We’re thrilled to introduce you to the winners of the 2025 Women in Content Marketing Awards (WICMAs). Concluding its seventh year, the Women in Content Marketing Awards celebrate incredible women across all levels and specialties who are defining the content marketing industry and creating a lasting impact through their leadership.
The 2025 WICMAs honored women across seven categories: WICMAs Content Marketer of the Year, Content Marketing Program of the Year, Marketing Leader of the Year, Pivot, AI Innovator, Rising Star, and Freelance Excellence.
As you’ll see, these women have forged new paths for their brands, clients, and the industry at large. They each bring a thoughtful and innovative approach to their work, and we’re thrilled to celebrate their accomplishments.
The Women in Content Marketing Awards are presented by Masthead, a content marketing agency founded and led by women, and the Content Marketing Institute.
WICMA Content Marketer of the Year Winners
Small Companies
(less than 500 employees)
Christina Heiser
Content Director
Saatva
Emilee Helm
Head of Influencers
Gamesight
Emilee Helm, Head of Influencers at Gamesight, has helmed hundreds of successful influencer campaigns for partners across the gaming industry. She is a noted speaker who has delivered lectures at major conferences, including GDC. In her free time, Emilee enjoys watching Dodger baseball, spending time with her cats, engaging in photography, and, of course, gaming.
Michelle Jackson
Chief Strategy Officer
BackPocket Agency
Michelle Jackson brings 20+ years of experience in content marketing. She led the agency team behind the Content Marketing Institute’s 2023 Best Content Marketing Program in Healthcare and has been a frequent presenter at in-person and virtual events. Michelle’s roots are in journalism, with a focus on storytelling and audience engagement. At BackPocket, she drives the marketing strategy for the quickly growing agency as well as leads all client-facing teams — content, creative, marketing, and digital — ensuring unbeatable client service and strategy are infused into every client relationship and deliverable. As a content marketing leader, Michelle's mantra is "lead with kindness" and believes that to inspire good work, you have to constantly demonstrate respect, listen actively, and model empathy.
Farra Kober
VP, Content Studio, BBC StoryWorks
BBC Studios
Farra Kober is the VP of StoryWorks, BBC Studios’ creative commercial content studio.
An Emmy-award-winning content executive and brand marketer, Farra is passionate about creative storytelling with purpose. As a creative leader she guides teams to driving growth, customer engagement, and sales through multi-platform content born of strategic insights and data.
Prior to joining the BBC, Farra held leadership positions at WeWork as Sr. Director of Global Content Marketing, theSkimm as VP of Content Studios – leading their extension into branded content, podcasting, and web editorial, and NBC Universal. As Director of Digital for MSNBC, managing creative and operations of MSNBC.com, Farra led the company to their best-year-ever in digital video viewership and launched their first-ever podcasting arm, including Chris Hayes’ award-winning program, “Why is this Happening?”
Ginni Saraswati
Founder & CEO, Podcaster
Ginni Media
WICMA Content Marketer of the Year Winners
Large Companies
(more than 500 employees)
Christine Michel Carter
Director, Campaign Strategy and Management
Lexia
Christine Michel Carter is an award-winning content marketing leader, Forbes contributor, and author with over 18 years of experience driving strategy for Fortune 500 brands, startups, and EdTech companies. As a marketing executive, she specializes in product messaging, brand strategy, and thought leadership, aligning customer insights with campaign execution to accelerate growth. Christine has been recognized for her work in content innovation and has led successful initiatives across B2B SaaS, healthcare, and CPG.
Maggy Jain
Content Manager
Slalom
Maggy Jain is a content strategist and writer with 9+ years of experience shaping high-impact brand narratives across B2B and DTC spaces. At Slalom, she leads content strategy for global campaigns—elevating thought leadership, brand storytelling, and research into cohesive, multi-channel programs. Her work has contributed to $80M+ in marketing-attributed sales, earning her internal recognition for both innovation and impact. She also manages Slalom’s global blog program, where she coaches a community of 140+ emerging thought leaders.
Prior to joining Slalom, Maggy worked as a freelance journalist in the travel and lifestyle space, with bylines in Travel + Leisure, Lonely Planet, Outside, and more. A lifelong storyteller, she’s passionate about making complex ideas more accessible and using content as a tool for connection.
