Ciera Kelly, Social Content Writer
Sadie Crofts, Graphic Design Manager
Ritu Ghiya, Graphic Designer
Ritu Ghiya is a New York-based visual designer and web developer. Coming into her design practice through editorial and informational work, she’s now transitioned into a more digital focus. When’s she not thinking about experiences and workflows on the screen and on the page, she enjoys watching movies, frequenting libraries, and making playlists.
Melissa Lugo, Marketing Director
Melissa is a versatile marketer with a diverse background in strategy, operations, project and product marketing. With her BS in Business Management, she launched her marketing career in the mortgage industry, transitioned into the CPG space with one of the largest U.S. wineries and spanned into the space of global advertising. She has always found passion in helping and mentoring others and quickly discovered the ever-changing space of marketing to provide her the opportunity to help and influence growth at a larger scale. From developing and implementing operational processes, managing the planning and communications for all marketing campaigns and strategizing the development of large product projects, she strives to empower her peers and measures her success by the impact she’s made in the overall team’s success. She is an advocate for helping others learn from her own hardships and experiences, pave a smoother way for others and be a positive influence to those she comes in contact with. A single mom at a young age and determined to defy statistics, Melissa made something of herself while raising a strong, independent child now in college. She joins WGLI excited to give back and help others be the best version of themselves.
Juwayriyah Hussain, Marketing Lead, Partnership Media
A Silicon Valley native, Juwayriyah Hussain first got involved in empowering professional women when helping to bootstrap the first employee resource group at then employer, Altera. Since she has continued to pay it forward by becoming a mentor to women and emerging professionals as well as develop and facilitate trainings to help people actively manage their careers. Currently, she is a
outbound marketing manager at Intel and previously holding roles in technical marketing, engineering, applications and support. Juwayriyah has a B.S in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University and is a mother of two boys, 5 year old Zemar and 3 month old Aamir.
Michelle Heller, Writer
Michelle is a copywriter and creative director with 15 years of experience in online media, journalism, above-the-line advertising and experiential marketing. In her career she has worked with brands such as Nike, Google, FedEx, Marriott, Nintendo, MSNBC and a range of spirits brands, connecting with target audiences via video, print, events and social media. She graduated from Tufts University with a dual degree in English and French.
Leah Young, Facebook Representative
Shruti Jindal, Digital Marketing Director
Shruti’s passion lies in Marketing & Communications. She started her career with one of the largest technology consulting companies, Accenture. Today she provides services to diverse industries, helping clients develop goal-oriented strategies. During her MBA at the University of Rochester, NY she received merit scholarships and Honors in Computer Engineering. Shruti has rich international and multicultural experience and connects naturally with people from diverse backgrounds. She is an energetic, smart, creative and professional equipped with a solid business acumen and sharp analytical skills.
Sahar Ghavami, Content Development Strategist
Sahar is the founder of Moondani, a product-based business that has been freshening the world’s breath
since it launched in 2016. Prior to that, Sahar worked in Sales and Business Development on Wall Street for over 8 years. The nature of her business was to attend constant face-to-face interactions and social events, and she noticed the need for a quick and convenient breath spray that actually worked. While working on the launch and go-to-market strategy, Sahar fell in love with the digital marketing work she was doing and decided to offer that as a service to other small businesses. She now offers freelance services including SEO, E-mail Marketing, Social Media, and Blog strategy. She is currently working with WGLI as a Digital Marketing and Content Development Strategist. Sahar resides in the NJ/NYC area with her husband and son where she enjoys time with family and exploring all that the city has to offer. In her free time, you can find her pretending to be an MMA star at her local boxing gym.
Shantelle Wasag, Marketing Consultant
Shantelle is a Michigan native with 15 years of experience in brand marketing and commercialization. 
After graduating from Miami University with a degree in Marketing, Shantelle joined world-renowned advertising agency, Young & Rubicam and eventually transferred to sunny Southern California. She spent 8 years working in Account Management on numerous global consumer products and CPG brands before she made the decision to go client-side as Head of Marketing for MEGA Brands America, now a division of Mattel. At Mattel, Shantelle was able to hone her leadership skills while also building brands and launching countless products in the toy, arts & crafts and stationery industries. But after 7 years in corporate America, she decided to branch out as a freelance marketing consultant and became founder of Spellbound Marketing Group. Shantelle is passionate about bringing her Marketing expertise to WGLI in order to help women develop the network and skills they need to become the leaders they were born to be. In her spare time, you can find Shantelle traveling around the world with her husband, dancing like no one is watching, beach cruising down a board walk, and snowboarding in the mountains!
Olivia Bumb, Brand and Messaging
Olivia is a fervent problem solver with a passion for marketing. Olivia is a recent graduate of University of Virginia’s MBA program with a marketing specialization. Olivia started her career in a leadership development program at Nestle USA but has recently transitioned to a management consulting role at PwC. She’s developed an analytical mindset, passion for people, and a “get stuff done” attitude. Olivia is excited to leverage these skills to build the WGLI brand and give voice to the women that WGLI serves.
Victoria Schmidt, Writer
Victoria Schmidt is a strategic marketing leader with 15 years of experience that leverages technical and creative skills covering a wide variety of marketing tools, analytics and creative software to create, track and deliver successful campaigns. Victoria’s career began in advertising agencies working on accounts such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, Choice Hotels, and Ritz Carlton Hotels and then transitioned to in-house marketing departments for Discovery Channel, Time Life, Avaya and Accenture. She holds an MBA in Marketing Management and an MS in Marketing from the Johns Hopkins University, Carey Business School in addition to a BA in Engilsh from George Mason University.
Veatrice Carabine, Writer
Veatrice is the Deputy Chief Enrollment Officer at The American Women’s College of Bay Path University where she leads a team helping adult women who are juggling work, family and other responsibilities return to college to earn their degree. She is a firm believer in the transformative power of education to inspire and empower women to make a difference in their lives and their communities. A life-long learning herself, Veatrice earned her BS in Business at Bay Path University, a Masters of Education in Student Personnel from Springfield College and is currently working on her MBA in Marketing from the Isenberg School of Business at the University of Massachusetts. Veatrice lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband, loves to spend time with her family, travel, and indulge her creative side through photography, party planning and cooking. In addition to her work with the Women’s Global Leadership Initiative, she volunteers with Junior Achievement teaching financial literacy and money management skills to young people in her community.
Carrie Atkinson, Writer
After a career in Early Childhood Education and taking time out to raise a family, Carrie is currently studying sociology at Sonoma State University and will be receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Spring of 2018. She is passionate about social justice and has a desire to learn more about the world around her. Research is an area where she is consistently gaining new insight and skills, and a method in which she is able to satisfy her natural curiosity. Carrie is also a writing enthusiast, combining her passion for creativity with a sound base in her quest for knowledge.
Mackenzie Fleming, Writer
A (somewhat) recent Virginia Tech grad—where she received her B.A. in Professional and Technical Writing—Mackenzie is a full-time copywriter at Capital One and a part-time freelance writer. As a freelancer, Mackenzie works on a variety of writing projects, but two of her favorite kinds of jobs include SEO blog writing and website copy creation. Although a bit of a workaholic, Mackenzie makes sure to get her daily dose of cat cuddling in every day with her two felines, Simon and Pappernauter.
Aside from writing and working (and cuddling cats) Mackenzie enjoys spending her time being outside and active and volunteering or working on pro bono projects to help her community. Passionate about advocacy, and empowering women, Mackenzie is excited to be a part of the WGLI team and inspire and encourage women around the world. In the future, Mackenzie hopes to continue traveling around the globe and writing all along the way.