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Luminary  is a global, membership-based professional education and networking platform founded with the mission to uplift, up-skill, and propel women and their allies forward through all phases of their professional journeys.

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What Makes Luminary Unique

Diverse, Inclusive, Community
Robust Programming & Events
Proven Impact & Collaboration

Home to a multigenerational and intersectional community of professionals, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations - proud to be agnostic to age, level, industry, career, gender. 

High impact programming built to Advance women in their career, Build skills, Connect to a global network, support personal Development, and Expand knowledge of key trends and research.

Access to a diverse and broad ecosystem with numerous opportunities for members to work and collaborate with like-minded professionals, entrepreneurs, and organizations that can help support individual needs.

 

Meet Cate Luzio, Founder and CEO of Luminary

“I started Luminary as a way to bring women (and our male allies) together to advance each other’s careers, and it has quickly grown into a movement perfectly timed to push us through the current workplace crisis.”

Cate Luzio_Headshot_Closeup

Luminary is a global professional education and networking platform created to address the systemic challenges impacting women across all industries and sectors.

Former finance executive Cate Luzio founded and self-funded Luminary in late 2018 with the mission to up-lift, up-skill, and propel women forward through all phases of their professional journeys.

The company has grown to several thousand members individually across 30 countries, and supports more than 60+ corporate partners (representing more than 500,000 employees worldwide). To date, the company has led well over 3,000 in-person and virtual events, workshops, and programs.

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Join Our Professional Networking Community

Luminary’s members are a multigenerational and intersectional community of individuals, intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations with access to a vast ecosystem of expert-led thought leadership programs and services.

An entree to partner spaces and women-centric communities around the country including Take The Lead, NAWBO, Female Founder Collective and The 10th House, HeyMama, WE.NYC, and WBENC as well as more than twenty five brick and mortar women’s clubs worldwide.

Luminary Map of Members Around the World

Meet The Luminary Team

Cate Luzio

Founder and CEO

Cate Luzio

Founder and CEO

Leader. Advocate. Builder.

Cate Luzio spent two decades in financial services leading global multibillion-dollar businesses. During this time, she also led many of the institutions’ women’s networks and saw the disproportionate number of men to women and women of color in the senior ranks. She recognized the problem was a lack of investment and development of talent in the female pipeline, rather than a lack of talent itself.

This observation sparked a new direction for Luzio’s own trajectory. In a sharp career pivot, she wrote a business plan and set out on a new mission to help women see a path toward advancement by arming them with the tools, resources, and community to propel them to the top -- regardless of their professional journey.

In 2018, she launched and self-funded Luminary, a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub created to address the systemic challenges impacting women across all industries and sectors. Luminary is the ultimate career advocate, uplifting and upscaling women through all phases of their professional journey -- in the workforce, entrepreneurship, and in transition - - by providing a vast eco-system of expert-led thought leadership programs, as well as in-person and virtual workshops and events. Members are comprised of a multigenerational and intersectional community of intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations including UBS, WW, JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, and Heidrick & Struggles.

Prior to Luminary, Cate was Global Head of Multinational Corporate Banking for HSBC, managing more than 2,000 employees worldwide and prior to that, she served as Head of Multinational Corporate Banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London. She spent her early years in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China. Cate was named to American Banker's ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking' list multiple years in a row, is a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion, and a two-time Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero. She remains committed to leveraging her extensive corporate experience to support and encourage women and push for gender equality and pay parity in the workplace.

 

 

 

Erica Lerner

General Counsel

Erica Lerner

General Counsel

Erica Lerner is an experienced founder in the real estate and health and wellness industries, with a demonstrated history working in project finance, tax and corporate law, international tax, due diligence, and corporate structuring, as well as mergers and acquisitions. After nearly a decade of working in legal and corporate environments, most recently in mergers and acquisitions at Deloitte, Erica sought out new projects to foster her curiosity and develop her strengths and achieve independence.

In 2017 she co-founded Xtend Tribeca, a premier fitness studio and the first Manhattan location for Xtend Barre. Since Xtend Tribeca’s opening, Erica has been on a mission to provide a home for thousands of women looking for creative and effective workouts in a secure, safe, judgement-free setting. Erica is excited to continue her mission in her role as the Chief Operating Officer of Luminary and to develop a new home for thousands of professional women throughout New York City and beyond.

