Washington D.C.’s growth as a business hotspot hasn’t left the realm of marketing and advertising behind. In fact, more than a little of the credit for D.C.’s explosive growth can probably be laid at the feet of the creative energy and marketing savvy of people and companies in the ares. The judges for this year’s 50 on Fire event on December 4 have a challenging task picking from among the 15 finalists in this category.

Greg Kihlström is the founder and CEO of digital agency Carousel30. This year he was chosen to become president of the DC Ad Club, host of the week-long ADWKDC conference. He also serves on the National Advisory Council’s Marketing Sub-committee of the Trust for the National Mall, working to improve and maintain the National Mall and surrounding parks. On top of that, he led his company to start working pro bono with the Community Coalition for Haiti to providebranding and marketing to help improve the lives of Hatians.