Featured Contributors
Alex Dalrymple
Alex is a New Yorker born and raised. Like any good Jew, she attended Brandeis University and then traipsed off to South Africa to study post-apartheid transformation. Alex has interned with NARAL, The Advice Desk for the Abused and The Youth Empowerment Project (in South Africa). Currently she is interning on The Hill for Congressman Steve Israel from NY. She resides in Northwest DC and is neighbors with the zoo animals. She loves good food, good music, good movies, and a good book.
Latest: Top 10 New York Restaurants
Alicia
Alicia specializes in witty comebacks, socializing, bargain shopping and calling the Hogs. She graduated from the University of Arkansas with a BA in Broadcast Journalism. While she had great expectations of being the next Erin Andrews, the Broadcast degree has remained purposely unused. Instead, she has enjoyed post-college life working in multiple industries and has finally landed a position with her dream company. Born in Orlando, Florida, Alicia has lived in Baltimore, Tampa, San Juan, and Memphis but considers Northwest Arkansas home (and yes, we wear shoes and have teeth).
Alissa Orlando
Alissa is a senior at Georgetown University studying African Studies and International Business Diplomacy. After graduation, she will return to Africa, research in Latin America, go on a Euro-trip with her mother, and begin work at McKinsey & Company's DC office. She has an irrational love of late night spontaneous dance parties (preferably to 90's boy bands) and Velveeta mac and cheese.
Latest: Channeling the Comedy Goddesses
Allison Vuillaume
Allison grew up in the Parisian suburbs in France. She came to the US in 2009 and experienced life as a French immersion teacher in Miami, FL, before moving further north to DC. She has an MA in English and a Graduate Certificate in French Translation. Allison enjoys cooking, drawing, learning languages, and volunteering at the Holocaust Museum. She also has an obsession with ducks and with fixing her pronunciation mistakes in English.
Latest: 9 True Rules of Dieting
Arianne Price
Arianne Price is a sophomore at Georgetown University studying international politics and business diplomacy. Born and raised in sunny Arizona, her childhood hobbies included tap dancing and wearing sunscreen. When she grows up, she'd like to practice international law, cook without setting off the fire alarm, and make her parents proud.
Betsy Lynch
Betsy recently graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in Journalism and Spanish. She is currently working in DC with Smithsonian Folkways, wedding planning, and nannying a newborn. She enjoys trying to speak in Italian, reading Jane Austen, listening to music suggested by friends, and riding her miniature vespa.
Bridget Stubblefield
Bridget is a native Midwesterner, born and raised right outside of St. Louis, Missouri. She has recently uprooted to Washington D.C. after receiving a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.
Latest: Women to Know: Angela Merkel
Callie Thompson
Born and raised in sunny Phoenix, AZ, Callie got quite the culture shock when she found herself in Western Massachusetts at Amherst College for four years. There she received a B.A. in American Studies and Spanish and learned what a winter coat was. Since moving to DC, Callie has worked in government relations, public affairs, and digital media. Callie also serves as the Co- Director of Events for the Women’s Energy Network, DC Chapter and on the Young Professionals Committee of the DC Public Education Fund. She completed her Master’s Degree in Political Management at George Washington University last May. When not at work, you can find Callie running in Rock Creek Park, attempting to be a yogi, cheering on her beloved Arizona sports teams, and aspiring to one day live in a dog friendly building in DC.
Latest: Who RUNs the World? Girls.
Caroline Wren
Caroline Wren currently lives and works in Washington, DC as a National Political Fundraiser for Republican candidates and committees. Caroline Wren’s political experience includes campaigns on the presidential, gubernatorial, congressional, and local levels. Most recently she served as the Southeast Finance Director for the Jon Huntsman for President campaign. Prior to that, Caroline served as the Director of Major Donors for GOPAC, Deputy Director of Accounts Receivable for the McCain/Palin 08 campaign and Finance Assistant for the Bradley Byrne for Governor campaign in Alabama. Caroline earned her Bachelor of Science Degrees in Economics and Political Science from Auburn University where she was Chairman of the Auburn University College Republicans. Caroline is a native of Austin, TX.
