FCS Financial Marketer of the Year Gala 2026

Michele Barlow is Managing Director, Enterprise Marketing at Bank of America, responsible for all brand strategy and consumer, business and wealth marketing across the corporation.  She oversees all marketing efforts for the bank’s 69 million consumer and small business clients, more than 3,600 retail financial centers and approximately 15,000 ATM locations.  Michele also leads all creative development, media and global partnership, content, and owned channel marketing, as well as the bank’s award-winning in-house advertising agency.    

Michele joined Bank of America in 2000.  During her 25+ years at the company, she has focused on accelerating favorability, business growth and relevance of the Bank of America brand.  She helped lead the 2018 rollout of the bank’s new brand positioning focused on the question, “What would you like the power to do?” and under her leadership, brand favorability has reached the highest levels in the company’s history.   

Michele has launched partnerships with organizations around the globe that are addressing some of the world’s most pressing social issues, including (RED) and the Special Olympics. The team also counts among its partnerships a portfolio of the most iconic brands in sports across baseball, football, golf, soccer and endurance. Her team has garnered several industry accolades for their work, including Financial Communications Society and Communicator awards.  Michele and her team have also earned the coveted Cannes Lions Award.  

Michele is a member of the bank’s LEAD for Women network focused on leadership, education, advocacy, and development for women and is an executive mentor.  She also serves on the Boards of the Association of National Advertisers Education Foundation and the Ad Council.

Rodes M. Ponzer is Chief Marketing Officer at Crowd Street, a leading online private market investing platform, where he leads brand and growth strategy. Crowd Street opens private market opportunities, once reserved for large institutions and a select few investors, to a broader audience of individual investors through access, transparency, and education.

With over 20 years of marketing experience, Rodes has driven multi-billion-dollar revenue gains and profit growth for numerous companies. He is known for strategically aligning a company’s objectives with specialty skills, including strategic planning, creative development and production, public relations, branded entertainment, influencer marketing, and customer acquisition. These efforts span digital, social, and traditional media. His passion for building collaborative teams has consistently produced strong brands and robust businesses.

Before joining Crowd Street in 2024, Rodes founded Rodes Advisory, LLC in 2018, where he created, launched, and grew brands across FinTech, Automotive, Pharma, E-Commerce, Fitness, Fashion, and Cosmetics. Earlier, he held senior positions at Madison Avenue agencies including Young & Rubicam, Saatchi & Saatchi, and TBWA\Chiat\Day. There he completed elite leadership development programs worldwide under the sponsorship of Omnicom and Publicis. His cross-functional team development produced iconic campaigns, including the transformation of Cheerios, the evolution of Accenture into a modern industry leader, P&G’s most successful cause-marketing program, and global product launches for Pampers, General Mills, Mondelez, Campbell’s, and others.

Rodes serves on the faculty of CCNY as an Adjunct Professor, helping graduate students earn degrees in Branding and Integrated Communications, and has been a guest lecturer in the MBA programs at Columbia Business School and NYU Stern. A committed volunteer, he gives his time generously to educational, civic, youth, and faith-based organizations, and he serves on the boards of the residential communities he calls home.

A proud New Yorker, Rodes lives in the city with his wife and their two children.

Jennifer Lindauer is Head of Enterprise Brand Marketing at Plymouth Rock Assurance, where she leads enterprise brand strategy, creative, digital visibility, reputation, direct-to-consumer go-to-market, and customer retention. Since joining Plymouth Rock in 2024, she has led the development of the company’s unified positioning, Local Advantage, and the Keep Calm and Rock On® brand platform. Her work has brought greater consistency to the brand experience while strengthening the connection between marketing investment, customer engagement, and business performance.
With more than 25 years of consumer brand and integrated marketing experience, Jennifer has held senior roles at Citi, Verizon, Samsung Electronics America, BD, and FCB New York. At Citi, she led U.S. advertising and marketing initiatives including Live Richly, Citi Double Cash, Citi Bike, and major partnerships and sponsorships. At Verizon, she led consumer marketing for innovations including Mix & Match Unlimited and the introduction of Disney+ into Verizon plans.
Jennifer’s work has earned Effie and FCS awards. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Barnard College, Columbia University.