2025 ARF Member Awards

ABOUT

ARF Member Awards are distributed each year across three categories to individuals who have shown exceptional contributions and collaboration with the ARF. View past winners.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2025 WINNERS

The ARF is honored to announce the winners of the Member Ambassadors of the Year and Outstanding Members of the year.

	This award recognizes individual Members who have gone above and beyond in contributions and partnership with the ARF. Among the 400+ companies that comprise our membership constituency, this honor is bestowed upon only a select few members each year. The ARF is a membership driven organization and member participation is critical to the success of our programs.
Jenny Lu Strategic Partner Development Manager, Global Ads Partnerships Google	Jenny has been a Young Pros Officer of the Online-Offline Metrics Working Group within the Cross-Platform Measurement Council for nearly five years — since the launch of the Young Pros Officer Program. During that time, she carried out her responsibilities in this role with outstanding efficiency and skill. Moreover, she played a major role in putting together the Working Group’s guide to ROI/Lift measurement services in 2021 and was one of the principal authors of the group’s report on the advertiser perspective on cross-platform metrics in 2023. BIO: Jenny Lu is a Strategic Partner Development Manager on the Global Ads Partnership team at Google, leading partner management and first-of-kind deals across several buy- and sell-side platforms. She began her career at Nielsen, rotating in teams across product, marketing effectiveness, and client engagement. Jenny is a first-generation college graduate from the University of Pennsylvania and enjoys mentoring young people who come from a similar background.
Alyson Sprague VP, Measurement Science Samba TV	Alyson has provided exemplary leadership as a member of the ARF Cross-Platform Measurement Council’s Attribution Working Group. Last year, she contributed significantly by adding relevant questions to her company’s omnibus survey, analyzing the results, and sharing insights with the Working Group. After ad formats were selected, she led two internal teams—identifying interviewees, drafting questions, conducting interviews, and coordinating outreach with other members. In recognition of Alyson’s tremendous contributions and dedication to completing the project, she was recently appointed Co-Chair of the Attribution Working Group. BIO: Alyson Sprague has been involved in the ARF since 2018 and recently accepted the role of Co-Chair in the Cross-Channel Measurement Council where she continues contributing to the advancement of cross-channel measurement solutions across the industry. Alyson has over 13 years of experience leading cross-channel measurement initiatives across several of the world’s leading ad publishers, including iHeartMedia, Amazon Ads, and Wondery. Currently, Alyson works as the VP of Measurement Science at Samba TV, where she is responsible for building cross-channel measurement products, services, and solutions for buy and sell side customers. When she’s not nerding out on data, Alyson enjoys spending time with her wife and 2-year old daughter at parks, zoos, and museums in the SF Bay Area, which they call home.
	This Award is in recognition of an outstanding ARF Young Pro who has shown exceptional leadership, important contributions, and potential for future industry impact.
Gillian Kenah US Customer Pod Lead Tracksuit	Recently nominated to Young Pros Advisory Board Chair, Gillian is a shining example of next-generation leadership. A constant fixture at events, Gillian is the first to volunteer for any opportunity–and encourage her peers to get involved. Her thoughtfulness, intelligence and community-oriented mindset have already left their mark on the Young Pros program and the ARF. BIO: Gillian Kenah is the US Customer Pod Lead at Tracksuit – a beautiful, affordable, always-on brand tracking platform that helps marketers measure and communicate the value of brand building. She works with global brands to leverage their brand health data and also manages a team of Brand Champions (CSMs) at Tracksuit. She previously managed custom quantitative consumer insights projects day-to-day at GfK (an NIQ Company), ensuring studies were executed on-time, on-spec, and on-target from end-to-end. Her experience in market research spans various industries including CPG, technology, retail, and energy. Skilled in research methodologies such as brand tracking, purchase journeys, concept testing, attitude and usage, and segmentation. Practiced in translating statistical findings into actionable insights that directly influence clients’ marketing strategies. Holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Binghamton University.

This award recognizes Member Ambassadors who have demonstrated significant engagement and collaboration with the ARF alongside their companies. The role of a Member Ambassador includes acting as a representative of the ARF, fostering active membership, and communicating key messages and points of activation to their company.

Member Ambassador Winner

Michael Ellgass

EVP Global Retail Media
Circana

Mike is an exemplary ARF Member Ambassador, helping the ARF to navigate Circana’s complex business and ensure awareness and engagement throughout the organization. Always a willing thought partner, Mike is collaborative and generous, in particular lending his keen insights to our portfolio of Shopper events and activities.

BIO:
Michael Ellgass is Circana’s global retail marketing expert who works with leading retailers to build unparalleled end-to-end capabilities to drive personalization and performance optimization across the marketing process. From behavior-based shopper analytics to measurement and post-campaign ad exposed customer analytics, his team works to bring the power of customer loyalty data and media attribution together to drive growth for retailers and their retail media network advertisers. Prior to joining Circana, Mike spent more than 10 years with Kraft Foods and then 10 years with Walmart. He led category marketing where he oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in integrated retail marketing campaigns. He was there in the early days of retail media working closely with the Walmart @labs team to launch the WMX loyalty platform. Mike holds a master’s degree in marketing from Wake Forest University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Indiana University.

Member Ambassador Winner

Shining Zhang

Integrated Measurement Manager
General Mills

Shining has been an invaluable supporter of the ARF, playing a key role in expanding engagement and fostering meaningful connections. By coordinating General Mills to host a regional member breakfast, Shining helped bring together local members in a way that sparked conversation, collaboration, and a stronger sense of community. Her enthusiasm for connecting others to ARF resources and initiatives, combined with a thoughtful and consistent approach, makes her an outstanding Member Ambassador worthy of recognition.

Bio coming soon.