Jon Suarez-Davis ’97 receives Northwestern SPS Alumni Award
Jon Suarez-Davis ’97 has been awarded the 2023 Northwestern University School of Professional Studies (SPS) Alumni Award. This award recognizes exemplary alumni who have achieved a position of significant leadership and built a robust track record of meaningful accomplishments that have positively influenced their organization and their community.
"[JSD]'s journey from SPS to the cutting edge of marketing innovation, data, and AI is a testament to the values and excellence we invoke here at Northwestern University," said Northwestern SPS Dean Thomas Gibbons.
Jon Suarez-Davis (JSD) is Chief Commercial Officer at super{set}, a startup studio that founds and builds data-driven companies, and Chief Strategy Officer at Ketch, a platform that provides data privacy and AI governance solutions. JSD also serves as a strategic advisor for several startups and software companies across the country. He previously led transformative global marketing strategies at Salesforce, Krux, and the Kellogg Company.
Among his contributions and honors, JSD serves on the MMA North America Board of Directors and Executive Committee; the American Immigration Council Board of Directors; the BRIDGE Board of Directors; and the Institute for Real Growth Advisory Board. Adweek featured him in the “Adweek 50” list in 2017.
Northwestern SPS celebrated the Alumni Award recipient during the 2023 annual SPS Symposium (Oct. 5-7). This year’s student and academic conference focused on how AI impacts a wide range of industries and fields, including healthcare, content creation, and disaster relief services.
"This university gave me the opportunity to reset my life," said JSD. He recalled a chance encounter with a Leo Burnett executive while developing his capstone course project. "I still have that [project] binder today, and I have moved that binder from Chicago to Boston, from New York to San Francisco, from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Indianapolis," he said, as a symbol and reminder for, "the power of commitment, collaboration, and gratitude."
"It's incredible how far this school has come. You should all be quite proud and stand tall about this institution that you are a part of," JSD said to the room full of SPS students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
JSD earned his Northwestern bachelor’s degree in communications through the School of Professional Studies and is a member of the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society. He was the 2018 Keynote Speaker at SPS Convocation.