Each year, the TPBO expert community nominates individuals whose work is advancing the field of place branding in meaningful ways. The 2026 cohort brings together twelve practitioners, policymakers and researchers from across the globe, united by a shared commitment to moving the field forward.
They now join the TPBO Who’s Who in Place Branding, a peer-recognised network of over 500 professionals at the intersection of place, strategy and leadership.
Abdoulie Jobe
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, The Gambia
Abdoulie Jobe is building national positioning from the ground up, introducing a new brand identity alongside a collaborative destination marketing framework and a broader investment promotion strategy. Named World’s Best Minister 2026 by the World Government Summit in Dubai, his leadership reflects a shift toward coherence across tourism, culture and economic development.
Andres Kask
Director of International Business Development and Marketing, City of Tallinn
Andres Kask is leading Tallinn’s transition from brand refresh to system-level repositioning, aligning how the city presents itself across tourism, investment, talent attraction and international cooperation. His approach treats brand as a coordinating mechanism across policy, economy and engagement rather than a communications exercise.
Guido van Garderen
Senior Marketing Lecturer, LSE, and Brand Strategy Consultant
Guido van Garderen brings corporate brand architecture thinking to place branding, challenging the field to move beyond narrative toward structure, positioning and long-term value creation. By bridging academic teaching and consulting practice, he is contributing to a more rigorous, performance-oriented approach to place brand management.
Jacquelyn West
Cultural Industries Strategist and Editor, Let’s Talk About Placemaking
Jacquelyn West has helped build a practitioner-led knowledge platform that elevates discussions around culture, equity and local agency. Her editorial work reinforces placemaking as a strategic discipline, shaping how practitioners and policymakers understand place development.
Klara Enbom Burreau
Brand Manager, Kiruna Municipality, Sweden
Klara Enbom Burreau is shaping how one of the most significant urban transformations in recent memory is understood and communicated. As Kiruna relocates due to mining-related ground instability, her work frames the process not as loss but as continuity, integrating heritage, Sámi culture and climate realities into a coherent narrative.
Kobby Mensah
CEO, Ghana Tourism Development Company
Kobby Mensah represents a convergence of academic insight and applied leadership in destination development. His move into leading GTDC signals a broader shift in Ghana’s approach, positioning tourism as part of an integrated system connecting investment, innovation and experience design.
Manou Nonnekes
Place Branding Strategist, NL Branding
Manou Nonnekes contributes to how the Netherlands positions itself through collaboration rather than campaign-led communication. Her work focuses on building shared narratives and long-term credibility across stakeholders, treating national identity as an evolving system shaped by culture and societal values.
Monica Ray
President and Social Entrepreneur, Congress Heights, Washington DC
Monica Ray exemplifies place leadership built on long-term community commitment. Working in Congress Heights, she has transformed decades of organising experience into initiatives that demonstrate how under-invested communities can shape development on their own terms, securing civic recognition and supporting over 1,000 Black women entrepreneurs through the BlackBone Project.
Nabeela Farida Tunis
Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Sierra Leone
Nabeela Farida Tunis is advancing a structured approach to national reputation through sequenced policy development, progressing from ecotourism and domestic tourism awareness to a stronger focus on culture as a strategic pillar. Her work positions Sierra Leone within a broader shift toward more integrated models of soft power.
Therasa Garrod
Director, thinkingplace, United Kingdom
Therasa Garrod has demonstrated how place branding can operate as a tool for regeneration rather than image-making. In Bolsover, a former coal-mining area, she helped develop a brand rooted in participation, narrative and long-term confidence-building, reframing industrial heritage as a foundation for renewal.
Víctor Palma
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Brand Chile
Víctor Palma represents a long-term approach to place branding grounded in consistency and institutional alignment. Through initiatives such as Made by Chileans, he has focused on embedding brand thinking as a shared national capability, connecting a national narrative with regional execution.
Viriya Taecharungroj
Associate Professor, Mahidol University, Thailand
Viriya Taecharungroj is helping reposition place branding as a measurable component of innovation systems and economic performance. His research spans social media analytics for city branding and the relationship between nation brands, soft power and economic outcomes, reflecting a shift toward evidence-based models of reputation.
All twelve are featured in the Place Brand Leaders Yearbook 2026, TPBO’s annual benchmark publication bringing together the people, places and ideas shaping place branding today. The Yearbook is available for free download and is registered with the Swiss National Library as part of the permanent public record.
