Custom Collaborative
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Custom Collaborative
Fashion That Works

THANK  YOU

We are grateful for the support of our partners and donors who are dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs.

CUstom Collaborative Circle *

Anonymous

Brendan Bradley

Dana Cox

Melody Rollins Downes

Gale Epstein

Steven Goldberg and Frazier Goldberg in honor of Pat Kozu

Gita Gupte

Michael Hirschhorn

Kerry Ann James

Angelina Jolie

Patricia J Kozu

Daria and Mark Reed

Corina Stonebanks

Susan and Tucker York

Jayne Baron Sherman and Deby Zum

* Individual supporters who donate $1000 or more annually

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Leandro E. BrufmanLeandro is a Vice President in the Retail & Consumer group at Credit Suisse, where he provides M&A advisory and capital markets execution services to corporate clients and private equity firms. He started his career at The …

Leandro E. Brufman

Leandro is a Vice President in the Retail & Consumer group at Credit Suisse, where he provides M&A advisory and capital markets execution services to corporate clients and private equity firms. He started his career at The World Bank, in Washington DC, advising developing countries in risk management and development finance. He holds an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Dana L. Cox, MBA, PMPDana L. Cox, MBA, PMP, is Senior Vice President of Global Delivery Enablement at Mastercard. In her remit, she leads a global team of professionals to develop a future-proof delivery model, tools, and processes to support the ra…

Dana L. Cox, MBA, PMP

Dana L. Cox, MBA, PMP, is Senior Vice President of Global Delivery Enablement at Mastercard. In her remit, she leads a global team of professionals to develop a future-proof delivery model, tools, and processes to support the rapid scaling of Mastercard’s expanding set of products and services. Before joining Mastercard in 2012, Dana held technology and operational positions at FIS and Fiserv. Dana has extensive Program Execution, Project Management, Product Development, Resource Alignment, and Client Engagement experience in the financial services and payments industries. She has an MBA with High Honors from Cardinal Stritch University and a Bachelor of Science in Business with High Honors from Upper Iowa University. Also, Dana holds the Project Management Professional (PMP) designation.


Melody Rollins, Board Chair

Melody Rollins, CFA, CAIA, is a Senior Client Advisor at Bridgewater Associates, a global macro investment firm. Prior to joining Bridgewater in 2018, Ms. Rollins was a Partner at Brightwood Capital, where she oversaw existing and prospective client and consultant relationships and led the development, marketing and distribution of the firm’s private credit strategies. Prior to that, Ms. Rollins spent 15 years at PIMCO, most recently as Head of US Institutional Client Management. In that capacity, she oversaw the team of professionals who delivered customized client service and investment solutions to the firm’s institutional clients in the US. Throughout her career, Ms. Rollins has worked directly with many of the largest institutional investors, including corporate and public pensions, endowments and foundations. Prior to 2001, Ms. Rollins held positions in debt capital markets and liability management at Salomon Brothers and Deutsche Bank. She has an MBA with a focus on financial engineering from MIT Sloan and a BS in international affairs and development economics from Georgetown University. In addition, Ms. Rollins holds both the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations.

Jackie SwansonJackie is a Director in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)'s Advisory practice, providing strategy and operations management consulting services to clients in retail and consumer industries. She specializes in various supply chain issues for fashion brands and has previous experience in merchandising, marketing, investment banking and private equity. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Cornell University.

Jackie Swanson

Jackie is a Director in Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)'s Advisory practice, providing strategy and operations management consulting services to clients in retail and consumer industries. She specializes in various supply chain issues for fashion brands and has previous experience in merchandising, marketing, investment banking and private equity. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Cornell University.

Andrea PozziAndrea is the Global Head of Non-Financial Risk at Grupo Santander where she oversees a unit that includes operational risk, technology risk and cyber risk for the Group worldwide. Andrea has extensive risk management experience and has …

Andrea Pozzi

Andrea is the Global Head of Non-Financial Risk at Grupo Santander where she oversees a unit that includes operational risk, technology risk and cyber risk for the Group worldwide. Andrea has extensive risk management experience and has worked with leading financial services firms such as Merrill Lynch, Munich Re and Citigroup.

Kristina FietkiewiczKristina is a Senior Manager in the Assurance practice at EY, providing audit services to both public and private companies at various stages of development, primarily in the retail industry. She has significant experience in retail, wholesale, and e-commerce industry matters. Kristina has a bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Virginia – McIntire School of Commerce. She is a CPA in the state of New York and a member of the AICPA.