Ruchita Sharma

Manager of People and Talent

Ruchita Sharma

Manager of People and Talent

Ruchita has been working as a Human Resource professional with 6+ years of experience. Her previous experiences have been with tech start-ups as well as brick and motar companies that require HR expertise.“I believe in being the change agent. Startups need the strength to sustain overall health and continuously evolve with the need of the current market”Having completed her bachelors from the UK and business masters from CUNY; she is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion. She believes women should not only be at the table but the very driving force of it.Ruchita loves traveling, is an avid chess player, and college level badminton player. On weekends, she practices transcendental meditation and enjoys spending time outdoors with family and friends.

CeCe Everett

Director of Events and Program Strategy

CeCe Everett

Director of Events and Program Strategy

Cieanne or CeCe for short, started her professional career managing a multi-line showroom in Midtown, where she learned the in's and out's of growing a business. Her fellow boss doubled as a mentor and was able to use all she taught her to succeed in every role thereafter. During CeCe's career, she has worked for/with companies that have been created, founded and run by women. This unique experience has shaped the way she looks at businesses and has guided her in being intentional in the projects and roles she takes. To date, CeCe has taken her knowledge to build other women and her community, a pathway for future business owners. Ever growing and learning, CeCe is proud of what she brings to the table and is excited for what's to come! 

Romana Ryals

Head of Programming and Affiliate Partnerships

Romana Ryals

Head of Programming and Affiliate Partnerships

Originally from the Bay Area, Romana moved to NYC almost a decade ago. She has spent the majority of her career working in nonprofits focused on empowering and preparing young people to pursue their own dreams. Along the way, Romana been extremely fortunate to have empowering supporters pour into both her professional and personal development. She would not be where she is without these champions so she looks forward to joining an even more expansive community of dedicated professionals. Romana believes that finding the best solutions involves elevating as many voices as possible so with her background in program development, she hopes to create opportunities that do just that.

Amanda Fedich

Director of Content Strategy

Amanda Fedich

Director of Content Strategy

After attending Lasell University, majoring in Fashion Communications, with a focus on promotions and events, Amanda knew that this could be the path to foster her creativity.

Amanda has worked in various positions and companies over the past few years. She assisted in a European Showroom and helped work seasonal clothing lines to boutiques around the country and presented at trade shows. She has been a Merchandise Operations Coordinator at Gilt Groupe and assisted in designing their e-commerce digital product lines in the home and kids departments. Amanda has been an Event Coordinator at Rue La La for Women’s Contemporary and Athletic wear and managed the timeline of events being launched. And she has worked as an Associate Buyer for footwear within the Amazon Marketplace.

Amanda also started a lifestyle blog after college where she personalized and developed her space in the digital world. She writes about everything from fashion and beauty, to home decor and cooking. Her favorite topic thus far has been organizing closets, as color coordination is very therapeutic for her! This is when she realized her love for writing, sharing her life on social media, and the feedback she received from followers.

Through both her professional life and personal experiences, Amanda believes success comes from communication, teamwork, and shared goals. Supporting and connecting with women has been so rewarding that she can see the community of social media growing and expanding with unlimited possibilities!

Shai Card

Head of Membership & Insights

Shai Card

Head of Membership & Insights

Shai grew up in NY and returned to the east coast after a few years in Denver, CO. She's driven cross country a few times but NYC still has her heart & spend a good chunk of her time trying to convince her brother to move back here. She'll read anything Stephen King writes,  could eat sushi for every meal, and baking is her love language.

Dani De Boulay

Senior Enterprise Relationship Manager

Dani De Boulay

Senior Enterprise Relationship Manager

Dani De Boulay's career is a colorful one. From 2012 to 2015, she directed teams of volunteers and staff in WinShape Foundation's summer camp program. Her excellence and innovation won her the Second Mile Service Award for 3 consecutive years. Her roles as Volunteer Director and Director sparked her interest in the nonprofit sector--specifically positive youth development programs.

From 2016 to 2020, she supervised government contracts implementing leadership development curriculum and case management in NYC middle and high schools. While working full-time, Dani received her MPA in a rigorous joint program with NYU Wagner and Columbia Law and graduated with honors.

On the director level, she has led cross-collaboration across creative, operations, and community outreach teams. In early 2021, she transitioned from nonprofit management and now specializes in lead generation, corporate relationship management, cross-collaboration, and program development.

Dani's commitment to personal development and supporting women and historically underrepresented communities led her to Luminary. As a principal Enterprise Relationship Manager, she helps companies supplement how they recruit, develop, and retain women and diverse talent.

