2008-09 EXECUTIVE BOARD BIOS

José López-Varela
Chairman

José López-Varela' s well-rounded 15-year career in marketing and advertising has included agency and client side experience, both in the general market and the fast growing U.S. Hispanic market. In his current role, José leads the ADN team in providing strategic vision and counsel to its clients, ensuring that their Hispanic communication that is at once relevant, differentiated and memorable.

José has worked with Fortune 500 clients as an advertising agency executive and has managed the advertising and marketing efforts of an international manufacturer and retailer of fine men's apparel. Prior to co-founding ADN Communications, José most recently served as Managing Director of abecé, the Hispanic marketing practice of Boston-based Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, which is owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG). abecé's client list includes CVS/pharmacy, Dunkin' Donuts, and Uniroyal. Under his leadership abecé was the fastest growing Hispanic Agency in 2005 according to Advertising Age .

Before abecé, José spent 12 years at Coral Gables based CreatAbility, a creative boutique serving the South Florida market. He rose through the ranks from Account Executive to Managing Partner. Seeing the incredible potential and growth of the US Hispanic market, he refocused the agency as a full-service Hispanic advertising agency in 1994 and working with clients such as Nike, The Coca-Cola Company, Royal Caribbean International, Marshalls Department Stores and MTV. During his tenure at CreatAbility, two of his top clients, Royal Caribbean and Sprint PCS were honored as Hispanic Marketer of the Year for outstanding campaigns and results targeting Hispanics.

José started his marketing and advertising career in 1991 as the Marketing Manager for Rori International, a leading Venezuelan manufacturer and retailer of men's apparel. He led their entry into the US market with the opening of three retail stores in South Florida and managed advertising planning with Rori's agency of record: Crispin & Porter (currently known as CPB: Crispin Porter + Bogusky).

José is a graduate of Florida International University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing and international business. He is a member of the Hispanic Advertising Committee of the Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA).

A Miami native, José lives in Miami with his wife and four children that keep him busy during his free time.

Jackie Bird
Immediate Past Chair

Strategic, inner-driven with a keen vision for innovation, Jackie has been setting her unique pace and style over the course of her 25-year career at Grey. Jackie was named President and CEO of WINGLATINO in October of 2000, to lead the growth of this Agency in the rapidly developing U.S. Hispanic market. As President/CEO, she oversees all management and operations for the Agency’s main office in New York. Since, the Hispanic Agency has shown a marked growth with new business acquisitions and client development, as well as expanded its resources to service clients in this important and growing market.  Jackie began her career at Grey in 1987, when Grey acquired equity in West Indies Advertising in Puerto Rico. She became General Manager in 1990 and was named President of West Indies & Grey in February 1994, when the agency became a wholly owned subsidiary of Grey Worldwide. 

Throughout her career Jackie has managed and supervised a broad spectrum of accounts in key product categories such as Telecommunications (Puerto Rico Telephone Co., now Verizon, 1989-93; Sprint, 1994-95; Centennial 1996-97); Banking Services (Banco Popular, 1985-91); Fast-Food, (Wendy’s, 1981-84; Church’s Chicken, 1985-96);  Retail, (Wal-Mart, 1995-2002; Pearle Vision 1997-2002; and Kmart, Present); Packaged Goods and Health and Beauty, among many others. 

Jackie’s marketing skills, intense work and unmitigated dedication have earned her the respect of her clients and industry peers, both in Puerto Rico and more recently, in the U.S. Hispanic ad industry.  Jackie serves in the AAAA’s Hispanic Committee since 2002.

Gisela Girad
Chair-Elect

Gisela is the 'Big Picture' visionary of Creative Civilization. Her experience, determination, and instinct allow her to stay ahead of the curve at all times. When clients need answers to the big questions, they turn to Gisela with full confidence that her guidance will never lead them astray. It has been suspected around the agency that Gisela can read minds because she always has the answers everybody is looking for.

After co-founding Creative Civilization in 1999, Gisela has led the development, implementation and management of marketing campaigns for agency clients. Gisela’s leadership can be found all around the San Antonio community on boards and committees including being a Founding Member of the Executive Women’s Golf Association (EWG) the board of trustees for the San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Sports Foundation, Historical Centre Foundation and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Founding Committee.

Gisela’s commitment to her clients and colleagues plays a big role in promoting an open and inspiring atmosphere at Creative Civilization.

Jessica Pantanini
Vice Chair

Jessica Pantanini serves as Chief Operations Officer (COO) for Bromley Communications.

