Top EB Voices 2027: the Top 50 Employer Brand Leaders in the World

Top EB Voices 2027 Global is Happydance’s list of the Top 50 employer brand leaders around the world: 49 ranked, plus Hall of Fame inductee Gerry Crispin at #50. Each person is scored out of 100 on five pillars, experience, achievements, influence, thought leadership and community, using public, linkable evidence rather than votes, follower counts or payment. Bryan Chaney ranks first with 85 out of 100, followed by Kevin W. Grossman (82) and Bryan Adams (81).

• Key takeaways
• Take your badge
• Leaderboard
• The Top 50
• Hall of Fame
• By the numbers
• How we ranked
• What great employer branding looks like
• FAQ
• Corrections and removal
• Other lists

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Top EB Voices 2027 Global leaderboard at a glance

Every ranked leader on one table. Select a name to jump to their full entry. Where scores tie, people are listed alphabetically by first name.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices 2027 scoring data, checked 29 September to 2 October 2026 and updated 24 October 2026. Scores are out of 100.

The Top 50 employer brand leaders around the world

Each entry shows the leader’s share card, score on each pillar out of 5, a short reason for their place and the public evidence behind it.

• 

  #1 Bryan Chaney, Co-founder, People Brand Collective

  85 / 100United StatesAll StarCommunity BuilderCreator

  Bryan Chaney helped turn employer branding into a practitioner profession: he co-founded the Talent Brand Alliance from a Facebook group and in 2026 co-founded its successor association, People Brand Collective.

  • Led employer brand, culture and communications at IBM, Twilio, Indeed, Workrise and Crunchyroll over 20+ years
  • ERE contributor: six articles 2014-2016 on employer brand measurement and talent attraction
  • Talent Brand Alliance founding member Jan 2014 to Sep 2023; approx. 243K LinkedIn followers

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 5Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 5Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: recruitingdaily.com · Evidence: gohire.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #2 Kevin W. Grossman, VP of Benchmark Research, Survale

  82 / 100United StatesCommunity BuilderPublished AuthorResearch PioneerMain Stage Speaker

  Kevin has run the most-used candidate experience benchmark in the industry for years. If you want evidence rather than opinion about how candidates are treated, it usually traces back to his research.

  • Led Talent Board and the Candidate Experience Awards worldwide
  • Co-authored Candidate Experience
  • Author, Tech Job Hunt Handbook

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 5Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: ere.net · Evidence: pro.eremedia.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #3 Bryan Adams, CEO and Founder, author, speaker and consultant, Happydance

  81 / 100United KingdomPublished AuthorAward WinnerMain Stage Speaker

  Bryan Adams, CEO and founder of Happydance, wrote three books including Sell The Truth, has two HBR articles and gave a TEDx talk with 1.4M+ views. He also writes for Forbes, Inc. and Entrepreneur, and spent 20 years leading agency employer brand work for brands such as Apple, Nike and American Airlines. Disclosure: Bryan founded Happydance and is scored on the same rubric as everyone else.

  • Author of Sell The Truth and Give & Get Employer Branding
  • Two Harvard Business Review articles, including one on making your employer brand stand out in the talent marketplace (2022)
  • TEDx talk with 1.4M+ views

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 5Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: hbr.org · Evidence: recruitingdaily.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #4 Allison Kruse, Senior Director, People Brand & Talent Attraction, Marriott International

  80 / 100United StatesBrand Builder EliteCommunity Builder

  Allison Kruse runs one of the largest people brands in hospitality, after building an award-winning global employer brand at Baxter, and co-founded the profession's newest association.

  • Senior Director, People Brand & Talent Attraction at Marriott International, leading the "Be" people brand and a growing team
  • Talent Brand Alliance board member and Master of Ceremonies at the Talent Brand Summit, Nashville, Sep 2023
  • Co-founder of People Brand Collective, launched 31 Mar 2026

  • 4Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: cxr.works · Link to this entry

• 

  #5 Lars Schmidt, Talent Acquisition Leader, Anthropic

  78 / 100United StatesPublished AuthorMain Stage SpeakerCommunity Builder

  Lars Schmidt co-wrote Employer Branding For Dummies, co-founded HR Open Source and is a long-running Talent Connect speaker; in 2026 he joined Anthropic to lead GTM recruiting.

