Speakers
Marc K. Banks, National Press Secretary, NAACP
Marc Kennedy Banks is a media, communications, and brand strategist who has worked across the entertainment, non-profit, and political field for the better part of a decade. Driven by a passion for inspiring and moving the public to take action, he has partnered with some of the nation's foremost brands to connect them with untapped audiences.
Marc began his career working with RadioOne's on-air talent. He was instrumental in cultivating their brands, overseeing community initiatives, and brokering brand partnerships throughout the Midwest. After leaving RadioOne, Marc went to work in the press office of Senator Gillibrand.
In 2017, his work landed him a spot on the Huffington Post's top 25 PR millennials to watch.
Marc is the former Director of Public Relations for the Public Relations Society of D.C. and currently serves as a mentor with Capital Partners for Education (CPE) where he helps guide high school students through their senior year. Living passionately by the motto, "Leave the world better than you found it," Marc is committed to empowering the youth to get civically engaged.
Presently, Marc is the founder of Bankable PR Management & Services, LLC (BankablePR), a boutique firm that focuses on pulling together the many components that make brands, businesses, individuals and campaigns viable in an ever-evolving world. Recently, he left the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. (CBCF) to join the Marketing & Communications team at the NAACP to lead their national press strategy for the 2020 election cycle and beyond.
Marc has been profiled in Capitol Standard and the Huffington Post. He has worked with BET, TVOne, RadioOne, TLC (TV Network), 135th Street Agency, Fox 21st Century, Warner Brothers, and more.
Charmion N. Kinder, Chief Impact Officer, CNKinder, Inc.
& Former Press Aide, Office of First Lady Michelle Obama
Charmion N. Kinder is a master communicator, social impact advocate and corporate responsibility strategist with more than 15 years of experience in executing influencer campaigns that promote transformational change for the next generation of American leadership. As the founder and chief impact officer of CNKinder, Inc., a social impact consultancy, she works tirelessly to help organizations find their voice, inspiring youth to pursue their grandest visions and dreams along the way.
Charmion is also the current Global Head of Communications for Global Citizen, a movement of engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty, limit climate change and fight global inequality by 2030. As part of a global community committed to lasting change, Global Citizens have taken more than 24 million actions that have positively impacted 880+ million lives. Charmion has also led communications for Discovery Education, where she oversaw targeted press engagement for education technology impact initiatives, which serve 51 million students around the globe.
A former press aide to First Lady Michelle Obama, Charmion previously served the Obama Administration as a public affairs appointee within the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Commerce. Her work has also spanned executing strategic communications management for organizations including, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, The Walt Disney Company, Edelman and the Ad Council.
Charmion’s work as a change agent began after graduating from the Howard University School of Communications, where her efforts to inspire 21st century ingenuity have since promoted global responsibility, civic engagement, and diversity and inclusion, for the purposes of building a better world. Charmion earned certification from Harvard Business School's CSR Executive Education Program in 2016 and she is also a Google Next Gen Policy Leader. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., hails from New Haven, Conn., and enjoys reading, dancing and empowering communities of promise through mentorship in her spare time.
Mark Failla, Director, Client Partnerships, D2
Mark Failla is Director, Political Advertising for D2 Media Sales, a partnership between DIRECTV and DISH Network.
D2 Media Sales was founded in 2014 to create a scalable addressable household platform for political advertising. The result is a joint venture that enables political, issue, and advocacy advertisers to precisely reach groups of households of a select demographic or voter segment.
Mr. Failla has gained a unique perspective of the marketing and
advertising world during his 25-year career with experience on the advertising agency side, client side, and media side. He is a traditional and digital media expert and has implemented hundreds of successful data-driven campaigns. As a sales partner, he works side-by-side with political consultants and agencies. Mr. Failla’s expertise in the latest political topics and challenges uniquely equips him to help communication specialists implement best practices and avoid potential pitfalls.
From 2011 through 2014, Mr. Failla was Conversant’s Director of Government, Political and Advocacy Solutions where he led a team specializing in delivering cross-device and audience-targeted digital campaigns. He became involved in political targeting strategies and solutions at AOL/Advertising.com, where he led the Government and Political teams.
Mr. Failla holds a B.S. in Journalism with a Concentration in Advertising, from the University of Maryland. He resides in Glenelg, Maryland with his wife Carolyn, son Kyle, daughter Lea, and Labradoodle Bailey.
Rebecca Rinkevich, Director, Political Programs, Bully Pulpit Interactive
Rebecca Rinkevich is the Director of Political Programs where she runs BPI’s large electoral engagements, advises clients who are growing in-house teams, and drives political new business initiatives.
She has advised a wide range of political organizations and helped them build custom solutions to solve their most unique and pressing challenges, at times embedding with in-house teams to create long-term solutions. Some of these clients include Nextgen America, the Democratic National Committee, House Majority PAC, Senate Majority PAC, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Priorities USA, who she’s advised on scaling their paid media, measurement and creative operations as an extension of their teams. In an increasingly fragmented media environment with ever-changing regulations, Rebecca helps clients navigate electoral advertising and run integrated, innovative communications programs.
During the 2018 midterm cycle, Rebecca drove an advertising program for a group of top super PACs, resulting in the largest investment in digital media from an outside group in Democratic politics. In partnership with these organizations, Rebecca and the BPI team scaled a $40 million program across 52 races, helping to take back the House and secure critical seats in the Senate and governor’s mansions.
Rebecca holds a B.A. in political science from Davidson College and lives in Washington DC.
Jill Siegel, VP, Business Intelligence, Xandr
Jill Siegel is VP, Business Intelligence for AT&T’s advertising and analytics company, Xandr. She is responsible for overseeing market research and insights for Xandr, as well as providing strategic research support for media and product development. Additionally, she focuses on extracting insights that help clients understand the state of the ever-evolving advertising and media business.
Previously, she spent four years working in advertising and market research at AT&T AdWorks prior to its rebrand to Xandr in September 2018, following a stint at DIRECTV beginning in February 2015. Prior to that, Jill held a variety of research roles at cable and broadcast networks including NBC and USA Network, as well as at advertising agencies like Publicis’ MRY. Jill is a graduate from Indiana University and has an MS from Columbia University in Information & Knowledge Strategy.
Paul Winn, Managing Partner, Smart Media Group
Paul Winn is a media strategist who has worked on hundreds of political campaigns in 49 states—He’s still waiting on his chance to break into Idaho. In 2018, he oversaw $200 million in media spending for candidates and issue groups across the U.S. and had the privilege of working with some of the largest PACs and party committees. Paul has led development of software programs widely used across the advertising industry. These products used by both advertising agencies and media sales teams have been recognized as industry leaders, including being named Best New Technology by AAPC. In odd numbered years, he can be found chasing his two sons around DC or on a basketball court proving his brother received all the athletic ability in the family.
