Chelsea co-founded CMAND after leading marketing and communications at Plaid, which she joined as the first marketing hire after the Series A. Before that, she was head of marketing at a cloud security startup, which was acquired by Barracuda. In a prior life, she worked in Features at Vogue, writing on art, food, and politics. Chelsea began her career as investment banking analyst. She went to Duke where she served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper and then served seven years on its Board.
I’ve been a vegetarian for more than half my life.
Meg co-founded CMAND after 15+ years in financial and tech communications. She led comms at Plaid, elevating fintech as a category, and directed marketing at AltX, acquired by Addepar. Her career includes leading communications and government affairs at UBS, BNP Paribas, and JP Morgan Chase across the United States, Canada, UK, and Latin America. Meg went to Penn, where she rowed crew.
Coming soon...
Ali has spent the bulk of her career leading media and strategic communications for early and growth stage startups and venture capital investors, but her career started in the newsroom. Her first job was at PBS NewsHour assisting the Foreign Affairs team, followed by the Fox News Channel’s Washington, D.C. bureau, where she was a producer covering media and politics. Her first non-newsroom job was at a leading public affairs firm in Washington where she ran advocacy campaigns on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. She received her Bachelor's degree in International Relations and Journalism from the George Washington University. She lives just outside Denver.
When hitchhiking in Malaysia, I helped a stranger assemble Ikea furniture in exchange for room & board.
Angelina is a communications strategist and entrepreneur who founded a six-figure e-commerce business at 18. She later joined Fintech Nexus, now a CMAND portfolio company, where she managed large-scale newsletters and impactful campaigns. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Pace University's Pforzheimer Honors College, she holds a B.A. in Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship with a minor in Finance.
I once swapped apartments with a stranger in France.
Camille brings a diversified background to CMAND with strategic communications experience in NPOs, government, tech, Web3, and fintech. She has overseen and implemented comms programs for clients such as LA County, Checkout, and The Solana Foundation. Camille holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s from Chapman. She lives in LA and enjoys the beach, camping, and exploring the local food scene.
I went sledding in Alaska with dogs training for the Iditarod.
Caty joined CMAND after leading communications at Sequoia-backed software startup Front. Previously, she was a vice president of media strategy at Inkhouse, where she supported fast-growing technology companies in SaaS, cybersecurity, consumer tech, venture capital and CSR & social impact. Earlier, she was the first PR and marketing hire for an angel-backed healthcare startup. Caty started her career at Edelman in Hong Kong.
The most adventurous thing I’ve done is ice hiking on the Perito Moreno glacier.
Creighton is a media relations veteran known for his insightful strategy, keen understanding of technology and easygoing attitude. He’s worked with teams in sectors ranging from consumer tech to quantum computing, spanning pre-seed to post-IPO. When he’s not working, Creighton can be found making music or taking up new hobbies. A graduate of UCSB, he grew up in the Bay Area and lives in Brooklyn.
A bucket list item I’ve already crossed off is skydiving.
.png)
Dominique is a strategic communications and human resources leader with a deep background in technology and financial services. She previously led internal communications and talent acquisition initiatives and teams at MITRE, Meta, AIG, and Goldman Sachs. Dominique graduated with a degree in English from Howard, where she served as student body president. When not working, she can often be found curating a themed dinner party for two or twenty.
For the last few years, I have been actively partnering with an organization called House of Ruth to provide support for women and families who have experienced abuse. They do amazing work!
Fitz has more than 15 years experience leading corporate communications and product marketing at companies like Netskope and Laminar and at agencies. Fitz graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor's degree in History. When he's not at home in San Francisco, he's usually in his car on the way to Lake Tahoe or Monterey (depending on the season) to get some good outdoor activities in!
My hidden talent is photographic memory.
Helena brings over 15 years of experience in communications and marketing across technology, healthcare, and NGOs. Before COMMAND, she led UK communications at Spotcap and managed programs at Burson Cohn & Wolfe, supporting clients like HPE, Accenture, and Intel. A Harvard graduate with a BA in Government, Helena lives in The Bahamas with her family, enjoys tennis, and loves diving into a good book.
A motto I live by is “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Hikari brings over a decade of expertise in graphic and web design to CMAND. Hikari has been recognized as an Adobe Design Achievement Award semi-finalist and certified Shopify Expert. She lives in Nova Scotia.
The movie that intrigues me most is “Lost in Translation”
Jill brings over a decade of experience as a journalist reporting on business and policy. Before COMMAND, she was senior producer for public programs at the US Chamber of Commerce. Her work has appeared on Yahoo Finance, CBSN, and Reuters, covering monetary policy, workforce development, and personal finance. Earlier, she produced for CNBC, covering the Federal Reserve and NYSE, and began her career at CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
A unique passion of mine is the history of city architecture, particularly how the economy of particular regions have shaped the way communities were formed and built.
Jordan (Cathleen) Washington is an executive communications strategist based in Washington, DC. With 10+ years of experience under her belt, she specializes in developing thought leadership platforms and media relations strategies for Black and female founders and executives.
I played viola competitively until my sophomore year in high school.
