Key Highlights:
- WSI recognized its 2026 award winners at Global Convention in Los Cabos, highlighting the consultants, agencies, and partners whose work reflects the strength of the global network.
- Ryan Kelly & Cynthia Mordecai were named Agency of the Year for steady leadership and their contribution to the broader WSI community.
- Peter Jasniewski received the Nick Lattanzio Lifetime Achievement Award for his long-term commitment to sharing knowledge, supporting peers, and strengthening the network.
- Alison Lindemann earned the Brand Ambassador Award for building a trusted WSI presence in her local market through consistent, high-quality client work.
- The WSI People’s Choice Award and WMA WebAwards recognized standout client solutions, website strategy, design, and execution.
- Growth Stars, Rising Stars, Mentors, Waves of Innovation recipients, and supplier award winners showed the range of support, peer learning, and client work happening across WSI.
Awards say a great deal about a professional network. At WSI, they recognize strong client work, leadership, mentorship, new ideas, and people who make the network better for other consultants.
The 2026 Global Convention in Los Cabos brought consultants, agencies, and partners from around the world together to exchange ideas, learn from client engagements, and celebrate the people behind that work.
The recipients show how the network works in practice: experienced consultants leading client engagements, peers sharing what they’ve learned, and specialist partners supporting delivery across markets. Newer consultants have people to turn to, while established members continue to contribute their knowledge and experience to the wider network.
This year’s winners offer a closer look at how those strengths show up across the WSI network.
Agency of the Year
Ryan Kelly & Cynthia Mordecai
The Agency of the Year award recognizes a WSI agency for consistent leadership, strong client relationships, and active contribution to the wider network.
Ryan Kelly and Cynthia Mordecai earned the award for the way they’ve built their agency, supported their clients, and contributed to the broader WSI community. Their work shows the discipline required to lead client engagements while continuing to share time and experience with others in the network.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Nick Lattanzio Lifetime Achievement Award
Peter Jasniewski
Named for one of WSI’s founding leaders, this award honors an individual who has given back to the network over the course of their career by sharing knowledge, supporting peers, and advancing the craft of digital marketing.
Over the course of his career with WSI, Peter Jasniewski has shared his experience generously, supported consultants around him, and contributed to higher standards of client work across the network.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Brand Ambassador Award
Alison Lindemann
The Brand Ambassador Award recognizes a WSI consultant who has earned trust in their local market while representing the brand consistently through their client work.
Alison Lindemann earned this year’s award through consistent client work and her focus on helping organizations make well-informed digital decisions.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Top Rookies
Bill Hamor & Katheryne Womack
Since joining WSI, Bill Hamor and Katheryne Womack have become active contributors within the network.
Their recognition speaks to their focus, their commitment to clients, and the way they’ve put WSI’s training, frameworks, and peer support to work early in their practices.
Watch the award spotlight video.
WSI People’s Choice Award
Voted on by the WSI Consultant community, the WSI People’s Choice Award recognizes standout digital marketing and AI strategy work tied to a specific client project.
Congratulations to our runners-up, each recognized for work delivered on behalf of their clients: Elaine Mikesell (Anderson Boback & Marshall), Claudio Patiño (Auditiva), Domenic Ali (International Business School), Luis Rodriguez (Costa Rica DMC), Mark Jamieson (Power Surge), and Carlos Guzman (Seguridata).
This year’s winners are Eric Cook (Forward Bank), Ryan Kelly & Cynthia Mordecai (Holly Construction), and Peter Jasniewski & Mike Gualtieri (Carrocel Interiors).
Watch the award spotlight video.
Growth Stars
The Growth Stars award recognizes consultants who deepened their client work, contributed actively to the network, and continued developing their consulting capabilities during the year.
This year’s Growth Stars are Neal Lappe, Nancy Vinkler, Chris Murray & Laurie McCullagh, Kalpana Murthy, Daniel Depaz, Laura Munsch, Balint & Balazs Erenyi, Kevin Dean, Matthew Doyle, Eric Cook, Mark Jamieson, Larry Barnaby, Gerardo Kerik, and Todd McCarty.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Rising Stars
The Rising Star award recognizes newer WSI consultants who are actively applying the network’s training, frameworks, and peer support to their client work.
This year’s Rising Stars are Barry Rosen, Luciana Salanitri, Scott Leith, and David Kadish.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Mentor Award
The Mentor Award recognizes WSI consultants who invest their time and experience in helping other network members through WSI’s Buddy System.