 
Known as the "Idea Queen" by her colleagues, Dani uses her colorful career experience to improve strategy with innovative ideas. She successfully manages over 40 corporate accounts--including ViacomCBS, Blackstone, Spotify, JPMorgan Chase, Indeed, WW, Spectrum Reach, Mastercard, L'Oréal, Verizon, and Unilever.
 
Email dani@luminary-nyc.com to learn more about Luminary Corporate Memberships.
Schedule a meeting at calendly.com/dani_luminary.

 

Sophie Hackett

Enterprise Relationship Manager

Sophie Hackett

Enterprise Relationship Manager

Originally from Indianapolis, Sophie holds a BSW and MSW with experience working with youth, families, and young mothers. She also has experience with funding and grant development, marketing strategies, and project planning for programs surrounding culturally-responsive interventions for diverse populations and marginalized adult communities. Most recently, she served as the Chief of Staff for Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod, representing North East Denver. Sophie enjoys working collaboratively to develop systems and build relationships/networks that move society forward. 

Kelsey Gonsalves

Program Manager

Kelsey Gonsalves

Program Manager

Kelsey is a recent graduate of Seton Hall University where she studied Communication and the Arts. Kelsey decided to study Communications because she believes that it is something that can help us greatly in today's society.  As an early graduate, Kelsey is hoping to get into graduate school to continue her education and broaden her horizons. 


She is excited to be at Luminary where she is able to focus on her passion for equality while making amazing connections with the women in the space. Kelsey is also thrilled that she will be able to meet and work with people in a variety of fields and jobs as a Luminary employee. Kelsey has previously worked and interned for a PR Group, events coordinator, as well as a career coach. As such she is happy to help within the space!

Tara Sylvester

Community Operations Manager

Tara Sylvester

Community Operations Manager

At Luminary, Tara desires to be the type of leader who creates an environment where employees love to come to work, and members enjoy returning to the business. Tara takes full responsibility for keeping the company running smoothly with high levels of consistency. She knows how important it is to take accountability for everything from an operational standpoint, but her role as a manager is not a one woman show. Tara can’t be focused on the future without the commitment and loyalty of engaged peers. Working alongside the best people with a shared vision to contribute to the organization is her biggest goal.

Lis Savage

Chief Executive Assistant

Lis Savage

Chief Executive Assistant

Lis comes to Luminary through Squared Away, an assistance agency with a team of remote Chief Executive Assistants. Her husband is currently serving in the Marines and is stationed in sunny San Diego. She is originally from Cleveland, and possesses an Associate's Degree in Criminal Justice. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor's in Business Administration and Management from Western Governors University.

She spent most of her professional career in restaurant management, and also currently works as a Guest Service Manager for Airbnb and a Business Operations Specialist for a small property management company based out of Portland. In her spare time, she enjoys volunteering at Feeding San Diego, spending time with her goldendoodle, Marshall, or exploring the outdoors. She will have visited all 50 states by the end of 2022 and all U.S. National Parks by the end of 2024. She's ecstatic to serve Luminary on our mission and help make magic happen.

Danielle Brabson

Director of Product

Danielle Brabson

Director of Product

Danielle Brabson has over 20 years experience in Tech, Product and Operations management. She started her career on Software Development teams filling most of the roles over the years. From leading teams of Quality Assurance Analysts, Project and Product Management and managing operations and relationships, she's done it all! With the exception of being an actual software developer, coding is not her jam.  In 2010, she decided to step away from corporate roles and focus on raising her family.

After leaving her corporate roles, she went on a natural journey as a result of her son being diagnosed with asthma and admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. If you would have told her at any point prior to this she would be making her own deodorant she would have laughed at you. Danielle went on to build Golden Sky Naturals, a natural skin and body care company using her skills in quality assurance to create an exceptional product. Also focusing on customer relationships as the driver of growth and customer loyalty. Golden Sky Naturals was a balance of adventure and self care. The products did not compromise on clean - both human and environmentally, had a no b.s. ingredient list, and were created and manufactured in-house by her and her team. During her time building Golden Sky, they were able to reach a ranking of #4 on Amazon in the natural deodorant category.  In 2023, she made the difficult decision to officially close Golden Sky Naturals. 
 