  • Co-author, Employer Branding For Dummies
  • Author, Redefining HR
  • Co-founded HR Open Source; 2,800 members and two dozen case studies

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: wiley.com · Evidence: koganpage.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #6 Richard Mosley, Managing partner, C-YourCulture

  77 / 100United KingdomPublished AuthorMain Stage Speaker

  Richard helped write the discipline down in the first place, co-authoring the first book on employer branding, and in 2026 he is still moving it forward, on how AI reads employer brands.

  • Co-authored The Employer Brand, described by the publisher as the first book published on the subject
  • Author of Employer Brand Management: Practical Lessons from the World's Leading Employers

  • 5Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 5Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: wiley-vch.de · Evidence: werf-en.nl · Link to this entry

• 

  #7 Carrie Corbin, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Hope Leigh Marketing Group

  76 / 100United StatesAward Winner

  Carrie Corbin built one of the first large in-house employer brand teams at AT&T, then led employer brand at American Airlines and Dell.

  • Co-founder and Managing Partner, Hope Leigh Marketing Group, a talent attraction consultancy
  • Global Head of Employer Brand for Dell
  • Inaugural Glassdoor Talent Warrior, 2013, as Talent Attraction Associate Director at AT&T

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: dfwtrn.org · Evidence: businesspress24.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #8 Susan LaMotte, VP, Employer Brand, Shaker Recruitment Marketing

  72 / 100United StatesPublished Author

  Susan LaMotte built the employer brand consultancy exaqueo, sold it to Shaker in 2025, and since then has led Shaker's employer brand practice.

  • VP, Employer Brand, on the Shaker Recruitment Marketing leadership team
  • Founded exaqueo in 2011; acquired by Shaker Recruitment Marketing in Sep 2025
  • On stage at TATech 2026 as VP of Employer Brand Strategy

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: shaker.com · Evidence: forbesjapan.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #9 Filip Lievens, Lee Kong Chian Professor of Human Resources, Singapore Management University

  71 / 100SingaporeResearch PioneerAward Winner

  Filip Lievens gave employer branding its best-known research lens, the instrumental-symbolic framework, and the measures practitioners and researchers still use.

  • Lee Kong Chian Professor of Human Resources, Singapore Management University, since 2018; previously Full Professor at Ghent University
  • Introduced the instrumental-symbolic framework to recruitment and employer image
  • Developed, with Scott Highhouse, two measures "used a lot in the recruitment and employer branding domain" and shares them free

  • 5Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 0Influence
  • 5Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: faculty.smu.edu.sg · Evidence: filiplievens.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #10 Chris Hoyt, President and co-owner, CareerXroads

  70 / 100United StatesCommunity BuilderAward WinnerHall of Fame candidate

  Chris keeps one of the oldest rooms in talent acquisition full and honest: he runs the CareerXroads community, hosts its podcast and turns member panels into research the rest of the field can use.

  • President and co-owner of CareerXroads; the CXR community has brought TA leaders together for 30 years
  • Host of the CXR Recruiting Community podcast, 170 episodes
  • Host of the USA TODAY Top Workplaces National Award Summit podcast

  • 3Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: unleash.ai · Evidence: podcasts.apple.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #11 Craig Fisher, Founder and CEO, TalentNet Media

  69 / 100United StatesPublished AuthorCommunity Builder

  Craig Fisher has convened Texas recruiting and employer brand people at TalentNet Live since 2009 and wrote Hiring Humans.

  • Founder and CEO, TalentNet Media and the TalentNet Live conference series; author of Hiring Humans and Paint Your Store
  • TalentNet Live Dallas 2014 was "our 7th Dallas event"
  • TalentNet Live Dallas 2026, 6 Nov 2026 at Caliber HQ; "since 2009"

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: talentnetlive.com · Evidence: dallas2014.talentnetlive.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #12 Lori Sylvia, Founder & CEO, Rally Recruitment Marketing

  69 / 100United StatesCommunity Builder

  Lori Sylvia founded Rally, the largest US recruitment marketing community, and has run the Rally Awards since 2020.

