Sue Fennessy

Zoe Kalar (formerly Sue Fennessy) (born 25 July 1968) is an Australian-born American, business woman, philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of WeAre8, founder, largest shareholder, and former CEO of the Standard Media Index (SMI), the founder of  Frontiers Group LTD, and a fellow at Monash University.

Early life

Sue Fennessy was born in Melbourne, Australia and matriculated to Monash University in 1989. There, she was the youngest student to attend their international program. Fennessy later founded the Global Discovery program, leading their New York initiative.

Career

In 1989, during the course of her university studies, Fennessy founded MM Communications, an international sponsorship business based in Asia Pacific. It developed into a team of over 100 people and offices in 4 countries. The company was acquired by Omnicom in 2000.

In 2001, Fennessy founded Frontiers Group, a technology-driven sports and entertainment company that structured and negotiated the 2002 World Cup TV/digital rights as well as  spearheaded lifestyle television programming in China. She also negotiated for the first Western musicals, Cats and Les Miserables, to be staged in China.

In 2009, Fennessy founded and became CEO of Standard Media Index (SMI), leading the company until 2014. SMI is a globally recognized data aggregation business in the media industry. Operating out of in North America, APAC, and Europe, SMI is considered a preeminent global source of ad intelligence for media and finance companies including NBC, Disney, News Corporation, Google, Warner Media, CBS, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.

Fennessy is also the founder and CEO of WeAre8, The People's Platform. WeAre8 is a B-Corp organisation meaning they are verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. Sue is leading the mission to redirect billions of ad dollars going to social platforms back to people and the planet, all while delivering transformational results for advertisers.With a unique view of the $450B digital advertising market, Sue became obsessed with the lack of effectiveness, transparency and waste in major digital platforms and the damaging effect this was having on content creators, people and the planet. WeAre8 has built the future of social media, and the first step enables people to reclaim their economic power by watching ads for just 2 minutes a day and getting valued and paid for their time. Celebrities are also bringing some of their best content to WeAre8 to inspire people to laugh and take simple fun actions to positively impact the world. Some investors in WeAre8 include Rio Ferdinand, Channel 4, and Centerstone Capital and in March 2022, WeAre8 signed a trading deal with media agency Dentsu in the UK & Ireland.

In 2023, WeAre8, announced that it had signed the Inspired Internet Pledge. The pledge, created by the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children's Hospital is an industry-wide initiative to make the internet a safer and healthier place for everyone, especially young people. WeAre8 joins Pinterest as the only social media platform to sign the pledge.

Fennessy said: "WeAre8’s signing of the pledge is a fitting way to mark World Mental Health Day. For too long technology has divided us but we know it can be used for good. We are obsessed with creating a social media experience that is safe for young people, protects their data and privacy and is a safe space free from hate and abuse enabled by our first-to-market account verification process limiting fake and spam accounts and anonymous posting. In addition, our unique business model also means we can economically support the great work of mental health charities."

In November 2023 BBC Studios partnered with WeAre8, on a distribution deal for BBC Earth content; the first of its kind between the platform and a broadcaster. The partnership paves the way for new commercial opportunities by bringing together social media with the premium digital inventory of BBC Studios. Launching early 2024, the three-year commitment will see BBC Studios Social release over one hundred clips per year on the WeAre8 social app, of which at least one third will be newly packaged BBC Earth content. The deal supercharges WeAre8 as the go-to destination for a more impactful social media experience and opens up opportunities for brands across the UK, USA and Australia to both capitalise on WeAre8’s unique opt-in advertising model and explore new avenues for content marketing. Most importantly, this partnership will enable entertainment and positive collective action to co-exist in support of the planet.