HER NEXT

📅 Calendar – Sunday, Oct 11

⏰ Clock – 6 PM CET / 12 PM ET

🌐 Virtual Event

Two hours of small-group career conversations with 12 incredible women from around the world. You'll have the opportunity to participate in three-20 minute mentor sessions and ask the career questions you actually want answered. 

EMILY HUNT

Brand & Retail Strategy | Marketing | Career Development

CATHERINE HARDWICKE

Film & Television | Directing | Creative Careers

MIA HERMAN

International Careers | Relocation | Travel & Culture

Mia is a relocation consultant and travel writer who has spent more than a decade exploring and writing about life and culture around the world. As founder of New 2 Portugal, she helps Americans navigate the practical and personal realities of moving abroad. Having lived in France, England, Japan and Portugal, Mia brings firsthand insight into international moves, adapting to new cultures and creating a life and career across borders.

TINA EXARHOS

Brand Strategy | Media & Entertainment | Leadership

Tina is an award-winning brand and content executive whose three-decade career spans television, film, music and digital media. Now Chief Brand Officer of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, she previously served as Chief Content Officer at NowThis and Chief Marketing Officer at MTV. Tina brings deep experience in creative leadership, building and reinventing iconic brands, navigating the media industry and using storytelling to create cultural and social impact.

KATHRYN WEICHEL

Growth & Marketing | International Impact | Squiggly Career

Kathryn is a marketing, communications and growth leader whose 25+ year “squiggly career” has spanned agencies, global brands, startups and mission-driven organizations. She spent 10 years living and working in Kenya and is now based in Spain. Kathryn is especially interested in helping women navigate career pivots, identify and communicate their professional value, work internationally and build careers around their evolving strengths, ambitions and priorities.

CHERRYL MARTINS

Global Marketing | Digital Transformation | International Leadership

Cherryl is a global marketing and digital transformation leader currently serving as Banking Communications Lead at the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. Her international career has included leadership roles across the U.S., U.K. and EMEA for companies including Barclays, Pearson, Viacom and Marsh. Cherryl brings extensive experience in global business, marketing and communications, navigating large organizations and building a career across industries and international markets.

SARAH FRANÇOIS-PONCET

Executive Leadership | Law | Career Development

Sarah is an executive coach and consultant who helps individuals and teams around the world achieve their professional potential. Previously, she spent a decade as Global General Counsel of Chanel, overseeing a 150-person legal team across 15 countries and advising senior leadership on strategy and ethics. With a career spanning international law, C-suite leadership and executive coaching, Sarah offers a unique perspective on leadership, career development, navigating transitions and building an international career.

BAHAREH AZIZI

STEM | Strategy & Transformation | Career Pivots

Bahareh is a scientist and strategist whose career has evolved from biochemistry and academic research into senior leadership, consulting and community development. Her international career has included roles with Georgia Tech, the Dasman Diabetes Institute and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, and she later co-founded strategy consultancy InfoCap Associates. Bahareh brings particular insight into STEM careers, career transitions, strategy, organizational leadership and building a multidisciplinary career.

MIMI CARTER

Entrepreneurship | Venture Capital | Women Founders

Mimi is an investor and advisor active in Los Angeles’ entrepreneurial and venture community. A partner at Carterus Strategies and former director of Pasadena Angels, she has extensive experience evaluating and supporting early-stage companies and helping women founders gain access to capital, visibility and mentorship. Mimi brings firsthand insight into entrepreneurship, fundraising, investing, building professional networks and what it takes to turn an idea into a fundable business.

CRISTINA ANDRADE

Cristina is a U.S. federal government policy advisor focused on transatlantic relations and migration policy. Her international career has taken her from sustainability work at Amazon and combating illegal wildlife trade at Interpol to the European Commission and investment strategy at the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. Cristina brings a distinctive perspective on international careers, public service and moving between government, multilateral institutions and the private sector.

KEESHA JEAN-BAPTISTE

People & Culture | Organizational Change | Leadership

Keesha is a C-suite leader and organizational change consultant whose career has spanned advertising, media and global luxury, including roles at Digitas, Wieden + Kennedy, Hearst Magazines and Richemont. Today, through The People + Culture Method, she helps organizations navigate transformation, develop leaders and unlock talent. Keesha brings a people-centered perspective to leadership, career development, navigating workplace change and building a professional path grounded in authenticity and purpose.

SUMA SHAMANNA

Cybersecurity & AI | Entrepreneurship | Technology Leadership

Suma is a technology and cybersecurity leader whose career spans entrepreneurship, education and civic engagement. She advises startups and entrepreneurs on strategy, growth and organizational development while also teaching Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence to engineering and master’s students. Suma brings particular insight into technology careers, cybersecurity and AI, entrepreneurship, navigating growth and translating technical expertise into leadership and impact.

MARINA CATALA

Marina is an award-winning television editor, producer, and filmmaker with more than two decades of experience in post-production. Her work spans scripted television, unscripted programming, comedy, and independent film, with credits including Netflix’s The Four Seasons, Survival of the Thickest, and Girls5eva, CBS’s The Amazing Race, NBC’s The Biggest Loser, and truTV’s Impractical Jokers, where she served as an executive producer for nine seasons.

Over the course of her career, Marina has worked across nearly every facet of post-production, including picture editing, producing, visual effects, online finishing, and post supervision. After an extensive career in unscripted television, she transitioned into scripted comedy, working on acclaimed series including Girls5eva, Survival of the Thickest, and The Four Seasons. She most recently served as an editor on the third season of Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest. Marina also produces and edits independent narrative projects, bringing both an editorial eye and a deep understanding of the filmmaking process to her work.

