Agenda

David Hamel blends 20 years of digital innovation with an engineering background, establishing him as a distinctive strategist in digital solutions. Leading the strategy, customer experience, and design teams at nventive, he spearheads the development of solutions that tackle complex challenges through creative and impactful user experiences. In recent years, his teams designed and implemented dedicated mobile experiences for leading coalition loyalty programs and developed a white-label solution for brand-specific programs. 

Before nventive, David's roles at Electronic Arts and Dassault Systèmes honed his expertise. His journey from a consultant to an executive has endowed him with a multifaceted perspective across diverse contexts and business challenges. David has navigated small to large organizations through critical moments requiring stakeholder alignment and consulting across various categories and markets, from local to national levels. His extensive experience spans product and digital experience design, implementation, and the integration of technology, data, and AI, underscoring his leadership in navigating the evolving digital landscape. 

Stéphanie Mercier spearheads digital strategy and customer experience initiatives at nventive, leading transformative projects, self-service innovations, and impactful product launches. Her expertise is rooted in years of hands-on experiences at major firms like Vidéotron and Yellow Pages Group as a CX strategist and product manager in both B2C and B2B arenas. Her early career as a freelance content creator laid the groundwork for her holistic approach - uniting user needs to business goals as parts of the same story. She is a key player in shaping digital experiences that resonate with customers and drive business success.

 

Jeri Scheel, Senior Director for Digital Strategy, has been with Fiserv for over 10 years with ever-expanding responsibilities culminating in her current role of leading digital products like the uChoose Rewards loyalty program and Digital Issuance. Jeri brings insights to the digital space based on her extensive years in telecom, building mobile applications and partnering with clients and vendors worldwide.

Jeri has Bachelor’s and Masters degrees in Business from Kent State University and is an avid, competitive tennis player who loves to read and travel.
 

As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Engage People, Jonathan is responsible for managing all facets of the business. He leads the long-term corporate strategy, marketing and sales at one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Canada, according to Profit Magazine. Jonathan has a proven executive management track record and over 20 years of experience driving growth in the loyalty and technology industry. Prior to Engage People, Jonathan held numerous senior positions in the loyalty sector and was Chairman and Co-owner of MyAxs and CEO and Co-founder of Access (formerly LRG Rewards). His passion is the customer space where he focuses on developing innovative solutions that drive tangible results. Jonathan is a member of the leadership team and board of directors at Engage People. He earned an MBA from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario.
 

Amy Ochoa is the SVP, Head of Strategy at Ansira and has over 25 years of experience leveraging data, analytics, technology, and creativity to provide strategic recommendations that increase customers’ overall value. In her role at Ansira, she leads the integrated loyalty strategy practice, delivering business growth and increasing profitability for her clients. Her clients include companies like Chick-fil-A, Purina, and Northern Tool+ Equipment. Prior to her time at Ansira, Amy led loyalty program design and customer engagement programs for Famous Footwear and Build-A-Bear Workshop.
 

Kristin Cardona is a Sr. Director of Strategy at Ansira who has spent her career developing and executing successful customer experience and marketing strategies. As a skilled leader with over 25 years of experience, Kristin enjoys supporting companies with customer acquisitions, consumer growth, and user satisfaction. She brings to her strong proficiency in loyalty with an emphasis on program design, performance optimization, and project implementation. Prior to joining Ansira, Kristin worked at Hilton and Marriott where her innovative thinking helped drive market share and solidify their loyalty program achievements.
 

Amanda Jamerson is recognized as a Woman to Watch & Role Model for Inclusion Hospitality by the Travel & Leisure Index and has over a decade of hospitality experience. With a multifaceted 14+ year career based in customer experience, marketing and eCommerce, she has remained committed to blending customer needs with marketing and technology to drive the business forward. She is a passionate leader focused on mentoring, developing and inspiring people in their careers and she pushes boundaries to create a diverse and equitable work environment.
 
Currently a Sr. Director of Hilton Honors, known as an award-winning guest loyalty program for Hilton’s portfolio of brands, comprising of more than 7,100 properties and over 150 million members. Amanda is responsible for developing a comprehensive multi-year program strategy that expands Hilton Honors across core loyalty segments and key enterprise growth areas. Leveraging customer-driven research and data, she oversees the evolution of member benefits and unlocks brand positioning to future-proof and propel Hilton Honors forward. Amanda is a graduate of Grand Valley State University with a bachelor’s degree in advertising and minor in hospitality and tourism management. 
 
When not working she is a full-time wife, mother, and travel enthusiast. Amanda lives every day by the Jane Goodall quote “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide the difference you want to make.”

 

John is the Vice President of Loyalty, Personalization, and Analytics at Rite Aid. Prior to Rite Aid, John launched a digital-only loyalty program at Hannaford Supermarkets (part of Ahold Delhaize).  Additionally, he has more than 25 years of experience in marketing, with much of that in retail. His experience includes data-driven marketing roles from a variety of perspectives, including Vice President of CRM at Symphony EYC (including clients Ahold USA and Rite Aid) and Manager of Customer Loyalty Marketing at Shaw's Supermarkets.

Karen Szarvas serves as Sr. Director of CRM and Loyalty at The Vitamin Shoppe®, an omni-channel specialty retailer and wellness lifestyle company. In her role, Karen oversees the newly redesigned Healthy Awards Loyalty program and is responsible for the development, execution and management of the program, as well as strategies to drive customer awareness, engagement and retention. Karen has more than 19 years of global marketing and loyalty experience and is a highly motivated, customer focused, thought leader. Prior to joining The Vitamin Shoppe, she worked at Wyndham Worldwide and consulted at KMS Marketing Solutions where she specialized in loyalty, branding, customer communications and experiences.

 

 

Matt has been at Aeroplan for over 16 years, joining shortly after Aeroplan was spun-off from Air Canada. He was a member of the team who transitioned back to Air Canada in 2019, and part of the program relaunch team in 2020.
 
He is currently responsible for the commercial operations of the Aeroplan program, including program design, the Aeroplan Elite program, air partnerships, everyday partnerships and currency management.
 
Prior to Aeroplan’s return to Air Canada, Matt held various roles overseeing the Aeroplan partnerships and partner marketing teams.
 

Mike McDowell is the Vice President of Loyalty Programs and Partnerships at Parkland.  In his role, Mike is responsible for the customer loyalty strategy and driving organic growth of the business with the Journie Rewards program in the Canadian, International and US markets.  Previous to joining Parkland Mike was SVP, Client Development & Partnerships at Bond Brand Loyalty where he led clients in driving positive outcomes through large international loyalty and CX programs.  Mike was instrumental in setting up the Journie Rewards program in the Canadian market for Parkland as part of Bond.  Prior to Bond, Mike spent 11 years in progressively senior sales and marketing roles at Blackberry.