Meet Our Judges

Tracey Cooke
CMO, SVP Head of Marketing & Commercialization
Nestle

Tracey is a strategic and creative leader with a passion for problem solving, building brands and driving sustainable growth. She has a track record of nurturing strong teams, orchestrating organizational change, and developing emerging in-house practices to deliver consumer centricity @ the core.

Tracey Cooke is currently CMO. SVP, Head of Marketing and Commercialization at Nestle Canada, and Leader of the Centre for Marketing Excellence, a multidisciplinary team focused on driving consumer first thinking, accelerating change and capability building in marketing, including Consumer Insights & Strategy, eBusiness, Consumer Engagement and Experience (including our in-house Consumer Engagement Service team, internal Community Management, Content, Media), Category Analytics, Packaging, Agency/Tech Partnerships and the newly added accountability of Digital Transformation across the Enterprise. She is a member of the Nestlé Canada Business Executive Team. She first joined Nestle as a Communication Director and was responsible for helping transform Nestle from its digital nascency (in marketing) to a leading centre in the global network. Currently, she is an active  executive core member of the Nestle Sustainability Steering Committee, Nestle Canada DEI Steering Committee, and Sponsor of the DEI Marketing Stream.

Prior to joining Nestlé Canada, Tracey worked in various communication, advertising and leadership roles at a number of agencies, including: the social purpose startup Public Inc (Director, Creative & Experience), her own consultancy twostories (Founding Partner, Chief Creative Officer &; Strategy Lead), McCann (Vice President, Creative
Director) and DDB Health & Lifestyle (Senior Copywriter).

Infinitely curious and a perpetual learner, Tracey started in the world of science with a degree in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, roles in pharma, a world renown science centre and emerging environmental technologies before she started a career in advertising – leveraging diversity of thought &; experiences as a core philosophy for success.
Tracey has been a board member of the ACA (Association of Canadian Advertisers) for over 6 years, is a McKinsey CMO Alumni, and Star Woman in Grocery 2023 Senior Leader award recipient.

She has also been a Sr Judge and Co-chair for a number of advertising and Marketing awards including the Effies, CMAs, SIAs, and Marketing legends, while continuing to provide her perspective on numerous panels, locally and Globally.

Dedicated to mentoring emerging talent in marketing and advertising, she believes in building powerful workplaces where empathy, vulnerability and belonging are key to commercial success.

Subtej Nijjar
Chief Strategy Officer
Cossette

With 20+ years in the business, Subtej (Sub) has an unparalleled track record as one of Canada’s leading strategic minds, helping household brands such as Domino’s, IKEA, Best Buy, Molson Coors, Unilever, and American Express innovate and strengthen their business positioning and value.

A true innovator, Sub served as CMO at Shiftsmart where he contributed to building the company’s brand and communications B2B and B2C strategy. Working in partnership with the company’s newly formed leadership team, he also helped Shiftsmart grow its customer base to two million users. Prior to Shiftsmart, Sub was key in launching Coinberry as the company’s first-ever CMO, and he served as President of Mosaic North America, driving multiple lines of business for some of the top Fortune 500 companies in North America.

In 2012, Sub founded the integrated creative agency Union, leading the agency through eight years of significant growth. Before founding Union, he led the Canadian operations of CP+B, first in the dual role of EVP, Group Director Cultural and Business Insights, and later as agency President.

Sub has been celebrated as an industry visionary from the very beginning of his career. In 2005, he was recognized as one of Marketing Magazine’s “Ones to Watch,” an award that celebrates Canada’s brightest minds under the age of 30. Since then, he has used his experience and business insight to help his agencies win over 175 creative awards and honours, including multiple Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, and a Grand Effie. He has also served as a juror for multiple award shows, including the Effie Awards, the Marketing Awards and the Media Innovation Awards.