  • Founder & CEO, Rally Recruitment Marketing; "helping 50,000 HR, Recruiting and Marketing professionals"
  • Rally Awards 2022: international winner
  • Organised and hosted the 2026 Rally Awards ceremony with judges

  • 4Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 5Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rallyfwd.com · Evidence: rallyawards.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #13 Brett Minchington, Head of College, Employer Branding College

  68 / 100AustraliaPublished Author

  Brett Minchington has written more books on employer branding than anyone we found and has taught the discipline across dozens of countries.

  • ERE contributor: six articles; bio cites employer branding events and training in 50+ cities
  • Lectured in the University of Adelaide MBA on employer branding; former Chair of the HRM Advisory Committee, University of South Australia
  • Author, Your Employer Brand: Attract, Engage, Retain

  • 4Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: employerbrandingcollege.com · Evidence: employerbrandinternational.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #14 Jamie Leonard, Founder and CEO, The Recruitment Events Co.

  67 / 100United KingdomCommunity Builder

  Jamie Leonard built RecFest from a 100-person room in 2014 into a festival-scale talent acquisition and employer brand gathering in the UK and USA, giving the field one of its biggest places to meet.

  • RecFest 2022 at Knebworth House: about 4,000 attendees, 10 themed stages and 100+ speakers
  • RecFest runs annually in the UK and the USA
  • Founder and CEO, The Recruitment Events Co.; also runs the RL100 senior TA leaders community

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 5Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: podparley.com · Evidence: danassor.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #15 Katrina (Kat) Kibben, Founder and CEO, Three Ears Media

  67 / 100United StatesCreator

  Kat has spent years on the least glamorous and most read piece of employer brand: the job post. Her advice is specific, tested and given away freely.

  • Founded Three Ears Media, recruiting training and job-post writing
  • Author of two books, This Was All An Accident and The Bounce Back Factor

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 4Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: threeearsmedia.com · Evidence: threeearsmedia.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #16 Carolina Borracchia, CEO, Combo Employer Branding

  66 / 100ArgentinaPublished Author

  Carolina Borracchia built Latin America's best-known employer branding consultancy and wrote the region's first shelf of books on the subject.

  • CEO of Combo Employer Branding, with Combo Academy, Consulting and Agency units; university lecturer and author of three books by Feb 2017
  • Launched her fourth book on employer branding, on companies' comfort zones
  • approx. 60K LinkedIn followers; headline in 2026 lists Forbes Paraguay

  • 3Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 4Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: equiposytalento.com · Evidence: iprofesional.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #17 Charlotte Jones, Recruitment Marketing Leader, USAA

  64 / 100United StatesBrand Builder Elite

  Charlotte Jones led employer branding at Lockheed Martin and Stanley Black & Decker and since 2025 has led recruitment marketing at USAA.

  • Recruitment Marketing Leader at Lockheed Martin, leading employment branding, digital campaigns and talent communities
  • Rally Recruitment Marketing Awards 2021: 2nd place, Best Employer Brand Launch, for leading Lockheed Martin's EVP launch
  • Director of Global Employer Brand, Stanley Black & Decker, after ten years at Lockheed Martin

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rallyfwd.com · Evidence: theundercoverrecruiter.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #18 Jonna Sjövall, Global Head of Junior Talent and Talent Attraction, UBS

  64 / 100SwitzerlandBrand Builder Elite

  Jonna Sjövall leads UBS's global talent attraction and employer brand, and was Rally's Recruitment Marketer of the Year in 2022.

  • Global Head of Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing at UBS from 2019, leading a global team, after 12 years agency side
  • Rally Awards 2022 Recruitment Marketer of the Year
  • UBS won first place for Best Use of Paid Social Media with "Make a change, consulting but different!"

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rallyfwd.com · Evidence: rallyawards.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #19 Kerry Noone, Global Head of Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing, Ford Motor Company

  64 / 100United StatesBrand Builder EliteAward Winner

  Kerry Noone was one of the first US recruitment marketers inside a TA team and since 2025 has led Ford's global employer brand, which swept the 2026 Rally Awards.

  • Relaunched the Ford careers website in March 2026, 312 days after joining
  • Ford won three first places at the 2026 Rally Awards plus a second and a third
  • 2021 Rally Recruitment Marketer of the Year, as Director of Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing at CVS Health

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: theorg.com · Evidence: rallyawards.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #20 Kristína Cichý Kováčiková, Co-founder, SUNDAYFLIES

  63 / 100SlovakiaPublished Author

  Kristína and her sister wrote the practical playbook on turning employees into credible voices on LinkedIn, and they have been training companies to do it for over a decade. It is the unglamorous side of employer brand that actually moves reach.

