LEADERSHIP TEAM
MARTI SPERANZA WONG
Founder, Executive Director & Board Chair
Marti is deeply devoted to women’s empowerment. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Amplify Her Foundation and Amplify Her. Both organizations share the mission of supporting women from underserved communities to become transformative changemakers. Amplify Her Foundation partners with community-led organizations that build the economic and social power of women and girls through leadership programs, educational opportunities, career training and development. Amplify Her addresses women’s underrepresentation in elected offices by advising candidates, recruiting committed campaign volunteers and registering new voters. Prior to Amplify Her, Marti served as Director of Women Entrepreneurs (WE) NYC, a New York City initiative launching and managing innovative programs on access to capital and mentorship. Marti’s first role in NYC government was Director of Strategic Initiatives for New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs, the agency tasked with enforcement of consumer protection laws and empowerment of low-income New Yorkers. Marti was elected as Democratic State Committeewoman for the 74th Assembly District, was appointed to Manhattan's Community Board 5 and has served on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity NYC and the RTW Foundation. In 2022, Marti was recognized by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson with a Proclamation for her work in the Community and in 2023 Marti was honored by City & State as one of 'The Responsible 100: New Yorkers serving the common good.' Marti studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and earned her Masters of Business Administration from Harvard University.
Colonel Julia Coxen
Board Vice Chair
Colonel Julia Oh Coxen is the Deputy Department Head of the Department of Systems Engineering at the US Military Academy at West Point. She earned her PhD in Operations Research (OR) from the University of Michigan and two masters degrees from Columbia University from their department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. Julia is a Distinguished Military Graduate from the University of Pennsylvania where she majored in Systems Engineering and minored in Music. Julia was also among the top 50 finalists out of 18,000+ applicants for the NASA astronaut selection in 2017. Julia is a senior-rated jumpmaster that commanded three times at the company level and also commanded a battalion in the US Special Operations Command. She was commissioned in the Signal Corps and started her career in Korea. She continued to serve in various leadership and staff positions from being a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division to leading troops as a signal officer to deploying multiple times overseas in support of the Global War on Terror. She also taught in the Department of Systems Engineering at West Point from 2007-2010. She served the following years with the U.S. Special Operations Command from 2010-2018 near Washington D.C. working extensively with interagency partners and the intelligence community. She commanded two different Troops, served as an Executive Officer, and also deployed in key roles for a brigade sized task force overseas. She spent the final two years of her tour in Virginia as a Battalion Commander simultaneously launching the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) Data Initiative. Her PhD research was an interdisciplinary effort that took a risk analysis and data-driven approach to combatting sex trafficking. This expanded her research interests in data science, anomaly detection, machine learning, and operations research for vulnerable populations. She continues to teach and be part of the governance of the military academy while conducting meaningful research.
LAURA RISIMINI
Senior Director of Grantmaking & Strategy
Laura Risimini serves as the Director of Grants of the Amplify Her Foundation, where she oversees the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy and cultivates strategic philanthropic partnerships in the New York City area. Prior to joining the Amplify Her Foundation, Laura served as the Managing Director of the Purpose Foundation, a start-up organization acting as a fiscal sponsor for social impact campaigns and organizations. Prior to that role, she was the Foundation Manager of the HLH Family Foundation, formerly The Sister Fund, where she guided the organization through its transition from a women’s fund to a family foundation. Throughout her career, Laura has had the unique opportunity to support organizations in all areas of their lifecycle from start-up to sunset. She specializes in building nonprofit operating and programmatic structures and designing and implementing grant cycles aligned with feminist and trust-based funding principles. In addition to her leadership roles, Laura is the co-author of The Uprising of Women in Philanthropy, a work that explores the transformative impact of the global women’s funding movement. She holds a BA in International Studies and an MA in Political Science from Fordham University and is passionate about working for organizations that support the leadership and advancement of women and girls.