Leading Women Mexico, in association with Adlatina, has brought together standout players in the Mexican communications and marketing industry. The 16 female leaders join a group—previously known as Women to Watch—of more than 70 professional women, all of whom make an impact on the Mexican market.

Among the Class of 2021 are 11 marketers, five advertisers and one communications leader.

Ad Age welcomes this outstanding group of Mexican executives to join the hundreds of women all over the world who have been recognized as Leading Women.

GLORIA AGUILAR

Managing director, Initiative Mexico

Gloria Aguilar has over 15 years of experience in the media agency industry. She has mainly led areas of strategy and analytics. More than two years ago, as managing director of Initiative Mexico, her main role was to keep the agency number one, and to consolidate its growth in an industry full of changes.

She has built strong business relationships with most of the clients she has collaborated with; all this thanks to the team she works with every day, with great talent and capable of moving at the speed of changes in customers and the industry.

THALÍA CASTRO ROLDÁN

Director of marketing and public relations, Mercedes-Benz Mexico and Latam

Mexican by birth, pedagogue by training and lover of her country, Thalía Castro Roldán began her professional career at Mercedes Benz in 2008 as part of the human resources area, where she forged leadership skills. Later, she developed the implementation of projects, strategies and internal communication for Mercedes-Benz Mexico; where she strengthened her strategic vision. She continued her career joining the marketing area; developing brand positioning strategies.

Since 2021, Castro has taken a leadership role as director of marketing and public relations for Mercedes-Benz Mexico and Latin America, allowing her to implement the knowledge acquired during her career at Mercedes-Benz and her passion for sustainability.

ISABEL CERDEIRA

CEO, Spark & Zenith Mexico

Isabel Cerdeira has held the position of CEO of Spark Foundry since 2017 and since 2020 she expanded her responsibilities by also being appointed CEO of Zenith. She has dedicated herself to driving the culture of each agency and transforming their teams to elevate customer service to the highest level.

Cerdeira ventured into the media industry at Leo Burnett where she worked for clients such as Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, Kraft, United Distillers, Sigma Alimentos, Disney Parks and Haagen-Dazs. In 2009, she assumed responsibility for the operations of Telefónica and Procter & Gamble in 12 Latin American countries, adding two years to her career as a media director at Genomma Lab.

SILVIA DAVILA

President, Danone Latam

Silvia Davila has a degree in Marketing from UNITEC (Technological University of Mexico), with a master’s degree in Business Economics (ITESM, 1996) and postgraduate studies from IMD, Harvard Business School and ISEAD. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, business development and coaching.

At the same time that she was studying at the university, Davila began her career at McDonald’s Mexico (1989). When she finished she joined Procter & Gamble (1992). She was also a professor of strategic marketing planning at TEC de Monterrey. In 2004 she joined Mars Mexico, where, in 2007 she became general manager at the chocolate division. In 2010 she was general manager for the pets division and in 2014 VP and global food chief marketing officer of Mars in Belgium. In 2017 she joined Danone as regional president for Latin America. She was recently appointed president of Latam for the EDP & Waters businesses and a member of the executive committee of Global Danone Group.

Davila is a strategic leader who fosters the development of ideas that promise transformative growth, building solid foundations to deliver results today and in the future. She is passionate about issues of inclusion, women’s development and coaching. In addition, she is a director of UNITEC, member of the council and fellow of the IWF (International Women’s Forum); as well as a member of YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and WCD (Women Corporate Directors). She is also the coordinator of the joint inclusion and diversity group forum between CCE and Pacto Global Mexico.

She has been recognized within the ranking of Powerful Women by Expansión magazine.

MARDYA DEL VALLE

Chief marketing officer, Bic Mexico and Ecuador

Mardya del Valle is a passionate marketer with more than 25 years of professional experience. She began her career in the market research area at SC Johnson, where she acquired the solid foundations of a promising career within the company—spending 20 years developing skills in different areas, achieving holistic knowledge of the business and directing innovation areas for Latam. She also served as director of marketing and trade marketing for Mexico and Central America. She ended her legacy by earning the Officers Award for her strategic input in leading the Business Transformation Project with Boston Consulting Group.

In 2017, she broke her own limits by venturing into the technology industry as director of marketing and channel marketing for Motorola, where she broke sales and market share records, revolutionizing the brand with a much more consumer-centric vision.

During her successful career, del Valle has inspired high-performance teams to build strong, profitable brands by translating deep consumer and customer insights into winning business strategies. Her extensive experience in the area of marketing and trade marketing, both in Mexico and Central America, is undoubtedly a strategic contribution in the great mission that Bic has conferred on her today: transforming the marketing team in Mexico and Ecuador to maintain leadership of the iconic brand with a young, digital and differentiating vision, in line with the new trends of its consumers.

