Brand Purpose Committee Meeting

Breakfast & Registration (9:00 - 9:30 a.m.)

Announcements & Introductions (9:30 - 9:40 a.m.)

Member Discussion (9:40 - 10:15 a.m)
Join Brent Rivard from Geezer Creative for a lively member discussion. In an era where performance marketing receives the lion's share of budget and resources, Brent will examine the growing importance of balancing performance marketing with essential brand building that is rooted in a clear and resonant purpose.

Speaker:
Brent Rivard, Partner & CEO, Geezer Creative; Former CMO Internova Travel Group

Session I: Creativity with a Conscience: How to Use Purpose-Driven Campaigns to Redefine Impact (10:15 - 10:50 a.m.)
Elite Media, an independent, Black-owned, female-led creative agency, is redefining the role of marketing and advertising by creating campaigns and initiatives that don’t just make headlines — they make change.

One example is their "The Schoolys" program, a social impact initiative designed to bridge the gap between local businesses, organizations, individuals, and the public schools at the heart of our communities. The Schoolys challenges brands and business leaders to think differently about how they invest in education — not as charity, but as a strategic, sustainable investment in the future.

Join agency founder Chris Crawford and Michelle Verdiner, principal at TCCS Public School in Harlem, as they discuss how The Schoolys and smart business go hand-in-hand to make change…one block, one person, or one protector at a time.

As the lines between creativity, commerce, and social good become more interconnected, brands are expected to do more than sell products — they are also expected to stand for something, to show up for their communities.

Chris and Michelle will offer tips on how you can create a Schoolys program of your own.

Speakers:
Chris Crawford, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Elite Media
Michelle Verdiner, Principal, Teachers College Community School (TCCS)

Session II: Fighting Childhood Hunger: Citi and No Kid Hungry’s Decade of Impact (10:50 - 11:25 p.m.) 
Since 2014, Citi has proudly been a leading partner of No Kid Hungry, the only national campaign dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America. Through more than a decade of collaboration, Citi and No Kid Hungry have worked together to help ensure that children in the United States have access to healthy meals — every day, all year long. This enduring partnership reflects Citi’s deep commitment to supporting the communities we serve and tackling food insecurity at its roots.

In this session, Lynden Greenfield, SVP, Head of Purpose Marketing and Peter Viento, Director, head of Creative Global Marketing & NA In-House agency will discuss the impact of Citi’s contributions — from mobilizing employee volunteers and customer engagement campaigns to funding programs that connect kids to critical school and summer meal resources. Together, Citi and No Kid Hungry are proving that when businesses and nonprofits unite around a shared purpose, real and lasting change is possible.

Speakers:
Peter Viento, Director, Head of Creative Global Marketing, Citi
Lynden Greenfield, SVP, Head of Purpose Marketing & Brand Engagement, Citi

Break (11:25 - 11:40 a.m.)

Session III: Passing Love On: How Butterball’s Purpose Connects People Beyond the Table (11:40 - 12:15 p.m.)
What does it truly mean to help people “pass love on”? Christa Leupen, Director of Purpose and Consumer Communication at Butterball, will explore how Butterball’s purpose goes beyond products and services to become a powerful force for connection, tradition and transformation. Through heartfelt stories from the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line to everyday moments around the dinner table we’ll unpack how a brand rooted in togetherness uses its purpose to inspire consumers, foster workplace culture and create lasting impact.

Speaker:
Christa Leupen, Director, Purpose and Consumer Communications, Butterball

Session IV: The Lesbian Bar Project x Jägermeister: Long Form Branded Storytelling (12:15 – 12:50 p.m.)
The Lesbian Bar Project and Jägermeister's Save The Night initiative collaborated to uplift underrepresented voices through powerful long-form documentary storytelling. The docuseries tells the stories of lesbian queer spaces and the people they serve around the world. The project has won multiple awards including an Emmy, two Webbys, a GLAAD Media award, multiple ANA awards and has been featured in Tribeca X and Brand Storytelling, a sanctioned event at the Sundance Film Festival. This session will explore how purpose-driven storytelling can spotlight marginalized communities, foster cultural connection, and reinforce brand values through authentic partnerships.

Speaker:
Erica Rose, Creator & Director, Lesbian Bar Project LLC

Lunch/Wrap-up (12:50 - 2:00 p.m.)

**Schedule subject to change

SPEAKER BIOS

Brent Rivard

Brent Rivard is a veteran marketer and founder of Geezer Creative, bringing over 30 years of experience building some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Budweiser, Mazda, MINI Cooper, and Internova Travel Group. Throughout his career, Brent has focused on uncovering what makes brands truly matter to people — combining emotional resonance with authentic action. At Geezer Creative, he continues to help brands define and live their purpose in ways that drive real connection and impact.

Chris Crawford

Chris Crawford is the founder and CEO of Elite Media, an independent, black-owned creative agency that
reflects the New General Market. As an award-winning, 20+ year veteran of the advertising and media
industries, Chris leads brand strategy and creative for clients looking to connect with America’s changing
landscape–a landscape that is more multicultural and socially conscious than ever.

Under Crawford’s leadership, Elite operates under the ethos that advertising can be a powerful tool to
change the world. To that end, Elite Media invests in startups that help to close financial and health
equity gaps, partners with Harlem-based nonprofits to create local change, and employs and empowers
the growth audiences it looks to reach at every touch point. Above all, Elite is radically committed to
driving positive impact–and challenges other agencies and media companies to use their privilege and
their platform to do the same.