Latest: The Fate of The Senate
carriealford
Carrie Ann Alford, originally from Chicago, has over 15 years experience as a writer, and a campaign staffer and consultant with Blue Dog Democrats, a now-endangered species. She is also a published novelist (Click). She is currently finishing a Master's degree in Legislative Affairs from the Graduate School of Political Management at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Her dog is anxiously anticipating her graduation, as long walks in the park and road trips have been promised.
Latest: Veep, Knee-deep In Stereotypes
Catherine Servati
You can take the girl out of Mississippi, but you can't take the Mississippi out of the girl.
Latest: Photo of the Day
Cendahl
Cendahl is an elementary school special education teacher at a public school in Washington DC. She firmly believes in unicorns, fairies and griffins. She is also a dyslexic atheist and spends nights awake pondering the existence of Dog. Cendahl is sometimes accompanied on her adventures by her own personal friendly giant, E, who remains her cure for writer's block.
Chante
Chante Thomas-Hood born in Plattsburgh, New York and raised in Niceville, Florida is a jewel to the literary world. She is an online editor, recognized member of the National Writers Association, American Business Women Association, and content contributor. She has developed her love for writing over the years by blogging, ghost writing three published books, and her own fiction book titled Adalia. In addition to her writing interest, she is a dynamic public speaker who has encouraged people of all ages through seminars, retreats, conferences, and workshops. Her leadership and inspiration have earned her the admiration and respect of her professional peers and community. As a wife and mother of a 2-year old, she has continued to demonstrate that her priorities and ambitions reflect the foundation principles of being successful in today’s society.
Latest: The Show Must Go On
Chrissy Ziccarelli
Chrissy is an environmentalist by day, amateur pizza chef by night, and comedy nerd all the time. Originally from Chicago, Chrissy now happily bikes the streets of Washington DC. She holds a B.S. in Economics from Duke University and thoroughly believes everything can be turned into an Excel spreadsheet.
Christina Arregoces
Christina was born in northern Virginia, and though she currently goes to school in the Southwest, she sometimes (okay, often) pretends she’s still actually on the East Coast. For a while, she also pretended she wouldn’t be an English major once she got to college, but three weeks into pursuing a Justice Studies degree, she found herself trying to move her bed into the Language and Literature building, so there went that. Apparently, she pretends a lot – but that’s okay, because one day she hopes to put it all to use as a fiction writer. Slash firefighter. (Wait, that last part was pretend, too).
Christine Balistreri
Colleen Crinion
Colleen Crinion is a progressive activist and pop culture lover. She earned her M.A. in Sociology from American University, focusing on gender, family, sexuality and media. She is a member of the Women’s Information Network (WIN), a pro-choice, Democratic women’s organization, and a volunteer with the D.C. Abortion Fund. She has been published in Ms. Magazine and the Virginian Pilot. Colleen currently lives in Washington, DC.
Diana Tsai
Diana is a crowdfunding consultant based in DC and Shanghai. She develops consulting services for start-ups, creatives, and SMEs to raise funds via crowd-funding sites.
Dr. Guy Clifton
Dr. Guy L. Clifton is a practitioner as well as a policy advocate. He is the author of Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine.
Elle Kaplan
Elle Kaplan is the CEO and Founding Partner of Lexion Capital Management, one of the only 100% woman-owned asset management firms in the US. A self-made entrepreneur, Elle arrived in NYC with $200 and no job. Since then, she worked her way up Wall Street and earned her Executive MBA in Finance from Columbia University. Throughout her career, Elle envisioned a higher standard in finance that would empower clients and serve their best interests. She founded Lexion Capital Management in 2010 to set that standard. Her goal is to build a more ethical, more transparent, more inclusive Wall Street. Elle’s expertise has been sought out by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and CNN Money, among many others.
