Jesse Cove, and freelance web designer Megan Phillips teamed up to create this vibrant, engaging, and vital platform. Michelle and Jesse applied their extensive professional experience in mainstream media and leaned on their conversations with hundreds of grieving teens; Megan used her engaging design skills to create a look that feels upbeat, and authentic and echoes the pop style of teen content. But their secret sauce? They built GRIEF SUCKS with a Youth Advisory Board of 18 diverse teens across the nation who have all experienced grief firsthand.
So much of the content for grieving teens feels depressing, “gray,” and off-putting. Our goal in creating GRIEF SUCKS was to give grieving teens a vibrant, cool and global space they want to be in and trust. That’s why we co-built it with teens, and why they’re cheering on our work.
Marketing Leader of the Year
Jennifer Chase
CMO and EVP
SAS
Cynthia Gumbert
CMO
SmartBear
Cynthia Gumbert is CMO at SmartBear. In the last five years, she has built a non-traditional worldwide marketing organization that has more than doubled in size, incorporating developers, evangelists, community experts, and storytellers alongside traditional roles. Cynthia brings her background in engineering, product, and growth marketing, along with financial and business acumen, to foster an innovative, collaborative marketing team and culture that drives results. She has more than 20 years of software and hardware experience, having held leadership positions at Quick Base, CA Technologies, and Dell. She has repeatedly supported double- and triple-digit growth at various fast-growing technology startups.
Anya Harrington
Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Communities In Schools
Harrington joined Communities In Schools in 2015. As Vice President of Marketing & Communications, she oversees the operations and strategies of the marketing and communications department with a specific focus on advertising, branding, cause marketing integration, thought leadership, crisis communications, and organizational messaging.
Harrington is an experienced communications professional with over 17 years of diverse client work in communications. She stands out for her ability to curate compelling stories. She has led the creative strategy for several impactful projects and initiatives, such as The Push documentary, the What We Are Made Of campaign, and recently launched national ad campaign, Being Present Matters.
Her media portfolio spans across all mediums, including placements in the New York Times, Education Week, Politico, Washington Post, The 74, Hechinger Report, CBS Mornings, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Huffington Post, ESSENCE and Glamour magazines.
Anya is a graduate of Howard University with a B.A. in Print Journalism and a concentration in Business Administration. She received her master’s degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communications from Georgetown University.
Liz Money
SVP, Brand & Creative
BÉIS
Sangeeta Prasad
Chief Marketing Officer
Slalom
Sangeeta joined Slalom as its very first chief marketing officer in 2020 and now leads a global team of 160 marketers in seven countries.
This is the second time she’s joined a company as its first CMO – also at Russell Reynolds – bringing a strong portfolio of consumer and B2B experience from P&G, Chase and American Express. Sangeeta is known for her courageous yet adaptable leadership style and ability to build consensus across many cultures. Most of all, her leadership style and work are anchored in Slalom’s differentiated “fiercely human” approach to client and partner relationships.
Sangeeta’s sophisticated marketing expertise pivoted Slalom’s volume-based tactics into human-based marketing, which combines customer insights with a scalable, consistent methodology to promote relationships. She helped prioritize full-journey marketing and what specific clients care about, including an approach to surround Slalom’s customers around the world with personalized messaging.
Pui Chi Wong
Vice President of Marketing, Fidelity Labs
Fidelity Investments
AI Innovator
Lora Fanning
Manager of Content Marketing
Huebner Marketing
Lora Fanning is a strategic content marketing leader who combines creative storytelling with AI-supported content strategies. At Huebner Marketing, she spearheads content strategy and execution across multiple channels, developing high-impact campaigns for both the agency and its diverse client base.
Previously, as a member of the editorial team at Compose.ly, Lora pioneered AI integration in content creation while managing editorial workflows. Her background includes launching a national platform for the Kids in Need Foundation, where she led a team of 30+ writers. With deep experience in both B2B and B2C content, Lora specializes in creating compelling narratives that drive engagement and generate leads while maintaining brand integrity across digital platforms.
