Digiday Media is thrilled to announce the 2023 Future Leader Awards winners.
Representing brands, agencies, retailers and publishers, this year’s winners are focused on promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, creating a culture that values and promotes DE&I within their organizations and products. These leaders are all using their expertise and innovating to create buzz across numerous channels. This year’s winners are keeping the community top of mind and creating meaningful partnerships around ways to give back.
For example, Desmond Attmore, co-founder of Six Degrees, built a 23-person agency composed entirely of multicultural Gen Z and millennial professionals, executing large-budget events and projects for Fortune 500 companies and global talent, all in just four years. Attmore leaned on his real-life experience as a Black millennial business owner to collaborate and tell multicultural experiences and stories. His creativity and hard work have helped establish the creative marketing agency as one of the premier in the industry for branding, design, content production and experiential marketing. This dedication and vision have earned Attmore the title of Digiday Future Leader in the Agency category.
Another winner, Zaria Parvez, global social media manager at Duolingo, has led the charge in growing the company’s TikTok channel from 50,000 followers in 2021 to 5.2 million followers today — all organically and via a one-person team. Parvez’s creativity has resulted in 83 viral videos — defined as videos with 1 million views or more — on the Duolingo TikTok channel, and Parvez has become a role model for a new, diverse class of Gen Z social media talent. The story of Parvez’s success demonstrates what is possible when powerful talent is granted creative freedom and trust and has earned her the title of Digiday Future Leader in the Brand category.
The winner of Glossy Future Leader in the Wellness category has also been driven by a desire to enact social change and empower those around her. Susan Allen Augustin co-founded Here We Flo to make natural personal care products that help women feel confident about life’s messiest moments. She started the business with her best friend, Tara, and in only five years, the company has seen extraordinary growth, with 400% growth since 2020. Augustin’s desire to create a business that bettered the world led her to explore how to offer better period care with sustainability at the core. FLO products have kept more than 17 million tampons and pads from landfills — the equivalent of 61 million plastic bags. In the process, FLO has given back 5% of profits to the nonprofit People & Planet (in addition to other charitable efforts).
The next winner, Joanna Griffiths, founder and president of Knix, is also focused on ending stigma and empowering women. Initially told that her leakproof underwear was too niche of an idea, she responded by changing the face of the intimates industry. Her direct-to-consumer intimate apparel brands — Knix and KT by Knix — reinvent intimates for real life, and Griffiths has been recognized as a disruptor championing topics such as body inclusivity, fertility, mental health and postpartum. Her drive to continue pushing the envelope, focusing on what people want and delivering revolutionary solutions to them has earned her the title of Modern Retail Future Leader in the Established Retailer category.
Check out the winners guide below to learn more about this year’s recipients, including their accomplishments and insights into why they have been selected.
Download the complete guide here.
Full 2023 Future Leader Awards winners list below:
Digiday Future Leader – Agency
- Desmond Attmore, Co-Founder, Six Degrees
Digiday Future Leader – Brand
- Zaria Parvez, Global Social Media Manager, Duolingo
Digiday Future Leader – Publisher
- Eric Phung, Co-Founder and CEO, AllGear Digital
Digiday Future Leader – Technology Provider
- Monica Longoria, LG Ad Solutions
Glossy Future Leader – Beauty
- Kara Brothers, President and General Manager of Starface
Glossy Future Leader – Wellness
- Susan Allen Augustin, Co-Founder of Here We Flo
Modern Retail Future Leader – Digitally-Native
- Nick Guillen, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of TRUFF
Modern Retail Future Leader – Established Retailer
- Joanna Griffiths, Founder & President of Knix
WorkLife Future Leader- DE&I
- Albrey Brown, VP of Strategy and General Manager of New York, Joonko
WorkLife Future Leader- HR
- Eve Deschamps, Business Partner People & Culture, Sharethrough
WorkLife Future Leader- Recruiting
- David Peña, Talent Specialist, RPA
