Rising Stars Awards

2023 Judges

• Mo Bofill

  Design | One Twenty Three West Partner & Creative Director

  Mo has recently joined 123w as their newest Partner, Creative Director, Design and to help establish the Toronto office. Joining 123w, she will continue to help build agency thought-leadership through the lens of Design. Design has always been a part of the DNA of One Twenty Three West since day one. And Mo shares the same foundational beliefs; that Design isn’t a department, it’s a way of thinking. It’s how we approach solving our client’s problems and helping them grow. Design has an integral role not only in building our business but also our client’s business. Design is the tangible expression of what a brand is, and it plays a significant role in transforming brands into something people want to be a part of. Mo is formerly the Executive Director of Design at johnst., where she spent the last five years building the design offering from the ground up. At john st., Mo has built a growing design business with an award-winning portfolio and leading a diverse team of multidisciplinary design thinkers. Born and raised in the Philippines, and growing up in Toronto, she brings a diverse point of view that mixes her passion for design, creativity and business strategy to Canadian design. With over a decade of experience, Mo has helped transform some of Canada’s most iconic brands from the ground up: Bell, Home Hardware, Sleep Country, Winners, Shoppers, President’s Choice, and Koodo to name a few. She has also helped transformed global brands like KFC, Coca-Cola, Corona, Audi, Subaru, Mitsubishi and helped them become relevant brands to Canadians. She is a relentless optimist; be kind, do good work, have fun, travel often, and eat more fries. Outside of driving business growth for her clients, her work has also been awarded and recognized internationally by D&AD, How Design Awards, Cannes Lions, Luerzer’s Archive, Communication Arts, The Advertising & Design Club of Canada, Applied Arts, Marketing Magazine, among others. Mo also brings leadership in community engagement. She speaks and mentors regularly through RGD (Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario), is an instructor and mentor at Miami Ad School, helping create the newly founded Design Program and is a leader on the issue of diversity in our industry.

  Learn more

• Alexis Bronstorph

  No Fixed Address Chief Creative Officer

  Alexis is co-Chief Creative Officer at No Fixed Address, but started her career in advertising at 9 years old, when she did voiceover work for a radio commercial. She was hooked immediately. Since then, Alexis has worked on numerous international award-winning campaigns, creating beautiful, disruptive, and effective work for world class brands across all disciplines. Alexis’ approach to problem solving is rooted in strategy and innovation, aiming to create work that gets noticed, talked about, and shared on your favourite social media platform. Most recently, Alexis was named to Adweek’s Creative 100 list for 2021.

  Learn more

• Anthony Chelvanathan

  Edelman Canada Chief Creative Officer

  Prior to taking on his current position as Chief Creative Officer at Edelman Canada, Anthony worked his way up through a number of creative directing roles at Leo Burnett Toronto, which culminated in his appointment to Senior Vice President. Along the way, Anthony has made a name for himself as one of the most prolific creatives in his industry. His work has garnered acclaim at nearly all of the world's top creative shows, including 59 Cannes Lions recognitions and 500+ international awards from institutions such as D&AD, The One Show, ADC, Communication Arts, LIA and Clios. Throughout his career Anthony has repeatedly landed at the top of Strategy magazine's creative talent lists and even been ranked 6th in the world by The Gunn Report. He has reached incredible heights (his TSN campaign promoting the Rogers Cup was among the most-awarded billboard campaigns in the world) while ranking up tens of millions of views in the process (his follow-up video to the famous #LikeAGirl campaign alone received 90 million). His passion and knack for zeroing in on unique human insights at the heart of a brand's purpose has resulted in major accolades for both his clients and agencies throughout his career, including winning an International Grand Prix for his IKEA project 'Cook This Page'. Anthony's world-class expertise in bringing big ideas to life also knows no categorical bounds, with his creative leadership directly leading to agency wins and business growth across nearly every industry and category. When he’s not unleashing juggernaut creative ideas onto the world and meticulously crafting his way to the number one Art Director spot the country, Anthony can be found in his kitchen, treating his friends to his latest spicy curry recipe.

  Learn more

• Ryan Crouchman

  lg2 Toronto Partner, VP, ECD, Design

  With over 15 years of experience in branding and design Ryan has created compelling work for clients across every major sector. His strategic approach and attention to detail have resulted in consistent international recognition from shows such as D&AD, Cannes Lions, One Show, Communication Arts, Type Directors Club, the ADCC, among others. Before moving to Toronto in 2010 Ryan lived and worked in Montréal, and studied in London (UK) where he attained a Master’s in Communication Design from Central Saint Martins. He has since held senior design and leadership positions at some of the country’s most awarded agencies, including Concrete and Leo Burnett. In 2018 he co-founded the design & branding department of lg2 Toronto, helping grow Canada’s largest independent creative agency.

  Learn more

• Christina Yu

  Lifelong Crush Partner, Chief Creative Officer

  Christina Yu is Partner, Chief Creative Officer at Lifelong Crush. Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 thought leaders, Christina was previously Managing Partner, Creative Director at Rethink Canada, where she helped lead them to Agency of the Year and Design Agency of the Year for both 2019 and 2020. Prior to Rethink, Christina co-founded Red Urban for DDB Network; creating high profile international work for Volkswagen and enjoying 5 years of record-breaking sales growth and Cannes accolades year over year. In 2015, she turned those talents to Subaru and helped them reach record-breaking sales. Christina’s unique design sensibility and brand-building talents have helped drive breakthrough success for blue chip brands in virtually every category, including Stella Artois, Fed Ex, Pepsi, Audi, J&J, Virgin and Capital One to name but a few. She’s been named Top 30 Under 30, “Marketing Icons in the Making” and is frequent industry speaker and visiting professor at the Ontario College of Art & Design. Although Christina’s been awarded at Cannes, One Show, Clios and even a Canadian Screen Award for film-making, she feels much more comfortable bragging about her twin sons’ ever-growing proficiency in soccer, Roblox and fishing on the Bay of Quinte.