HOWARD DRAFT – Howard is a visionary entrepreneur who navigated his way through multiple marketing revolutions, building a global advertising agency from 13 employees in 1978 to nearly 8,000 today. He recently retired as Executive Chairman of Draftfcb (currently FCB) in December 2014. Howard is renowned in his excellence for melding art and science together to craft unique creative solutions that drive behavioral change leading to purchase and consumer engagement. As Draft’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, he turned what was a direct marketing agency into a global marketing services company with expertise in all media, retail, digital, promotion and general advertising. As Chief Executive Officer of DraftFCB, he led the agency’s investment in early stage company Facebook in 2006. He has also served as jury president at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes. In 2007, Howard was elected to the board of directors to the Ad Council. In 2010, he was inducted into the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame, honored with the Maxwell “Mac” Dane Award for Humanitarian Excellence by the UJA-Federation of New York and awarded the Chicago Advertising Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In his business career, Howard has acquired or invested in over 50 companies resulting in multiple billions of dollars of return on equity for his investors. As an entrepreneur he has helped to build and fund numerous startups. Howard also serves on the board of directors for AudioUp and Jukka Foods. He is an advisor for US Bitcoin Corp and Torch Capital. He is a former director of Peloton (from 2015 to 2021), Emisphere Technologies (Recently acquired by Novo Nordisk) and OptionsXpress Holdings (acquired by Charles Schwab).Today, Howard is the co-founder and CEO of Vysical, a consulting agency partnering with disruptors to incubate and accelerate new ventures.