Karen Shakoske, Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Janney

Karen Shakoske leads Janney’s Marketing and Corporate Communications Group, a team responsible for delivering the firm’s brand strategy, digital strategy, marketing communications for sales and business development support, corporate communications, and community and public relations. She is a member of the firm’s Executive Leadership Team and is on the Board of Directors of Janney Trust Co.

Karen brings over 20 years of professional services marketing experience to Janney across advertising, financial advisor marketing support, internal communications, and community relations. She also held marketing positions at Parker/Hunter Incorporated, Carnegie Mellon University, Tucker Arensberg, P.C., and Allegheny General Hospital, all located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Karen is the executive sponsor of the Janney Early Career Professionals Employee Resource Group, past executive sponsor and co-founder of Janney Women’s Interactive Network Employee Resource Group, and mentor in Janney’s ASCEND mentoring program. In the community, Karen is a member of the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Philadelphia’s Breaking Barriers Campaign Committee, CHIEF, 100 Women in Finance, The Forum of Executive Women Philadelphia, the Women in Investing Network of Philadelphia, the Financial Communications Society, and the International Association of Business Communicators. In addition, she is a past-President of the Allegheny College Alumni Council, a former board member of First Person Arts, a former board member and 2007 Fellow of LEADERSHIP Philadelphia, and a graduate of the KPMG Executive Leadership Institute for Women.

Karen received her bachelor’s degree from Allegheny College.

Phil Edelstein is the Founder of Substance Strategy & Creative – a branding and marketing firm that specializes in the financial sector. He is an expert in building strategic brand alignment across highly complex organizations. Phil has brought his expertise in market research, brand strategy and marketing planning to bear for the likes of Lincoln Financial, SEI, Hartford Funds, Clark Capital and many others.

Phil brings a unique perspective to the agency world, having spent a number of years in his career as the Head of Advertising, Public Relations and Internal Communications at Hartford Funds, the $100+ billion mutual fund division of The Hartford Insurance Company. At Hartford Funds, Phil helped shepherd the origination and launch of the mutual fund division’s human-centric investing brand platform, and then led all advertising, public relations, content marketing and internal communications in service of the brand. During his tenure, Phil oversaw a large lift in digital brand engagement metrics along with increases in key brand metrics.