Dan has 20+ years of strategic marketing, partnership development, and program activation experience. Pulling from his role as a former NBA Special Events executive, in 1999 Dan founded LeadDog Marketing Group Inc., and has built the agency from a single-person office into an award winning full-service agency that creates campaigns on a national and global scale with 200+ make-it-happen, passionate people. Dan has helped lead the agency’s efforts in creating
long-term partnerships with blue-chip clients like The Coca-Cola Company, Intel, Citi, The New York Times, and O, the Oprah Magazine.

With fourteen years at LeadDog, Gina Hagedorn is responsible for the day to day operations of the agency, supporting the CEO and the Senior Leadership Team, with a focus on internal processes, financial forecasting and analysis, resource utilization & management, account profitability and troubleshooting, and oversight of all people-related needs, recruitment, staff development and training. Prior to her current role, Gina oversaw some of LeadDog’s largest cause platforms – developing revenue-generating strategies and producing large-scale, integrated campaigns. Gina attended Loyola University in Maryland, and lives in Long Island with her husband, Rob, and three children, Ava, Wil, and Ruby. 

With over 13 years at LeadDog Marketing Group, Danit focuses on delivering unmatched value for our partners by providing creative solutions that drive their business goals.  Danit oversees the Client Partnerships Team – who work to develop big, integrated platforms and activations that tell a brand’s story, engage key audiences, and inspire action.  She has forged strong relationships with Client Partners, including Square, Ben & Jerry’s, Coca-Cola, NYC DOT, Lyft, Cirque du Soleil, Warner Bros., REI, Equinox, Chipotle, and Reebok. As a globe-trotter and self-described linguaphile, Danit is fluent in 4 languages including French and Hebrew.

Karen is one of the agency’s founding partners. She oversees many of LeadDog’s largest integrated programs coast to coast, including World Wrestling Entertainment, the NBA and NFL Player’s Associations, USA Rugby, the PGA Ryder Cup Tour, and Wounded Warrior Project. Prior to working at LeadDog, Karen was an executive at the National Basketball Association overseeing marketing and operations for some of the League’s largest consumer-facing events. In her role with the NBA, Karen oversaw multi-million dollar relationships for both Nike and Reebok. She was responsible for the production of seven successful All-Star Jam Session events, each drawing 100k+ attendees and integrating 20+ partners. Karen started her career at an advertising agency and has extensive background in media planning.

As one of LeadDog’s founding partners, JG Robilotti has been actively involved in helping create and manage some of LeadDog’s largest accounts, like the Department of Transportation’s annual Summer Streets events, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Cycle for Survival, and the MoonWalk. He has over 20 years of major event experience including managing high profile events such as the Goodwill Games in 1994, the 1996 Olympic Games, and World Wrestling Entertainment’s variety of events throughout his years with the company. Born and raised in New York City, JG is a proud 4th generation New Yorker.

Paula has over 12 years’ experience overseeing some of LeadDog’s largest experiential initiatives and integrated accounts. She specializes in developing revenue-generating strategies, high-end hospitality production, and conceiving and realizing large-scale, integrated campaigns for clients such as O, The Oprah Magazine, The New York Times, Intel, Oath and Netflix. Paula is a charismatic leader who takes pride in mentoring her teams and empowering them with her drive, passion, and deep industry knowledge. Prior to joining LeadDog, Paula began her career in the entertainment and print magazine industries at EMI Records, MTV, and Seventeen Magazine. A desire to learn more about the entertainment industry led Paula to the West Coast and a role in film and commercial production at Red Dog Films. Always one to truly immerse herself in a project, she even took a turn as an actress, starring in a digital film that garnered accolades and awards and was distributed on the Independent Film Channel. Paula was eventually lured back to New York to work across these industries, and today leads all media, entertainment, and tech initiatives and accounts at LeadDog.

Dan has been LeadDog’s resident Brand Promotions (games, sweepstakes, contests, and loyalty programs) guru for over 12 years. Dan has 20 years of experience developing both domestic and global promotions for LeadDog clients such as ABC, Disney, Warner Bros., Citi, Coty, Kohl’s, The North Face, and Pernod Ricard.  Dan oversees the digital development for all brand promotions and digital services projects at LeadDog, leading the team in building creative, interactive, and digital solutions.  Dan is a graduate of Penn State University, and served over eight years in the Army National Guard.