Through the program, newer consultants can discuss live client situations with peers who understand the work firsthand. The exchange is practical: how to frame a conversation, apply a WSI process, involve a delivery partner, or learn from an engagement that didn’t go as planned.
This year’s mentors are Aaron Braunstein, Alison Lindemann, Andreas Mueller-Schubert, Andrew Widall, Barry Rosen, Carlos Guzman, Cynthia Mordecai, Denise Bowen, Domenic Ali, Eric Cook, Gerardo Kerik, Gunnar Hood, Heidi Schwende, Hubert Hopkins, Jukka Jumisko, Kalpana Murthy, Kristine McMahon, Larry Barnaby, Lisa Kilrea, Mark Jamieson, Mike Gualtieri, Neal Lappe, Nicole King, Ryan Kelly, and Todd McCarty.
Watch the award spotlight video.
20th Anniversary Honorees
This year, WSI recognized five network members who have each reached 20 years with the organization.
Staying relevant across two decades of digital change requires continued learning, adaptability, and a willingness to contribute to others.
Congratulations to Jason Gervais & Denise Bowen, Hubert Hopkins, Aaron Braunstein, Joe Politano, and Ralf Klenke.
Watch the award spotlight video.
WMA WebAwards
The Web Marketing Association’s WebAward Competition recognizes website work across strategy, design, and execution.
This year’s WSI WebAward recipients are Jason Gervais & Denise Bowen (Coivic Contracting for Best Design Website), Claudio Patiño & Orazio Parodi (Decopot for Best Shopping Website), Peter Jasniewski, Mike Gualtieri & Heidi Schwende (Del Mar Vacation Rentals for Best Leisure Website and Linton Window & Door for Best Consumer Goods Website), Andreas & Georgia Mueller-Schubert (Visit Calistoga for Best Regional Website and Davero Farms & Winery for Beverage Standard of Excellence), Eric Cook (ChoiceOne Bank for Outstanding Website and Springs Valley Bank & Trust Company for Financial Services Standard of Excellence), Mark Jamieson (OC Flooring for Outstanding Website), Larry Barnaby (Harvest Preparatory Academy for Education Standard of Excellence), Tali Hasanov (OVOLIFE for Healthcare Provider Standard of Excellence), and Ruben Villalon Segador (Villa Viatges for Travel Standard of Excellence).
Watch the award spotlight video.
Waves of Innovation Award
The Waves of Innovation Award recognizes consultants who are applying AI, improving systems, or introducing new delivery approaches in their client work.
Their work shows how consultants across the network are testing new ideas, sharing practical lessons, and adapting their approach as client needs change.
This year’s recipients are Domenic Ali, Eric Cook, Gerardo Kerik, Gunnar Hood, Hande Ocak Basev, Jorge Contreras, and Mike Gualtieri.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Supplier Impact Award
ALM CORP
WSI consultants can draw on vetted partners for specialist tools, platforms, and delivery expertise when client work requires additional capabilities.
The Supplier Impact Award recognizes a partner whose education, insight, and hands-on support made a valuable contribution to consultants’ client work during the year. In 2026, that recognition goes to ALM CORP.
Watch the award spotlight video.
Supplier Excellence Award
The Supplier Excellence Award recognizes WSI partners that received consistently strong service ratings and recommendation scores from the consultants and agencies working with them.
This year, five partners earned the recognition: accessiBe, CallRail, Delesign, Storytelling, and Unibit.
Watch the award spotlight video.
The Network Behind the Recognition
These awards recognize sound judgment, continued learning, business discipline, generosity with peers, and the ability to adapt as digital marketing and AI continue to change.
The 2026 recipients include established agency leaders, newer consultants, mentors, specialists, and long-standing members of the network. Some are being recognized for work in their local markets. Others have contributed knowledge, support, or new ideas that colleagues can apply in their own client work.
WSI consultants lead their own practices, but they don’t have to solve every client or business challenge alone. They can turn to colleagues who’ve faced similar situations, work with specialist partners when added capabilities are needed, and learn from work happening across markets.
For experienced professionals, the network provides a place to apply what they already know while continuing to build capability in digital and AI consulting.
Explore how WSI’s consulting model, global network, and support structure help experienced professionals make the transition into digital and AI consulting.