Amanda Potter
Manager, Content Strategy
Sanford Health
Amanda Potter is the manager of content strategy at Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, where she shapes the vision on how to best connect the products and services of the organization to the people that need them most. Under her influence, Sanford's content has been recognized by the Healthcare Ad Awards and MarCom Awards. Amanda is the author of the book Social Media Strategy for Everyone and the LinkedIn newsletter "make it make sense."
Abby Varinsky
VP, Production
Dotdash Meredith
As VP of Production at DDM Studios, Abby Varinsky leads a high-performing team across Beauty, Style, and Entertainment production and program management. With an expansive background in client partnerships, talent management, experiential marketing, studio operations, social media, and video production, Abby understands what matters most to brand partners. She’s deeply attuned to what clients need, providing synergy with what audiences respond to. Her strategic vision fuels innovative, editorial, and native content that stays ahead of industry trends. Under her leadership, DDM Studios continues to raise the bar for creative ingenuity, production excellence, and client satisfaction.
Purna Virji
Principal Consultant and Global Program Manager
Purna Virji is the bestselling author of ‘High-Impact Content Marketing’ and a leading voice on AI-powered marketing. As Principal Consultant at LinkedIn, she advises Fortune 500 brands and high-growth startups on content, creative, and branding strategy. Previously at Microsoft, Purna has shaped global marketing strategies and influenced industry trends, earning recognition as a Search Personality of the Year, Adweek Young Influential, and the Most Influential PPC Expert in the World. A sought-after keynote speaker, she’s shared her insights across 20 countries, guiding marketers toward smarter strategies for revenue growth.
Content Marketing Program of the Year Winners
Megan Ryan & The BOK Financial Team
The Statement
BOK Financial
In an industry where content often centers on promotional messaging, BOK Financial has redefined what financial content can be. Through The Statement: (https://thestatement.bokf.com/), the company’s brand journalism hub, BOK Financial has become a leader in brand journalism and content marketing that informs, builds trust, and creates loyal customers and employees.
The Statement operates with the rigor of a newsroom. Each article is fact-checked, multi-sourced, and intentionally written to educate and inform. From interpreting economic policy to sharing human-centered stories about community investment and financial empowerment, the content prioritizes substance over spin.
Megan Ryan, director of content strategy, explains the impact:
“It was a big shift, a totally new concept for the company. But the fact that we’re able to put things out as quickly as we are, from a broader economic perspective, helps to build the reputation of the company, and that helps our team members develop relationships with people in their networks.”
Statement articles are regularly repurposed for media outreach, paid placements and marketing campaigns, helping the company get more value for each piece of content.
In 2024, the company was named a Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winner due to our culture of engagement, to which an informed workforce contributed. The content team is regularly invited to speak on panels and at conferences, recognizing The Statement as a model for brand journalism.
While many companies talk about storytelling, BOK Financial does it, with clarity, consistency and credibility. The Statement is not a campaign. It is an always-on content ecosystem that builds trust, drives reach and delivers real value.
Marketing Leader of the Year Winners
Cindy Anderson
CMO, Global Lead, IBM Institute for Business Value
IBM
Cindy is currently CMO and Global Lead for Thought Leadership Engagement & Eminence at the IBM Institute for Business Value, the award-winning thought leadership think tank. She oversees an amazing team who handle content development, design, social media engagement, digital delivery, and campaign promotions. She has co-authored research reports, published numerous articles and delivered presentations on thought leadership, diversity, the project economy, and technology to global audiences. She is co-author of The ROI of Thought Leadership, and is co-founder and member of the board of advisors for the Global Thought Leadership Institute. Cindy works out of IBM’s Singapore office.
Prior to joining IBM, Cindy was CMO at the Project Management Institute, a global professional association, where she built a thought leadership competency, rebranded the organization for its 50th anniversary, and introduced multiple product brands growing the organization by 200% over seven years.
Tracy Cioffi
Chief Marketing and Executive Operations Officer
The Bay Club Company
Tracy Cioffi, known as TLC, is a vibrant, caring leader who scales distinctive, fast-growing businesses through periods of rapid expansion while delivering stellar operational results. She’s a brand visionary known for developing, leading and rallying high-performing teams by blending her keen instinct for what will work with a deep grounding in market data to take calculated risks that pay significant dividends.
As current Chief Marketing Officer of Bay Club, Cioffi is leading the company’s mission, values and culture as they grow from 1,200 employees to more than 4,000 employees in just two years, as well as leading strategy for the company’s 25+ health and fitness locations across the West Coast, with additional rapid growth planned for 2025.
