The Path to Purchase Institute recognizes Christine Foster, Yenifer Hernandez and Alex Trott as Women of Excellence

The Path to Purchase Institute named a trio of 84.51° associates as recipients of its 2024 Women of Excellence: Christine Foster, VP, product strategy and innovation, Kroger Precision Marketing, Yen Hernandez, director of software engineering, and Alex Trott, director of insights. 

In its ninth year, the program recognizes female brand marketers, retailers, agency executives, and solution providers for their achievements in influencing the commerce marketing industry and shoppers along the path to purchase. 

Christine, Yen and Alex will be recognized at the Institute's flagship event, P2PI Live & Expo, Nov. 12-14, in Schaumburg, Illinois, during a special Women of Excellence Awards Ceremony and cocktail reception. The in-person event will take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and celebrate all these excellent women shaping the industry. 

Industry Impact Award

This award celebrates leaders who have been instrumental in influencing the advancement of an industry as a whole by actively sharing insights, engaging in first-to-market research, instituting systemic change or redefining industry standards. The honorees participate in the industry through the development/presentation of thought leadership and speaking engagements. 

Christine Foster leads media strategy and activation teams at Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) and is known for her ability to drive impactful outcomes. She is a pivotal figure in advancing sustainability practices within the digital advertising industry and has positioned KPM as a trailblazer. Christine's participation in Ad Net Zero and her leadership in KPM's collaboration with Scope3 demonstrate her commitment to tangible action. KPM is the first retail media company to commit to measuring and reducing programmatic carbon emissions, setting a benchmark for the industry. 

Christine emphasizes the critical role of media companies in addressing the carbon output of digital advertising. By advocating for energy-efficient practices, she is pushing the industry to recognize and mitigate environmental impact. Under her guidance, KPM is utilizing retail data to enhance ad efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Her work with Scope3 enables KPM to measure how retail media contributes to a more sustainable advertising ecosystem. 

Christine regularly contributes to trade publications and speaks at national industry events, sharing her expertise on retailer-publisher partnerships and strategies to lower carbon emissions in the media supply chain. Her dedication to sustainability, her role in pioneering industry change, and her commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of digital advertising exemplify her profound impact on the industry. 

Alex Trott has been a key thought leader and spokesperson for 84.51° and the industry as a whole, speaking at industry events and conferences to share the latest industry insights and trends. Alex’s first speaking engagement was in 2017 at Natural Products Expo West, where she held a supplier forum for nearly five years with 500+ attendees in the supplier community to facilitate discussion about how CPGs can successfully work with Kroger and incorporate data into their business. She has since appeared on stage many times, including at Bevnet Live, Digital Food & Beverage, industry webinars, and other insights events. 

Alex has also been featured in six publications and a podcast this year alone, including key industry publications such as Fortune, Food Navigator, Retail Leader, Grocery Dive, Food Business News, and the Food Institute Podcast. She plays a key role in delivering the latest industry insights and findings to the industry and supports the development of the content and studies. In addition to her role and industry engagement, Alex is highly involved in the community. She is a member of Cincinnati’s NextUp program, teaches a class each semester at her alma mater, Miami University Farmer School of Business, and spent 10 years mentoring third graders at a local school, supporting girls and their literacy journeys. 

Technology

This award celebrates leaders who implemented a new, different or unique technology to effectively drive business improvements. The winners initiated or promoted one or more advances in technological understanding or practice. 

Yen Hernandez is a key figure in driving excellence in retail media software delivery at Kroger Precision Marketing. She is known for building strong teams and spearheading critical DevOps initiatives, which have significantly enhanced the delivery, operation, and support of the company's media platform. Yen sets high standards and emphasizes process improvement and outcome optimization, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and learning within her team. She treats each team member as an individual, focusing on developing their skill sets, and her coaching style removes obstacles to success, ensuring everyone is equipped to excel. 

Yen has led the creation of several innovative components, including bid management, third-party API integration, and creative management capabilities. 

As a team builder and culture champion, Yen sets both team and individual goals to elevate skillsets, particularly in cloud and microservices development. She drives action plans to support upskilling, providing leadership opportunities for engineers to gain broader exposure to different domains and functions.