Del Valle has a degree in business administration with a specialty in international marketing from the Universidad Panamericana and a postgraduate degree in digital marketing and e-commerce from the University of Texas (United States).

She is a proud Mexican mother of a family, daughter and wife, and is grateful to be able to achieve balancing her personal dreams and her professional life. She loves spending time outdoors and riding her bike with her family.

CLAUDIA GÓMEZ LLAMAS

VP of global marketing for secure power business, Schneider Electric

With more than 25 years of experience in international companies in marketing and business development positions, Claudia Gómez Llamas is the global VP of marketing for the secure power business, a division of Schneider Electric focused on the IT market, thus becoming the first Mexican who occupies a position of this rank at a global level within the company. In 2006 she joined the APC team as a marketing manager, a company that years later would be acquired by Schneider Electric. Prior to her current position, she served as VP of marketing and strategy for Schneider Electric Mexico and Central America.

She has a degree in communication sciences from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, a postgraduate degree in community marketing and strategic marketing from the Universidad Iberoamericana and a leadership program from INSEAD Business School in France.

KARLA GONZÁLEZ

Director of media and data-driven marketing for the Americas, Heineken Mexico

Karla González graduated from Tecnológico de Monterrey with a degree in marketing, has a global MBA from the University of Thunderbird Arizona and a postgraduate degree in digital marketing from ITESM. González has more than 17 years of experience in communication, marketing, e-commerce and digital acceleration. She has been a leader for multidisciplinary teams in different industries; working for companies such as Bacardi, Sony Electronics, 4E de Mexico, Unilever and Heineken—serving as a key piece within these companies for various achievements.

With this trajectory, González has been invited to speak at the 2019 and 2020 editions of Advertising Week Latam. She has participated in and won various awards for the strategies developed under her leadership at the Festival of Media Latam and Global in 2018 and 2020. Recognized as one of the 26 women marketing leaders by Informa BTL magazine in 2020.

JULIETA LOAIZA

VP of communication and corporate affairs, Nestlé Mexico

Julieta Loaiza has almost 30 years of experience creating and innovating brands with business, marketing and communication strategies. For 15 years she worked in global creative agencies and the last 14 at Nestlé. Her trajectory has transcended to international markets such as the United States.

Loaiza began her career at Nestlé in 2007 in Mexico, followed by four years at Nestlé United States directing all consumer communication and multicultural marketing, developing strategies and implementing communication plans for all brands, for American and Hispanic consumers in the number one market number for Nestlé in the world. She currently serves as VP of communication and corporate affairs for Nestlé Mexico, where she leads a group of more than 80 experts in offline and online marketing and communication such as: ebusiness, social media, community management, data and analytics, packaging design, shopper marketing, marketing experiences, corporate events, public relations, media, internal communication, corporate affairs and creation of shared value also known as Nestlé in society.

Loaiza and her team work across all Nestlé brands in 10 food and beverage categories, with diverse audiences such as consumers, government institutions, academia, councils, chambers, embassies, NGOs, the media and public interest groups, generating growth sustained and reinforcing the good reputation of Nestlé and its brands in Mexico.

ANA MARÍN

VP of digital integration and innovation, McCann Mexico

Ana Marín is VP of digital integration and leader of social media directors for Latin America at McCann Worldgroup. A journalist by training, she started her career in production, and later headed the social media area at Havas. In 2012 she joined McCann as a planner, where a year later she would head Chevrolet’s own media team.

In 2020, Marín was recognized as one of the outstanding professionals in Latin America by Adlatina magazine. She has served as Young Lions Jury President, IAB Jury VP, and Le Book and Echo Latam juror. She has won more than 60 awards at festivals such as Effie, Círculo Creativo, IAB, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, Eagle Awards and Festival Iberoamericano de Social Media, as well as awards within IPG, for the development of digital training programs. She, in turn, has two courses published in Doméstika.

SUSANA MÁRQUEZ

Director of La Roche-Posay and Cerave, L'Oréal

A proud mother and wife who graduated in marketing at the Tec de Monterrey, Susan Márquez has an 18-year career of national and international experience within L’Oréal. Leader and strategist with expertise in the beauty and dermo-cosmetic business; with a focus on the growth of the company. Since she started her career at L’Oréal, Márquez has been able to develop by taking different positions in different brands in Mexico, Paris and Bogotá.

Today as the brand director of La Roche-Posay and Cerave, she values leadership with human sensitivity, teamwork, entrepreneurship, innovation and talent development.

ANDREIA MORELLI

VP of marketing and service cards, American Express Mexico

Andreia Morelli has extensive experience in American Express, collaborating in several countries, including her hometown, Sao Paulo, Brazil, where it all began.

