New York, NY — January 23, 2025 — Elevate, an award-winning, full-service consulting firm supporting high-performing organizations in sports and beyond, is evolving to meet the needs of sports, entertainment, university, and brand audiences by expanding its innovation team, leveraging strategic acquisitions, and refining its approach in Q1. With this evolution, Elevate is doubling down on its mission to create unparalleled fan experiences across industries, powered by both new technologies and talent that will further disrupt the market.
“At Elevate, our focus has always been on building connections that transform audiences into devoted fans,” said Al Guido, Chairman and CEO of Elevate. “This next chapter represents a commitment to innovation and talent that ensures we continue to lead in creating fan-centric solutions powered by technology and creativity.”
New Leadership Driving Fan-Centric Innovation
Central to this transformation is the appointment of Jim Caruso as Chief Innovation Officer. Known for his expertise in data-driven audience engagement, Caruso will lead Elevate’s growing innovation team as it prepares to unveil a new, proprietary software in February 2025 that will redefine fan engagement and set a new standard for connecting brands with audiences worldwide.
Elevate’s innovation team is dedicated to advancing the future of fan engagement and business solutions through technology. By identifying opportunities across industries, the team develops and incubates new ideas to address clients’ challenges and provide them with new data and capabilities that open new commercial channels.
With a focus on data strategy, product development, and software innovation, their aim is to centralize data, build impactful applications and platforms, and deliver actionable intelligence to both internal and external stakeholders. Through discovery, testing, and validation, Caruso’s team ensures forward-thinking concepts are seamlessly integrated into Elevate’s core business, empowering clients to stay ahead and move with agility and confidence.
Before joining Elevate, Caruso was Co-Founder and CEO of Apollo Program, a software company acquired by Stagwell in 2022, where he helped businesses harness intelligence for more effective marketing strategies. His career spans leadership roles at Anomaly and Varick Media, where he led product innovation and strategic development in technology, data, and software.
“I’m energized to join Elevate during this pivotal moment,” said Caruso. “As we expand our innovation team and enhance our technology, our focus remains clear: empowering clients to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways and delivering fan experiences that inspire loyalty and passion.”
Expanded Innovation Team Leaders
The Innovation team at Elevate brings together a wealth of expertise in marketing, client strategy, and product development to create solutions that deliver measurable impact. Taylor Harrell, Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing, will oversee brand strategy and product positioning, managing initiatives that enhance customer engagement and drive revenue growth via technology and software.
Becky Heller, Vice President of Client Strategy, specializes in delivering innovative, customized solutions that align with client goals while fostering strong relationships and seamless collaboration across teams.
Jona Mici, Senior Vice President of Product, drives the vision and execution of Elevate’s software offerings, ensuring market-responsive, user-centric solutions that empower clients to achieve their objectives. Together, the team combines creativity, strategy, and technical expertise to help brands connect meaningfully with their audiences and achieve transformational success.
Harnessing Expertise and Technology to Cultivate Fandom and Drive Growth
Elevate anticipates continued investments in technology, as well as expansion through dynamic acquisitions that will strategically enhance its capabilities in key areas, including technology and sports. These investments will further solidify Elevate’s position as a leader in fan engagement.
“Our mission is to turn fandom into a powerful force for cultural and business success,” said Guido. “With an expanded team, sharpened capabilities and services that leverage expertise, and cutting-edge technology, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver fan experiences that inspire passion, connection, and impact.”
Elevate has built a deep roster of partners and internal expertise servicing clients across properties, universities, and brands. The addition of an Innovation team to lead a cohesive data strategy, proprietary technology, and deployment of A.I. will allow Elevate to amplify those existing services and create new products that further benefit clients.
About Jim Caruso
As Chief Innovation Officer at Elevate, Jim Caruso is passionate about transforming fragmented data into actionable insights that drive engagement and growth. With over 20 years of experience in building customer-driven technology, he specializes in bridging the gap between innovation and usability—helping brands connect with audiences on a deeper, more meaningful level.
At Elevate, he leads initiatives that combine advanced AI, behavioral insights, and emotional data to create tools that empower businesses to understand their audiences and make smarter, faster decisions. Whether it’s enhancing fan engagement in sports or redefining loyalty across industries, his focus is on creating solutions that deliver measurable impact.
Previously, as Co-Founder and CEO of Apollo Program (acquired by Stagwell), Caruso developed technologies that unified data sources and insights to help organizations make informed, accurate decisions. His background spans a range of industries, including AdTech, marketing, e-gifting, women’s healthcare, and enterprise networking, where he has consistently built and scaled innovative solutions.
About Elevate
Elevate is an award-winning, full-service consulting firm supporting high-performing organizations in sports and beyond with innovative, data-driven, revenue-generating solutions. Elevate’s unparalleled combination of agency and operating experience along with proprietary technology solutions, data sources, and software products, maximizes efficiencies in Consumer Insights, Research, Strategy and Analytics; Brand Consulting and Activation; Partnership Sales and Consulting; Executive Talent Strategy, Recruitment, Performance, and Organizations Optimization; Creative Consultancy and Experiential Design; Property, Premium Hospitality, and ticketing Strategy and Sales; Feasibility and Revenue Consultation for New and Renovated Venues; and more. Established in 2018 to provide comprehensive solutions to organizations across the global sports and entertainment ecosystem; today, the agency supports over 1,000 of the world’s most ambitious organizations across entertainment, media, technology, gaming, lifestyle, and consumer sectors.