Starting and running a business from the ground up and building a success product solidified that Product and Operations were where her passion lived. She was excited to step back into a corporate role as Director of Product at The Cru. Ironically, she was a Cru member during her entrenurial journey at Golden Sky Naturals. So she was excited to join The Cru as an employee and really make an impact. Danielle is thrilled to continue her role as Director of Product with the Luminary acquisition of The Cru. 
 
When she's not working she is spending time with her husband and three kids. They are out hiking the trails in Arizona, enjoying a craft beer or nice glass of wine. If she's lucky to have a free minute, you'll probably find her reading a book. 

Maggie Rhodes Davis

Head of Member Experience

Maggie Rhodes Davis

Head of Member Experience

Maggie Rhodes Davis is an empathetic senior media, business operations, and account executive with 19 years of experience in team leadership, value-driven organizational culture, business strategy, relationship management, employee engagement, and creative content production. 

She grew up overseas in Haiti, Morocco, Nepal, Guatemala, and South Africa before returning to the US for college at the University of Virginia. She has since also lived in France, Spain, Australia, and the United Kingdom and has continued wanderlust and zest for seeing the world. 

After spending the first 18 years of her career working in television and media at National Geographic, Tastemade, and Discovery, she decided to make a career pivot to focus on her professional passion; supporting and uplifting women in the workforce.

She joined The Cru team in March of 2023 as Head of Member Experience, and was honored to become a part of the Luminary team in the same role after The Cru was acquired by Luminary in August of 2023. She is delighted to support Luminary’s mission in propelling women and their allies forward in their professional journeys.

Outside of work, Maggie spends most of her time chasing her toddler son, Finnegan; but also enjoys interior design, reading, travel, yoga, basketball, film, musical theater, and foreign languages (Spanish and French).

Bree Porter

Member Success Manager

Bree Porter

Member Success Manager

Bree Porter has immersed herself in the world of fashion and entrepreneurship for the past 7 years. She holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Fashion Merchandising and Management, demonstrating her commitment to continuous learning.

During her schooling she managed to run a vintage clothing boutique in Florence, Italy. Bree's commitment to sustainability in the fashion industry led her to volunteer at the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Here, she immersed herself in the world of sustainable fashion, contributing to positive change. As an entrepreneur, Bree has successfully opened and managed three vintage stores in New York. 

Beyond her fashion ventures, Bree is also a writer. She has accomplished publishing her first poetry book. Looking ahead, Bree Porter is driven by a new aspiration: to establish her very own vintage bar boutique. Her enthusiasm for fashion and business make her a promising prospect in the world of entrepreneurship.

Throughout her entire journey the one constant was people. People are her passion and being a helping hand is what she strives for daily.

She joined The Cru team for this very reason back in August of 2021 and is thrilled to become a part of the Luminary family. You can catch her reading thriller/mystery novels, lifting, writing, styling and gardening.

Demi Ganim

Sales Manager

Demi Ganim

Sales Manager

Demi is a dynamic professional with a diverse background that blends her German and Turkish heritage, making her a globally-minded individual. Holding a Master's in Business from the UK, Demi has channeled her expertise in talent acquisition and sales across international borders, making a significant impact in Germany, the UK, Turkey, and the United States over the past 10+ years.Throughout her career, Demi has consistently demonstrated a passion for making a difference in people's lives, irrespective of the industry or role she was in.

In 2021, Demi's journey brought her to The Cru, where she found a home that shared her mission of empowering women on personal and professional fronts. During her tenure, she has held various influential positions within the organization, culminating in her recent role where she led sales. With the acquisition by Luminary, Demi continues to thrive in her role on the sales front and is thrilled to continue in her passion of uplifting women. 

Beyond her professional commitments, Demi enjoys leisurely walks with her loyal Rottie, Cyrus, and treasures quality moments with her daughter, Dila. She loves traveling to new and familiar places and relishes diverse culinary experiences.

Caron Katz

Chief Financial Officer

Caron Katz

Chief Financial Officer

Caron is a CPA and MBA with extensive knowledge and experience managing the accounting and financial reporting systems for small to mid-sized organizations. Caron has served as the Vice President, Controller at Twinlab and Director of Finance at Sally Hershberger Professional Hair Care. Caron holds a BA in Psychology from Binghamton University and an MBA with a focus in Accounting from Kennesaw State University.

Laura Simanynaitė

Corporate Partnership Manager

Laura Simanynaitė

Corporate Partnership Manager

Laura is from Lithuania. Her aspiration in life is to challenge herself, step out of her comfort zone, and be the best version of herself.    
 
