A judging panel built to reflect the reality of affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is, by nature, a multi-stakeholder channel. Brands, publishers, agencies, platforms, and networks all bring different priorities, pressures, and definitions of success to the table. 

A credible judging panel needs to reflect that complexity. The Women in Affiliate panel does exactly that, bringing together perspectives from across the industry. This breadth ensures nominees are assessed through the real-world dynamics of partnership marketing, not a single job function or viewpoint.

The judges and the expertise they bring

Julia Stent, Strategy Advisor and Board Member, J Stent Ltd

With nearly two decades in affiliate and partnership marketing, Julia brings long-term strategic depth to the judging panel. She has advised more than 30 companies on go-to-market strategy, monetisation, and leadership, alongside board advisory roles across the ecosystem.

Her perspective grounds judging decisions in sustained impact rather than short-term wins. She understands that meaningful affiliate program growth comes from clear strategy, strong leadership, and the ability to scale partnerships without eroding trust.

Julia is also a consistent advocate for innovation and progress, actively supporting new voices and ideas within the industry.

Sophie Robinson, Former Chief Commercial Officer, I Love It | Former Managing Director, The Stylist Group

Sophie brings a commercial lens shaped by senior leadership roles across publisher-led media and performance partnerships. As former CCO at I Love It and former Managing Director at The Stylist Group, she has operated at the intersection of revenue growth, editorial integrity, and long-term publisher-brand relationships.

Her contribution ensures nominations are assessed on tangible commercial impact and strategic influence, not just visibility or short-term activity. She represents the reality of performance partnerships where trust, audience value, and commercial outcomes must align to deliver sustainable growth.

Lisa Maynard, VP of Marketing, Awin

Lisa brings a network-level view of affiliate marketing, spanning global ecommerce trends, retailer priorities, and publisher dynamics. She understands where the channel is evolving and where friction still exists between stakeholders.

Her experience helps identify leaders who are not only delivering results today, but actively shaping the future of affiliate marketing through better practices, clearer narratives, and stronger partnerships.

Elen Barber. Strategic Advisor

Elen’s career spans affiliate marketing foundations through to C-suite leadership and advisory roles. She brings first-hand experience of building and scaling performance partnerships in regulated and complex environments.

Her judging perspective reflects long-term career development, resilience, and the importance of credibility at senior levels. She consistently champions women who combine commercial strength with principled leadership.

Cristy Garcia, Chief Marketing Officer, impact.com

Cristy brings a platform and ecosystem perspective to the panel. Her work focuses on partnership marketing at scale, where clarity, ownership, and alignment are essential.

She values leaders who build partnerships designed to last, rather than chasing short-term performance spikes. Her experience reinforces the importance of operational rigour alongside strategic vision.

Emily Long, CEO, Genie Goals

Emily leads performance marketing agency Genie Goals, working with ambitious brands across PPC, paid social, and affiliate marketing. Before agency life, she spent over a decade in senior brand and digital roles at Costa Coffee, Jordans Ryvita, and EE.

She brings a consumer-centric, full-funnel perspective to affiliate marketing strategy, with a strong focus on fair measurement and accurate attribution. Emily sees affiliates as partners that strengthen brand reputation, not simply channels that close sales.

Her advice is clear: trust your gut, have a strong voice, and do not question your right to be at the table. The industry needs fresh thinking and new ideas.

Tricia Meyer, Executive Director, Performance Marketing Association

Tricia brings more than 20 years of experience as a publisher, attorney, and industry advocate. As Executive Director of the Performance Marketing Association, she oversees councils, content, and networking, while helping shape standards and education across the affiliate industry.

Her dual background gives her a rigorous perspective on negotiation, disclosure rules, and ethical affiliate marketing. She highlights that while many women work in the channel, far fewer are represented in C-suite roles.

For Tricia, success is inseparable from network strength. Building bridges, protecting reputation, and supporting others are essential in a small, interconnected industry.

Kevin Edwards, Founder, The Affiliate & Partner Marketing Association

With more than two decades in affiliate and partner marketing, Kevin brings industry-wide perspective and governance experience. After 16 years at Awin, he founded the UK’s first trade body dedicated to advocating for affiliate and partner marketing.

Through the APMA, he has worked to elevate standards, commission research, and champion the value of affiliate and partner marketing to brands, agencies, and publishers.

From his vantage point, many of the clearest thinkers and strongest advocates in the industry have been women. Spotlighting them is not about special treatment, but recognising leadership and impact that already exists.

Hannah Wharrier, Co-founder and CEO, Affilifest

As co-founder of Affilifest, Hannah brings a brand-first, community-led perspective to the judging panel. Her view is straightforward. Women are doing a disproportionate amount of the work that moves affiliate marketing forward, yet they are not receiving an equal share of credit, platform, or leadership representation.

For Hannah, spotlighting women is not just about fairness. It's smart business. As the channel faces tighter scrutiny around trust, safety, and proving real value, the people who have been leading in these areas need to be visible, listened to, and backed.

What unites the panel

Despite their different backgrounds, several themes consistently emerge from the judges’ perspectives.

• Visibility follows impact, but only if the platform exists

The panel agrees that women are already driving change across affiliate marketing. Leading programmes. Shaping strategy. Building partnerships. Mentoring others. The issue is not contribution. It is visibility.

Creating platforms that surface this work changes who gets listened to, funded, promoted, and invited to shape what comes next.

• Trust is the foundation of performance partnerships

Affiliate marketing runs on trust. Between brands and publishers. Between partners and platforms. Between teams and leadership.

Many judges note that women often excel at building and sustaining that trust through clarity, consistency, and delivery. This is not a soft skill. It is a commercial advantage.

The strength of the Women in Affiliate List lies in the people behind it.

This panel brings together strategy, execution, governance, and community. It reflects the full reality of partnership marketing and ensures recognition is grounded in substance, not surface-level visibility.

With more than 200 nominations submitted, a carefully reviewed shortlist, and a judging panel that reflects the full reality of affiliate marketing, the Women in Affiliate List is designed to recognise substance, not surface-level visibility.

Judges are now scoring the shortlisted nominees, and the final winners will be revealed during the week commencing 26 January. Sign up below to be the first to know!