Visionary, strategy guru, social justice warrior...oh, and by the way, marketing extraordinaire. I've worked with Gillian in multiple roles, and it doesn't take long for her to make a positive impression. She is fueled by a fervent belief in young people and equity, builds internal and external relationships that catalyze high impact initiatives, and keeps an eye on the bigger picture to ensure cutting edge marketing and strategy. At Our Turn, she's been so much more than a marketer - she's given our work an infusion of purpose and scientific practice. As a professional and organizational leader, I owe so much to Gillian and I'm energized by knowing that we have so much more to accomplish.

Gillian was an outstanding marketing leader for the LEGOLAND Florida Resort, who provided strategic direction and commercial drive to the business during a critical investment and growth phase for the organization. She oversaw the development of marketing plans that successfully launched the biggest scale of investment in the Resort since its opening, and in a highly competitive market with stagnant growth, Gillian delivered volume and revenue increases. Outside of these commercial achievements, Gillian was a passionate advocate and leader of her team, and a true collaborator in supporting the wider goal of building LEGOLAND marketing capability and brand presence globally. She was an unwavering team player, who delivered results locally whilst always having an eye on how she and her team could support the broader global agenda for the brand. 

Gillian is insightful and creative. She excels in leveraging data to build strategy and helping brands grow awareness. She is passionate about marketing and stays current to ensure that organizations continue to innovate based on current landscape. She also leads with a people first ethos to ensure that everyone is operating in with a collaborative mindset. She is smart, funny, and extremely capable on every aspect of a project.

Gillian worked with Meliora Research on major strategic research projects while at City Year and LEGOLAND. These were complex studies involving sophisticated analytic methods that Gillian brought to these organizations for the first time because she understood the strategic and tactical insight they offered. When clients bring new methods to their organizations, it is often a struggle for them to link research results to business strategy. Gillian not only advocated for these methods, she effectively led her teams work to make effective use of them in support of business strategy. She also was a strong manager of budgets, assuring that the projects stayed within cost parameters that her organizations could afford.

I was very fortunate during my time at Allen & Gerritsen to work and partner with Gillian — who at the time was CMO for City Year's advertising, marketing, and strategy team. I use the word "partner" rather than "client" with purpose. It's a distinction for only the best in the business. With Gillian, we understood there were two distinct goals: Do work that stands out and that is also strategically sound. But Gillian didn't dictate her goals from a platform, she did it from a table where she asked thoughtful questions and accepted opinions. We were in it together. These are the people for whom you want to work hard. Wherever Gillian has driven marketing, creative ground has been broken and results follow. Her time at City Year was no exception. With naught for a budget but the good graces of media providers, together with Gillian's leadership, we doubled awareness in our target audience by doing the research and taking a creative risk. Our socially-driven campaign (#makebetterhappen) was recognized for its social/digital/creative ingenuity by many awards shows and uniquely Forrester Research as well. This happened because Gillian understood the value of creativity but also put her own stamp on the work by making sure we were properly pointed at our target. Over the course of my 3+ decades as a creative in agencies, there are just a few people on the client side I would run to work with again in a heartbeat. Gillian is one of those people because she wants great creative work, pointed strategy, and to build a passionate and driven team.

Gillian is a highly motivated and compassionate leader who brings out the best in her team. We worked together on many projects but one of our biggest achievements was launching a monthly payment platform for the Resort's Annual Pass Program. In the face of many challenges, Gillian remained true to the goal of launching a compliant product that suited the nuanced Florida Resident market. She was incredibly supportive of me and challenged me in all the right ways! She has a huge heart and cares deeply about teams she manages, offering advice and guidance. Gillian also has an incredible knowledge of media and media buying as well as market research, fully embracing the sentiment of data driven decision making and strategy. 

Working with the Carambola team was profoundly impactful for the Modern Classrooms Project. It allowed us to do a full needs assessment of where our marketing community engagement work was thriving and where we needed additional support. Their work also allowed us to craft a clear plan of attack to ensure that we strengthen our marketing operation and ultimately impact as many teachers and students as possible. The Carambola team is extremely effective at zooming out and looking at the bigger picture and zooming in and supporting with very granular tasks that are needed to accelerate our impact.