Advertising and marketing agencies are instrumental to helping brands take strong stances on issues and causes that matter to consumers and citizens alike. Hear from media pros about how everyone from account executives to creatives are striving to understand and balance consumers’ shifting expectations and buying behaviors alongside the causes they care about.
Troy Blackwell, Public Relations Executive; Advisory Board Member, Google Changemakers; Fundraising Co-Chair, LGBTQ Victory Fund
Troy Blackwell is an award-winning public relations executive whose work sits at the intersection of culture, media, and public diplomacy. He currently serves on Google’s Changemakers Advisory Board and is Fundraising Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, among several leadership roles.
Blackwell previously served in both the 44th and 46th Presidential Administrations, holding senior roles in public affairs and engagement. Appointed by President Joe Biden, he served as Deputy Chief Communications Officer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he directed external affairs for a $4.5 billion agency with 14,000+ employees and became the agency’s highest-ranking Latino official during the administration. Before this, Blackwell served as the Peace Corps’ Global Spokesperson—the first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold the role—leading communications across 64 countries and spearheading the agency’s landmark “Bold Invitation” global recruitment campaign. He represented the United States at major international convenings, including the Global Citizen Festival and the U.S.–Africa Leaders Summit.
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A native New Yorker, Blackwell has also held roles in New York City government and the private sector. He has guest lectured at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics and has provided expert commentary on democracy across CNN, MSNBC, and Times Now India.
Katie Harrison, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder, WRTHY
Katie Harrison is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of WRTHY, an award-winning global social impact agency founded in 2017. Bringing together experts from business, marketing, policy, media, and entertainment, WRTHY develops innovative strategies, funding models, and advocacy campaigns to drive meaningful impact at scale. WRTHY’s sweet spot is humanizing complex social and environmental issues. Clients include the Gates Foundation, ChildFund International, Project Dandelion, The ONE Campaign, Adapt2Win, lululemon and more.
Previously, Katie was Head of Strategy at creative advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty. She spent almost 20 years as a strategist, leading impactful global brand campaigns for BBH and Fallon for organizations such as Unilever, UNICEF, Sony, Levi Strauss & Co, Tate and BBC Worldwide, living and working in the UK, Singapore and USA along the way.
Katie is on the board of The Caius Foundation (Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge) and is a Royal Society Arts (RSA) fellow. She has most recently been recognized by INC Magazines as a 2026 500 Female Founders. She resides with her family in Brooklyn NY.
Gabriella Zutrau, Digital Strategy Advisor to campaigns and organizations
Gabriella Zutrau is a Digital Strategy Advisor to campaigns and organizations, with over a decade of experience. She is an organic social media expert, and has a background in community organizing. After her pioneering work on Zohran Mamdani's 2025 mayoral campaign, Gabbi is one of the nation’s leading experts in using social media chatbots as political organizing tools. She has trained hundreds of people in social media strategy and best practices for chatbot use in politics and advocacy.
In a very different lane, Gabbi is also a content creator in the pet niche, where she and her dog, Edna, have hundreds of thousands of followers and reach tens of millions of people every month. Exclusively represented by BrightSight Speakers, Gabbi also uses the “Edna The Runt” (@ednatherunt) pages as a lab where she experiments with digital tools and tactics before trying them with her clients.
Moderator: Camila Brango, Director of Community, Center for Communication
Camila Brango is the Director of Community at the Center for Communication, where she leads the strategy and marketing execution of high-impact forums and summits that connect the next generation of talent with leaders across media, marketing, and communications. She also serves as a spokesperson and host, moderating conversations that bring industry insights and real-world experiences to life.
She is the host of Make It in Media, a podcast she pitched and helped develop to expand access to industry insights while equipping fellows with hands-on experience in content production, storytelling, and digital media.
Camila’s background spans marketing, advertising, and real estate, with experience at organizations including Ogilvy and Johnson & Johnson. She is currently a Master’s student in Strategic Communications at Columbia University (Executive cohort), where she is deepening her expertise at the intersection of media, leadership, and impact.
Presented with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and The New School's Media Management Program within Parsons School of Design
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Center's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Accessibility: Center for Communication provides reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities. Requests for accommodations for Center for Communication events should be submitted at least two weeks before the date of the accommodation need. Please email community@centerforcommunication.org for assistance.
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