With 2025 coming to a close, the ARF Cultural Effectiveness Council offers a retrospective of some of the past year’s CultureConnect episodes. Our panel shared the guests and themes that stood out to them, as well as the lessons they learned. The program was hosted by Janelle A. James, who is Co-chair of the ARF Cultural Effectiveness Council and U.S. Head of Cultural Intelligence at IPSOS.

Panel:

Nicole Mitchell, Principal on Dynata’s Research Science Team

Augustina Perez Blua, Senior Account Manager at Google

Sarah Fahim, Senior Strategic Researcher at VML

In this episode of Culture Connect, we examine how Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) is reshaping both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketing and communications. A panel of Gen Z professionals share their views on the future of media and marketing, exploring how the generation's traits—especially their diversity and focus on empathy and equity—are leading to drastic changes in the market and the workplace.

Guests:

• Morgan Batts, Brand Executive at Weiden & Kennedy and Founder of ConNxt Project
• Alejandro Garcia Medina, Research Lead at LinkedIn's B2B Institute
• Elise Gentry, Assistant to Talent Agent & Partner at United Talent Agency
• Alexis Harris, Global Research & Insights Lead at TikTok
• Olympia Wundrock, Senior Manager, Analytics & Insights at Procter & Gamble
• Danielle Zito, Senior Account Manager at Ipsos

The podcast is hosted by Council Co-Chair Janelle James, US Head of Cultural Intelligence at Ipsos.

It’s October… Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Indigenous People’s Day and we’re seeing that supporting women of color is a critical pathway to universal solutions. In this episode, we're spotlighting the need for equitable health access and emerging solutions as many community safety nets disappear in the wake of the government shutdown. Healthcare brands, businesses, and nonprofits are bridging the gap and providing connection, support, and innovation for these family, community, and workplace leaders and we’re eager to illuminate how. This podcast is hosted by Council Co-Chair Janelle James, US Head of Cultural Intelligence at Ipsos.

Guests:

• Monique C. James, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Weil Cornell School of Medicine
• Yamila Ruiz, The Latina Institute
• Caroline Brethenoux, Human Dot Plus and The Culture+ Group