Bill Oberlander is Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of OBERLAND, where he combines his creative talents with his passion to make the world a better place. The agency, recognized as an Ad Age 2018 Small Agency of the Year and named a 2019 Ad Age Agency to Watch, merges a Madison Avenue pedigree with fearless social advocacy. As CCO, Bill leads the creative for the agency’s for-profit brands and nonprofit organizations - a list which has included the ACLU, Uber, The Guardian, Blue Man Group, The Nature Conservancy, Keep America Beautiful, St. Baldrick’s Foundation, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), New York Institute of Technology, The Ad Council, the Robin Hood Foundation, Velcro Companies, Strong Roots, EY, March of Dimes and Rutgers University. Before launching OBERLAND, Bill served as Director of Communications, Marketing and Events at the Robin Hood Foundation. During his stint there, he created the marketing for the Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief, the “Fight Poverty Like a New Yorker” brand campaign and the Robin Hood Investors Conference, which altogether raised hundreds of millions for charities across New York City. He’s won numerous industry awards during his career for culture-impacting campaigns created at Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, Ogilvy, McCann and JWT. He introduced the nation to pop-culture icon Wendy “The Snapple Lady,” helped turn Target into “Tar-Jay” and transformed the cell phone into a fashion accessory with the simple words, “Hello Moto.” Bill also served on the Ad Council Creative Review Committee, has been a jury president of the AICP Next Awards and is a Past President of the Art Directors Club. He regularly speaks at universities and industry panels about the responsibility brands have to contribute to society beyond profit to shareholders. Most recently on stage at Cannes Lions Festival in 2019, Bill shared stories about the untold discrimination and biases found within the halls of agencies today.

As a Copywriter writer and Chief Creative Officer for over 20 years, Lisa has managed agencies with upwards of 200 people, working across multiple clients and brands that are monolithic, large, small and teeny. In addition to being a prolific writer and integrated thinker who can do both humor and heartstrings, Lisa’s a particularly skilled presenter and ‘big” thinker’ with an excellent pitch record who’s able to quickly get to the core of a cohesive brand idea across digital, social, TV . Lisa was named one of the 30 most creative women in advertising by Business Insider and was listed as one of the top 27 creative leaders in the country by Adweek. Her work won nearly every major industry award in every color including Cannes, CLIO, One Show, ANDY, D&AD, CA and Effies. In her spare time, Lisa has taken her dogs, Schmutzy and Plop, to the highest levels of international competition in the sport of dog agility, becoming the 2 time Westminster Agility Champion and representing the United States team at the Wold Agility Championships. She’s a board member of Time's Up Advertising and cherishes being a mentor to women in advertising and seeing them rise up the ranks. She’s also a big fan of kindness. As she likes to put it, “Good things seem to follow it.”

After racking up more than a dozen national and global awards for cause marketing and driving social change through traditional, digital, social, and mobile campaigns, Drew Train set up shop as Co-Founder and CEO of OBERLAND, which he launched with Bill Oberlander. Before this, Drew started the social-good practice at JWT New York, called JWT Ethos. In that role, Drew worked with corporate, nonprofit and public-sector brands that play a role in driving change on the big-picture issues society faces. By leading an integrated team, Drew leveraged the potential of CSR strategy, communication planning, branding, and advertising to create positive, lasting change. Prior to opening JWT Ethos and OBERLAND, Drew learned his craft through extensive work on global, corporate brands like HSBC, Verizon, UPS, Puma, Lufthansa, and Tiffany & Co. in the US and Shanghai. Drew was instrumental in helping grow Services for the UnderServed into one of the most influential and impactful nonprofits in New York City. And, as National Campaign Co-Chair, he molded the #IWillListen campaign for the National Alliance on Mental Illness of New York City (NAMI NYC) into a powerful call-to-action to eliminate the stigma against mental illness. Drew serves on the Board of Directors for Summer Infant, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMR), a global leader in premium infant and juvenile products, as well as on the Board of Directors for NAMI NYC. With a B.A. in Economics from the University of Richmond, he resides in Navesink with his wife and three children.

As Managing Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at Oberland, Kate (she/her) brings together cultural trends, human truths and media behavior to move brands forward. Kate has over 15 years experience identifying breakthrough strategies for some of the world’s most successful brands including American Express, Oreo, Sony, Toyota and Lincoln Center. Motivated by “what’s next”, Kate’s passion is shaping strategies to fit the growing demand for brands that do good. She’s also passionate about connecting younger donors with non-profits by understanding digital behaviors, consumer motivations and bridging generational barriers. Kate developed her deep expertise in consumer, media and brand insights leading insights and planning groups at award-winning agencies, Lippe Taylor and 360i. Prior to the agency world, she spent eight years in brand consulting at Hall & Partners, working in the London and New York City offices. Originally from Minnesota, Kate now calls New York City home, with seats at the dinner table for her daughter, son, husband and Boston Terrier dog named Bronx.