  • Co-authored The Magic of Employee Influence

  • 4Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: talentedladiesclub.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #21 Ted Meulenkamp, Director, Global Employer Brand & Attraction, Mondelēz International

  62 / 100SpainBrand Builder Elite

  Ted Meulenkamp leads Mondelēz International's global employer brand and attraction, after leading employer branding at Roche from 2010.

  • Global Employer Brand Lead at Mondelēz International: refreshed global EVP and "Make It" creative platform with Universum

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: universumglobal.com · Evidence: zigzaghr.be · Link to this entry

• 

  #22 Lucinda Thomas, Head of Talent, APAC, Bunzl

  61 / 100AustraliaAward Winner

  Lucinda Thomas is Head of Talent, APAC at Bunzl, which she joined in 2026. At National Grid she built the award-winning Superpowered employer brand.

  • Joined Bunzl as Head of Talent, APAC in 2026
  • At National Grid: winner, British Recruitment Awards 2024, Talent Acquisition Strategy of the Year
  • At National Grid: Rally Awards 2026 first place, Best Careers Site
  • Advisory Board, Global Employer Brand Exchange 2026

  • 3Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: newpossible.io · Evidence: globalebexchange.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #23 Alex Her, Head of Global Employer Brand, GoDaddy

  60 / 100United States

  Alex Her runs GoDaddy's employer brand in 47 countries and founded the CommonThread community.

  • 3Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: ragan.com · Evidence: recruitingfuture.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #24 Caroline Winder, Managing Partner, Havas People

  60 / 100United KingdomAward Winner

  Caroline Winder is a Managing Partner at Havas People, RAD Work of the Year winner in 2024 and 2025, and speaks at the main EB conferences.

  • Selected for the RAD Awards 2027 judging panel
  • Presented AXA's employer brand transformation with Sian Dutton at EBM Live 2024
  • Havas People won RAD Work of the Year 2025 and Video Campaign

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: 106comms.com · Evidence: radawards.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #25 Jaime Puig Diaz, Founder, HR Lovers

  60 / 100Spain

  Jaime Puig founded HR Lovers, one of the best-known HR communities in Spain, and wrote El Manual del Employer Branding.

  • Published "El Manual del Employer Branding", a practical guide with 20 tools and templates

  • 2Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 5Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rrhhdigital.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #26 Simon Barrow, Founder, Simon Barrow Associates

  60 / 100United Kingdom

  Simon Barrow is credited with coining the term employer brand, co-wrote the first paper on it with Tim Ambler (1996) and co-wrote the first book on the subject (2005).

  • Acknowledged by Personnel Today as the creator of the term employer brand, as early as Oct 1990
  • Co-authored The Employer Brand: Bringing the Best of Brand Management to People at Work, cited in Wikipedia
  • Profiled by Transform magazine as the man who first developed employer brand management concepts

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 0Influence
  • 5Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: personneltoday.com · Evidence: en.wikipedia.org · Link to this entry

• 

  #27 Tom Chesterton, Chief Executive and Co-Founder, Tonic

  60 / 100United KingdomAward Winner

  Tom Chesterton co-founded and runs Tonic, the agency behind two Employer Brand Management Awards Grand Prix wins (2023, 2026) and RAD winners in 2025 and 2026, and he chairs the RAD Awards judges for 2027.

  • Co-founded Tonic, an employer brand and EVP agency, in June 2012 and is its Chief Executive
  • Chair of Judges, The RAD Awards 2027
  • Tonic won the RAD Awards 2025 Integrated Campaign for easyJet

  • 4Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: blog.tonic-agency.com · Evidence: radawards.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #28 Ed Nathanson, Head of Global Talent Brand and PPL Brand, Synopsys

  59 / 100United States

  Ed Nathanson leads Synopsys's global talent brand and has keynoted LinkedIn Talent Connect.

  • Founder of Red Pill Talent; SocialTalent employer branding expert with 6 learning paths

  • 4Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: linkedintalentconnect.com · Evidence: socialtalent.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #29 Kristin Backhaus, Professor of Management, SUNY New Paltz

  59 / 100United StatesResearch Pioneer

  Kristin Backhaus co-wrote the academic definition of employer branding that most researchers still start from.