In 2006 she moved to New York to lead the regional premium product strategy, including the launch of the Centurion Card. She subsequently continued her career in Toronto, Canada, heading the small business services division, and shortly after she returned to the United States as head of marketing for the Alianza de Bancos business in Latin America.

Currently, as VP of marketing and service cards in Mexico, Morelli continues to guide her work with a standard of excellence, inspired by the company’s vision of understanding, respecting and supporting its customers, because when they prosper, so does American Express.

ANA NORIEGA

Chief creative officer, FCB Mexico

Ana Noriega has more than 15 years in the advertising industry and she took over as CCO at FCB Mexico in 2019. She works with enthusiasm and passion with her creative team. Six months after taking her role, her biggest challenge was the arrival of a pandemic, where she managed to integrate an agile, new way of working and, in the midst of the paralysis of the industry, won the pitch of BMW for the Mexico and Latam Group (the largest in 2020) and Little Caesars regionally in 2021.

Noriega is now part of the Global Creative Council and has been awarded and judged at local, regional and global advertising festivals such as Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Effie Latam, FIAP, Sol, Yahoo, Círculo Creativo, El Ojo de Iberoamérica and Ad Stars. For her, the biggest motivation is to balance her personal life and her work as she considers this essential to developing more and better ideas.

PILAR SÁNCHEZ

Chief marketing officer, Mondelēz Mexico

Pilar Sánchez has a Licentiate degree in food technology and processing at the Universidad Iberoamericana, with a master’s degree in business administration from TEC. She has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and innovation helping to grow iconic brands from leading companies.

She leads the development of marketing strategies and related competencies such as insights, media and consumer care, for Mondelēz Mexico. Sánchez’s position is key for the brands, since she is the first person to occupy the role in Mexico, after the marketing department was transformed to have the complete vision of the business under a single leadership. She is in charge of the evolution from marketing to "humaning," an idea that seeks to create real human connections and brands with purpose, launched in 2020 globally. Sánchez seeks to be a transformative and change agent by leading high-performance teams through communication and under a results-oriented approach.

ANA VALDESPINO

Marketing director for Latin America, Kantar

Ana Valdespino has more than 16 years of experience in B-to-B marketing and in recent years she has ventured into consulting startups nationally and internationally.

She has been a speaker at more than 10 national events, including the Women Economic Forum (2019) and currently collaborates with IAB Mexico as an instructor for the Social Media module. During her career, she has been a spokesperson for Kantar with more than 600 media mentions and has written exclusive collaborations for business magazines such as Executive Woman and Expansión. She has won several accolades including an award from the MIT Covid-19 Challenge in India, as well as Kantar’s Best Internal Global Campaign.

As part of her professional training, Valedespino has a master’s degree in communication from the Universidad Panamericana, a course in digital marketing from Emeritus University and Columbia Business School, a specialization in digital marketing from Squared Online (part of The Think with Google), among others. She is currently studying an MBA with a specialty in marketing at the University of Warwick in the UK.

MÓNICA VÁZQUEZ RUEDA

Senior marketing director, Coca-Cola Latin America

Mónica Vázquez Rueda has 15 years of local and international experience in business management and marketing in different categories of the mass consumer industry. She started her career at P&G, with local and regional roles leading brands such as Charmin, Herbal Essences, Pampers, Always, Naturella, and Tampax. She later joined The Coca-Cola Company and worked for brands such as Del Valle, Ades and currently leads the food platform strategy for Coca-Cola in Latin America.

The two things she enjoys the most are understanding the consumer to generate relevant strategies for the business and encourage spaces of trust where teams feel safe to express their points of view freely to generate new business ideas.

ADRIANA VEYTIA LÓPEZ

Chief client officer, Wunderman Thompson Mexico

With a degree in communication and a postgraduate degree in marketing, Adriana Veytia López began her career at Ogilvy in the customer service area, where she discovered her passion for brand development, leading local and regional teams, achieving significant growth in the businesses under her charge. She lived in the United States with her husband and her two daughters, where she volunteered for the Plano, Texas school district and was recognized with the “Diversity Leadership Award” for supporting international families.

She also continued working as a consultant for different international advertising agencies in Mexico and the United States. After five years, she returned to Mexico and joined Wunderman; in 2020 she was a fundamental part in the merger of Wunderman with JWT, which today makes up Wunderman Thompson; in addition, she is the leader of the team integrated by WPP for Movistar Mexico. She has participated in successful projects, which have received multiple awards.

Her vision and her commitment have led her to be part of Wunderman Thompson’s global program Pass it On, which aims to empower women in leadership positions.