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Jury

Sanja Partalo
Executive Vice President
WPP

NEW YORK, USA // Sanja is an Executive Vice President at WPP, the world's largest marketing services company. Working directly with WPP's C-suite, Sanja is responsible for driving WPP's growth through development of new technology products & solutions, strategic partnerships and venture investments.

Currently, Sanja is focused on the intersection of marketing and technology. She leads WPP's channel strategy, product & solution development and go-to-market with all major technology platforms that are transforming the value chain of marketing and media - Google (Ads and Cloud), Facebook, Twitter, Snap, Adobe, Salesforce, Microsoft, IBM and Amazon. She is responsible for WPP’s global partners and channels business.

Sanja is also responsible for defining what is ‘next’ and sources investments in startups that are shaping the frontiers of marketing and media (focused on adtech, martech, AR, podcasting, gaming and applied AI) and leads their integration with WPP. Sanja currently serves on the boards of Mighty Media and SubVRsive. Sanja has previously served on the boards of YouEarnedIt (leader in retention SaaS, acquired by Vista, 11x) and Gimlet Media (leader in podcasting, acquired by Spotify, 109% IRR).

She is also responsible for WPP’s technology enablement program (which equips WPP’s 100k+ workforce for high-growth verticals, such as martech, voice and cloud for marketing) and partner marketing (GTM, industry analyst relations).

Prior to joining WPP's leadership team, Sanja was an award-winning marketer with experience across industry leading brands including Google, Coca Cola, Spotify and Dell. Sanja holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, where she serves as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Media.

She was born in Bosnia and came to the US as a teenager through a refugee resettlement program, having spent 3 years living in a war zone and two years in a refugee camp. Sanja is passionate about human rights and serves on the board of Human Rights First.

Expertise: Marketing, Advertising & Technology, Brand Building, Strategic Partnerships & Business Development, Channel Ecosystems and Partner Solutions, Digital Transformation, Digital Media, Corporate Strategy & Operations, Venture Investing, Complex Global Deal and Contract Negotiations ($$$M), Board Director.