Agenda & Speakers

Imani Samuels, Director - Loyalty Marketing, AARP

I am Imani Joye Sanders Samuels. I love to listen. I love to serve. I love to ask “why?”
 
As a digital strategy and marketing leader in the private and non-profit sectors for over 14 years, I’ve had the privilege to advance influential movements during significant moments in history – from the voter education campaign at the Children’s Defense Fund to launching the financial education campaign during the 2008 financial crisis with FDIC.

In my current role as Loyalty Marketing Director at AARP, I co-launched and co-lead AARP Rewards, a loyalty program for the greater good. The digital gamified platform is designed to incentivize and foster behavior change with hundreds of learning opportunities that drive meaningful impact to each individual who engages. Prior to my transition to Loyalty, I was the Member Benefits Communications Director where I led the implementation of the overarching integrated communication strategy for 38 million members, leveraging account and media expertise from my experience at small and large ad agencies like Campbell Mithun, McCann, Porter Novelli and Arnold.
 
I hold my MA in Public Communication from American University and BA in Journalism, with a concentration in advertising, from Howard University. During my time at Howard, I also studied global citizenship at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. During my tenure at AARP, I was also selected to participate in Georgetown University’s ADEPT program where I received a certificate in leadership. Today, I also have the pleasure of studying Psychology with a concentration in Spirituality Mind Body at Teachers College, Columbia University.
 
Delightfully married to Philemon, we have two young feminists, Paz and Noire - both who have a great sense of curiosity, purpose and imagination. 
 

Cecilie Balfour, Marketing Manager, TELUS

Cecilie Balfour is a Marketing Manager at TELUS leading the go-to-market strategy for TELUS Rewards, the only points-based loyalty program offered by a telco in Canada, with over 1.3 million members. In this role, Cecilie focuses on how to build awareness and drive customer engagement with Rewards across all TELUS channels. Prior to TELUS, Cecilie worked in the advertising industry, specializing in brand strategy for financial, insurance, and tourism clients.
 
Cecilie just recently completed her MBA at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. She holds a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and a diploma in Digital Marketing from New York University.
 

Janna Meneghello, Senior Project Manager, TELUS

As a Senior Project Manager in TELUS’ Corporate Citizenship and Communications department, Janna supports TELUS’ social purpose initiatives with a focus on fundraising for the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, a registered Canadian charity of which TELUS is a founding partner. In 2019, she helped launch and continues to manage, Donate the Change, a program that enables TELUS customers to round up their monthly bills donate 100 of the difference to the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. Janna also oversees the Foundation’s donation campaigns in TELUS Rewards, helping raise over $200K in donations in the last year.
 
Janna has 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and project management, coupled with a lifelong volunteer career. She has a Certificate in Project Management and holds a B.A from Simon Fraser University in BC, Canada.
 

Michael O'Brien, Manager - Marketing Products & Innovation, Caesars Entertainment

Mike has been with Caesars Entertainment for the last two Years, previously working for Citigroup. He holds a BBA, Finance from Texas A&M University and an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business. 

With Caesars, his main responsibilities include onboarding new and supporting existing properties on the UrVenue platform, set up, traning, and launch for QLess (Virtual Queing System), onboarding and support for Runtriz (mobile ordering), and advanced analytics and reporting for all mobile and digital platforms. 

Valérie Durand, Director of Communications Optimization, Air Canada

Valérie Durand is Director, Communications Optimization for Air Canada.  In this role, she leads the corporate sustainability team and the Air Canada Foundation (a registered, not-for-profit charity which focuses on the well-being of children and youth). She is responsible for the communication and promotion of Air Canada's sustainability efforts, and all aspects of the Corporate Sustainability (ESG) Report.  She leads the Air Canada Corporate Sustainability Working Group, which is comprised of senior management subject-matter experts from diverse functions, and tasked with the oversight and monitoring of Air Canada’s corporate sustainability initiatives. 

Prior to this role, Valérie was Senior Counsel, Commercial & Legal Services Director.  She was active in the general management of the Air Canada Legal Department and was responsible for supporting, and championing the effective and efficient delivery of best-in-class legal services to Air Canada and subsidiary client groups.  She also provided expert advice to executives and senior management on complex matters involving specialized areas of law and relating to matters of significant strategic importance to Air Canada. 
Before joining Air Canada in 2007, Valérie held legal counsel positions with Hydro-Québec and Dessau, and also worked as a flight attendant with Air Canada.

Valérie holds a Civil Law degree from the Université de Montréal, and has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2003.  She is an active board member, including with the Douglas Foundation, and the proud mother of two young girls, aged 7 and 3.