Cioffi has been named on Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women, Next Generation” list and has been previously recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as “Executive of the Year.”
Dawn Hedgepeth
Chief Marketing Officer
HanesBrands
AI Innovator Winner
Brittany Beaulieu
Campaign Marketing Manager
Lexia
With a background in education as a 6–12 English teacher, Brittany has always had a deep appreciation for the written word. She began her marketing career in 2018 as a jack-of-all-trades in the marketing office of a U.S. military base in South Korea. After returning to the United States, Brittany rose through the ranks at a copywriting agency, starting as a writer and ultimately serving as Digital Content Manager.
In 2022, she found her professional home at Lexia, where she merges her passion for education with her content marketing expertise. Since joining the company, Brittany has led efforts to enhance Lexia’s SEO strategy, focusing on how AI tools impact organic traffic and exploring the most effective ways to leverage AI-driven search for improved visibility.
Pivot Award Winners
Megan Ciampo
Content Strategist
Sanford Health
Mindy Henderson
Vice President, Disability Outreach & Empowerment
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Driven to build a world that welcomes and includes EVERYONE, Mindy is a powerful leader in disability rights, with specific interests in accessible air travel, universal design, employment, inclusive fashion and product design, and positive representation for the disabled community in the media and entertainment.
A popular motivational speaker, Mindy’s mission is to show up as an example of positivity, hope, bravery, and possibilities, to help individuals to own their adversity, to stop making excuses, and to see the fullest potential for themselves AND for the world, and to give them the tools to reach for it.
Author of the book, The Truth About Things That Suck, Mindy brings her editorial skills as MDA's VP, Disability Outreach & Empowerment, and leading their adaptive lifestyle media platform, Quest Media as editor-in-chief.
Emma Lieberman
Director of Content Marketing
Impact Networking, LLC
When Emma first graduated, she was convinced that she was going to be the next Meryl Streep – if Meryl was also, at the same time, John Mulaney. That didn’t work out as planned. However, Emma discovered that she could use the same skills honed as an actor and comedian to connect with audiences and communicate ideas in a way that’s compelling and memorable.
In under three years, Emma went from her first copywriting gigs to managing a team and leading content strategy at Impact Networking. Today, as the Director of Content Marketing, Emma leads a team of four to execute a thought leadership-based content strategy, encourage creativity in copy, and position colleagues as the passionate experts they are. Emma is a 2024 and 2025 Women in Content Marketing Awards finalist, a 2024 mentee in the Content Marketing Institute's mentorship program, and a passionate fan of the New York Yankees.
Rising Star Award Winners
Amanda Mullin
Digital Marketing/Social Media Manager
Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
Amanda Mullin is an award-winning Digital Marketing and Social Media Manager at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. With a background in musical theater, directing and scriptwriting, she brings a storyteller’s eye and creative vision to healthcare marketing. Amanda applies her artistic foundation in a new way—crafting compelling digital content that informs, engages, and connects. Over the past four years, she has produced impactful video series, led digital ad campaigns, and grown the hospital’s online presence through original social media initiatives and community storytelling. She handles everything from concept development to filming, editing, and publishing, infusing each project with her passion for both creativity and healthcare. Though relatively new to the marketing field, Amanda’s unique blend of narrative skill and medical insight continues to drive results and meaningful engagement.
Dani Proffitt
Associate Digital Marketing Director
Yes& Agency
Dani Proffitt is an Associate Director of Media Strategy at Yes& with expertise in planning and executing paid media campaigns across government, commercial, and association clients. She collaborates across teams to turn strategy, content, and creative into performance-driven media programs. Dani specializes in building channel-audience-content frameworks aligned to the customer journey and takes a data-first approach to ensure campaigns are measurable and scalable. She’s also skilled in designing interactive dashboards that clearly illustrate performance from impression to conversion. In just 4.5 years, Dani has risen from coordinator to strategic lead on major accounts, including the U.S. Department of State’s national awareness media programs. Beyond client work, she supports agency innovation by mentoring interns, improving internal processes, and contributing to the Yes& AI Council, helping the team explore scalable solutions for content and reporting.
