Our Team
Christine Mariconda
Founder | Executive Director
Chief Content Strategist
Click here to learn more about our founder and the genesis of Spotlight Ukraine.
Spotlight Ukraine founder, Christine Mariconda, was born as “Christine Shevchenko” in East Orange, NJ, to Ukrainian immigrant parents. Her parents, who fled Ukraine as young children during WWII, faced immense challenges while journeying through Europe to find a safe haven. After the war, they arrived in the US with no money or personal possessions, like many WWII immigrants, and initially faced hardships in their new life. Christine’s parents met as adults and remained closely connected to the vibrant Ukrainian immigrant community in the NY/NJ area.
Growing up in New York, Christine was deeply immersed in Ukrainian culture. Her family frequently spoke Ukrainian at home, attended Ukrainian festivals and cultural events, and enjoyed traditional Ukrainian cuisine. While Christine embraced her Ukrainian heritage, she also had a typical American upbringing. She pursued a marketing degree in college and went on to establish a successful career in marketing and communications. Currently, she holds the position of Founder & Managing Director at Marketing Now, a strategic marketing communications company.
Christine’s deep connection to her Ukrainian heritage and close ties to the Ukrainian community amplified her concern upon witnessing the invasion and ongoing war in Ukraine. Driven to make a difference and contribute her expertise, she embarked on launching Spotlight Ukraine. Collaborating with exceptional creative, marketing, and communications professionals from around the world, Christine’s longstanding colleagues readily joined her in bringing Spotlight Ukraine to life. They provided valuable assistance with content strategy, logo design, web design, and production. Although Spotlight Ukraine is in its early stages, its mission remains resolute: to make a difference.
The goals of Spotlight Ukraine are threefold:
- Help maintain awareness and garner support for Ukraine through personal storytelling.
- Celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Ukraine, promoting and preserving its distinct identity.
- Raise funds for nonprofit organizations aiding Ukrainians affected by the war. Spotlight Ukraine achieves this by showcasing the incredible work of these nonprofits through their blog, social channels, and digital communications. Additionally, they raise funds through the Spotlight Ukraine shop, which offers Ukrainian-inspired merchandise.
Click here to learn more about our mission and what Spotlight Ukraine is all about.
Debbie Albin
Website Development
Nancy Burns
Communications
Marguerite Martakis
Copy Editing
Strategic Advisory | Creative Direction
Brand Real
Learning Learning Architects, LLC
Vasken Kalayjian
Co-Founder & President, Global Head of Design and Branding
Jacqueline Karaaslanian
Co-Founder & CEO
Tiziano Bollettini
Creative Director
Mariella Liberati
Account Director
Emily Shore
Content Strategist, Copy Writer
Content Advisory & Contributors
Content Strategy & Marketing Consulting.
Click right for Suzy's bio
Suzy Kedzierski is a marketing communications professional, a people connector, ideas generator, and writer at heart. For over 20 years, she led a communications team in “the fun stuff”—conceiving and producing all the mar-comm programs for a biotech firm.
Beyond the diversity of projects, creative outlet, and opportunity to work with talented co-workers, distributors and vendors from across the globe, she took pride in knowing the company’s lab equipment was being used to research and develop drugs, vaccines and more, improving human and animal healthcare. It’s there that she first collaborated with Marketing Now agency owner and SpotlightUkraine.com founder, Christine Mariconda.
Today, Suzy is a consultant and writer, supporting select clients ranging from travel incentive marketing to the art world. The invaluable knowledge gained and friendships forged over her career are now finding a renewed sense of purpose, helping Ukrainians near and far.
Mélina Garibyan
Change and Impact Agent
StoryAtelier GmbH
Click right for Melina's bio
Mélina Garibyan is a trained communications manager specialized in intercultural communication. After her studies in communication sciences and philosophy she worked in renowned advertising agencies such as Boros and Palmer Hargreaves. The social storytelling agency StoryAtelier she cofounded in 2015 facilitates group workshops to find, tell and craft personal stories with a special focus on digital storytelling and narrative methods. Mélina also works as facilitator and consultant for sustainability management, communication and corporate culture within her agency ImpactAgents. in 2019 she co-founded the company baam!, a holistic accelerator for good based in Armenia.
Social commitment is close to her heart, which is why she has been involved in the social project SideWalkTalk as a city leader since 2018.
In 2020, she started her advanced training to become a futurist.
Mélina loves to integrate classical concepts and experimental ideas into her work which makes every approach unique.
Privately Mélina is a half Latvian, half French mother of two kids married to an Armenian. Diversity, contrasts and experiments have always been the emphasis of her life.
Join Our Team
Spotlight Ukraine is on a mission to help Ukraine preserve its sovereignty and distinct cultural identity. We’re just getting started and are commited to making a difference. Visit What We Do to learn more. If you’re interesting in supporting Spotlight Ukraine through written contributions, donating a design for our shop, or in other ways, please contact us now.