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Martise
Duan Cooks
Director, Customer Marketing & Advocacy
Encoura
Martise Duan Cooks, M.Ed., is a customer marketing and engagement leader with 20 years of experience spanning higher education, SaaS, and education technology. As Director of Customer Marketing & Advocacy at Encoura, he leads strategies designed to strengthen customer engagement, product adoption, community, retention, and advocacy. Throughout his career, Martise has worked at the intersection of the customer experience, marketing, customer success, and product—building programs that turn customer insights into meaningful experiences and stronger business outcomes. His experience includes leading global customer marketing and advocacy initiatives, developing voice-of-the-customer and community programs, and creating engagement strategies that connect customers with the people, resources, and expertise they need to realize greater value. Before moving into customer marketing, Martise began his career in higher education and student affairs, giving him a unique perspective as both a former practitioner and a leader serving education institutions today. He holds a Master of Education from DePaul University and is passionate about helping organizations move beyond one-time customer campaigns to build connected experiences that foster long-term loyalty and advocacy.
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14 October 2026 10:30 - 11:00
Fireside chat | Taming the chaos: Aligning teams, spotlighting wins, and proving value
Whether you are a team of one establishing a practice or a leader scaling global operations, driving customer impact requires sharp execution. Join Martise Duan Cooks and Colleen Gauthier in this fireside chat, bringing together perspectives from a solo practitioner building from the ground up and an enterprise leader running a global customer marketing engine. Key takeaways: • Taming cross-functional noise: Using seasonality calendars and regional structures to align internal outreach • Community & advocacy infrastructure: Nurturing advocates naturally before rolling out rigid tiers, and scaling with modern proof tools • Agile storytelling: Pivoting from heavy, slow case studies to rapid 'customer spotlights' and quick-win quotes • Building for scale: How to track solo impact and build the business case to grow your team from 1 to 9+