Marina earned her MFA in Film Editing from the American Film Institute Conservatory and is a professor of film at the New York Film Academy, where she teaches the next generation of filmmakers the craft, technology, and storytelling principles of post-production.

CAROLYN HERZOG

Carolyn is a Board Director and C-Suite executive with over 25 years of broad technology experience in multinational companies, having worked across the U.S. and in other countries.  Currently, Carolyn is Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary of Elastic (ESTC). For Elastic, Carolyn is responsible globally for all legal, regulatory, compliance and public affairs matters and provides strategic counsel to the CEO, Board and leadership team on a broad range of corporate, commercial and regulatory issues. Elastic is headquartered in the Netherlands and is traded on the NYSE. 

Prior to Elastic, Carolyn was the EVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer for Arm Ltd. Before Arm, Carolyn was the VP, Deputy GC and CCO for Symantec Corporation (SYMC), which she joined through the acquisition of AXENT Technologies, Inc. (AXNT), where she led the transaction as GC.  Prior to her legal career, Carolyn worked in the Africa Department of The World Bank in Washington, D.C. 

Carolyn has served on a number of non-profit, advisory and subsidiary boards.  She has been recognized numerous times for her business leadership, most recently as an NACD Directorship 100, by 50 Women to Watch for Boards and as a Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology by the National Diversity Awards.

JU NAMKUNG

Bio coming soon.

DANI FOLLETT

Dani is an Associate Professor of American literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, Immediate Past Chair of Democrats Abroad France. I have mentored young people for many years, both within academia and within Democrats Abroad. In today's world, mentorship is essential for young people as they are seeking their orientation in a complex landscape. It is a great pleasure and honor to be able to share some of my experience and to help young people find their way.

ROXANA GRIEVE

Roxana is a real estate development executive in the Washington D.C. region. Professionally, she serves as Director of Real Estate Development at Skanska Commercial Development USA, where she currently leads the development and asset management of mixed-use assets with a heavy focus on luxury multifamily.

She started her career in the industry on the construction side as a project manager for Whiting-Turner. Her total project portfolio exceeds $500MM across mixed-use, multifamily, hospitality and higher-education, and it  includes 1.2MM GSF of mixed used assets, 50,000 GSF of retail, more than 1,200 hotel key, and more than 1,000 luxury apartment units delivered. She serves on the NoMa BID board since 2026 and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and CREW DC.

Roxana earned her architecture degree from Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas, Venezuela, and holds an MBA from the University of Maryland, College Park.

LIBBY JAMISON

Libby is an attorney and advocate based in Marrakech, Morocco. She is the founder and principal attorney at E. Grace Law Firm PLLC. Prior to her current practice, Libby served as Senior Advisor to Dr. Jill Biden's Joining Forces initiative at the White House and as senior counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2024, she served on the legal team at the Democratic National Committee and then on the Harris-Walz campaign as National Engagement Director for Veterans and Military Families. As a proud Navy brat and the sister to two U.S. Marines, she has a strong commitment to veterans and military families, and currently serves as the Chair of the Democrats Abroad Global Veterans and Military Families Caucus.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejamisonesq/

MELANIE CARTER

Melanie is a Senior Instructor at the American University in Cairo, where she teaches academic and creative writing. The recipient of AUC's Teaching Excellence award, she has also served as the Director of the University's Common Reading Experience and currently serves as the Associate Chair of the Rhetoric and Composition Department. She has an MA in English and an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry) from the University of Alabama. Her poems have been published in The Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, and other literary journals, and early in her career was shortlisted for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. Currently she is at work on a poetry manuscript.

ANNA GARCIA

Anna is a global Talent Acquisition leader whose career has taken her from supporting high-growth organizations across APAC to leading international talent strategies from Europe. She has played a key role in building and scaling teams, including supporting the establishment of new offices across Asia, and has recruited talent within complex industries such as SaaS, telecommunications, and technology. Her experience spans both fast-growing scale-ups and large multinational organizations, giving her a broad perspective on business growth, organizational transformation, and workforce strategy. Holding degrees in Psychology and International Business, Anna combines commercial insight with a deep understanding of people and what drives them. She is known for building strong, lasting relationships by taking the time to understand individuals, their motivations, and their aspirations, creating meaningful connections that drive both personal and organizational success. 

MYRIAM JURABE

Myriam is an education professional with twenty-four years of teaching experience in both public and private school settings. Throughout her career, she has taught in Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, Ohio, London, and Brooklyn, New York.

She spent the last fourteen years of her career at a prestigious New York City independent school, where she designed and taught the Primary Division’s first Spanish as a World Language program.

Her passion for language education, cultural understanding, and global connections continues in retirement in Spain. She currently volunteers with the NGO Málaga Acoge, providing educational support to migrant children.

ALISE MUNSON

Alise is an experienced marketing, brand, and communications specialist with a passion for promoting startup culture as both a founder and advocate. She began her career as a journalist at The Oregonian in Portland before making the leap into the advertising world.

Her career then took her to LAIKA, the award-winning stop-motion animation studio, where she worked on brand strategy for feature films and commercial animation.

Most recently, Alise made the move from Oregon to Frankfurt, Germany, where she serves as Director of Marketing and Communications at an innovation hub supporting startups and entrepreneurs.

SALLY DESIPIO

Sally is Chair of the Global Women’s Caucus for Democrats Abroad. Prior to that she was Chair of Portugal. Prior to getting involved in political organizing, Sally spent 25 years in entertainment and marketing as an executive producer in television. She started her career at MTV Networks in New York City, and then moved to Los Angeles and learned the rules of Hollywood. She developed and produced award-winning shows, including VH-1’s Behind the Music, Rock the Vote, and Unreal. She moved to Portugal with her husband and two dogs in September 2022 and is committed to organizing women to vote around the world.