For over 25 years Tony has partnered with clients and organizations to achieve success in pursuit of their growth and innovation goals. Applying a work-integrated approach, Tony works with organizations to change from within by helping them integrate human-centered design methods and principles into their current work. With a focus on strategic innovation and human-centeredness, Tony helps his clients embrace a future-focused mindset that creates space to identify and define stretch opportunities for new products, services and experiences that move the organization beyond a competitive posture to one that defines the market. Tony is an expert in moving companies from generic, "me-too" products and services to highly differentiated, ownable experiences and offerings.

Tony holds positions as Adjunct Lecturer at Northwestern University Segal Design Institute at the McCormick School of Engineering and Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lake Forest College. He has been Co-faculty Chair and Adjunct Professor in the Rutgers Design Thinking Certificate program and a Visiting Professor of Design Thinking and Innovation at CEDIM School of Design in Mexico. He also previously worked on the corporate side for Northwestern Mutual as Senior Director Enterprise Experience Design.

Tony holds an Undergraduate Degree, Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin Stout, a Masters Degree, M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School, and a Masters Degree, Innovation Planning from the IIT Institute of Design. He has also pursued Graduate Studies in Organizational Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

Rob is a 30-year veteran of the advertising and media agency world. He has worked with some of the world’s most iconic retail brands, including McDonald’s, Allstate, Kellogg’s, Disney and Airbnb. He has shepherded billions of dollars worth of investments across TV/video, radio/audio, digital, OOH and print. He is known as an agent of change, helping reshape the agency as well as individual accounts and positioning them for the future.

Rob began his career at what was then Leo Burnett Media working on the Procter & Gamble account and learned the art of deep consumer understanding. He then shifted to the newly formed Starcom Media. In his years at Starcom, Rob was part of the team that helped develop the marketing and media around the now infamous Allstate “Mayhem” campaign, won gold Lions and Effies for media effectiveness on Kellogg’s Special K and Airbnb.

Rob joined and became a co-owner of NOVUS Media in 2018, where he drove the pivot to become a leading multimedia agency with new service models, new proprietary tools, and new talent. NOVUS specializes in planning and buying all media through a lens of geography, and they have been on an unprecedented new business growth trajectory, winning planning and buying assignments for the likes of Wendy’s, Lidl grocery, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree, Mayo Clinic, Thrivent Financial and many others.

Outside of work, Rob spends his time with his wife, 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, and can occasionally be seen playing drums in the Chicago area with his band. He’s a rabid cinephile and is also a tech geek who enjoys editing his family’s home movies in Final Cut, and is learning to speak Spanish and Chinese (slowly).

With more than 15 years of B2B and B2C experience, Gina is known for transforming brands, enhancing customer experiences, and driving profitability with leading brands, including Oracle, Serta, Sears, WellPoint and Tribune.

Gina began her career on the agency side, managing campaigns for Fannie May Candies, Big Apple Bagels, Enesco Giftware, and Burger King. She shifted to the client side, and was instrumental in launching Tribune’s online division, as a complement to the then-thriving newspaper business. Gina continued to lead marketing teams within healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and industrial real estate and is recognized for leadership, innovation, member engagement, and exceptional client service and results.

Gina currently leads Oracle Industry Innovation Lab program initiatives, within Construction & Engineering, Energy & Water, Manufacturing, Communications, and Local Government, empowering customers to experiment, learn, and stay on the leading edge of technological advancement. By embedding new technologies into hands-on, simulated industry settings, the Innovation Lab brings together customers and technology partners to incubate and develop solutions to solve complex business challenges.

Gina graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a bachelor’s degree in education. She enjoys spending time with her daughter, Alexandra, cycling, boxing and traveling. 

Striving for a work environment that puts talent first is what motivated Aaron to co-found Greentarget in 2005, a public relations firm that is now the fifth-largest in the U.S. among PR firms focused exclusively on the unique communications needs of professional services firms. To this day, he co-leads the firm fueled by a world-class team and a culture that promotes the personal and professional stretch.

Aaron’s big-picture perspective underpins his strategic guidance for professional services firms in all aspects of marketing communications with an emphasis on crisis management, executive communications, thought leadership marketing, internal communications, litigation support, message development and media training.

He thrives on the controlled chaos of having three children with wide-ranging interests and involvement in numerous activities, from dance to hockey to music. He can often be found checking out live music himself and enjoys exploring the parallels between live musicians and high-performing teams.