Pivot
Bria Bell
Senior Marketing Strategist
J.P. Morgan
Bria Bell’s superpower is storytelling. As a Senior Strategy Associate on the Payments — Industry Engagement Marketing team at J.P. Morgan, she leads the Speakers Bureau for North and Latin America. Her daily grind includes partnering with internal teams, business stakeholders, and subject matter experts to develop thought leadership engagement, highlighting and strengthening speaker positioning at industry and client events. Before her days at J.P. Morgan, this Texas native spent nearly a decade working as a TV reporter. Her journalism journey includes stints in Iowa, North Carolina, and her hometown of Dallas. She’s rubbed elbows with presidential candidates during the 2016 election, tackled Midwest snowstorms live on air, and led coverage for the CBS affiliate in Charlotte during the powerful protests for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter in 2020.
Brittany Howard
Senior Copywriter
Visit Savannah
My name is Brittany Howard. I am the Senior Copywriter for Visit Savannah, Savannah, GA's tourism organization. I've been in my role for three years, now working on four, and in a short time, I've come to recognize the pivotal role that marketing has in everything we do. I couldn't fathom that being a lover of writing could benefit from so many different avenues within this field. Content, email, brand, SEO, website, and ads intertwined to form the career I didn't know was waiting for me. I can confidently say that I've found my place and am where I'm supposed to be.
Elizabeth Sile
Director of Content
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Elizabeth Sile is an award-winning editor and writer. She is currently the director of content at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, where she oversees the foundation’s content strategy. A former magazine editor, she has held staff positions at Real Simple, Departures, and Esquire, and her byline has appeared in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Inc., Delta Sky, Reader’s Digest, and more. As a freelance editor, writer, fact-checker, and strategist, Elizabeth has consulted for tech companies, nonprofits, small businesses, and media outlets. She lives in the New York City area with her family.
Rising Star Award Winners
Mia Ortiz
Manager, Digital Content Communications
Pfizer
As a Digital Content Manager at Pfizer, Mia specializes in crafting dynamic and engaging content that resonates with diverse audiences across the company’s corporate social media platforms. She collaborates closely with internal teams and external agency partners to develop tailored content for influencers, advocates, and key stakeholders, with a particular focus on supporting Pfizer’s Specialty Care portfolio. Mia is also instrumental in co-managing the content strategy for Pfizer’s award-winning Global Podcast platform, ensuring each episode aligns with the company’s broader communication goals and reaches the right audience.
Her role encompasses the full content lifecycle—from initial ideation and creative development to content publishing and distribution. Mia is deeply involved in analyzing performance metrics across platforms, utilizing data-driven insights to refine strategies and enhance audience engagement. By establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) and tracking benchmarks, she ensures content effectiveness and continuous optimization to meet business objectives.
In addition to her core responsibilities, Mia serves as the communications co-lead on Pfizer’s Latino Community Leadership team. In this capacity, she amplifies the voices of diverse colleagues across the organization, creating visibility for their contributions and promoting an inclusive culture within Pfizer. Through her work, Mia is committed to fostering a sense of belonging and strengthening the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts.
Maclaine West
Partner Integration + Branded Content Lead
National Basketball Association
Maclaine West is a creative leader passionate about storytelling and building meaningful connections. At the NBA, she leads the Branded Content team, driving innovative campaigns like Nike x NBA Air Time and Peloton x NBA. In her day to day, she blends creativity and strategy to create content that resonates with fans, athletes, and partners, redefining how brands connect with the NBA’s global audience.
Beyond her role at the NBA, she recently became a college professor at Babson College, teaching sports and entrepreneurship to inspire and mentor the next generation of change-makers. As well as is the Founder of Soul Supper, a human connection brand hosting events and suppers for her community.
Maclaine is fueled by a commitment to excellence and collaboration, leveraging her experience to leave a lasting impact on the sports and entertainment landscape.
Freelance Excellence
Emily Paulsen
Freelance Writer and Editor
EAP Communications, LLC
Emily Paulsen is a freelance writer and editor focused on health and healthcare topics. She has a special interest addressing issues of health equity and increasing access to quality care for underrepresented and underserved populations. Working with non-profits, associations, healthcare organizations, and government agencies, Paulsen produces clear and accurate communications for consumers as well as healthcare professionals and administrators. She also works with subject matter experts and healthcare leaders to hone their message and disseminate their work. Paulsen currently serves as President of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the nation’s leading organization for freelance and independent journalists, authors, and content writers.