Kristina Fietkiewicz

Kristina is a Senior Manager in the Assurance practice at EY, providing audit services to both public and private companies at various stages of development, primarily in the retail industry. She has significant experience in retail, wholesale, and e-commerce industry matters. Kristina has a bachelor’s degree from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Virginia – McIntire School of Commerce. She is a CPA in the state of New York and a member of the AICPA.

Céline DeCarloCéline is the Vice President of Brand, People and Culture at Mara Hoffman and joined the company in 2015 after a 10 year career with CNN International as a global senior executive overseeing the Africa portfolio. Céline concentrates o…

Céline DeCarlo

Céline is the Vice President of Brand, People and Culture at Mara Hoffman and joined the company in 2015 after a 10 year career with CNN International as a global senior executive overseeing the Africa portfolio. Céline concentrates on organizational improvement, and leads partnerships focused on social engagement and community organizing, while supporting the build out of the company's sustainability framework. Having co-founded the New York Fashion Workforce Development Coalition and the Women in Sustainability Business Coalition, Céline also sits on the Board of the Women's Prison Association, the Corporate Executive Council of Custom Collaborative, and the Advisory Council of the social enterprise program the New Standard Institute. Céline is also a member of Maestra, a women of color owned and led creative, social impact strategy agency focused on building equity for women, people of color and queer folks both internally in companies and externally across all communities.

Advisors

Stephen Burrows – Executive Advisor

Meeta Anand - Strategy Development

Starita Ansari - Philanthropy Consultant

Heidi Bruce - Director of Development, University of Maryland

Caitrin Burns - Fabric Systems and Sustainability, Lafayette 148

Deborah Chay - Management Consultant

Dennis Derryck - President, Corbin Hill Road Farm

Dominique Drakeford - Environmental Educator

Anthony Galante - Designer & Creative Director

Cathy Gilliard- Senior Minister, Park Avenue United Methodist Church

Guylene Grace - Senior Product Development & Garment Production Consultant

Tabitha St. Bernard Jacobs - Writer, Consultant, Advisor

Tessa Maffucci - Fashion Professor, Pratt Institute

Marsha Modeste - Assistant Professor, Penn State University

Eric Palmer- Accountant, Stevens Institute of Technology

Katherine Parr - Founder, Katherine Parr Jewelry

Lara Wolf-Powers - Associate Professor, Hunter College

Michelle Pryce-Screen - Chief Program Officer, Getting Out, Staying Out

Mark Reed - Community Development Investor

Arva Rice - President, New York Urban League

Andrea Rogers - Nonprofit & International Philanthropy Consultant, CRE

Cameron Russell - Model-Activist

Alfonso Wyatt - Public Speaker

STAFF

 

Interested in working with us? We are currently accepting internship applications for the coming semester and part-time positions. Career opportunities are listed here!

 

In 2022, Custom Collaborative had a successful year marked by a significant return to in-person activities. Bringing new challenges, exciting partnerships, and creative endeavors, 2020 saw greater community building with participants creating business plans and hiring each other.

2021 was full of surprises, challenges, and joy. We continued to invest in our participants to build their skills and confidence. While we had hoped to operate at least one in-person Training Institute cohort, the pandemic’s various Greek letters disrupted our plans. We instead capitalized on the “opportunity” of virtual instruction to teach Custom Collaborative’s program participants new skills and provide them with ways to earn money.

In 2020 the unimaginable happened. New York City, the city that never sleeps, went into lock-down due to COVID-19. Despite many inconveniences and frustrations we persisted, knowing we were fortunate to have a community, a distraction, and a purpose to keep us all going. 

During 2019, we experienced the fullness of opportunities and achievements in our organization. We gained three new members to our Board of Directors and our Training Institute graduated its 5th Cohort. With the expansion of our network, came the expansion of our reach — providing us with new opportunities for growth, partnerships with players from across the fashion industry, collaborations within the community, and adjustments in the fashion system to make room for the impact of organizations with missions like ours, review the annual report from this year.

In 2018, we experienced exponential growth spanning across all areas of our organization. This year included empowering partnerships led by our Training Institute graduates, our Business Incubator soared, the manufacturing side of our organization began to expand, and so much more, find more specific details and highlights in the annual report from this year.

Our success in 2017 included the graduation of two cohorts of students from our Training Institute and the launch of our Business Incubator. We continued to provide support to women from low-income and immigrant communities in fashion industry work. There were some important moments to highlight for CC, review the annual report from this year.

Early support from forward-thinking donors enabled Custom Collaborative to devise and execute a business strategy, and to attract additional donors and partners. Explore the annual report from 2016 to gain greater insight into what this year looked like for CC.