An accomplished sustainable systems expert, Stacy is committed to developing innovative fiber technologies that reduce textile waste and preserve natural resources. Under Stacy’s leadership, Evrnu is working to solve the most pressing challenges facing the global textile and apparel industry. In 2019 Evrnu debuted NuCycl, a technology that transforms garment waste into a resource by recovering the raw materials for reuse.

Evrnu has been recognized as an organization making notable contributions to the circular economy as well as being named in 2018 Fast Company World Changing Ideas.

Stacy is a TEDx and keynote speaker and a passionate voice of authority advocating for materials reuse for sustainability in textiles. She is an Unreasonable Impact Fellow, along with a cohort of CEOs that are advancing other world changing ideas.

Prior to founding the company in 2014 with her business partner Christo Stanev, Stacy worked as a global textile specialist for nearly two decades in roles at DuPont, Eddie Bauer and Target.

She holds an MBA in Sustainable Systems from Presidio Graduate Institute and a Bachelor of Science degree in Textile Development and Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

She spent the first half of her career as a Wall Street analyst before she joined the The RealReal as VP of Business Development. After 3 years and 100M later, she joined Entrupy pre-revenue and helped launch an instant authentication solution for luxury handbags using AI and machine learning. Most recently she launched and ran the luxury leather goods vertical at StockX, a marketplace for consumer luxury products that grew to over one billion GMV in less than 3 years.

After 28 years, Filter was successfully acquired in 2019 by a global digital agency holding company where she is currently an advisor. Over the years, Filter has employed thousands of creative professionals and partnered with premier brands including Nike, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and REI.

Outside of Filter, Kristin in an investor in many private companies, with an emphasis in design-related industries and real estate. She’s passionate about emerging technology and the changing world of work and also enjoys advising business owners and working on multiple social causes and non-profit organizations, especially those empowering women.

She has 2 teenage boys, is a hot-yoga addict, likes to travel and constantly has a home in a state of remodel-construction.

What began as simple, four-table lunch spot in Pike Place Market over 20 years ago is now a leader in the PNW catering industry.

Since the inception, Leinonen has strategically and thoughtfully expanded her company to offer full-service social and event catering, a retail line of gourmet salad dressings, and a successful Corporate Café division, which develops and provides gourmet grab-and-go dining options to large and mid-sized companies and their employees.  She has successfully elevated the box lunch experience to a gourmet level and delivers over 4,000 carefully curated meals per day, and growing Gourmondo to an impressive $14 million+ food business that is on track to exceed the $18M mark at the end of 2019.

Leinonen launched Gourmondo with the vision of creating a business that offered high-quality, fresh, local ingredients from the best purveyors while infusing her deep personal and professional commitment to family and to the importance of giving back to her employees and to the community. This philosophy is at the core of Gourmondo’s business strategy and is incorporated into all aspects of the company through generous philanthropic donations and partnerships, family-friendly production schedules and daily family lunch, employment and promotion opportunities and mentoring youth who are at-risk to help them thrive. 

Leinonen was honored as a Puget Sound Business Journal “40 Under 40” in 2008 and was a proud WBO Nellie Cashman Award finalist in 2016. In June of 2019, Alissa received the PNW EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the “Unstoppable” category. Gourmondo has been listed as one of the top women owned businesses and fastest growing companies in the PNW multiple years in the Puget Sound Business Journal.

With an emphasis on natural design, simple geometries, and uncompromising quality, Oak & Melanin’s work connects the imaginative with the practical, resulting in a uniquely warm and honest aesthetic.

Since the launch of our studio in 2016, O&M has embraced an organic and collaborative approach to design; an approach that is equally inspired by the old and the new, by digital technologies and analogue traditions. O&M’s naturalistic, hands-on approach to design and production has allowed the brand to create a unified aesthetic across a growing range of companies, and partnerships. including: brand identity, strategy, photography, and marketing.

Melissa has spent the last 20 years in talent acquisition all of it in the tech space.

She relocated to the Pacific Northwest 16 years ago when she joined Microsoft where she spent 10 years leading recruiting for the sales organization. Following Microsoft, she worked 6 years at Google in various staffing roles, ultimately leading sourcing for Google Cloud before heading to Amazon. Melissa is passionate about talent, hiring the right people to ensure strong business results while maintaining the company’s culture and tenants; candidate experience as regardless of the outcome we always hope our candidates will remain our customers; and Diversity and Inclusion as that is at the core infinitely important to all businesses.

When not working, you can find Melissa spending time with her husband in their home in Issaquah, cheering on her son on the soccer field, watching her daughter ride her horses or whipping up culinary creations in the kitchen with her oldest son. She loves a good glass of wine, a great book, cheering on Notre Dame Football and hanging out with her 2 golden retrievers.

MDC Event Group specializes in designing and executing events with large international corporations and non-profits. Melanie brings extensive event planning experience and her biggest passions include creating unique settings that foster teambuilding, personal and professional development and bringing together communities of practice. Melanie is proud to act as Executive Producer of this retreat in partnership with Her Story.

Prior to founding MDC Event Group in 2012, Melanie worked in various project management, communications and leadership engagement roles at Unilever, one of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies. Melanie began her career at Sotheby’s and was responsible for Risk Management. Melanie holds an MBA in Operations Management & Strategy from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History & Finance from The Catholic University of America.

Melanie moved to Washington from the East Coast in 2015 and enjoys her time exploring the PNW with her husband, daughter and identical twin sons. When she’s not spending time with her horses and dogs on her small farm located in the Cascades, Melanie can be found at her Seabrook home with her family and friends.