Erin Gold
Erin steers clear of being in the kitchen at all costs. Until she moved to Tunisia this past fall, she had successfully avoided cooking anything more complex than spaghetti (just the noodles mind you, not the sauce). However, for almost every other non-cooking related topic, Erin has an unquenchable curiosity and consequently, has a habit of bombarding many a poor soul with too many questions. After she recently graduated with a degree in International Studies from Dickinson College, she decided to try her hand at teaching English in the Middle East, her area of concentration. When she is not preparing lesson plans or planning a new trip, Erin enjoys drinking coffee, playing with stray kittens, and day-dreaming of all the places she wants to see and live one day.
Latest: Photo of the Day: Shipping Out
Erin Schaff
Erin is a professional career juggler. She splits her time between Clifton Consulting, Running Start, and many coffee shops in DC. Erin is wary of the twitter but can be found @erinschaff.
Holly
Holly is an aspiring writer who recently graduated from Dickinson College with a degree in English. She just made the leap from small town to big city and is interning in Washington, D.C. during the week, being a tourist on the weekends, and trying to figure it all out in between.
Jaimie Crawford
Armed with a degree in Business and Marketing from the University of Maine in Orono and year of travel and soul-searching; Jaimie Crawford has made her way back to small town NH to make a career out of having fun. When she’s not skiing, trying to cook outrageous recipes from Pinterest and training for a tri-athalon, she works as a Marketing Coordinator for a regional chamber of commerce, freelance writer and as a waitress…(let’s face it, as a young professional, you’re lucky if you only have one job!)
Jane Zitomer
Jane is a senior at Brandeis University, where she is studying
Psychology and Journalism. She is face-paint supporter and quotation
collector. She realized that Boston wasn’t Arizona (her hometown)
after she fell into the Charles River during her short-lived college
sailing team career. Jane divides her time between classes and taking
photos of unusual things she finds in the city (of which there are
many).
Jessica Cooper
Jessica hails from Northern Virginia, but tells most people she's from D.C. because it's easier. Working on her degrees in English and Political Science, she enjoys reading, making new friends, traveling, talking about traveling and talking in general.
Jessica Grounds
Jessica Grounds is the Executive Director of Running Start and Principal Strategist for Solid Grounds Strategy, a political consultancy that builds effective campaigns for women. In her various roles she has helped the campaigns of hundreds of women seeking elected office.
Julia Cole
Julia grew up in Western New York and moved further south to DC to expand her horizons in grad school. She has a BA in French and Italian, has lived in Europe, and just completed a graduate certificate in French Translation. She enjoys striped shirts, proper spelling, and spending time with her cat, Dolce. Julia also has an unhealthy obsession with any and all BRAVO TV shows, and will happily carry on a conversation about the Real Housewives with any interested takers.
Latest: 10 Refrigerator Rules to Dating
Julie Alderman
Julie was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y. and is having fun adjusting to city life in Washington, D.C. In addition to making obscure references to 30 Rock and Arrested Development, Julie enjoys food, college basketball and drinking way too much coffee.
Kate Strangfeld
A huge foodie and health nut, Kate has applied her passions to both her personal and professional life. From writing her own personal food blog and co-founding a healthy restaurant at her college campus to interning at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to combat childhood obesity, Kate is interested in everything from politics to body image when it comes to health and food. A trained chef and recent graduate of Middlebury College (VT), Kate loves to ski, enjoy the outdoors, knit, and do Crossfit.
Kate Villa
Kate is currently studying Theater and Art History at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, though she left her heart in her hometown of Washington, DC. She spends most of her days throwing caution to the wind, singing with passing birds, eating donuts, and ruining nice pictures by making unbelievably weird faces.
Latest: Let Them Stare At Cake
Kate.Carter
Kate Carter is a copywriter joining us from Atlanta, Georgia. She spends the majority of her time split between misunderstanding people and explaining sarcasm to her mother.
Katie Shorey
Katie Shorey is the Program Director for Clifton Consulting LLC where she helps build training programs and communication strategies for clients. Prior to joining Clifton Consulting, she was a program associate for the Partnership for Public Service, working on the Excellence in Government Fellows Program with the Center for Government Leadership. Her previous internships include Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), EMILY’s List, and Running Start. She spends her free time training for triathlons, enjoying DC’s restaurant scene, and amusing her friends.
