Lesa Ukman

Lesa Ukman is a thought-leading entrepreneur, writer and speaker renowned as a pioneer in assigning value to marketing collaborations. She has propelled sponsorship from a promotional sideline to a vital discipline by creating the methodology to value and measure investments in sports, arts, entertainment and nonprofits. Her analytics have been adopted throughout the world.

While working for the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office of Special Events in 1980, Lesa devised the first-ever public/private partnership programs, which still serve as the blueprint for municipal marketing.

Driven by the then-radical idea that businesses that partner with the things people love—sports, music, festivals and nonprofit causes—vastly outperform competitors, she founded IEG (sponsorship.com) in 1982. Her ideas caught the imagination of the business world, giving rise to an industry now worth more than $85 billion. In 2006 she sold IEG to WPP, the world’s largest advertising, marketing and communications services group.

Lesa is an avid champion of the industry and a keen observer of sponsorship’s broader impact on society. This includes expanding the notion of ROI to incorporate social as well as financial outcomes. For over three decades she has piloted the annual IEG Conference, which remains a must-attend event for professionals seeking to make the most of their sponsorship relationships.

Lesa is a sought-after keynote speaker and serves on various boards.