  • Co-authored "Conceptualizing and researching employer branding" with Surinder Tikoo: 995 indexed citations
  • 19 papers with 1.9k indexed citations; top 0.5% in Organizational Behavior and HRM
  • Published "Employer Branding Revisited", Organization Management Journal 13, Dec 2016: 118 CrossRef citations, 5,696 views

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: researchconnect.suny.edu · Evidence: rankless.org · Link to this entry

• 

  #30 Arin Goldsmith, Employer Brand Lead, Blizzard Entertainment

  57 / 100United States

  Arin Goldsmith leads employer brand at Blizzard and is the top-ranked US employer-branding creator on Favikon.

  • #1, Favikon Top 200 Creators, Employer Branding Professionals, United States
  • BlizzCon 2026: Forging the Future of Game Development
  • Two years at Blizzard Entertainment

  • 2Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 5Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: app.favikon.com · Evidence: news.blizzard.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #31 Bjorn Luijters, Global Head of Total Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding, Ahold Delhaize

  57 / 100Netherlands

  Bjorn Luijters leads global talent acquisition and employer branding at Ahold Delhaize, across 17 brands and about 400,000 colleagues.

  • Co-founder of The Employer Branding Network - The Netherlands, grown to more than 100 member companies

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: hrmorgen.nl · Evidence: artra.nl · Link to this entry

• 

  #32 Caio Infante, Co-founder, Employer Branding Brasil

  57 / 100Brazil

  Caio Infante co-founded Employer Branding Brasil, which runs the yearly Premio EBB awards, and gives employer branding talks internationally.

  • 3Experience
  • 2Achievements
  • 4Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: correiodopovo.com.br · Evidence: employerbranding.com.br · Link to this entry

• 

  #33 Camille Phillips, Senior Director, Global Talent Attraction, AIG

  57 / 100United StatesBrand Builder Elite

  Camille Phillips led Meta's global employer brand and since 2026 has been building AIG's.

  • Talent Brand Alliance board member; co-led the Foundations Workshop at Talent Brand Summit, Chicago, Oct 2022

  • 3Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: everyonesocial.com · Evidence: podchaser.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #34 Marta Riggins, Strategic Consultant, Employer Brand & Employee Engagement

  57 / 100United States

  Marta Riggins is an employer brand consultant and founding board member of the People Brand Collective.

  • Board member, People Brand Collective

  • 4Experience
  • 2Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 4Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: web.archive.org · Evidence: sessionize.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #35 Matthew Gilbert, Founding partner, WorkingTheory Partners

  57 / 100United States

  Matthew has spent two decades building employer brands for household names and built one of the industry's best-known agency EB practices; his Talent 100 recognition in 2026 reflects that craft.

  • Talent 100 honoree, Class of 2026
  • Co-founded WorkingTheory Partners with Devin DaRif

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 1Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: noon.ai · Evidence: workingtheorypartners.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #36 Rachel Duran, Senior Employment Marketing Manager, Rosendin

  56 / 100United States

  Rachel Duran led global employer brand and recruitment marketing at HPE and in 2026 leads employment marketing at Rosendin.

  • Senior Employment Marketing Manager at Rosendin in 2026; at HPE led an integrated in-house, agency and RPO team to activate the EVP
  • Nearly 15 years across ad agencies, RPOs and major tech companies

  • 4Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: cxr.works · Evidence: talentacquisitionweek.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #37 Farrah Ekeroth, Americas Employer Brand Leader, EY

  55 / 100United States

  Farrah Ekeroth led EY's UK and EMEIA employer brand teams before moving to the US in 2022 to lead its Americas employer brand. She spoke at Talent Acquisition Week in 2023.

  • 4Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 3Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: talentbrand.org · Evidence: genheration.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #38 Andranik Tumasjan, Professor and head of Management and Digital Transformation, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

  54 / 100GermanyResearch PioneerAward Winner

  Andranik Tumasjan showed that employer branding pays off in firm performance, and has studied the employer image large companies project online.