She joined the Luminary team as an intern after applying for the BAFF Professional Internship program for undergraduate students. She was awarded the opportunity to gain experience in the US market.    
She has just graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She has worked on partnership and sponsorship projects for several years in the sports and events industry. 
 
Laura is detail-oriented, efficiency-oriented, and loves systematization so she believes that little details, behind-the-scenes work, and processes make up a bigger picture and are important.    
 
Laura believes you must stay curious to evolve, which is why she enjoys working in corporate with other companies. It allows her to touch different areas. In her free time, she likes to explore the world and travel, walk the city streets or nature, and play board games with friends and family.  

Marissa Tappy

Social Media Coordinator

Marissa Tappy

Social Media Coordinator

A New York based editor and manager, Marissa holds a degree from Marymount Manhattan
College in both media and business studies.
In the past, she has worked personally with social media clients such as grammy award winning artist Gloria Gaynor, and grammy award nominee Michael Feinstein for his nonprofit The Songbook Foundation. Most recently Marissa has worked with a multitude of clients at the prestigious photo, and video venue Highline Stages. There, she has worked with fashion editorials such as Vogue, Variety, and Harper’s BAZAAR among others. As well as
entertainment clients such as NBCUniversal, Samsung, Disney, Hulu, and Netflix.

Camille Bai

Data and Insights Associate

Camille Bai

Data and Insights Associate

Camille is a professional with a diverse finance, data engineering, and data science background. With a strong foundation as a former Financial Analyst and Data Engineer and an educational experience in Data Science, Camille possesses a deep understanding and strong interest in data analytics. Beyond her professional pursuits, Camille embraces the thrill of solo travel, exploring various destinations worldwide. Her adventures offer an opportunity for personal growth and a chance to experience diverse cultures, savor delectable cuisine, and connect with incredible individuals. She is excited to embark on new challenges, collaborate with like-minded professionals, and positively impact the world of data.
 
 
 
 

Shakilya Lawrence

Program Associate

Shakilya Lawrence

Program Associate

Shakilya Lawrence is a freelance writer, filmmaker, and event/production coordinator currently residing in Queens, NY by the way of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. She has been a writer her entire life, mostly writing within science, speculative, and supernatural fiction genres.  She graduated from North Carolina State University in 2018  with a Bachelor of Science in Science, Technology, and Society with a Public Health Concentration and dual minors in Biological Sciences and Psychology. Upon her graduation, she decided to switch gears and pursue a professional writing career. Her bylines include Rewire, She’s Single Magazine, Giddy, CLTure, and MovieWeb. Throughout the years, she’s written on topics such as women’s sexual health, mental health, social activism/issues, environmental activism/issues, beauty, and fashion. However, her primary focus and passion has always been in entertainment journalism.

Her interest in the film industry only strengthened through her freelance work as an entertainment writer, and she decided to pursue a filmmaking career in November 2021. By February 2022, she began working for the Katra Film Series as an intern before shortly taking over as Festival Manager and Director of Programming. During her year-long tenure, she successfully curated, programmed, and managed eight physical festivals and 5 virtual festivals for the Katra Film Series and their six sister festivals. A new passion for live event programming emerged from her time at Katra, which led her to continue her journey in event planning within the film festival circuit and live concerts. She's currently finishing up her summer contracts with BlackStar Film Festival as their Print Traffic Manager and Jazzmobile Inc. as their Production Coordinator. When she’s not fulfilling her duties at Luminary or freelancing, she is filming her first documentary and immersed in film studies. While at Luminary, she hopes to continue learning and becoming proficient in live event planning outside of a concert/festival setting. Her goal is to make a career out of live event programming with the intention of having her own independent film festival in the future.

Lauren Mcarthur

Community Associate

Lauren Mcarthur

Community Associate

Lauren McArthur is a Community Associate at Luminary. She is passionate about female empowerment and cultivating diverse and inclusive spaces. She is especially interested in expanding employment opportunities for neurodiverse women. Her strengths include a keen eye for detail, innovative ways of problem-solving, and seeing the best in people.

Born and raised in New Jersey, she has a passion for film, dogs, and helping people. She used those passions when working at Uplift Studios, International Charter School of NY, Bow Tie Cinemas, and volunteering with PAWS NY. She is very excited to be part of Luminary and contribute to the success behind the scenes.

