Meet Cate Luzio, Founder and CEO of Luminary

Cate Luzio

Founder and CEO

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.

Ruchita Sharma

Manager of People and Talent

Ruchita has her bachelors in engineering and  a masters in Business. She loves traveling and has been to 8 countries to date. Ruchita is an avid chess player (loves all board games), college level badminton player and a beginner at painting. On weekends, she practices transcendental meditation, painting and teaching math to 5 - 8 year olds. 

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

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 Ehrenreich

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!

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.

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 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. 

Shai Card

Membership Coordinator

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.

Tara Sylvester

Community Operations Manager

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.

Lysli Wu

Technical Product Manager

Brooke Little

Corporate Support Associate

Brooke is a mom of two girls, 7 and 9. She is happily married to her husband Kyle for 13 years and counting. Brooke has a fur baby named Oakley, who is a wild silver lab.

Lauren Mcarthur

Community Manager

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 Manager

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.

Shaday Fermin

Community Manager

Long time reproductive justice advocate, Shaday has worked in women’s rights and nonprofits for the past five years, and currently pivoting towards entrepreneurship and sex education.

Lyric Watson

Community Manager

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 Manager

Manuela Ramirez

Community Manager

Laura Simanynaitė

Corporate Partnerships Intern

Payten Slaughter

Legal Intern

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 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 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.

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 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 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 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

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 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 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.