Katie got her start in comms in the world of politics, and she previously served as deputy national communications director for Andrew Yang’s 2020 presidential campaign. She specializes in deep research, strategy, and media relations. Katie earned a bachelor of science in physics and political science with an honors concentration in American Catholic studies from Fordham University. Once upon a time, she was on a game show.
I start every day with a book. I read a minimum of 100 pages every day, and whenever I can try to finish a book a day!
Kelly brings 20+ years of expertise in corporate communications, PR, and newsroom leadership to CMAND. She specializes in building reputation-enhancing programs and preparing executives for high-stakes public moments across fintech, tech, banking, and cybersecurity. Previously, she was Managing Director at Caliber Corporate Advisers and held roles at Plaid (launching financial industry comms), Wells Fargo, Bloomberg News, and USA Today.
A favorite quote of mine is by Angela Duckworth: “Grit has two components: passion and perseverance.”
Kira brings over a decade of strategic communications expertise to CMAND, with a passion for helping emerging brands craft and share impactful stories. Before CMAND, she partnered with B2B and B2C brands across AI, fintech, proptech, insurtech, and more. A University of Oregon graduate with a Bachelor's in Marketing, Kira lives in San Francisco with her family.
Hiked to the top of Machu Picchu mountain in Peru. Slightly terrifying but well worth it!
Lindy brings over 20 years of experience to Command, including four years leading global social impact and sustainability communications at Visa and Visa Foundation. She’s counseled clients and built global campaigns while at Edelman for clients including Unilever, HP, Genentec and Pfizer, and her non-profit experience includes The Hunger Project, TechnoServe and Girls on the Run. Lindy is currently working on her first book. Lindy has lived and worked in Washington D.C., New York City, Kenya, and Rwanda.
Coming soon...
Mackenzie has a special affinity for healthcare tech, fintech, cybersecurity and B2B tech. She focuses on driving results with tailored strategies that align with organizational goals. She regularly secures coverage in outlets such as Bloomberg, Business Insider, CNBC, Forbes, Fierce Healthcare, Modern Healthcare, SC Magazine, STAT News and ZDNet.
I believe in finding climate tech solutions — the world is literally on fire, and we need to do something about it.
Before joining CMAND, Makenzie worked at Block, Inc., where she shaped the digital editorial strategy for their corporate newsroom and contributed to Square Inc.'s rebrand. Previously, at Edelman, she specialized in ESG program development and purpose-driven storytelling for brands like Nike, HP, and The North Face. A Gonzaga University honors graduate, Makenzie holds a Bachelor's in Public Relations & Marketing with a minor in Gender Studies.
On a day off, you can find me teaching Pilates, lounging by any body of water, or spending time with friends.
Riley is a strategic communications advisor who has worked with companies like Sierra, TurboTax, Coinbase, and Cape. She twice led Google Cloud’s flagship conference, managing news strategy and coordinating 100+ global media. While her career focuses on enterprise tech, she loves advising startup founders on media and content strategies. Riley holds a Journalism degree from the University of Oregon and lives in San Francisco.
Stretching is a nonnegotiable part of my morning routine.
Sandra has more than 20 years of experience across agency and in-house roles spanning communications, messaging, media relations, consumer education campaigns, reputation management, and issues management. She previously was head of corporate, policy, and safety communications at Reddit and Global Head of Security and Risk Communications at Visa. Earlier, she worked on campaigns doing opposition research. She lives in San Francisco with her family.
At age four, I figured out how to split two oranges into three shares for me and my two cousins. Somewhere between then and now, I developed a passion for cooking and feeding the people I love!
Sarah has spent a decade enhancing brand voices on social media. She is in building online communities and helping brands and execs resonate across social channels. Sarah has partnered with global brands ranging from Kindred Bravely to Accelerant, and she enjoys the challenge of advising companies that are B2C and B2B.
A longtime passion of mine is photography - I love to tell stories through visuals, especially landscapes and ones showing dynamics between people.
Sasha joined CMAND as a communications strategist, and she has a special knack for storytelling. Her work in the operations and fraud departments of Synchrony and Ally Bank has offered her an analytical perspective on the intersection of business and technology. She graduated from Syracuse University with a B.S. in Economics and a B.A. with distinction in Writing and Rhetoric.
I spent 6 weeks backpacking Japan and Southeast Asia.
Sophie brings over 15 years of storytelling expertise across fintech, AI, and healthcare. Sophie has helped companies of all stages – from startup to hypergrowth to Fortune 100 – achieve their business goals, working with the likes of Stripe, Stanford HAI, Carta, Intuit, and Serena Ventures. Before COMMAND, she was Senior VP at Outcast, leading the Emerging Tech practice. Originally from New York, Sophie now lives in San Francisco with her husband and young son, Bodie.
A motto I live by is “Don’t dwell on whether you’ve made the right decision — focus on making the decision right.”
Stephanie is a Bay Area native with 15+ years of experience in corporate brand reputation and crisis management. Before joining CMAND, she led privacy, security, and business communications at Instagram Previously, she developed and executed multimillion-dollar reputation and crisis campaigns for Fortune 100 companies, trade associations and organizations. She graduated from Berkeley.
If speed-reading were a superpower, I’d be in the Olympics.
We're incredibly proud of our culture, which fosters a desire to do great work — together.We're incredibly proud of our culture, which fosters a desire to do great work — together.
.jpg)
