Speakers

Max Kenkel is the Sr. Customer Loyalty Solutions Manager at ITA Group, where he leads the Customer Solutions line and oversees the six essential components of successful loyalty programs—from strategy and data to rewards and execution. With more than a decade of experience across customer, channel, and employee loyalty, Max brings a pragmatic, data-first perspective to building programs that are both effective and defensible to stakeholders. He is a frequent voice on the role of data in decision-making, often emphasizing that while intuition has its place, results are easier to justify when backed by insight. Max regularly shares his expertise through industry podcasts, articles, and conference conversations focused on emotional loyalty and customer engagement. Outside of work, he plays bass in a pop punk band, explores national parks, and published his first book of poetry in 2023.

JR focuses on creating engaging data-driven experiences for brands that customers love. His commitment to craft critical thought-out strategies allows him to perform complex customer analytics and to drive results with relevant data. He specializes in customer analytics, marketing communications and strategic planning.  
 
JR has close to 10 years of experience within the Loyalty Marketing industry and has extensive experience across retail, travel, entertainment, restaurants, and financial institutions. Some of the retail companies that he has worked with are, Warner Bros, PetSmart, Dillard’s, and Walgreens.

Sarah Frisz is a Loyalty Strategy & Digital Innovation Manager at Taco Bell, where she helps lead the evolution of Taco Bell Rewards—driving member growth, engagement, and long‑term value. She has played a key role in launching and scaling fan‑favorite loyalty initiatives including Taco Lover’s Pass and Tuesday Drops, which have driven acquisition, frequency, and cultural relevance for the brand.

With experience across loyalty, digital engagement, and growth marketing, Sarah’s background spans leadership roles in QSR, Ecommerce, and membership‑based platforms. Today, she is focused on loyalty innovation, building new platforms, reward mechanics, and experiences that expand what loyalty can be beyond points and discounts—blending creativity, data, and cross‑functional collaboration to deliver measurable business impact.

Alex Arkhangelskaya is a Senior Product Manager at Firehouse Subs, part of Restaurant Brands International, where she leads growth and loyalty for the brand. In her role, she owns the Firehouse Subs loyalty program end to end, including offers, rewards, and challenges across mobile, web, and in-store channels, working cross-functionally with engineering, design, data, marketing, and guest care to drive member engagement and program performance. With over a decade of product management experience spanning DTC and QSR, Alex brings a cross-industry perspective shaped by roles at Birdy Grey, Rent the Runway, Warby Parker, and Wayfair, where she built products across ecommerce, supply chain, and customer experience. Alex earned a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Gabrielle Falcon joined Wingstop in 2025 and serves as Manager of CRM & Personalization, where she focuses on creating more connected, seamless experiences for Wingstop guests. She brings several years of QSR marketing experience from Burger King and Popeyes, along with a practical, guest-first approach to loyalty and personalization, centered on meeting customers where they are. Known for turning customer behavior into clear, actionable insights, Gabrielle is passionate about helping the business better understand and serve its guests.

 Ben is a strategic marketing and digital innovation leader at Taco Bell, where he drives initiatives at the intersection of personalization, customer data, and brand experience. With over a decade of experience leading business strategy for food and hospitality brands such as Starbucks, Nestlé, and MOD Pizza, Ben has a track record of building impactful, insight-driven programs that elevate customer experience and drive business impact. He focuses on translating complex consumer signals into scalable, high-performing personalization strategies and helping organizations modernize how they connect with audiences in real time.

Anil Mansukhani is a Product Marketing and Strategy executive with B2C and B2B industry experience in travel/hospitality, mobile digital media, wireless technology, consumer electronics, and financial services.  He leverages data-driven research and analytics to drive business plan development and profitable ROI growth strategies.  His primary focus has been in new product development and marketing strategy with additional emphasis on customer acquisition, analytics, and loyalty marketing.  Anil currently leads Loyalty Marketing on behalf of MGM Resorts where he is responsible for designing and executing marketing strategy, campaigns, events, and experiences to drive growth in member enrollment, acquisition, engagement, and retention for the recently launched MGM Rewards loyalty program.  He also leads business development and product management for MGM’s loyalty and financial partnerships. 
  
Prior to his time at MGM Resorts, Anil spent 20+ years at Fortune 500 companies such as Carnival Corporation, Sony Electronics, Qualcomm, and Discover Financial Services.  During this time, Anil held management positions in digital marketing, product management, new product development, revenue management, business development, digital transformation, customer experience, corporate strategy, and analytics.  Anil is a Chicago native, but now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.  

Digital marketing, eComm and loyalty leader with 20+ years’ experience at Domino's and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. At Tropical Smoothie, Melissa led Loyalty, CRM, 3PD and Digital Listings, growing loyalty by 50% in one year and leading MarTech strategy. She crafted promotions that drove the highest sales days in Tropical Smoothie’s history and drove the app to #1 in Food. At Domino’s, she oversaw one of the largest loyalty programs and implemented the some of the largest eCommerce A/B testing wins in the brand’s history. Melissa also led store tech, including the self-driving pizza delivery test, ordering & check-in kiosks and digital menu boards.

Jenn McMillen is a nationally known loyalty and CRM expert, a Certified Loyalty Marketing Professional (CLMP), and currently VP of guest loyalty & insights for Nothing Bundt Cakes. She’s also the founder of Incendio, a consulting firm that helps companies build and fix their loyalty and CRM programs. Notable clients include Chipotle, GNC, PetSmart, Dave & Buster’s, and NASCAR, to name a few.

Prior to founding Incendio 10 years ago, Ms. McMillen served as VP CRM & Analytics at Michaels Arts and Crafts. Before Michaels, she spent five years at GameStop as VP Loyalty, where she created and launched GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards program, which changed GameStop’s entire approach to marketing. Jenn is a loyalty OG who built & launched Blockbuster Rewards in 1998, one of the first non-travel loyalty programs to hit the mainstream.

She has been recognized with multiple major industry awards for her work in increasing topline revenue for Fortune 500 companies and sits on several professional boards. Plus, she’s a member of more than 100 loyalty programs.

Andrea Navarro leads customer engagement for Burger King’s Royal Perks program across lifecycle marketing and digital channels. With nearly a decade of experience spanning retail and QSR, she focuses on building CRM programs that drive customer frequency, retention, and long-term value.  

At Burger King, Andrea has played a key role in redesigning the Royal Perks program – strengthening its structure and enabling more targeted, data-driven engagement over time. Her work has helped shape how the brand approaches loyalty and CRM, leveraging segmentation and journey orchestration to create more relevant customer experiences.