Julissa Ruiz

Community Associate

Julissa Ruiz

Community Associate

Julissa is a  singer/ songwriter, podcaster, and entrepreneur born and raised in Chelsea Manhattan. Being in entertainment since age 19, Julissa fell in love with networking and marketing and meeting like-minded souls who love to create new visions. Julissa has her own Podcast "Chatting With Jas" to shine light on other entrepreneurs and their journeys. She also launched her own clothing line named “Flourish by Eli Jas” where she creates and sells collections of gender neutral statement clothing pieces, jewelry, and authentic crystals for holistic healing for the Modern day visionary. Flourish has been featured on artists like Dominican recording artist -Danileigh on Sheen Magazine, Actress and Journalist -Janelle Marie, Grammy Nominated Artist CHIKA, and more.

Lyric Watson

Community Associate

Lyric Watson

Community Associate

Known as the certified “hype-man” of her friend group, Lyric is always down for a great time! She has a passion for traveling and plans to see the ENTIRE world before departing this earth. She has currently visited Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, Mexico, Bahamas, London, and Amsterdam!  If you want to talk about travel, she's your girl ;)

Renique Thomas

Community Associate

Renique Thomas

Community Associate

Renique is a Creative Director with over 4 years of experience in leadership and design. Industries include Fashion, Media, and Non-profit. A creative who is able to apply analytics and insights as well as proficiency in storytelling, to produce spectacular visuals and exceptional results. Possesses the ability to work effectively in a team and adapt to constantly changing work environments applying creative problem-solving methods when necessary. She also stays abreast with the latest trends, technology, and media by performing thorough research prior to each meeting. Approaches all situations with intrigue and rapidly learns new processes with an eagerness to apply all knowledge gained.

Manuela Luzio

Community Associate

Manuela Luzio

Community Associate

Manuela was born and raised in a small city in Colombia, where the best coffee is produced. She's working to start an importing business to bring the best coffee from the region to the U.S. Manuela moved to the U.S. in 2019. She has a degree in Psychology at the University of San Buenaventura Medellin. She loves outdoor activities especially if there’s mountains and sunsets around. Manuela is looking forward to learning as much as she can and connecting with all of the wonderful women from the Luminary community. 
 

Meet The Luminary Advisory Board

The talented and diverse members of the Luminary Advisory Board are top experts throughout various industries with extensive backgrounds and experience.  Meeting quarterly, the Advisory Board provides management with invaluable insights into strategy and thought leadership in preserving and growing Luminary's mission and impact.

Monica Aggarwal

Team Head of Retail and Consumer in Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group

Monica Aggarwal

Team Head of Retail and Consumer in Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group

Monica Aggarwal is Team Head of Retail and Consumer in Fitch’s U.S. Corporate Ratings group. She is responsible for the sector team covering retail, consumer products, packaged foods, restaurants, and beverages.  Prior to joining Fitch in September 2007, Monica spent almost ten years in equity research at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Chapdelaine Institutional Equities covering various retail segments.  Monica earned a BA in economics from Delhi University and an MBA with majors in finance and international business from Fordham University. She is a CFA® charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society New York. Monica serves as President of the Board for the Fixed Income Analysts Society, Inc. and is on the board of Streetwise Partners, a NY based non-profit organization focused on workforce development.

Maya Crauderueff

President and Founder of Maya’s Hope

Maya Crauderueff

President and Founder of Maya’s Hope

Maya Crauderueff is the President and founder of Maya’s Hope. 

After she lost her mother in 2007, she had come to realize the pain of losing a parent. She began her journey of helping orphans from her first trip to the Philippines in 2008. She later started visiting institutions and orphanages in Ukraine and Maya’s Hope has come to evolve to what it is today. She is committed to helping children in great need, despite their circumstances and believes that every child has value. She also is of Filipino and Ukrainian heritage.

Previously, she has worked for Metalmark Capital as an Executive Assistant to Managing Directors. She considers herself an international problem solver and enjoys making people smile. Maya has a degree in Piano Performance and French literature from Rutgers University.

Allison Davis

Sales Consultant and Trainer for Founders

Allison Davis

Sales Consultant and Trainer for Founders

Allison Davis is a sales consultant and trainer for founders who want to hit their goals and keep on growing. 

Drawing from her 20 years of sales experience at companies like National Geographic and Time Out North America, Allison helps her clients turn random acts of sales into consistent revenue-generating systems — so they can vie for bigger opportunities, show up with more confidence, and have greater impact in the world.

