The Marketing Society is a global community of marketing leaders, founded in England in 1959. Its membership in the UAE now includes 300 marketing leaders in the UAE, and the new Abu Dhabi board is the next step in the vision to help bring together the best marketers in the region.

The new board brings together impressive industry leaders with a wealth of experience running many local and global brands and agencies. Their leadership will help drive new opportunities for the Abu Dhabi marketing community and continue to support the Society’s role in the wider region, showcasing the talent in the UAE to the rest of the world. 

The Society will be offering innovative networking and training initiatives as well as an exciting line-up of specially curated speaker events and partnerships with some of the best brands in the region. The Board will be aiming to lead the conversation in the capital and looks forward to inviting new members to join the exclusive Society to connect, be inspired, and to help drive marketing forwards.

Amina Taher, Chair of the Abu Dhabi Board, says, “Marketers can be great leaders and changemakers. When they work together, they can achieve more than alone – our Society helps connect the best marketers to help them do well in their careers and do good in their businesses and the world.” 

The Society’s Abu Dhabi Board Members:

Amina Taher, Vice President of Brand, Marketing, and Sponsorships at Etihad Airways, continues as Chair and will work alongside her new peers to lead the Abu Dhabi community. Leveraging over 15 years of experience in brand and marketing both internationally and in the UAE, Amina has spent the past eight years elevating communications strategies in the aviation industry.

Cherry Gore is the Senior Vice President and Head of Group Brand Strategy & Communications at First Abu Dhabi Bank. With over 16 years of experience in building brand equity for market leaders in the banking and energy industries, she drives ‘big picture, thinking and brings her strong analytical skills to translate marketing strategies, complex digital programs, and design concepts across all organizational levels. 

Emma Cantwell, Director of Marketing Communications at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is a leading marcomms specialist with almost two decades of experience running global campaigns in the United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and Australia. Her passion is mentoring teams and supporting organizations and their senior leaders to define a brand strategy that translates to effective integrated communications.

Faheem Ahamed, Group Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Artificial Intelligence leader, G42, has more than 25 years of experience in shaping organizations' cross-cultural communication strategies, planning and executing brand transformations, as well as driving profitability and quantum growth. At G42, Faheem is supporting the company's journey to unlock the full potential of AI and invent a better every day across markets and societies.

Jeremy Jauncey, CEO & Founder of Beautiful Destinations, is committed to redefining travel marketing in a digitally connected era. Advocating for the people, spaces, and ideas that travel and tourism represent, he is inspired by the ways in which travel culture and consumer behavior are changing against the backdrop of digital empowerment, creative strategy, and content creation and distribution.

Kate Midttun, CEO at Acorn Strategy, is a strategy-led marketing and communications leader with 20 years of experience under her belt. She helps businesses with data-led and integrated marketing approaches that are measurable and results-focused with a 60+ strong team in UAE, Australia, and the UK. The first female investor to receive Abu Dhabi’s Golden Visa and with over 250 success stories, she believes the greatest impact and best results are achieved when entities focus on growth.

Mark Adams Before being Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation at VICE Media, Mark was the go-to "digital guy" for the Hollywood A-list. Worked with everyone from Usher to Buckingham Palace… until his business was acquired by VICE in 2016. Since then, he and his team have helped build VICE from a print magazine to a multibillion-dollar youth media group and the 2nd most awarded brand at Cannes 2022. Mark is still driven by digital transformation and has committed to up-skill 5 million people by 2030.

Neda Shelton is the Senior Vice President of Group Communications at Mubadala. She is an award-winning PR, communications, and marketing leader with over 20 years of global corporate experience. Neda has worked for leading brands in the Middle East and Europe and across government, technology, and tourism sectors, designing brand and communication strategies and CSR initiatives that drive impact and elevate purpose. She is passionate about developing the next generation of marketing leaders in the region for a sustainable, ESG-led future.