Over the last nineteen years, Shauna has led ground-breaking campaigns for NIKE, two WNBA teams, the NBA Development League (NBDL) with the Asheville Altitude, the Nets Basketball (playing a pivotal role in the team’s historical moves to Newark and then to Brooklyn), and strategically leads brands and staff across numerous verticals as a part of LeadDog Marketing Group and CSM. As the Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Partnerships & Communications, Shauna is an instrumental force in driving revenue, generating brand engagment and amplifying key messaging through the use of strategic marketing, compelling partnership platforms, and strategic communications for a variety of cross vertical clients such as the Harley Davidson, Sesame Street, USA Cycling, SONY Pictures Television, Cirque du Soleil, and the 2014 NY/NJ Super Bowl Host Committee. Self-described as a Rising Phoenix, you can find Shauna on a mountain top in Colorado in the saddle of one of her 6+ mountain bikes any given afternoon.

With eleven years at LeadDog, Gina currently serves as the Vice President of Finance and Human Resources.  She oversees the financial direction of the company and its day-to-day logistics.  She also provides leadership and guidance to all aspects of Human Resources.  Prior to joining the LeadDog team, Gina held various positions within the sports and entertainment industry, including the Boston Bruins/Celtics, New Jersey Devils, XFL, Polygram Music, Universal Music, Women’s Professional Soccer and L’Oreal.  She attended Boston College, where she received her degree in Accounting.

With over a decade of award-winning design and creative direction, Carter oversees the Creative Department. Her multi-disciplinary background allows her to work in physical and digital environments across lifestyle, sports, entertainment and technology with the overarching philosophy of creative innovative, immersive work that cuts through the noise and helps brands tell their stories. Over the years, she has created events, stunts and campaigns for major brands such as Audi, Apple, REI, NBPA, Super Bowl Host Committee, IFC, Oath, NBC and TBS. Outside of the office, she spends her time skiing, hiking and eating great food.

Darius sits at the intersection of strategy, creative, and integrated marketing, leading the development of the insights, ideas, and plans for the campaigns that we produce. As a Cynopsis Media Rising Star award winner, his career has seen a diverse range of highlights driving results for partners including Audi, Square, Diet Coke, Netflix, The Drone Racing League, Dollar Shave Club, and vitaminwater. A self-anointed professional barbecue critic, Darius will gladly share his opinions on the age-old Vinegar v. Mustard v. Molasses v. White Sauce debate with you over some brisket.

Kate joined the LeadDog family in 2012 and established the Department of Making It Happen. She oversees LeadDog’s internal operations as well as people & culture, recruiting & onboarding, happiness & skill development, information technology, and office environment & real estate ventures. Kate designed LeadDog’s NY office, and spearheaded the efforts to achieve B Corp status for the company which established a set of principles guiding LeadDog to be a force of good, making a positive impact on our communities and environments every day. Regardless of the task, Kate’s passion is to ensure that LeadDog is a great place to work for its more than 200 employees. Prior to LeadDog, Kate held various positions in the event-planning and catering industry for companies such as Conde Naste, Time Warner, Ogilvy, and Kenneth Cole. Before that, she was in sales at EF Education, where she worked with teachers in the northeast to plan international trips for their students. In addition to spending time with and boasting about her amazing 7-year-old daughter, Eloise, Kate is passionate about interior design, event planning, travel, and Boston sports teams. She is a graduate of UMASS Amherst.

Donna joined LeadDog in 2005 looking for an entrepreneurial environment and has never looked back. She came to LeadDog with a diverse background: a CPA who started her career in finance but changed paths into sports marketing holding posts at the NHL, ’99 FIFA Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee, and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee. At LeadDog she began her tenure in client services managing key relationships with the WWE, WNBA, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Donna was named Chief Operating Officer in 2009 overseeing day-to-day business operations of the organization. She has proven a dynamic leader navigating LeadDog’s transition from start-up to mid-size agency. She attributes the company’s continued success to its overarching belief that our people are everything, and has instituted several incentives for staff longevity and is incredibly proud of the agency’s high retention rates. In 2015 she transitioned from COO to oversee long-term strategy and planning for the agency. She continues to fuel her entrepreneurial spirit as the company opens new lines of business and makes strategic acquisitions. Donna lives in Rye, NY with her husband Dave and children Abby and Jack.

