WednesDAY 25 JUNE, 3:30PM location: BUSH HOUSE auditorium
Moderator: Gillian Brookes
Dr. Gillian Brooks is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) of Marketing at King’s Business School and a leading expert in influencer marketing, consumer culture, and social media. Trained as a sociologist, Gillian investigates core topics in consumer behaviour, social media and digital marketing strategy primarily through qualitative research methods (e.g., ethnography, participant observation, interviews and content analysis).
Gillian’s research has been published the Journal of Advertising, Forbes, The Guardian, the Journal of Marketing, Newsweek, The Telegraph, The Times, and The Washington Post. At King’s, she leads professional and executive education on personal branding, persuasion, and social media strategy, and has taught at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, LSE, and Georgetown University.
Recognized for her teaching excellence and inclusivity, she has been honoured by institutions such as Oxford and King’s College London. Dr. Brooks holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Cambridge, a Master’s in Communication from Georgetown University, and a BA in Communications from McMaster University. Before academia, she worked as a publicist in global media relations in Toronto.
Dami Gbadamosi
Dami Gbadamosi is an HR professional and former Civil Service Fast Streamer, currently serving as the Head of Inclusion for the Fraud Investigation Service at HMRC. With a strong background in corporate services, policy, strategy, and security and defence, Dami brings a multidisciplinary approach to her work. She is particularly passionate about Organisational Development, with a focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI).
An Architecture and Design graduate, Dami has successfully led and implemented inclusion initiatives that have transformed workplace culture, ensuring that diverse voices are not only heard but actively celebrated. Her efforts have played a key role in strengthening HMRC’s ability to tackle fraud effectively by fostering a more inclusive and engaged workforce.
Beyond her professional achievements, Dami is deeply committed to youth development and mentoring. She is a speaker at King’s Business School events on HR topics and has supported students through the School’s Diversity Mentoring Programme.
James Dale
James is the founder & CEO of SINE Digital, a digital marketing & insights agency with over 75 staff across offices in London and New York. With a passion for combining storytelling and innovation, he has spearheaded groundbreaking campaigns across Broadway and the West End, establishing SINE Digital as the go-to partner for some of the biggest brands in live entertainment in the process.
As an Executive Fellow at King's College London, he gives regular lectures on digital marketing and data science. He previously worked as a performer and songwriter in the music industry, signing deals with Live Nation, Faber & Faber and Fierce Panda Records.
SINE Digital’s clients include leading theatre, live entertainment, and lifestyle brands: Tottenham Hotspur, Royal Ballet & Opera (formerly the Royal Opera House), Sonia Friedman Productions, Cameron Mackintosh, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Back to the Future the Musical, AEG, Operation Mincemeat, Secret Cinema, Yamaha Motors, Punchdrunk, Center Theatre Group, Percival Menswear, LW Theatres, Nederlander Theatres, DreamWorks Theatricals and ATG Productions.
Nicole Cobble
Nicole Cobble is a Director at Burberry, playing a key part in shaping the luxury brand’s internal culture and operational effectiveness. With a 20-year career bridging global fashion, creative industries, and transformative culture work, Nicole has also led creative operations at R/GA, Digitas, Spring Studios, and Oliver, where she helped scale teams and streamline processes across a fast-moving creative ecosystem.
Her journey reflects a rare blend of high-level strategy, people leadership, and a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. She’s not just about building teams—she’s about building environments where talent from all walks of life can rise and thrive. Nicole Cobble is a Director at Burberry, playing a key part in shaping the luxury brand’s internal culture and operational effectiveness. With a 20-year career bridging global fashion, creative industries, and transformative culture work, Nicole has also led creative operations at R/GA, Digitas, Spring Studios, and Oliver, where she helped scale teams and streamline processes across a fast-moving creative ecosystem.
Her journey reflects a rare blend of high-level strategy, people leadership, and a deep commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. She’s not just about building teams—she’s about building environments where talent from all walks of life can rise and thrive.
Eliot Salandy Brown
Eliot Salandy Brown is a strategic advisor to the leaders of companies like Google, LEGO and Ford. A British-Trinidadian sociologist and anthropologist, his consulting teams specialize in guiding C-Suites past old assumptions about people and society, to shape strategies that successfully seize big shifts. He has lectured and led exec MBA, CX and customer innovation courses at NYU, LSE, and Duke CE.