Tiffany Dufu

Founder, The Cru

Tiffany Dufu

Founder, The Cru

Tiffany Dufu is founder of The Cru, a peer-coaching tech company acquired by Luminary in 2023. She’s the author of the bestselling book Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less. According to foreword contributor Gloria Steinem, Drop the Ball is “important, path-breaking, intimate and brave.” Her writing has appeared in The Oprah Magazine, ESSENCE and the New York Times.

Named to Entrepreneur's 100 Powerful Women and Fast Company’s League of Extraordinary Women, Tiffany has raised over $25 million toward the cause of women and girls. She was a launch team member to Lean In and was Chief Leadership Officer to Levo, the fastest growing millennial women's professional network. Prior to that, Tiffany served as President of The White House Project, which trained thousands of women across the nation to run for political office.

Tiffany is a Trustee of Simmons University, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta, Sorority, Inc. and a Lifetime Girl Scout. She lives in New York City with her husband and two kids but was made in Seattle (Go Huskies).

Surabhi Lal

Adjunct Professor, Speaker, Facilitator, Everyday Management and Leadership

Surabhi Lal

Adjunct Professor, Speaker, Facilitator, Everyday Management and Leadership

I savor my craft as a connector, storyteller, and educator and concern myself with building a better future of work. Being an only child and a first generation American gave me the skills to connect with and understand others. My summers in India contrasted with my life in suburban DC and exposed me to issues of inequity, which instilled in me a strong sense of service. Living in the in between, the tension between being an only and that of belonging is where I find my agency, empathy, and commitment to creating inclusive communities and workplaces.

My career as a community builder began helping students with their transition from high school to college, and for over fifteen years I’ve sat at the intersection of conversations with job seekers and employers in social impact. I have coached thousands of job seekers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses to help them achieve meaningful success. I believe investing in leadership and talent holds the key to creating community in the workplace, strong employee experiences, and increasing interaction among people of different backgrounds. When I work with teams and organizations, I use empathy, strategy, and transparency to create high performing teams and cultures. Through working in nonprofit, education, start-up, and international settings, I have created welcoming environments, developed strong teams, cultivated partnerships, streamlined systems, and led innovative initiatives.

I am an adjunct professor at NYU Wagner where I teach courses on management, leadership, workplace effectiveness, and career development. My ongoing doctoral research explores models of leadership and management that center work communities grounded in belonging, learning, and performance. As the former Chief Impact Officer at Luminary, a global platform dedicated to advancing women through community, I built an innovative programming curriculum grounded in learning and community that has been critical in the organization’s success. I am proud to further my mission of better futures of work through my board service as the Communications Chair at Manhattan Country School and as board member for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.

Outside of work I am a parent to an adventurous, curious little human and partner to my better half. To feed my creativity I travel, explore food markets, dance in the kitchen, cook, and (most importantly) eat. To see what’s cooking, check out my Twitter feed.

Maribel Lara

Senior Vice President and Head of Consulting at The Sasha Group, A VaynerX Company

Maribel Lara

Senior Vice President and Head of Consulting at The Sasha Group, A VaynerX Company

Maribel is SVP, Head of Consulting at The Sasha Group a VaynerX company providing digital education, consulting and marketing services for early and growth stage businesses. She's been in the digital marketing space for 14 years after 8 years of work in higher education. Maribel is passionate about supporting women and immigrant communities and serves as an advisor to Luminary as well as a trustee to Central Queens Academy, a tuition free charter school in Queens, NY.

 

Erica Lerner

Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

Erica Lerner

Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

Erica Lerner is an experienced founder in the real estate and health and wellness industries, with a demonstrated history working in project finance, tax and corporate law, international tax, due diligence, and corporate structuring, as well as mergers and acquisitions. After nearly a decade of working in legal and corporate environments, most recently in mergers and acquisitions at Deloitte, Erica sought out new projects to foster her curiosity and develop her strengths and achieve independence.

In 2017 she co-founded Xtend Tribeca, a premier fitness studio and the first Manhattan location for Xtend Barre. Since Xtend Tribeca’s opening, Erica has been on a mission to provide a home for thousands of women looking for creative and effective workouts in a secure, safe, judgement-free setting. Erica is excited to continue her mission in her role as the Chief Operating Officer of Luminary and to develop a new home for thousands of professional women throughout New York City and beyond.

