CMO Forum 2026: What Marketing Leaders Must Prove Now
Marketing leaders are being asked to grow the business or organization, modernize marketing with AI, protect brand trust and prove the value of every dollar invested. Hear from senior marketers about what CMO and other marketing management roles require now — and how marketing earns influence at the executive table.
This event opens with the presentation of the 2026 AMA Chicago Marketer of the Year!
Agenda
5:30 p.m. Check-in and networking
6:00 p.m. Introductions and AMA Chicago presentation of the 2026 Marketer of the Year award
6:20 p.m. Keynote address begins
6:40 p.m. Panel discussion begins
7:30–8:00 p.m. Q&A with panelists; wrap-up
Keynote Speaker
Sofia Colucci
CMO
Molson Coors Beverage Company
Sofia Colucci is an agile, results-driven senior marketing executive with an exceptional track record managing businesses across multiple industries and Fortune 500 companies. She is a seasoned leader with 20+ years of experience and a proven track record of spearheading creatively effective marketing – driving brands in culture, leading turnarounds and building breakthrough innovations. She is skilled at navigating organizational complexities and fast-paced environments, as well as influencing and collaborating with agencies, sales and distributors to balance long-term strategic planning with commercial results.
Colucci’s many recognitions include Forbes Top 50 Entrepreneurial CMOs, Forbes World’s Top 50 Most Influential CMOs, Campaign’s Top 50 CMOs, Chicago Ad Federation’s Ad Woman of the Year and Crain’s Top 40 Under 40 in Chicago. Her team’s work has been awarded at Cannes, One Show and Effie U.S. (2024 Top Marketer). Colucci is a Canadian-Uruguayan Latina, fluent in Spanish, and has a passion for learning and brand-building.
Panel
Moderator
Dana Dimitri
Executive Search & Assessment Consultant
Russell Reynolds Associates
Dana Dimitri provides clients with market-leading insights and advises them on their most pressing leadership challenges. She leads the firm’s Consumer Private Equity Practice in the Americas and is a senior member of the Consumer Products and Customer Activation & Growth Practice.
Dimitri works closely with leading commercial companies and leverages her more than 20 years of experience to identify and develop executive and non-executive leaders, helping build future-ready management teams across the United States. Her expertise spans all aspects of executive leadership. She has led high-profile searches and advisory projects for private equity portfolio companies, family-and-founder-led companies and Fortune 500 companies.
Based in Chicago, Dimitri has deep industry experience in brand strategy, communications and public relations, e-commerce, customer engagement and digital marketing. She previously served as the Vice President of Integrated Marketing & Customer Engagement at Potbelly Sandwich Works, where she was responsible for brand strategy, media, loyalty and e-commerce. Prior to this, she worked at PepsiCo, where she focused on brand management, strategy and M&A. Dimitri started her career as a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Dimitri holds a BA from Vanderbilt University and an MBA in marketing, finance and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Panelist
Lisa Nucci
Chief Marketing Officer
Choose Chicago
Lisa Nucci brings over 15 years of experience to Choose Chicago as the organization’s Chief Marketing Officer, with a background in sports, cultural and nonprofit organizations as well as creative agencies. Prior to joining Choose Chicago, Nucci served as Chief Creative Strategy Officer at the Chicago Architecture Center, where she built a new marketing team and established a digital strategy. Nucci was also the Executive Director of Marketing for the Chicago Bulls, where she directed marketing initiatives, youth engagement programs, retail marketing and special events. As Chief Marketing Officer, Nucci is tasked with leading Choose Chicago’s strategic marketing initiatives across the organization to attract leisure and business visitors as well as meetings and events to Chicago. Choose Chicago is the recipient of several AMA Chicago Palmer Marketing Awards.
Panelist
Meera Iyer
Chief Marketing Officer
Venmo
As the CMO of Venmo, Iyer leads growth across P2P, financial services and commerce to establish Venmo as the next-gen money app, driving $2B in revenue. Previously, she led marketing for SoFi’s Lending & Membership, a multi-billion-dollar business unit, where she scaled personal loans five times during a volatile rate environment. At Discover Financial Services, Iyer led product strategy for credit cards and loyalty, including the flagship $2-billion cash-back rewards program.
A Chicago-based marketing executive, Iyer holds an MBA from the Wharton School (Global Consulting Practicum) and Indian School of Business, and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University.
Sponsored by
Registration Fees
- AMA Chicago members: $30
- Guests: $50
Location
155 N. Wacker Dr.
2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60606