Black History Month | Rockstar: Imani Laners
Imani Laners
The Strategic Partnerships & Growth Intelligence Executive
Almost 10 years ago, well before “audience intelligence,” “identity-driven strategy,” or “AI-informed decisioning” became everyday Madison Avenue vocabulary, Imani Laners created a five-day conference in New York City, convening data technologists, policymakers, cybersecurity experts, financiers, media owners, and marketing leaders around a radical premise: that “Personal Data” would become the quiet force reshaping entire industries. The dialogue examined who holds the power, who reaps the rewards, and who vanishes when innovation outruns accountability. At the time, the convening felt provocative. In retrospect, it reads like prophecy. That instinct to see what is forming beneath the surface and insist the industry confront it early has become the throughline of Laners’ career.
Recognized as a Top Woman in Media & Ad Tech, a Top 20 to Watch, a Future of Black America Top 50 honoree, and now an Ad Club of NY Rockstar, Laners operates as both connector, strategist, and systems thinker. She began in legacy media at Gannett and Advance Publications, moved early into digital at 24/7 Real Media, and went on to break revenue records at Black Enterprise by proving the conversion power of multicultural audiences. At Tribune Media, she became the first executive to unify every digital and traditional platform into a single, record-setting activation. She later built and scaled her own media buying agency, refined her data-driven audience expertise at Advantage Solutions, and now, at Zeta Global, serves as Vice President of Multicultural Partnerships, helping marketers leverage a 245 million–person first-party identity graph and delivering AI-powered marketing intelligence and outcomes once considered impossible.
Her reputation over the years as a “best hire” comes from her impact. What sets her apart is not résumé weight, though awards, board service, advisory invitations, and 30+ written LinkedIn recommendations attest to her credibility, but her authority as a convener. In just over a year, she has assembled a powerful community of 400+ founders, executives, creatives, investors, and media drivers who are intentional about shaping what’s next.
As media enters its next chapter, Laners converts networks into strategic leverage, partnerships into competitive advantage, and intelligence into measurable growth. She connects people and organizations that should grow together, surfaces what others overlook, and moves on before the applause. Her influence compounds because it is useful and because it changes outcomes. For organizations navigating complexity, investors separating opportunity from noise, and leaders designing what’s next, Laners has become a trusted point of reference: deliberate, discreet, and decisive.