AMPLIFY HER FOUNDATION 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.
Maia Molina-Schaefer
Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives
As Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Maia uses her visionary leadership capabilities to advance Amplify Her Foundation's community building, thought leadership, communications, and long-term growth. Working directly with the Foundation's leadership team, she drives organizational expansion and impact. As a military veteran, she brings to this role over two decades of exceptional leadership and program management, and a lifelong commitment to gender equity. Her journey began in the boxing ring at the U.S. Naval Academy and led her through roles as an Intelligence Officer and Military Diplomat in the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army. As a combat-proven leader, Maia led high-performing teams in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, managed multi-million dollar defense spending portfolios, and served as an Assistant Professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Throughout her rich career, Maia championed women's advancement through groundbreaking initiatives, such as creating the first Women, Peace, and Security program with an African military partner, and leading West Point's Corbin Women's Leadership Forum, a transformative organization that empowers cadets to become exceptional military leaders while fostering a supportive community for women in service. Now, as a speaker, author, and community advocate, she channels her expertise and passion for gender equity into expanding Amplify Her Foundation’s impact. Outside of her professional pursuits, Maia cherishes time outdoors with her family and performs at local storyslams.
LAURA RISIMINI
Director of Grants
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.
Nicole Jakabcsin
Program Manager
Nicole is committed to advancing socioeconomic agency for women and girls. Her career has focused on building leadership and capacity-strengthening programs for gender equality that are inclusive, equitable, and community-centered. Most recently, she served as a Program Coordinator at the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up initiative. In that role, she managed Girl Up’s flagship Teen Advisory Board and Girl Up’s small grants program to support youth gender equality advocates. Prior to the UN Foundation, she was a Princeton in Latin America Fellow, serving in the Dominican Republic at an education NGO. She has also held previous roles at the Inter-American Development Bank, the Buenos Aires Government Undersecretariat for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism, the Women for Africa Foundation, the GO Project, and the Institute for Community Leadership. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Board of DIRECTORS
Colonel Julia Coxen
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.
Paul S. Speranza, Jr.
Secretary & Treasurer
Paul S. Speranza Jr. retired as vice chairman, general counsel, and secretary of Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. in 2018 after more than 40 years of service. Speranza, a social advocate, believes passionately in freedom, democracy, free enterprise, opportunity, and hope for all. He recognizes that quality education can vastly improve people’s lives, as was the case for both him and his family, and believes that all children, especially the economically disadvantaged, should have access to quality education and quality health care. Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a 80-store supermarket chain that employs 44,000 people and generates over $8 billion in annual sales. Founded in 1916, Wegmans is recognized as an industry leader and innovator. On a front-page feature article, The Wall Street Journal quoted an industry expert who called “Wegmans the best food retailer in the country, maybe in the world.” Speranza takes particular pride in the fact that Ethisphere Magazine named Wegmans one of the most ethical companies in the world several times. Speranza joined Wegmans in 1976, where he chaired a number of committees and was responsible for legal, tax, government relations, and labor relations, along with other management duties. He is a graduate of Syracuse University (B.S., 1969), the University of San Francisco (J.D., 1971), and New York University (LL.M. in Taxation, 1972). Since he retired Paul created the Cheryl Speranza Leadership Institute in honor of his late wife, which provides scholarships at Our Lady of Mercy High School for economically disadvantaged women of color.