Rick Bonelli

Rick Bonelli, Founder/President Sunspots Creative, Inc

Under Rick’s leadership, Sunspots Creative has achieved national prominence for award-winning advertising campaigns as well as direct mail, branding and promotional programs. He holds over 250 awards on a state, regional, national and international level. These include multiple Jersey Awards, two Best of Show’s from the Art Directors Club of NJ, 75 American Graphic Design Awards and a National Silver Award from Neenah Paper. His design work has been the subject of case studies in over 20 national advertising and design publications-making him one of the most prominent designers in the country.

A life-long Garden State resident, Bonelli has contributed freely of his time to philanthropic endeavors. Among them are creating a promotional piece for the Rutherford VFW to raise funds for families of American soldiers in Afghanistan and fund raising efforts for UNICO, Daytop Village and New Jersey Seeds. As a former board member of the NJ AdClub, he designed graphics for the Jersey Awards, Career Day and the “Wake-Up Call” workshop. Prior to forming Sunspots Creative in 1994, Rick was with Toys “R” Us, Panasonic Corporation and last as Nielson & Bainbridge as Advertising Director.

Grace DePaola

Following an illustrious seventeen-year career at Verizon and its predecessor Bell Atlantic, DePaola has been guiding the fortunes of Daytop-NJ, a residential adolescent alcoholism and substance abuse rehabilitation center, since 2005. In her first year, she doubled donations through implementing annual giving and special event fund-raisers. Still earlier, she provided marketing and communications expertise to Rainbow Academy Child Care Centers, statewide. As staff vice president-brand advertising, she launched Verizon Wireless’ new brand in 95 major US markets, achieving 92% total brand awareness within eight months. She also generated a $29 million saving by reducing multiple agencies into a single media agency of record and oversaw the redesign of more than 1200 stores to create a more consistent retail image.
Grace is a past president and board member of the NJ AdClub; past president and advisory board executive officer of COPE; board trustee of the Montclair Senior Care and Activity Center and honorary board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Her work has garnered numerous awards, including Bell Atlantic Spirit of Excellence Citation Award; Bell Atlantic Leaders in Excellence Award; a diversity Advertising Award plus Jersey Awards in television, radio and print.

Wendy Flanagan

Wendy Flanagan, Vice President Murray Media

After working for the same company for almost 20 years, Wendy is now one of three equal partners at Murray Media, an interactive agency in Blairstown. Within the agency, she has worked in the roles of graphic designer, senior designer, creative director, account executive and vice president. Today, her interest in technology solutions and sales and marketing business process has Flanagan consulting on Content Management Systems for corporations such as ADT, Calvin Klein, Forbes Magazine, GAF, Johnson & Johnson, Roche and Verizon Wireless.

Her creative talents in writing and design have earned significant recognition, both personally and for the firm. She has received Jersey Awards, Impact Awards, IRIS Awards, American Graphic Design Awards to just name a few. Wendy is past president and board member of NJIABC, and a member of the following; NJ Association of Women Business Owners; Women Impacting Public Policy; Women’s Chamber of Commerce and the International Alliance for Women.

Allan Gorman

Allan Gorman CEO Brandspa llc
Allan has taken Brandspa, llc. of Montclair to a leadership role in “branding”. Since opening his office in 1987 (as AGCD), he has provided award-winning campaigns for local and national firms, amassing over 400 awards. These include; Jersey Awards, ADCNJ Awards, Impact Awards and Graphic Design Awards as well as Clios, Andys and a Gold Lion from the Cannes Film Festival. As president of the ADCNJ he launched “The Student Design League” and “The Committee of Cause”. His syndicated newsletter, “Briefs for Building Better Brands.” spreads branding wisdom to business executives around the globe. He has also authored the business book, Briefs for Building Better Brands- Tips, Parable and Insights for Market Leaders.

Gorman is a former NJ AdClub board member and former board member of both the Tourette Syndrome Association of NJ, Inc. and the National Tourette Syndrome Association. Some of his pro-bono endeavors include Fashion Week promotion for the National United Jewish Appeal; television commercials for the NY Urban League and a capital campaign for Temple Ner Tamid. His is a frequent guest on KDKA-TV’s “Morning Show with John Daly,” Advertising Age’s “The Advertising Show” and Bloomberg TV’s “Small Business Show.”

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