Esther *ET* Franklin develops and drives the strategic vision globally for Spark Foundry and its clients as Chief Strategy & Cultural Fluency Officer. With a career rooted in Chicago for more than 19+ years, E.T. is an integral leader in the city’s advertising community; she was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the Chicago Advertising Federation in 2018. In her current role, she has been instrumental in pioneering Spark’s approach to strategy. Her most recent innovation is an end-to-end product development framework called “HEAT,” which enables teams to collaborate, build robust plans and elevated solutions that can withstand disruption and serve clients to the highest standard.

E.T.’s experience and boundary-breaking viewpoints have served Spark well, enriching successful pitches for major accounts such as, Macy’s, Marriott International, Southwest Airlines, Mattel and more. Her ability to lead, guide and motivate high-level talent is the reason she sets the tone driving the largest function within Spark forward; the Media Planning/Strategy team of 400+.

By encouraging marketers to embrace an ‘inside out’ perspective, Esther ‘E.T.’ Franklin has helped iconic brands – and the advertising industry at large – understand the cultural identities and media consumption habits of local and global audiences. Drawing on extensive industry experience across a range of agencies, audiences, geographies and international markets, Esther offers a unique perspective in any situation. Through her spirit of decisive collaboration, future-focused orientation, and innately creative, curious, open-minded, strategic nature, Esther has led several successful corporate “start-up” initiatives.