LinkedIn

Dan DeSilva partnered with Aragon Company CEO Todd Stearn to establish Vibrant Performance, a full-service affiliate and influencer agency focused on driving growth for fintech brands. Since its launch, Vibrant Performance has become an award-winning global agency, successfully launching and scaling a portfolio of high-growth affiliate programs. In addition to leading on the agency side, Dan has worked across the publisher and brand sides throughout his decade-and-a-half career in performance marketing.

LinkedIn

With nearly a decade of experience in partnership, affiliate, and influencer marketing, Gazelle Bakhtari is a results‑driven marketing leader known for building high‑performing programs that drive revenue, expand brand visibility, and strengthen strategic relationships. She has led impactful initiatives across eCommerce, wellness, and consumer brands—most recently managing affiliate marketing at Nutrabolt, home to C4 Energy, Cellucor, and Xtend. Gazelle brings deep expertise in affiliate networks, influencer platforms, and data‑driven optimization, consistently leveraging analytics to inform strategy and unlock growth. Passionate about innovation, collaboration, and elevating partner experiences, she thrives at the intersection of creativity and performance marketing.

LinkedIn

25 year veteran of affiliate marketing, Geo has been at networks, agencies, and publishers during his tenure. He now brings his knowledge to others via his consulting firm.

LinkedIn

Jade is an experienced marketer trusted by best-in-class digital marketing agencies, start-ups, and direct-to-consumer brands. She has a breath of experience across direct response, paid media and specializes in affiliate marketing. Jade serves as President of the Performance Marketing Association and is currently Head of Affiliate & Performance Partnerships at Dentsu, North America.

LinkedIn

Joey Asleson is the Founder and Principal of Asleson Communications, a Chicago-based consultancy specializing in affiliate marketing, creator partnerships, and performance-driven growth for DTC, lifestyle, beauty, wellness, and fitness brands. With over a decade of experience in performance marketing, Joey has built and scaled partnership programs across affiliate, influencer, loyalty, and performance PR channels, helping brands drive measurable revenue while maintaining strong brand integrity. His work is rooted in data, strategic storytelling, and long-term relationship building, with a focus on sustainable growth over short-term wins. In addition to client work, Joey is deeply involved in the broader performance marketing community. He actively contributes to industry education and advancement through leadership roles, speaking engagements, and award judging, and has been recognized for his thought leadership within the affiliate ecosystem. Known for his collaborative approach and sharp strategic lens, Joey brings both practitioner-level expertise and a high bar for innovation, execution, and ethical partnership marketing to every program he touches.

LinkedIn

Kelly Ground is the Founder and Principal Consultant of breakingGround Solutions, where she helps brands and agencies scale and optimize their affiliate and partnership marketing programs in a fractional leadership capacity. With over 20 years of experience in performance and partnership marketing, Kelly has led growth initiatives for some of the industry’s most recognized brands, driving user acquisition, revenue, and long-term program strategy. She is known for her data-driven approach, collaborative leadership style, and ability to turn complex challenges into actionable growth plans. A recognized thought leader in the affiliate marketing space, Kelly has spoken at numerous industry conferences and has been published in multiple marketing and performance media outlets. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Performance Marketing Association as Treasurer and was named a Top 30 U.S. Partnership Marketing Changemaker by Hello Partner in 2023, as well as one of the Top 50 Women Leaders of Tampa in 2024. Through breakingGround Solutions, Kelly partners with organizations to build sustainable, scalable partnership programs that deliver measurable business impact.

LinkedIn

Kristine Locker is the Founder and CEO of Locker. Locker is a social shopping platform that sits at the intersection of commerce and technology. Locker’s mobile app and Chrome extension enable users to save any product they want, organize saves into collections, share collections with friends and earn as they shop and share.

LinkedIn

Lissette Alvarez is a seasoned digital executive with over 18 years of experience in digital and performance marketing. She currently serves as Director of Affiliate Partnerships at Trashie.io, driving growth through strategic global partnerships. Lissette began her career at Warner Bros. Entertainment, working on digital sponsorships for major franchises, then led marketing at Playboy Enterprises, and and streaming content with Scripps Networks, and Fox Sports Digital. She later built global performance marketing programs at Google and Rakuten Advertising and held senior partnership roles at JoinPiggy (acquired by Klarna), ID.me, ShoppingGives, Capital One Business Deals, and Minty.com before joining Trashie.io. She is a Chicago native and holds a BA in History and an MA in New Media from DePaul University.