Chris Plehal is an award-winning writer and creative director who uses his powers for good. He has worked with brands such as Google, YouTube, Macy’s, Diageo, Kellogg’s, JetBlue, Chevrolet, and many more. His work has received Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, Clios, Effies, Webbys, and a place on his mom’s fridge. Chris is the author of “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus,” an animated holiday special that airs annually on CBS. Chris has also written content for the Travel Channel, Cartoon Network, Food & Wine, and Headspace. During the height of Covid, he recreated the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy with LEGOs to raise money for Partners in Health. He lives with his wife, son, and dog in Philadelphia, where it’s always sunny.

Ronni brings about 10 years of both healthcare and consumer advertising experience, most recently coming from a digitally driven start-up agency. From a meal reimbursement app for patients undergoing CAR T-cell therapy, to providing oral health education to children globally with the Colgate Bright Smiles Bright Futures program, Ronni has been involved in innovative and socially driven initiatives throughout her career. Combining her background in fine arts, client management skills, and love of details, Ronni has made a home in the realm of account management. As a native New Yorker, Ronni has never been to the Empire State Building, but will have a heated debate about where to find the best Shanghainese soup dumplings in the city.

Molly (she/her) is a Senior Project Manager who has a passion for making any creative idea possible. With a project management background in diverse industries (including advertising, post-production, print, and interactive technology), she is at OBERLAND to ensure any project that comes her way runs smoothly from conception to completion. Molly comes to OBERLAND by way of gyro and Breeze Creative. Past clients include Kennedy Space Center and Royal Caribbean.

As a Senior Project Manager, Liz (She/Her) brings a decade of media and advertising experience to OBERLAND from a broad range of production and project management roles. She started her career at Time Inc., where she worked on photo production for Real Simple and post-production for their full suite of brands. At Munn Rabôt, Grey, and StrawberryFrog, she managed integrated advertising campaigns for a long list of clients, such as NYU Langone, Bessemer Trust, Taltz, Northwell Health, Prudential, Truist, Afterpay, and more. Liz is also a founding member of Aperture Connect, a photography non-profit in NYC.

As a multidisciplinary strategy director, Matthew challenges his teams to see through the perspective of the people they are trying to reach. At agencies like Grey and MullenLowe, he helped brands as varied as AARP and Applebee's earn attention, connect with new audiences and grow. He's particularly enthusiastic about strategy when it means contributing in some way to the greater good. Outside of work, he loves running, Pedro Almodóvar and washed rind cheeses.

Emma (she/her) is a native New Yorker who’s made the transition to the dark side (New Jersey). She joins OBERLAND as a Senior Strategist, after immersing herself in the world of beauty at Gotham (part of McCann Worldgroup). Starting out in analytics, Emma’s always trying to figure out what makes people tick and finding the throughline from insight to strategy. When she’s not asking a million questions, you’ll find her hanging out with her rescue pup, doing yoga, or obsessing over the latest pop culture phenomenon.

Arnau (he/him) is one of the first employees at OBERLAND, and has been an integral part of the agency’s growth. He earned his design chops at Pratt Institute where he received the Outstanding Merit Award, and has continued to hone his craft while leading and inspiring a team of designers at the agency. Arnau is an invaluable asset in helping clients define their visual identity with systemic rigor and stunning beauty, across every medium.

Laura (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary designer and artist hailing from the coast of California. Her dedication to effecting lasting social change through design is communicated through her branding, creative strategy, UI, and motion graphics work. Before joining Oberland, Laura devoted her creative energy to non-profits, small businesses, start-ups, and health & fitness brands throughout California and NYC. She currently holds a BS from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed her design education at Shillington, NYC.

Anika (She/Her) is a graphic designer and illustrator hailing from Kolkata, India. She recently earned her BFA in graphic design from the School of Visual Arts, New York with the Rhodes Family Award for Outstanding Achievement in Design. Her determination to create intentional and purpose-driven work expresses itself in a way that is personal in lieu of performative, and she aspires to display that determination through her designs at OBERLAND.

Adriene (They/Them) is a trans non-binary designer from NYC. With a background in TV and film development, Adriene always considers story in their approach to design. As an alumni of SCAD and Shillington School of Graphic Design, Adriene loves illustration, performance art and art history. Adriene most recently completed a certificate program at NYU Tandon for User Experience and Emerging Technologies Design.

Carina (She/Her) is a copywriter who comes to OBERLAND from freelanceland, where she spent two years working on a number of brands at award-winning New York-based agencies Walrus and Terri & Sandy. She is passionate about addressing the social and environmental issues of today through purposeful storytelling, and will probably ask you if you’re wearing SPF 30+ on a sunny day.

Frank (he/him) comes to OBERLAND with a wealth of financial services experience spanning nearly 25 years. His most recent role was the Chief Operating Officer of the Wealth Management Group at Jefferies. As Chief Operating Officer, Frank’s role is to ensure that all our agency runs smoothly and our internal operations are as good as our client operations.