About

Our Team
The Board

Townsend Feehan- Chief Executive Officer

Townsend Feehan is CEO of IAB Europe. Prior to joining IAB Europe, Townsend worked for Microsoft Legal & Corporate Affairs in Brussels and ran EU industry associations in the ICT, consumer electronics and biotechnolo... moregy sectors. She previously represented Microsoft on IAB Europe’s Board. Townsend has an M. Phil. in European policy from the University of Edinburgh.

Daniel Knapp- Chief Economist

Dr. Daniel Knapp is an advertising and media analyst with more than 15 years of international experience. He has served in leadership roles spanning market analysis, strategic advisory, and business intelligence. He is C... morehief Economist at IAB Europe. Previously he was Executive Director at IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO), overseeing the company’s global advertising & media research, consulting and forecasting practice. Daniel’s key research areas span all domains of digital advertising, TV and video, platform economics, data strategies and the business application of AI/ML technologies. He also is former adviser to the European Commission on a groundbreaking report on the media published in March 2019. Daniel holds a PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE) on the sociology of algorithms and the datafication of media.

Helen Mussard- Marketing & Business Strategy Director

Mussard joins IAB Europe from a global AdTech company, Vibrant Media, where she was VP of Global Marketing. Her focus at IAB Europe in the first few months will be overseeing the release and implementation of the updated... more TCF to all industry stakeholders. Longer term she will be looking at how IAB Europe communicates with all constituents to help shape and implement the strategic objectives of the association, enabling digital advertising to innovate and scale throughout Europe.

Patrick Verdon- Technical Director

Patrick brings more than two decades of senior technical experience to his role as the first Technical Director for IAB Europe. He has an excellent track-record working in the Internet and mobile spaces and has held CTO ... moreroles in several successful start-ups. Most recently Patrick co-founded Databoxer, a consent management platform that implemented the Transparency and Consent Framework. Patrick’s role will be focused on driving both product development and technical implementation across the TCF.

Alison Fennah- Executive Business Advisor

Alison is responsible for expanding the IAB Europe research and marketing programmes. Alison brings with her over 20 years experience in marketing, business development and finance. She was previously Executive Director ... moreof the European Interactive Advertising Association, and joined IAB Europe when the two companies merged in May 2011. Alison helped to launch the EIAA in 2002 and oversaw the development of a wide-ranging activity programme involving: consumer, advertising and market research; event programmes across Europe; standardisation activities and education, of both the market and government, on the role of interactive advertising all aimed at growing the European interactive advertising market. In the 1990s, Alison worked in senior roles in European Marketing and PR with companies such as Yahoo! and Acclaim Entertainment, she also worked on the launch of some of the first Sony Playstation games. Alison started her career with Barclays in a variety of international banking roles. She speaks five languages and has a BA Hons degree In French and Spanish from Birmingham University.

Hasan Siddaq- Business Administrator

Hasan is Business Administrator at IAB Europe. His main responsibility includes to manage the technical aspects of day-to-day operation of the Global Vendor List & CMPs. He is also responsible for keeping the offi... morece running smoothly and overseeing administrative & operational support. He is also performing personal assistant role to the CEO. Prior to his involvement with IAB Europe, Hasan worked as Assistant Manager Administration at Noor Takaful insurance and Noor Bank in Dubai, UAE for 9 years.

Marie-Clare Puffett- Business Programmes Manager

Marie-Clare is Business Programmes Manager at IAB Europe. Her main responsibilities include the management of IAB Europe business committees and projects within the programmatic, brand advertising and research work strea... morems. She also manages the new member induction process. Marie-Clare holds a First Class BA (Hons) Marketing degree and before joining IAB Europe held marketing and business development roles.

Greg Mroczkowski- Public Policy Manager

Greg oversees running of the Policy Committee, currently focusing on executing various aspects of the policy advocacy strategy and economic research programme. He is also responsible for ad blocking and liaises with the ... moreCoalition for Better Ads. Greg has previously worked for European Advertising Standards Alliance and Federation of Direct and Interactive Advertising in Brussels, as well as for several NGOs on active citizenship projects. He holds MLitt in Politics from University of Dundee, UK & MA in Linguistics from University of Rzeszow, Poland.

Alex Macarescu- Programme Manager

Alex graduated with a BA in Cultural Studies from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, American Studies Department, University of Bucharest, in 2002. Prior to his involvement with IAB Europe, Alex worked as trainer for a nu... morember of educational institutions where he coordinated the education programmes in addition to his teaching responsibilities. His role at IAB Europe includes the launch and implementation of various IAB Europe projects on education and training.