Mel Minyuan Liu

Vice President - Product Lead, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Mel Minyuan Liu

Vice President - Product Lead, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management

Mel Liu is a Vice President at J.P. Morgan Wealth Management. As a product leader, she is responsible for building and launching industry-leading client-facing products and innovative, personalized experiences across Chase and J.P. Morgan Wealth Management digital platforms. She sets the strategy and vision for products and personalized features that empower Chase clients to make smart financial decisions. 

Before entering the product management space, Mel was an established brand marketing leader. As Vice President of Brand & Advertising for JPMorgan Chase, she led strategic advertising and creative excellence for corporate social responsibility and diversity equity inclusion initiatives. During her tenure on the brand marketing team, she also spearheaded national and local paid campaigns as well as branded content partnerships with strategic media partners that improved the company’s brand trust and overall reputation. Her work highlighted the full impact JPMorgan Chase makes in advancing equality and in growing local economies with financial capital and community investments. 

Mel built her early career in the journalism and publishing industry working at the Associated Press in Beijing and Hearst in New York City. She grew up in Beijing and received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism with honors from Communication University of China. After her journalism career working at the Associated Press Beijing Bureau, she moved to NYC to pursue her master’s degree in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University. Mel also completed her MBA degree with Baruch College while working full-time at JPMorgan Chase.

As a longtime advocate for empowering women, Mel is a proud Advisory Board Member of Luminary—a premiere co-working space and collaboration hub for women passionate about professional development.

Cate Luzio

Founder and CEO, Luminary

Cate Luzio

Founder and CEO, Luminary

Leader. Advocate. Builder.

Cate Luzio spent two decades in financial services leading global multibillion-dollar businesses. During this time, she also led many of the institutions’ women’s networks and saw the disproportionate number of men to women and women of color in the senior ranks. She recognized the problem was a lack of investment and development of talent in the female pipeline, rather than a lack of talent itself.

This observation sparked a new direction for Luzio’s own trajectory. In a sharp career pivot, she wrote a business plan and set out on a new mission to help women see a path toward advancement by arming them with the tools, resources, and community to propel them to the top -- regardless of their professional journey.

In 2018, she launched and self-funded Luminary, a membership-based career and personal growth platform and collaboration hub created to address the systemic challenges impacting women across all industries and sectors. Luminary is the ultimate career advocate, uplifting and upscaling women through all phases of their professional journey -- in the workforce, entrepreneurship, and in transition - - by providing a vast eco-system of expert-led thought leadership programs, as well as in-person and virtual workshops and events. Members are comprised of a multigenerational and intersectional community of intrapreneurs, entrepreneurs, corporations, and organizations including UBS, WW, JPMorgan Chase, Unilever, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, Mastercard, and Heidrick & Struggles.

Prior to Luminary, Cate was Global Head of Multinational Corporate Banking for HSBC, managing more than 2,000 employees worldwide and prior to that, she served as Head of Multinational Corporate Banking at J.P. Morgan EMEA based in London. She spent her early years in Latin America with Bank of America across both consumer and wholesale banking. She started her career working in tech in China. Cate was named to American Banker's ‘Most Powerful Women in Banking' list multiple years in a row, is a three-time Financial Times Global Diversity Champion, and a two-time Yahoo Finance Diversity Hero. She remains committed to leveraging her extensive corporate experience to support and encourage women and push for gender equality and pay parity in the workplace.

Kyra Peralte

Creator of The Traveling Diary

Kyra Peralte

Creator of The Traveling Diary

Kyra Peralte is Creator of The Traveling Diary, a global storytelling experience for all women and Indie game maker of Mermaid Quest (available on iOS and Android). 

Kyra has spent the last two decades creating community for women using various mediums. And her latest venture, The Traveling Diary, is a notebook mailed from woman to woman across the globe collecting stories, memories and anything they wish to share with other women. The Traveling Diary has reached women all over the world who sign up to find authentic connection and look forward to being part of a sisterhood. 

 

Felicia (Fly) Stingone

Strategic Brand and Marketing Leader

Felicia (Fly) Stingone

Strategic Brand and Marketing Leader

Felicia (Fly) Stingone is a strategic brand and marketing leader who drives company growth by aligning brand strategy with financial goals. She brings her broad experience as an advisor, chief marketing officer, advertising executive, brand strategist, communications leader, investor, not-for-profit trustee, and fundraiser to her work. Most recently, Fly was Chief Brand Officer for S’well and co-founder of Fly Female Founders, a not-for-profit that supports women entrepreneur, which is now part of the growing Luminary community.