Dj Perera

DJ Perera oversees the Ad Council’s media team and the department’s four Centers of Excellence: Digital Products, Digital Media and Operations, Media Strategy and Engagement and Emerging Media, Technology and Innovation. Perera continues to evolve the Ad Council’s media model and develop strategic partnerships across the media ecosystem, strategically using both pro bono and paid media elements to enhance the organization’s impact on social issues. This includes identifying engagement strategies in website development, leading the exploration of trends in consumer engagement and driving innovation in emerging media and technology.

Prior to joining the Ad Council in 2023, DJ led Boehringer Ingelheim’s U.S. Media Center of Excellence, managing all aspects of direct-to-consumer and health care professionals paid media for the company’s brands.

DJ is a digital native who started her career in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom, leading digital initiatives at iXL, Proxicom and Qwest Communications. She then worked at a marketing agency for 10 years where she built and led its digital practice. She has also served as head of U.S. Integrated Media at Beiersdorf where she led the restructure of this group into a Center of Excellence.

DJ is active on many industry committees and boards, most recently being appointed as Chairperson of the Association of National Advertisers’ Media Committee.

Born in Sri Lanka, she moved to Trinidad as a small child and later settled in New York City where she attended Stuyvesant High School and New York University.