Freelance Excellence Winner
Ellen Miller
Founder & Principal
Ellen Miller Consulting
Ellen Miller is a brand strategist and content leader who helps mission-driven companies turn bold ideas into messaging that sticks—and sells. With 20+ years of experience across editorial, brand, and digital, she’s led content strategy for Whole Foods Market, Amazon, LTK, and now a range of wellness, healthcare, and beauty start-ups through her consultancy. Ellen is known for helping founders get to the heart of what they’re trying to say—and say it in a way that moves people to act. Her work blends sharp positioning, clear storytelling, and a healthy intolerance for jargon. Whether she’s building a brand from scratch or tightening a campaign tagline, she brings clarity, conviction, and results. A 2025 WICMA finalist and panelist on the AI Innovation Marketing Council, Ellen believes the best messaging doesn’t just sound good—it drives growth, earns press, and makes people feel something.
Jayde I. Powell
Founder & Head of Creative
The Em Dash Co
Jayde I. Powell is a social media strategist from Atlanta, Georgia. With over 12 years of experience in marketing, Jayde has taken her knowledge and established herself as a well-respected creative and voice in both advertising industry and the creator economy.
She is the founder of The Em Dash Co, a multidisciplinary social-first creative agency specializing in strategy, creative direction, and content creation. There, she has led projects for global brands such as Netflix, Timberland, LinkedIn, The Coca-Cola Company, and more.
Additionally, she is known for her relatable and humorous presence on LinkedIn, which she refers to and popularized as “The Briefcase App.""
In 2023, she was recognized by Adweek as a standout in media, marketing, and culture and also recognized by Business Insider as a creator economy expert. In her free time, she takes art classes and frequently travels between her home in Atlanta and Brooklyn, New York.
2025 Women in Content Marketing Award Finalists!
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Small Companies
Alysha Parker, RollWorks
Amy Slotnick, Passion Point Collective
Christina Heiser, Saatva
Emilee Helm, Gamesight
Farra Kober, BBC Studios
Ginni Saraswati, Ginni Media
Holli Christopher, CareCredit
Laryssa Wirstiuk, Joy Joya
Michelle Jackson, BackPocket Agency
Myriah Castillo, Joybyte
Natalia Chung, PhotoShelter
Pamela Knowles, Visit Savannah
Rochelle Burnside, AdRoll
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Large Companies
Abby Varinsky, Dotdash Meredith
Amanda Potter, Sanford Health
Christine Carter, Lexia
Danielle Sottosanti, BOK Financial
Diana Demers, Watermark Retirement Communities
Kissairis Muñoz, Instructure
Lana Ivory (Doskicz), Meta
Laura Pemberton, National Multiple Sclerosis Society
Lydia Stowe, FiscalNote
Maggy Jain, Slalom
Marissa Lucas, The Bay Club Company
Purna Virji, LinkedIn
-
Chitra Rakesh, The Tech Icon
Jen Zall, Gamesight
Chrissie Koeppen, Yes&
Jessica Marcello, Karbon
Purna Virji, LinkedIn
Emily Browder, Merz Aesthetics
Megan Ryan, BOK Financial
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Christina Kyriazi, PhotoShelter
Debbie Bates-Schrott, Yes&
Kathryn Courtney, Mix Consulting
Catherine Leitner, Delaware North
Cindy Anderson, IBM
Clair Sidman, Collective Voice
Dawn Hedgepeth, HanesBrands
Diamaris Welch, Dotdash Meredith
Jess Lindberg, ScienceLogic
Tracy Cioffi, The Bay Club Company
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Beth Yezzi, Yes&
Jessica Marcello, Karbon
Brittany Beaulieu, Lexia
Julie Shapiro, The Well by Northwell Health
Sarah Bacha (Guidry), LendingTree
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Katharine Quinn, And That's Showbiz
Mindy Henderson, Muscular Dystrophy Association
Emma Lieberman, Impact Networking, LLC
Jacqueline Almanza, The Ohio Masonic Communities
Katie Baden, Watermark Retirement Communities
Megan Ciampo, Sanford Health
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Dani Profitt, Yes&
Sydney Lamoureux, Leadhub
Amanda Mullin, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital
Chelsea Podraski, Nationwide
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Alison Meyer, Indigo Communications
Chelsea Greenway, Kalon Design Studio
Ellen Miller, Ellen Miller Consulting
Jasmine Williams, Jasmine Williams Media
Jayde Powell, The Em Dash Co.
Melanie Mannarino, MM Creative LLC