As COO, Pantanini oversees integration and quality standards at the Agency's headquarters in San Antonio and satellite offices in Miami , New York , and Los Angeles .

Pantanini was named COO in 2004 after serving as Vice President and Director of Media Services at Bromley. In addition to leading her team on a number of blue chip accounts, she developed several of Bromley's innovative, proprietary media tools and became recognized as a national expert within the evolving Hispanic marketing industry.

Pantanini currently serves on the Board of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA), the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), as well as the Council for Research Excellence (CRE).

Before joining Bromley Communications, Pantanini worked in southern California for Noble & Associates. Pantanini managed the Noble media department, and moved to San Antonio in 1995 when Bromley acquired Noble & Associates. Prior to her position at Noble, Pantanini worked for Western International Media, now Initiative Media.

A native of California, Pantanini holds an associate degree in liberal arts with additional specialized studies in radio, television and film at California State University Northridge.

Carl J. Kravetz
Treasurer

Carl is a twenty-year veterano of the U.S. Hispanic marketing industry, is Chairman and Chief Strategic Officer of Los Angeles-based Hispanic advertising agency cruz/kravetz:IDEAS, which he founded in 1991. Under Carl's leadership, cruz/kravetz:IDEAS has worked with such world-class companies as Coca Cola, Lincoln Mercury, Kraft Foods, Citibank, Cigna Health Care, Denny's, Disney Channel, Fox Cable, El Pollo Loco, Target, mike's hard lemonade, H&R Block and both of Mexico's largest banks.

He is also is CEO of The Neighborhood, L.L.C., a firm specializing in multicultural marketing and education for the pharmaceutical and health care industries. The Neighborhood, established in 2004, is a joint venture between New York-based health education firm The JL Company and cruz/kravetz:IDEAS. The Neighborhood's clients include Aventis, Abbott Laboratories and Bayer.

Carl's work has earned him both the Clio Award and the Se Habla Español Ad of the Year for his creative work on Mexico Tourism. He has also garnered an Effie for Lincoln Mercury and an AME award for El Pollo Loco, among others.

Carl was born in Boston and moved to Mexico City when he was only 11 months old. He grew up fully bilingual and bi-cultural. He began his professional career at Televisa México as the associate producer of "Plaza Sésamo," the Mexican version of "Sesame Street." Carl worked in Mexican advertising for five years, starting at DMB&B/Noble. In 1984, he moved to south Texas, working as a free-lance Hispanic creative director. The following year he was asked to start up and run Ferrer/Ad Américas, a Los Angeles joint venture between Mexico's Grupo Ferrer and DJMC (now Davis/Ellen). Before founding cruz/kravetz:IDEAS, Carl led programs for Procter & Gamble, Bacardi Rums, Purina, Mennen, Toyota and McDonald's, among many others.

He is a past member of the Board of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA). He has Chaired the AAAA's Western Region and the AAAA Hispanic Committee. He currently serves on the Association's Government Relations Committee. Carl is the author of the AAAA's "A Client's Guide to Hispanic Marketing." He is in great demand as a speaker on multicultural marketing issues and has addressed, among others, the Mexican, European, South African and American advertising associations.

Carl serves on a number of non-profit boards. Notably, he is Co-Chairman of the Museum of Latin American Art and President of Heal the Bay.

Carl holds an MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA, as well as a BS in Broadcasting and an MS in Film from Boston University. He is married to Univisión health commentator Aliza Lifshitz, M.D., known affectionately to the Latino community as "La Doctora Aliza."

Patricia Gaitán
Secretary

Patricia is the Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of Chambers Lopez & Gaitán LLC. With over thirteen years experience in ethnic marketing and integrated communications, she is considered one of the leading Hispanic communications experts in the DC metro area. As an agency partner, she has designed and directed marketing plans and advertising campaigns for diverse clients within the corporate, non-profit, state and federal government arena and leads the strategic and tactical needs for the firm's growing social marketing and public relations division.

Patricia has supervised national multicultural outreach campaigns, media relations, social marketing initiatives, research, media placement and regional advertising accounts for clients including The Sallie Mae Fund, Outback Steakhouse, the National Education Association, Giant Food, AHOLD USA, the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, AARP, the U.S. Department of Education and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA). Ms. Gaitán's passion is to serve the communications needs of the Latino community by helping bridge the cultural and linguistic gaps between Hispanics and mainstream America.