  • Professor and head of the Management and Digital Transformation group, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
  • Co-author of the 2018 IJMR employer branding review
  • 2021 Human Resource Management paper measuring projected employer image on Fortune 500 careers website

  • 4Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 1Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: mdt.bwl.uni-mainz.de · Evidence: mdt.bwl.uni-mainz.de · Link to this entry

• 

  #39 Jocelyn S. Lai, Global Head of Talent Brand, Duolingo

  54 / 100United States

  Jocelyn Lai built Duolingo's recruiting team through its IPO, then founded its talent brand function, run like a marketing org.

  • As Global Head of Talent Acquisition, grew Duolingo from about 100 to just over 500 employees in three years
  • Building Duolingo's talent brand from the ground up, reporting into Marketing with a lean team

  • 3Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 1Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: noon.ai · Evidence: businessinsider.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #40 Robin Dagostino, Employer Branding & Marketing Senior Director, Boston Consulting Group

  54 / 100United States

  Robin Dagostino led global employer brand at SAP and in 2026 leads it at BCG.

  • Judge, 2024 Rally Awards

  • 3Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rallyfwd.com · Evidence: rallyrecruitmentmarketing.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #41 Greet Van Hoye, Professor, Ghent University

  53 / 100BelgiumResearch Pioneer

  Greet Van Hoye built the evidence base on word-of-mouth and employee referrals that underpins employee advocacy in employer branding.

  • Van Hoye and Lievens, Journal of Applied Psychology, on word-of-mouth as a recruitment source
  • Leads the Ghent University employer branding research domain and teaches the Werving and Employer Branding course
  • Still publishing on employer brand in 2026: "What draws potential applicants towards an organization?

  • 5Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 0Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 1Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: research.ugent.be · Evidence: biblio.ugent.be · Link to this entry

• 

  #42 Helen Durkin, Head of Recruitment Marketing, EMEA, Microsoft

  53 / 100United Kingdom

  Helen Durkin leads recruitment marketing for Microsoft across EMEA.

  • Speaker, Transform Employer Brand Management conference 2016, as employer brand manager

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: podcast.videomyjob.com · Evidence: transformmagazine.net · Link to this entry

• 

  #43 Münteha Mangan, Employer Branding and Employee Experience Lead, Aselsan

  53 / 100Türkiye

  Münteha Mangan leads employer branding at Aselsan after leading it at Turkish Aerospace, and judged the Rally Awards in 2023.

  • Judge, Rally Awards 2023, as Chief of Employer Branding, Turkish Aerospace
  • Aselsan named Best Employer Branding Team at the Hammers Awards for the third time
  • Aselsan company post on her role

  • 5Experience
  • 2Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: prweb.com · Evidence: rallyrecruitmentmarketing.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #44 Shannon Smedstad, Global Director, Employer Brand & Recruitment Marketing, Fresenius Medical Care

  52 / 100United States

  Shannon Smedstad built GEICO's first employer brand and led EB consulting at exaqueo.

  • Glassdoor Talent Warrior 2013
  • Built GEICO's first employer brand; consulting from 2016 at exaqueo

  • 4Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: businesspress24.com · Evidence: manatal.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #45 Chrissy Thornhill, Head of Global Employer Brand and Recruitment Marketing, MetLife

  51 / 100United StatesBrand Builder Elite

  Chrissy runs global employer brand at MetLife and turned its tech hiring from one-off campaigns into an always-on programme that won Brandon Hall Gold in 2026. That is the shift most in-house teams are trying to make.

  • Brandon Hall Gold for MetLife's technology talent attraction programme
  • Glassdoor Talent Warrior 2015, one of 10 winners from 500+ nominations

  • 4Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 0Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: themartec.com · Evidence: ragan.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #46 Mark Horley, Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder, Tonic

  50 / 100United KingdomAward Winner

  Mark Horley co-founded Tonic and leads its creative work, which won the EBMA Grand Prix in 2023 and 2026.

  • Tonic won the EBMA Grand Prix 2023 and Golds
  • Tonic won EBMA Golds 2024 and 2025
  • Tonic won the EBMA Grand Prix 2026 and Golds

  • 3Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 0Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: communicatemagazine.com · Evidence: communicatemagazine.com · Link to this entry

• 

  #47 Rian Finnegan, Employer Brand Lead, Neko Health

  50 / 100United States

  Rian Finnegan has led employer brand at Snap and H&M Group and since Jul 2026 leads employer brand at Neko Health from New York.