Latest: 10 Tips for the Travel-Saavy
Manisha Thakor
I am the Founder and CEO of MoneyZen Wealth Management, a boutique financial advisory firm serving women and families. Known for making the complex simple, I share clear and concise financial advice to support your life goals. In addition to providing financial planning and investment management for client portfolios ranging from $1 to $10+ million, I am the co-author of two personal finance books: ON MY OWN TWO FEET and GET FINANCIALLY NAKED. My work has been featured in many media outlets including CNN, CNBC, NPR and The Wall Street Journal. I earned my MBA from Harvard Business School, am a Chartered Financial Analyst ("CFA") charterholder and serve as a Financial Fellow at Wellesley College. This blog chronicles my quest to identify simple, joyful methods that we can all use to feel calmer and more balanced in our relationship to our money. Here’s hoping these short pieces will help you craft a uniquely rich and rewarding life. To your MoneyZen!
Marjorie Clifton
Marjorie Clifton is principal of Clifton Consulting LLC and a frequent political commentator for Fox and CNN. As a consultant, Marjorie has over 16 years of communications, media, and public affairs experience. Her work has spanned both the public and private sector, advising organizations on their strategic planning, communications, fundraising, and outreach strategies.
Her passion is expanding women's leadership and inspiring political participation. As part of this work, she builds and leads global training programs in media, communications, leadership, advocacy, political activism, and organizing. Her projects have spanned five continents and nearly all fifty states.
Mary Kate Cunningham
Mary Kate was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona and has lived in DC since 2005. After working on the Hill for several years she now works in government relations for the association community. She has a Masters in Strategic Security Studies from the National Defense University, and while she doesn't use her degree for work, she finds that international conflict theory comes in handy for relationships in DC. Mary Kate is a member of the Young Professionals Committee of the DC Public Education Fund and the Junior Council in support of Children's National Medical Center.
Latest: Off the Record- Find a Sponsor
Olivia S
Photo of the Day
rough day at the office
Roxanne Goldberg
Samantha Gregory
Samantha grew up in Western New York and Central New Jersey. She currently resides in Fort Worth, TX where she enjoys traveling, all things culinary and spending time with her black Labrador and her live-in chef, otherwise known as her boyfriend.
Latest: Growing Up, My Own Way
Sasha E
Sasha Evans is the Strategic Relationship Manager at a large professional services firm in DC. She is a native Texan who has previously worked on Presidential campaigns and as a political appointee in the Bush Administration. She bleeds burnt orange and spends way too much money on shoes.
Sophia Boyer
Sophia is completing her studies in Government at Georgetown University. In between Smithsonian hopping and reciting lines from The West Wing, she finds herself writing speeches for presidents yet unelected.
Latest: Photo of the Day: To Brunch
Sultana Khan
Does awkward robot with charming frequency. Sometimes snorts when laughing. Judgmental, in a cute way. Not a fan of uninvited hugging.
Susannah Shakow
Susannah is the Founder and President of Running Start, a nonprofit that educates young women and girls about the importance of politics, and imbues them with the skills they need to be leaders, giving women the “running start” they need to achieve greater political power.
taraleigh
Tara Leigh Emnett is a true Army wife, mother of a 3-year old, and ambitious professional. Originally from northwest Florida, she is currently stationed with her husband at Fort Rucker in the southeast corner of Alabama. She has worked in city and county government since 2006 and recently chose to branch out to pursue her love of politics, womens empowerment, and military quality of life issues. She is the very recent co-founder of Progressions Public Relations and Consulting (PPRC), LLC. She has a BA in English/Creative Writing and a MS in International Relations,.
The Couch Potatoes
Katelyn and Warner were married in October of 2011 and currently reside in Memphis, Tennessee. Despite their passions for all things cultured, they pride themselves on being television aficionados. Whether they're watching Modern Family or True Blood, or anything in between, these two are the ultimate couch potatoes.
Tricia King
Tricia is a Virginia native and a recent graduate of Washington and Lee University who currently works in media buying.
Latest: New Year, New Reads