Grace Earley- Public Policy Assistant

Grace joined IAB Europe in 2017 after a ten-month internship in the office of an Irish MEP. Grace assists the policy team on a variety of issues, including ePrivacy, online platforms, data transparency, and international... more data flows. She is currently pursuing a part-time Masters in Political Strategy and Communication at Brussels School of International Studies, and speaks English, French and Irish.

Colombe Michaud- Project Consultant

Colombe holds BA in Art History and a MA in Business communications. Prior to her involvement with IAB Europe, Colombe worked as a Communications Manager at Microsoft Europe and as a Communications consultant for Europea... moren Communications projects for the European Commission. Her role at IAB Europe includes the management and the coordination of digital communications activities.

Ioana Mardare- Operations and Business Manager

Ioana holds a Master’s degree in Communication Studies, New Media and Society in Europe from Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Prior to joining IAB Europe, she worked for the European Advertising Standards Alliance (EASA) o... moren administration and finance. As Operations and Business Manager at IAB Europe, Ioana oversees the operation of the IAB Europe HQ in Brussels, co-owns budget & financial management and “rhythm of the business” with the CEO. She is responsible for human resources, communications infrastructure and general administration, and drives process excellence. Ioana speaks English, French and Romanian.

National IAB Members
Corporate Members

Wlodzimierz Schmidt- Chairman of the Board of Directors, IAB Europe, and President, IAB Poland

Wlodek Schmidt is Chairman of the IAB Europe Board and President & CEO of IAB Poland. At the same time he holds the Board Position of the Polish Advertising Council.

Allan Sørensen- Head of Digital Danish Media, IAB Denmark

Allan Sorensen is the Head of Digital at Danish Media branch organization, which is the body of IAB Denmark, and he is in charge of all matters concerning digital media and advertising. He holds a Master of Science in Ec... moreonomics and has an analytical background as well as a history as the CEO of a web agency and the former Online Manager of a news media. Before going into digital media, Allan worked with communication both as political staff and at a PR agency.

Petri Kokkonen- IAB Finland Chairman of the board, CEO, Partner, Relevant Digital Oy

Petri is the Chairman of the board in IAB Finland and CEO of the Relevant Digital Oy. Petri has over 20 years experience in media and digital marketing. IAB Finland supports the local companies to grow by utilizing vario... moreus means of digital marketing and the goal is to make the market better for all parties involved, mediums, advertisers and agencies. Relevant Digital Oy is a company specialized in data collection, reporting and activation as well as in digital marketing technologies and services. Relevant Digital Oy helps both buy and sell side parties to increase revenues and effectiveness of digital marketing.

Ioana Anescu- Executive Director, IAB Romania

Ioana is an active & enthusiast digital communication passionate! For 10 years she is involved in the development of IAB Romania – the association of digital marketing industry in Romania, in contact with all the m... moreajor players and initiatives of the Romanian online advertising market. During this period she set up the association own conference – IAB Forum Romania, set up IAB MIXX Awards Romania (since 2012) – the local digital creative contest for online advertising campaigns, she set up other educational projects and activities (IAB Academy, Digital Dialogues, IAB Breakfasts). In 2013, and in 2017 she was part of the Board Member of IAB Europe, to represent Romania & the CEE Region. Her 12 years professional background is as entrepreneur and freelancer - in marketing and digital - setting up businesses in training and courses and helping other startups to develop their digital path & marketing strategy. She has a good market understanding and is passionate about networking & connecting people and businesses.

Pierre Gauthier- IAB France Board Member, Head of International, Dr. Banner (Mediakeys group)

Pierre is an international media veteran with +15 years experience in the digital & cross media industry in various adtech start ups in commercial and management positions. He is specialized in business developmen... moret and scaling companies on mobile, display and programmatic advertising. Pierre is also board member at IAB France, repsonsible for Transparency and Open Media Task Forces as programmatic advertising expert. Pierre is also Vice-Chair of the Programmatic Trading Committee at IAB Europe since January 2019. He will represent IAB France at the IAB Europe Board.

Thomas Duhr- Executive Committee Member, Vice-President BVDW, Executive Vice-President IP Deutschland

Thomas Duhr is Executive Vice-President Interactive at IP Deutschland GmbH and a Board Member of IAB Europe. Additionally he serves as Vice-President within the Executive Board of BVDW (representing IAB Germany) respo... morensible for data, technology, politics and international.