  • Led the global employer branding team at H&M Group: the role owned global EB and EVP strategy
  • Judge, Rally Awards
  • RallyFwd speaker as Manager, Employer Brand and University Programs, Squarespace

  • 2Experience
  • 4Achievements
  • 2Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: alumni.northeastern.edu · Evidence: rallyawards.com · Link to this entry

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  #48 Richard Gordon, Global Employer Branding and Sourcing Manager, HiBob

  50 / 100United Kingdom

  Richard Gordon has led employer brand at Entain and King and in 2026 leads global employer branding at HiBob.

  • Advisory Board member, Global Employer Brand Exchange, a new not-for-profit EB community event

  • 5Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 2Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: wearewiser.com · Evidence: kickarseemployerbrands.buzzsprout.com · Link to this entry

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  #49 Ally Brown, Employer Brand Manager, VCA Animal Hospitals

  49 / 100United States

  Ally shows what one employer brand practitioner can build at scale: a ground-up employer brand for 1,000+ veterinary hospitals, powered by employee co-created content.

  • 3Experience
  • 3Achievements
  • 1Influence
  • 3Thought leadership
  • 2Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: rallyfwd.com · Link to this entry

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame recognises people with more than 20 years in the field whose work helped shape it. Gerry Crispin is a Hall of Fame inductee and closes the Global Top 50 at #50. His score is shown for transparency, and Hall of Fame inductees sit at the end of the list so they sit alongside current practitioners, not against them.

• 

  #50 Gerry Crispin, Principal and Co-founder, CareerXroads (Hall of Fame)

  87 / 100United StatesAll StarCommunity BuilderHall of FameMain Stage Speaker

  Gerry has been making hiring better for longer than most of us have worked. The Candidate Experience Awards and the CareerXroads community exist because he built them, and employer brand is better for both.

  • Founded CareerXroads in 1996; by 2026 a member community of TA leaders from 100+ employers
  • Co-founded Talent Board and the Candidate Experience Awards
  • Appointed to SHRM's Workforce Staffing and Deployment Expert Panel

  • 5Experience
  • 5Achievements
  • 3Influence
  • 4Thought leadership
  • 5Community

  LinkedIn profile · Evidence: ai4talent.com · Evidence: onrec.com · Link to this entry

The Global list by the numbers

The leaders come from 13 countries, with the most in United States (27), United Kingdom (9), Australia (2), Spain (2). Here is how the scores spread and where the leaders are based.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices 2027 scoring data. Counts cover the 49 ranked leaders and leave out the Hall of Fame inductee.

Showing up to 12 countries, by number of leaders.

Region is where the person is based. The regional lists, which go deeper, are linked at the end of this page.

How we ranked the Top EB Voices

Anyone whose work is mainly about employer brand, talent brand, EVP or recruitment marketing is eligible. Each person is scored from 0 to 5 on five pillars, weighted into a total out of 100, and every score has to be backed by a public, dated source. The Global list has a threshold of 50. Regional lists are sized by their pool. Customer status and paid placement never change a score.

Source: Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9.

Happydance is a careers website platform built by employer branders. Our founder, Bryan Adams, is on the list because he scored on the same rubric as everyone else, and his entry says so. We also run the Employer Brand Atlas expert directory, which we used only as a starting pool, never as evidence. The full method is on the how we rank the Top EB Voices page.

What great employer branding looks like in 2027

Look across the leaders on this list and a few habits repeat. They say what working somewhere is really like, which is the idea behind transparency in employer branding. They treat the careers website as the front door of the employer brand, so what makes a good careers website matters as much as the campaign that sends people there. They measure what the brand does, as in the employer brand benchmark report. And they make the work easy for people and for AI search to find and quote, the thread running through our guide to GEO and AEO for careers websites.

Learning the craft yourself? The Happydance Academy teaches the employer brand strategy course and the storytelling course used by many of the people on these lists, and it is open to anyone.

Top EB Voices 2027 Global: frequently asked questions

Explore more Top EB Voices lists

Sources

• Happydance Top EB Voices 2027 scoring data (Global), checked 29 September to 2 October 2026 and updated 24 October 2026.
• Happydance Top EB Voices methodology, version 0.9: https://www.happydance.love/insights/posts/how-we-rank-employer-brand-leaders/
• Each leader’s own LinkedIn profile and evidence links are on their entry above.