Keynote Speakers
We are thrilled to announce the keynote speakers for the NAGW National Conference in Milwaukee, WI Oct. 6-9, 2026.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026: Marisa Peacock
Keynote Session: Create with Compliance: Preparing the Next Generation of Web Professionals Through Compliance-Centered Design
Today's web professionals must navigate a complex landscape of accessibility standards, privacy regulations, artificial intelligence, intellectual property, platform policies, and ethical communication. Too often, compliance is treated as a final checkpoint rather than a foundational part of the creative and development process. This keynote makes the case for a shift in mindset, positioning compliance as a driver of innovation, trust, and user-centered design.
Drawing on Create with Compliance, a research-based instructional framework developed through design research and classroom implementation, Marisa Peacock will show how educators, mentors, and industry leaders can cultivate compliance-centered thinking in future web professionals. The framework combines multimodal learning materials, active learning strategies, and real-world scenarios, and covers five core areas every modern web professional should understand: Truth and Transparency, Accessibility and Inclusivity, Data Privacy and Protection, Platform and Policy Alignment, and Content Responsibility and Emerging Technologies, including artificial intelligence.
Whether you work in government, higher education, nonprofits, or the private sector, you'll leave with practical strategies for embedding compliance into creativity rather than adding it after the fact, and for preparing future web professionals to lead with ethics, accessibility, accountability, and innovation.
Time and place: Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 9:00 a.m., Hyatt Regency Milwaukee.
About Marisa
Marisa Peacock is a social media strategist, educator, and researcher whose work sits at the intersection of digital marketing, inclusive design, and emerging technologies. She is a Senior Lecturer in Advertising at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, teaching digital content strategy, social media management, public relations, and artificial intelligence in advertising. She also leads the Sandage Social Media Lab, an experiential learning initiative connecting students with real-world clients to develop data-driven communication strategies.
Marisa is the founder and chief strategist of Strategic Peacock, a consultancy established in 2010 that partners with nonprofits, small businesses, and educational institutions on digital marketing and social media strategy. With more than a decade of experience across sectors including independent schools and mission-driven organizations, she speaks regularly at national and international conferences on customer experience, digital strategy, and the evolving role of social media in organizational communication.
Her current research, part of her Master of Fine Arts in Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, focuses on integrating inclusive design principles into advertising education, with particular attention to digital accessibility and equity in teaching practices. Her teaching and mentorship have earned multiple institutional awards for excellence in undergraduate instruction and student impact. She holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Mount Holyoke College.
Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026: Keynote Announcement Coming Soon
We have another great keynote in the works and can't wait to share it. Follow NAGW on social media or subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to know!