Jon Mew- Chief Executive Officer, IAB UK

Jon is the recently appointed Chief Executive of the IAB UK, the trade body representing the digital advertising industry. The IAB’s role is to unite the industry with 1,200 members, including media owners, agencies an... mored brands. Jon’s vision stems from the belief that digital is the smartest way for brands to reach and wow their customers. His mission is to re-assert the positives of digital. He has been at the IAB since 2008, joining as the first Head of Mobile before stepping up to become Director of Mobile and Operations and then the IAB's first Chief Operating Officer. Prior roles include Head of Marketing for Orange portals team, controlling the trade and consumer marketing strategies and media research. Jon has featured as number 10 in The Drum’s Mobile Top 50 and has spoken on numerous high profile platforms. He is fascinated with technology and known in the industry for his witty banter.

Suzanne McElligott- CEO, IAB Ireland

Suzanne has over 20 years of experience in the media/marketing sector. She is a former director of Independent Radio Sales, a founder of the Radio Awards, and is a former chairperson of the Outdoor Media Association. As ... morea lecturer in DIT's marketing department Suzanne developed digital marketing course content. Her background in radio and outdoor advertising coupled with her legal and digital advertising expertise ensures that she is equipped to play a leading role in the development of Ireland's online advertising industry as CEO for IAB Ireland, the international trade organisation for digital advertising. Membership of IAB Ireland includes all the key stakeholders in the Irish digital advertising market from multinationals such as Google, Facebook, Twitter to all the key Irish digital media owners, advertising agencies, digital specialists and brands. Under Suzanne’s leadership IAB Ireland’s outputs across best practice, research, training and policy have driven growth of the Irish digital market since 2010 by 139% to €263m. Suzanne has recently joined the board of IAB Europe and is also a director of the Irish International Business Network (IIBN) Ireland.

Sebastiano Cappa- Board Member, IAB Italy

Computer Engineer with a PhD in Germany in Artificial Intelligence and an MBA in Paris in Management Economics, Sebastiano Cappa is Country Manager at Ligatus Italy, a branch he has been running since its opening in Octo... moreber 2013. He previously worked for 5 years in SmartFocus (ex Emailvision) in different roles, from software architect to sales manager and product manager, to Head of the Italian branch. Since March 2017, he is in the Board of IAB Italy and, starting May 2017, in the Board of IAB Europe.

Dr Mahmut Kursun- IAB Turkey Board Member, CIO of Ciner Group and General Manager of Digital Media of Ciner Media Group

He has his BS degree from Bogazici University in Mechanical Engineering, and also had his MS degree and PhD in Industrial Engineering from the same university. From 1997 to 2003, he acted as the Coordinator of Project Fi... morenance in energy and mining projects of Ciner Group. From 2003 to 2007, he acted as the Chief Information Officer of Sabah/ATV group from 2003 to 2007. He is currently working as the Chief Information Officer, and the General Manager of Digital Media of Ciner Group. Starting from early 2015 he acts as the Chairman of IAB Turkey, and Member of the Board of IAB Europe.

Constantine Kamaras- Chairman Emeritus

A founder of IAB Greece in 2001 and co-founder of IAB Europe in 2002, Constantine served as IAB Europe’s Chairman of the Board of Directors from May 2013 to September 2018 and currently continues to be engaged with IAB... more Europe as the association's Chairman Emeritus. He is also an adviser to OPA Europe, working with a select group of premium content providers on the association’s “best practices in digital publishing” program. In his native Greece, he sits on the Boards of leading digital companies, advising them on Strategy & Business Development as well as Corporate and Brand Communications.

Carolin Wehrhahn- Head of Brussels Office Public Affairs, Axel Springer

Carolin Wehrhahn is the Head of Public Affairs Office of Axel Springer in Brussels. Prior to joining Axel Springer, she was heading the Brussels Office of the German Federation of Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) and worked a... mores Senior Legal Adviser for the European Newspaper Publishers Association (ENPA). Carolin holds both German State Examinations in Law and has degrees from the Humboldt University of Berlin, the University Jean Moulin in Lyon and the University La Sorbonne in Paris. With over 12 years of experience, Carolin is a recognised legal and government affairs expert in digital media and European policy.

Phil Sumner- Global Media Insight Director, Teads

Phil is the Global Media Insight Director at Teads. He is responsible for how Teads works with CPG Advertisers to further their learning agendas. Furthermore Phil leads various global Intelligence and research products f... moreor Teads. Prior to Teads, Phil worked at Nielsen for 10 years in digital audience measurement and insights, helping major global brands establish new digital and cross media measurement protocols. Phil also helped establish the first IAB backed digital currency in Australia in 2010.

Bela Papp- Global Agency Director, Microsoft

Bela Papp is part of Microsoft Advertising’s Global Agency team, working to strengthen the strategic and commercial relationship between Microsoft and leading media agencies. With over thirty years’ experience in pub... morelishing (both online and traditional), marketing, communications and journalism, Bela continuously seeks creative ways to maximize partnership opportunities. He is married with three daughters, and resides in Brussels.

