Crafting Compelling Campaigns for Canada’s Multicultural Market 

Bobby Sahni is a veteran and thought-leader in the multicultural marketing and advertising industry. Bobby was the Head of Multicultural Marketing at Rogers Communications and has been a pioneer in developing, executing and managing diversity and multicultural marketing initiatives for a number of best-in-class organizations. He is Co-Founder and Partner at Ethnicity Matters – a multicultural marketing & advertising agency dedicated to helping companies drive new growth and sales by engaging North America’s fast growing, big spending ethnic and new immigrant communities. He is also Partner in Tulsea Sports Marketing, a US-based marketing consultancy focussed on the intersection of multicultural marketing and sports & entertainment. 

Bobby has earned national and international recognition for his work and thought leadership in multicultural marketing. Bobby also loves teaching, having guest-lectured at many universities/colleges and regularly speaks at industry events and conferences across North America. Bobby has also been on a variety of advisory boards and committees including Hockey Canada, Imagine Canada, Seva Food Bank, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, Cricket to Conquer Cancer, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, Reel Asian Film Festival and Credit Valley Conservation Foundation. Bobby earned his MBA from the global Kellogg Schulich Executive MBA program with cross-cultural studies in Hong Kong, Germany, Miami, Chicago and Toronto. He also holds a Bachelor of Science & Business degree from the University of Waterloo.

Jonelle Ricketts is head of Marketing for IKEA Canada, a world-leading home furnishing retailer. For nearly 50 years, Canadians have welcomed IKEA into their homes and been strong supporters of the IKEA brand, product range, and its vision “to create a better everyday life for the many people.”

Jonelle started her IKEA journey in 2011 in Canada as a Marketing & Advertising Specialist, supporting campaign creative development and media planning across all owned and paid channels. In 2016, she was promoted to Media Manager, leading paid media planning and execution for IKEA Canada and, a couple of years later, for IKEA Netherlands. Jonelle then joined the Ingka Global Communication team in Leiden, Netherlands, where she gained valuable experience as the Global Communication Knowledge & Development Leader, focusing on developing communications teams across Ingka and leading the global Communication matrix.

Most recently, Jonelle has held the position of Global Marketing Communication/Network Leader as part of the Marketing Communications team at Inter IKEA Systems in Delft, Netherlands, where she supported the global marketing transformation project and developed a global marketing matrix for retailers outside the Ingka Group.

Jonelle also brings several years of experience in Marketing and Communications supporting other organizations such as BlackBerry and Sephora Canada. She resides in Kitchener with her husband and two of her three children. Her favourite IKEA product is the PAX closet system with KOMPLEMENT interior solutions. As someone obsessed with organization, PAX has been a game-changer for Jonelle with its versatility, flexibility, and unbeatable price.