Crawford is a graduate of Temple University with a BA in Advertising. Born and raised in New Jersey,
Crawford has lived in Harlem for the last fifteen years. When he isn’t guiding Elite, he enjoys creating
entrepreneurial initiatives that positively impact his community.

Michelle Verdiner

Michelle Verdiner has been the proud principal of Teachers College Community School (TCCS) in District 5, Harlem, since 2015. Before this role, she dedicated fourteen years to New York City Public Schools as a speech-language pathologist, and special education coordinator and four years as an assistant principal. Principal Verdiner is especially passionate about meeting each student where he or she is. She guides her school with a “Theory of Action” that calls upon staff to work together to use data to tailor instruction so that all students can demonstrate mastery of standards. The school community is marked by collaboration, inclusion, empowering student voices, commitment to ongoing professional development, and strong parent involvement.

Principal Verdiner served as a Master Principal for the Lighthouse Collaborative, was named a 2019 Cahn Fellow for Distinguished Principals at Teachers College, Columbia University, and is currently a Doctoral candidate in TC’s Urban Education Leadership Program (UELP) to conduct research around sustaining leadership and curriculum implementation.

Michelle holds a bachelor's degree from Hampton University and two Masters of Science degrees from Adelphi University: one in speech-language pathology another in educational leadership and technology, and one Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership Studies from Teachers College. She has a supportive family comprised of her husband and two sons.

Christa Leupen

Christa Leupen is the Director of Purpose and Consumer Communications for Butterball, LLC, America’s most recognized and loved brand of turkey.* She brings more than 20 years of public relations and communications expertise, spanning agency and in-house roles, with specialty in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors. She has a passion for storytelling that builds consumers’ emotional connection to brands and drives brand growth through meaningful campaigns.

At Butterball, Christa plays a pivotal role in shaping the company's purpose-driven strategy, developing initiatives that create positive change inside and outside the organization, and delivering impactful results that align with the company’s purpose and values.

She is a graduate of the University of Missouri and currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with her husband and teenage son.

The Lesbian Bar Project: Erica Rose

The Lesbian Bar Project is an Emmy, Webby, and GLAAD Media Award-Winning Docuseries. The Lesbian Bar Project was founded in the US by New York filmmakers Erica Rose and Elina Street to celebrate, support, and amplify the remaining Lesbian Bars that exist in the United States. In October 2020, The Lesbian Bar Project released a PSA and fundraising campaign, which helped raise over $117K for the remaining bars. In June 2021, they released a short documentary film and another fundraising campaign. The 2021 fundraising campaign raised over $150k for the bars. The 2021 film won an ANA award and was presented at The Library of Congress for the US Congress Equity Caucus. The film was nominated for the Tribeca X Award and was acquired by AMC+ / Sundance TV for streaming. In 2022, Erica and Elina created, executive produced, and directed episodes for the Roku docu-series adaptation of the short film, The Lesbian Bar Project Docuseries. The 2022 Roku series was honored as one of the best brand-sponsored series at Brand Storytelling, a sanctioned event at The Sundance Film Festival. In 2023, the series received a GLAAD Media Award and won an Emmy. In 2024, they released their first international episode, The Lesbian Bar Project: FLINTA, which premiered on Germany’s largest streaming platform RTL+. The second season won two Webby's, a Titan Brand Award, an ANA award, and was nominated for best branded series for the Digiday Streaming and Video Awards and the Telly Awards. The Lesbian Bar Project has received over 1 billion impressions and has been covered by the The New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, CBS, PBS, CNN, The Cut, Reuters, Smithsonian Mag, them, BBC, NPR, WYNC, and The Today Show, among many other publications. The Lesbian Bar Project is supported by Jägermeister’s #savethenight initiative. The project has partnered with other major brands and organizations including Hinge, Google Maps, HelloFresh, Brand Storytelling, The Equity Caucus, The LGBTQ Center, and The American LGBTQ Museum. Learn more at www.lesbianbarproject.com 

Peter Viento

Peter built and leads Citi's New York In-House agency: designed to augment and cut dependency on outside agency spend, leading to faster, cost-effective creative and content across all media. Peter oversees creative for multiple LOB’s, collaborating with internal marketers and external agency partners to deliver best in class financial marketing.

Peter joined Citi from Grey Global Group, where he served as Global Executive Creative Director for P&G brands Gillette and Venus. Based in New York, he led teams across Grey’s Buenos Aires, London, and Hong Kong offices, and was a member of both the Grey Global Creative Council and the WPP/P&G Global Creative Council.

Before his time at Grey, Peter was EVP, Chief Creative Officer at Omnicom agencies Colangelo and Alcone. He also held leadership roles as ECD/Managing Director at Saatchi & Saatchi X New York and SVP, Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather.

A graduate of Syracuse University with a BFA in Advertising & Communications, Peter is also a private pilot and a 14-time runner of the New York City Marathon.

Lynden Greenfield

As Senior Vice President, Purpose Marketing and Brand Engagement, Lynden leads strategic initiatives that align brand objectives with corporate responsibility. She leads multi-channel national campaigns and manages key partnerships, including collaborations with organizations like No Kid Hungry and 15 Percent Pledge. Lynden also manages internal brand engagement for Citi at a global scale, including brand campaigns and activations that foster colleague pride. In her 8-year tenure at Citi, Lynden also has worked on customer retention, content marketing and strategy, social media, and ThankYou points retail partnerships. 

Prior to Citi, Lynden was an analyst at Momentum Worldwide and a Beauty Editor at Vanity Fair Magazine. 

Lynden holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Outside of her professional life, she is an avid reader of fiction and rider at SoulCycle.