Mark Howe- Managing Director, Agencies & Ad Industry relations, Europe Middle East & Africa, Google

Mark has been in Senior Sales Management roles at Google for 13 years, currently heading up both Agency & Industry Relations functions across EMEA. Prior to Google Mark worked in the UK Television industry for 20 y... moreears - over half that time in digital, multi-channel TV. Mark’s goal remains to ensure Google builds lasting & trusted relationships with its Agency customers, and the Industry’s most senior Trade Associations whilst challenging the Industry to embrace the accelerating pace of change. Mark’s role as the Media Sales leadership face of Google has seen him in the UK join the boards of ASBOF (Advertising Standards Board of Finance), the IAB, the AA’s Front Foot, the Council of the Advertising Association, an past Trustee for NABS (National Advertising Benevolent Society) and a member of The Marketing Group of Great Britain and The Marketing Society. In his spare time Mark these days has a passion for open water swimming, having raced the Classic Escape from Alcatraz swim in San Francisco Bay now three times. He was educated at University College London & lives in Surrey, with his wife and his three children when they feel like coming home.

Stuart Wilkinson- Head of Industry Relations, comScore

Stuart Wilkinson is Head of Industry Relations EMEA at comScore, Inc. and a Board Member of IAB Europe.

Neil Bowman- Vice-President of Advertising Technology, BBC Advertising

Neil Bowman is the Vice-President of Advertising Technology for BBC Advertising. He is responsible for the technical direction and integration of all ad platforms across the globe. This includes responsibility for ad ser... moreving, programmatic, data management and warehousing, new ad format and site monitoring across BBC’s international TV, radio and digital portfolio. Prior to joining the BBC, Neil held senior roles in technology, product and operations at AOL Advertising where he ran a team of specialists focussing on adserving technology, video, mobile platforms and audience targeting for their O&O properties. He has also held technical and operational positions at Trinity Mirror and Carlton Interactive.

Jerome Underhill- SVP, EMEA, Xandr

As SVP, EMEA, Jerome Underhill is responsible for the Xandr business in the region, ensuring a strong link between EMEA and headquarters in New York. He supports the empowerment and growth of the company’s regional go-... moreto-market teams, as well as collaboration between EMEA markets. Jerome joined AppNexus in 2013, leading Services & Operations in EMEA & APAC and has since held a variety of roles across the global organisation. Prior to joining AppNexus, Jerome has held leadership positions in the United Kingdom, Europe, and South Africa, including at Advertising.com before moving via acquisition to AOL, and at Capital One. Jerome graduated from University of Exeter with a BA in Economics. He lives in the countryside outside of London with his wife and two daughters.

Bethan Crockett- Senior Director of Brand Safety and Digital Risk, GroupM EMEA

Bethan Crockett, Senior Director of Brand Safety and Digital Risk, GroupM EMEA With 18 years of experience working on the front line of digital advertising at Yahoo! then Microsoft, Bethan started her career in displa... morey advertising and then moved to search operations, before joining GroupM in 2015. Her current focus is on media quality and data integrity policy, process and governance to support GroupM EMEA’s digital strategy.

Rhys Noelke- SVP Strategy & Business Development, RTL Group

Rhys Noelke is Senior Vice President Strategy & Business Development at RTL Group’s Corporate Center in Luxembourg. RTL Group is leading European entertainment network with 61 TV channels, 30 radio stations, the wo... morerldwide production company FremantleMedia. RTL Group is the leading European media company in online video with local VOD streaming platforms like TVnow, 6Play and Videoland, majority stakes in the multi-platform networks BroadbandTV, Divimove and United Screen as well as one of the globally leading video advertising technology company SpotX. Rhys started his career as freelance journalist, joined RTL Group in Luxembourg in 2007. To date his role as Head of RTL Group’s strategy encompasses managing transformation of television business, fostering Group synergies, developing and monetizing digital video and driving innovation in tech and data. He is also member on numerous Boards overseeing the global business of SpotX, as well as US investments in Videoamp, Clypd and the Pan-EU sales house RTLAdconnect.

Matthias Matthiesen- Senior Privacy Counsel, Quantcast

Matthias is senior privacy counsel at Quantcast where he is responsible for creating, advising and enforcing global privacy and data protection policy for Quantcast, as well as guiding its clients and partners through co... morempliance with EU and global privacy and data protection laws and regulations. He is also responsible for liaising with legislators and regulators in global markets and work closely with the trade organisations of which the company is a member. Matthias joined Quantcast from IAB Europe, where he served as director of privacy and public policy. While there, he led the industry body's strategy and approach to privacy and data protection in response to the GDPR and ePrivacy Regulation.