Rob has been with LeadDog for 15 years and heads up its west coast office in San Francisco, working with clients to craft groundbreaking marketing and event activation campaigns. He specializes in the media space, working on award-winning campaigns such as the launch of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu.  In addition, Rob has strong experience in the active-lifestyle, cause, and sports industries for clients such as Clif, Virgin, and Super Bowl 50.  He has been performing improv comedy for over a decade, skis every chance he gets, and makes a mean Bloody Mary (amongst other things).

Rob joined LeadDog over twelve years ago and has made a major impact since day one, having provided day-to-day account leadership for several of our largest accounts for clients, such as Coca-Cola, Reebok, America’s Cup, NASCAR, REI, NHL, and Bermuda Tourism. In addition to managing strategic accounts, Rob has served on-the-ground as the executive producer of some of LeadDog’s largest events, including NASCAR’s 20,000-person Championship Drive (on South Beach) and America’s Cup World Series NY with 300k fans. He specializes in integrated large scale programs, but oversees the overall account process, including strategy, marketing, logistics, client management, creative, and staffing. An avid sailor, he sailed the ocean for five years as a leadership trainer for the adventure travel company, Sail Caribbean.

Victor has been at LeadDog for over 11 years, working to build client relationships and to create global and domestic b2b and b2c marketing and experiential campaigns that drive revenue. He focuses on the tech, media, cause and sports industries.

He has developed campaigns that have to come to life at some of the world’s largest events – CES, Advertising Week, the Cannes Film Festival, NBA All-Star and Mobile World Congress.

Having recently left New York City for the suburbs of New Jersey, he is looking forward to working on his golf, gardening and grilling.

Stephanie is an experiential marketing professional who specializes in the planning and execution of key brand initiatives and large scale events. A part of the LeadDog family since 2009, Stephanie has lead a number of the agency’s key sports marketing and entertainment accounts bringing to life Audi of America’s sponsorship of the U.S. Ski Team and Major League Soccer, Coca-Cola’s partnership with the Special Olympic World Games and BET Experience, and Oprah’s Life You Want Weekend Arena Tour. Prior to joining LeadDog, Stephanie was the Event Marketing Manager at the Newark Bears Professional Baseball Club. She is also a former D1 tennis player and graduate of Lafayette College.

Nina joined LeadDog in 2008 and oversees a few of the agency’s principal cause event programs. She has led teams to produce nationwide large scale run/walk/cycle events. She is well-versed in connecting team members from various departments on fully integrated initiatives including production, creative, strategic communications and partnerships, marketing and digital. Nina has been instrumental for clients such as Memorial Sloan Kettering, AVON 39, Sesame Workshop, Walk the Walk and Big Brothers Big Sisters. In addition, her work includes producing mobile tours and intricate build outs for Rodale, Telemundo and Bravo’s Top Chef. Nina attended Washington University in St. Louis where she received a degree in Architecture, Anthropology and Dance.

With over 17+ years in the promotions space Brett has spent the last 10+ years at LeadDog as part of the Brand Promotions department. He has worked with and built relationships with companies such as ABC, Disney, Kohl’s and Warner Bros.. He has worked on programs from straight forward sweepstakes to international UGC contests. Brett started his career working in sales and promotions at WAXQ FM in NYC and on the national side of radio managing marketing programs across the U.S.. Brett also helped manage promotions such as WWE Diva Search at World Wrestling Entertainment.

As the Director Digital Solutions, Ralph is responsible for overseeing digital projects from initiation through post implementation. In addition, he provides overall direction for project requirements, priorities and deadlines. Ralph excels in organizing, and directing the activities of project teams to ensure quality and project completion in a timely fashion.

Over the past 6 years, he has been a key player in building and maintaining relationships with a long list of clients such as Audi, Warner Brothers, ABC, Kohl’s, WGBH, Fandango, Vitamin Water, Citi Bank to name a few.