Please meet the esteemed business and thought leaders dedicated to supporting our mission of becoming the best marketing agency in the industry. Thoughtfully selected based on their diverse experience, expertise and heart for the community, we look forward to a bright future fueled by a shared passion for creating success.
Meet The Agency TeamDave empowers Arizonans to lead through Valley Leadership’s innovative programming that helps participants expand their perspectives and network. Dave was also CEO of Home Matters and executive director of the National NeighborWorks Association. Today, he serves on the board for Home Matters to Arizona, the first statewide Home Matters initiative focused on a new generation of housing, connected communities and healthier individuals, families and economies. Previously, Dave was a public accountant with Arthur Andersen and a financial litigation consultant with Navigant Consulting. Born and raised in Arizona, Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from U of A, a Master of Public Administration from USC and a certificate from the Executive Program for Nonprofits at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
An experienced public company board director with an extensive background in global digital, ecommerce and loyalty marketing as well as global commercial B2B expertise, Dorothy draws upon her 35 years of executive experience. She was a pioneer in pursuing strategic and innovative partnerships with organizations such as AAA/CAA, Google, TripAdvisor and Facebook, was the president of the Global Business Travel Association Allied Leadership Council and serves on the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) global foundation board. Dowling has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement awards from the HSMAI, The Stephen Brener Award at the New York University Investment Conference and GBTA WINIT.
A sharp, high-energy, ambitious marketer with deep experience and expertise in public casino corporations, Native American casino gaming and other business enterprises nationwide, Mary has been a senior executive for two titans of casino gaming, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. and Penn National Gaming, Inc. She is a strong contributor in building growth-oriented organizations and her 25+ year casino gaming career extends across business strategies, marketing and brand development, and casino operations, while leading management teams with a focus on revenue generation, profitability, brand development, marketing innovation and team development. Prior to her long tenure in casino gaming, Mary was Chief Marketing Officer with First Tier Bank of Nebraska and CMO for two large Native American tribal casinos including Arizona’s Talking Stick Resort and Casino Arizona.
Tim is a business and social innovation leader who has dedicated his 30-year career to creating programs and services that help underserved people thrive. He brings unmatched retail success, extensive leadership, community expertise and unwavering passion as a visionary leader committed to building bridges that uplift entire communities. Launching Thrive Services Group in January 2022, he continues to blaze a trail of growth and social change. As a standing member of Greater Phoenix Leadership, Tim partners with Arizona changemakers to drive growth and societal progression.
In his fourth season as senior vice president of Global Partnership Solutions for the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury and Legends Entertainment District, Tom leads and manages all aspects of the Global Partnership Solutions department, including the sales, activation and operations divisions. Tom possesses more than 20 years of professional and collegiate sports experience. Most recently, he spent eight years as a senior vice president of sales and business development at IMG College where he oversaw all revenue generation, activation and expense management of multimedia rights for the west region, which included 16 Division I athletic departments. Previously, he was the Portland Trail Blazers’ vice president of corporate sales and service and the director of marketing and sponsorship for the Special Olympics of Northern California.
Marcus Kent, who has been instrumental as the President of Organizational Development, brings over 20 years of experience launching and advising over 50 growing and established businesses globally. His impressive career includes executive roles in startups, large international brands, and various other sectors, balancing these parallel pursuits with remarkable success. Marcus’s strategic vision, honed through his diverse experiences, has consistently delivered measurable results across industries such as packaging, consumer products, sports apparel, licensed brands, and food service, inspiring confidence in Board Developer’s future under his leadership.
John Alpaugh is a seasoned marketing strategist and business leader with over 25 years of experience in retail, consumer packaged goods, and technology. He is known for applying first-principles thinking to proven marketing frameworks to build brands and deliver measurable results. He currently leads First Principles Marketing, a fractional marketing firm focused on helping businesses drive growth with effective marketing.
Previously, John served as Chief Marketing Officer at PetSmart and Big Lots, where he led efforts to strengthen brand positioning, enhance customer engagement, and drive omnichannel growth. He also served as CEO of CyberMark, a digital marketing company providing franchise businesses with solutions for lead generation, website platforms, and online advertising.
John holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati and Thunderbird School of Global Management and has served on advisory councils for Google and eBay.
When organizations want to position themselves for transformation, business optimization, and market differentiation to maintain relevance and scalable growth, Angela Gillespie has the expertise that enable companies under her leadership to navigate these high-stakes moments.
Angela has a talent for identifying and capitalizing on emerging business opportunities. Her ability to quickly assess market conditions and identify trends allows her to stay ahead of the curve and anticipate where the business landscape is headed. For more than two decades, Angela has served as a senior leader during times of transformation within consulting, healthcare, and wellness companies. Angela has designed and implemented innovative, market-changing programs for more than 100 of the industry’s top healthcare practices, providers and innovators including Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Cardinal Health, Bristol Myers Squibb, Medtronic, United Healthcare, McKesson, and Roche Genentech. Through equal parts influence and inspiration, Angela has navigated the murky waters of galvanizing boards of directors, and teams to adopt even the toughest changes.
Helping companies evolve is never easy – but with Angela’s people-first approach she has helped companies find innovative ways to capitalize upon and develop new strengths to allow them to survive and even thrive in environments where many companies have dissolved. Under her leadership, teams are inspired to push boundaries and deliver results. She creates team cultures where people are rewarded for innovation, thoughtful risk-taking, communication, and demonstrating a willingness to learn, adapt, and improve. She balances this with a “white-glove service mindset”, making her an engaging leader and mentor for customer-facing teams focused on flawlessly delivering outstanding customer experiences.
Angela contributes time and expertise serving on the Allergan Presidential Advisory Board, the Allergan Data Labs Advisory Board, the Healthcare Business Women’s Association Global Board, the University of Alabama Board of Visitors, and the Northeast Minneapolis Art Association Board. She also mentors through MedTech Women, has been actively involved in the Women on Boards Project, and served as a strategic advisor to FamilyWise. She is a speaker and writer on the dynamics of women in leadership, her seminal white paper on “The Role of Gender Diversity in Corporate Relevance,” launched at SXSW and has been distributed to more than 30,000 healthcare leaders worldwide.
Angela completed her master’s degree in Strategic Marketing and Communication Management from the University of Southern California Annenberg School and bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication and Public Relations from the University of Alabama. In 2010, Angela married her passion for science with her culinary interests, taking a year-long sabbatical to attend the Le Cordon Bleu School in San Francisco to become a pastry chef.
In her spare time, Angela enjoys relearning to play the acoustic guitar and piano, traveling, spinning records and having spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen with her husband and their two boys. Since 2005 she and her husband have been growing grapes in their vineyard in the Uco Valley of Argentina, producing and importing their own high-end Malbec under the name “La Pareja” to the U.S. market.