LinkedIn

Luca is a global partnerships and performance marketing leader with deep expertise in affiliate strategy and the creator economy. She lead the development of scalable international partnership ecosystems that transform creators, publishers, and content platforms into meaningful revenue channels for brands. With a focus on measurable impact, operational excellence, and cross functional leadership, Luca drives strategies where storytelling, commerce, and performance marketing work together to fuel sustained, long term growth across markets.

LinkedIn

Mike Currey is a marketing and partnerships leader with a diverse background spanning media strategy, affiliate marketing, product marketing, and analytics. He partners with both B2C and B2B brands across the music, media, real estate, CPG, fashion, and technology industries to build scalable, performance-driven solutions that deliver measurable results. Mike has worked across the agency, brand, publisher, and startup sides of the business, managing campaigns and strategic initiatives for brands including Moët Hennessy, Toyota, Microsoft, Quince, T-Mobile, and Blue Nile. This cross-functional experience has earned him a strong reputation for connecting strategy, partnerships, and performance marketing. With deep expertise in affiliate and performance partnerships, Mike has developed and implemented customer-centric programs built for modern marketing ecosystems. He led the strategy, buildout, and growth of T-Mobile’s affiliate program over six years. During that time, he helped launch the brand’s military offer (which became the foundation of its military program), contributed to the rollout of T-Mobile Tuesdays, and launched a performance-based social influencer program. He also helped pioneer an industry-first phone tracking solution that enabled commission payouts based on SKU-level call conversions — a model later reflected in solutions from platforms like Invoca and Impact. Most recently, Mike built and scaled Quince’s affiliate program and now consults with brands at various growth stages on partnership, affiliate, and performance marketing strategy.

LinkedIn

Noelle has been in the world of partnership marketing for over 12 years with experience working with top networks, agencies, and partners. She’s had the privilege of collaborating with a variety of successful brands while managing their affiliate programs across a wide spectrum of industries including fashion, retail, travel, B2B, and finance.

LinkedIn

Takahito Nakamura is the Global Lead of the eBay Partner Network, eBay’s affiliate marketing channel, where he oversees strategy and growth across a global ecosystem of partners. With more than 13 years of experience in the affiliate marketing industry, he has held a range of leadership and operational roles in operations, network quality, overall affiliate and partner marketing. Takahito is deeply passionate about cultivating strong, trusted relationships with partners and believes sustainable business growth is driven by the thoughtful application of innovation, technology, and creativity. He brings a data-driven mindset and a long-term perspective to building scalable programs that create value for both partners and advertisers.

LinkedIn

Tara is a sales and marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience in performance marketing, global partnerships and digital growth strategy. She is known for combining strategic insight with curiosity and hands-on collaboration to build trusted partnerships that deliver sustainable, long-term growth. At Stay22, Tara partners with media publishers to better connect content and commerce, helping them capture and convert high-intent audiences while strengthening monetization and diversifying revenue streams. A former Top 50 Industry Player and three-term Board Committee Chair for the Performance Marketing Association, Tara is a committed advocate for the performance marketing industry.

LinkedIn

Tye is the Founder & CEO of Round Barn Labs, an award-winning partner marketing agency based in Austin, TX. He was born on a working ranch in Santa Rosa, CA. After attending UC Santa Barbara and majoring in History, he broke into digital marketing, joining Sequoia-backed AdBrite, one of the first ad networks. Tye has 20 years of performance marketing experience growing startups and Fortune 500 companies in e-commerce direct-to-consumer (DTC), B2B SaaS, and Consumer Tech. RBL has grown to 15 full-time remote employees, serving clients like Superhuman, Grammarly, SC Johnson, Nextdoor, Meta Quest, Remote, Atlassian, TikTok, and Google Workspace. He can be found playing tennis, horseback riding, exploring Austin with his wife, Blaine, and playing with his 5-year-old daughter, Hayward, his 3-year-old son, Gray, and his newborn son, Fess.

LinkedIn

Vikki Danielson is a trailblazer in affiliate marketing, pioneering the integration of Connected TV (CTV) into the performance space. As Director of Growth and Partnerships at tvScientific, she has educated, guided, and nurtured agencies, networks, and brands to fully understand and leverage the power of CTV within broader affiliate strategies. Vikki combines strategic vision with executional excellence, opening new opportunities and redefining what’s possible for publishers and advertisers alike. Beyond her achievements, she is a mentor, innovator, and trusted industry advocate; respected for her empathy, problem-solving, and ability to balance people-first leadership with performance-driven results.