Advisory Board

Laura has dedicated her career to storytelling and brand building within the dynamic world of sports and entertainment. With an extensive tenure at WWE, Laura made significant contributions to expand the company’s global footprint, while developing executive and talent brands and leading key corporate partnerships. Driven by a commitment to advancing equality in sports, she played a pivotal role in spearheading WWE's Women's Evolution, a groundbreaking movement to make female performers equal to their male counterparts. More recently, Laura founded a consulting business tailored to assisting professional athletes, media personalities, and entrepreneurs in strategically growing their brands and businesses through a holistic approach. Beyond her professional endeavors, Laura is deeply passionate about animal welfare and devotes significant time to support rescue dogs through volunteer work with several Connecticut and New York-based rescues. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Bentley University. She resides in Connecticut with her husband and three beloved rescue dogs.

Tiffany Sun has spent her entire career developing content that helps people live healthier and more fulfilling lives. She is currently the Chief Content Officer at Twill, formerly Happify Health, overseeing content across several mental health and well-being apps. Before moving into the technology and healthcare space, Tiffany held various digital media and editorial roles at the Oprah Winfrey Network, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Hearst Magazines. She graduated Summa cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Psychology and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Malena Hougen is a Teaching Artist for the nonprofit ArtsUP! LA. She works with students in underserved neighborhoods throughout the Los Angeles school district.  Malena guides her students in writing, producing and acting in their own films. Before launching her teaching career, Malena spent over a decade as a writer and producer in television newsrooms in New York and Los Angeles, including several ABC and FOX affiliates.  A firm believer in the power of storytelling, Malena has written and performed in numerous storytelling shows around Los Angeles, including Expressing Motherhood and Untold. She also co-founded and co- produces the annual CRxEATIVITY Festival in Los Angeles, which celebrates healing through creative outlets. Malena holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Michael Canter is a Senior Vice President and Director of Securitized Assets at AllianceBernstein, heading the portfolio-management and research teams for these strategies. Canter’s focus includes his role as the Chief Investment Officer of AB’s Securitized Assets Fund. In addition, Canter was called upon to give expert testimony to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in 2013 and the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance in 2017 on how US housing policy should be structured going forward. He holds a BA in Math and Economics from Northwestern University and a PhD in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Jingjing (JJ) Liang (she/her) is Corporate Counsel at Bridgewater Associates. Prior to Bridgewater, JJ was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York City, where she advised companies, boards, executives and investors on a wide range of compensation and governance matters. JJ received her BA from University of Toronto and her JD from University of Texas in Austin. JJ is also a certified yoga and meditation instructor with over 500 hours of training, and she teaches weekly virtual classes to students across the globe. JJ grew up in Beijing and Toronto and currently resides in Westchester County, New York, with her growing family.

Lee Meltzer is an award-winning executive who has spearheaded and collaborated on over 100 publicity/marketing campaigns (intl, national, regional & online) for film, TV, podcasts, talent, event, gaming, sports, & brand clients. He brings over 14 years of experience working with C-Suite executives & A-Level talent with a client roster that has included directors, producers, actors, athletes, podcasters, CEOs, reality stars & comedians. Lee attends & leads campaigns at festivals & tentpole events including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, TIFF, SDCC & NYCC, among others as well as represents top-TV & Film Festivals throughout North America.

Kathy Govier is currently the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Geppi Family Enterprises (GFE), a network of multiple companies and brands in the comics, games, toys and collectibles industry. Prior to GFE, Kathy spent 13 years in marketing and brand activation with WarnerMedia and 8 years with The Weather Channel. Kathy has served on numerous boards and advisory committees providing management oversight, leadership guidance, and marketing expertise. She holds an MBA from Temple University where she graduated as a distinguished scholar and a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Amir Javaid is an Associate at the Raine Group, where he focuses on advising companies in the media and entertainment sectors on M&A transactions, capital raises and various strategic initiatives as well as investing in high growth companies in these sectors. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey. Amir graduated from the Wharton School with a B.S. in Economics and has an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Bene Cipolla is a consultant and coach working with media companies, news nonprofits, and others on growth, content strategy, organizational design, and team development. Her career has included just about every facet and format of journalism and media, from enterprise, narrative, breaking news, service journalism, and instructional content to nonprofits and community engagement — across film, video, print and digital. Bene graduated from Princeton University and was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy. She lives in New York.

Sunita Uthra is a technology executive with over 25 years of experience in the financial industry with a track record of success leading large, geographically distributed, cross-functional teams within fast-paced, high-growth businesses. She is currently a Senior Vice President at Moody’s Investors Service. Previously, she has held multiple leadership positions in Technology across several Fortune 500 companies across United States and India, where she grew up. She holds a Master of Computer Applications degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (India) and is currently pursuing an MBA from the Wake Forest University School of Business.

Justin Maiman is President and Managing Director of Cochrane Media, a production company providing digital media strategy and consulting for individual clients and companies. He spent 20+ years working as a journalist, primarily as a writer and producer in digital media and TV news, at Business Insider, Bloomberg, Yahoo, WGBH, Fox, and TPT. He teaches digital media and journalism at Fordham University and hosts the Ginger Radio Hour on community radio station WGXC in the Catskills.

Megan Briggs is a professional problem solver, serving as a trusted legal advisor to c-suites and leaders of international industrial tech companies for over 15 years. She currently is the Vice President and Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer at Xylem, a company that focuses on solving the world’s toughest water challenges. Prior to this role, Megan held various commercial transactional roles, including spending 5 years in London, UK, as the General Counsel of Xylem’s metering business outside of the US. She holds a BS from Davidson College and a JD from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Levi Glick is currently a Vice President at Citigroup where he helps companies and financial sponsors execute on M&A transactions, financings and corporate finance & strategy initiatives. He focuses particularly on the media, entertainment and information services industries. Previously, Levi held a similar position at Jefferies in their investment banking department. Levi received his B.S. from Fordham University in New York City.

Sarah Rubin is a Senior Director of Sales Strategy at Paramount Advertising. In her role, Sarah structures and executes operational and strategic initiatives for the Paramount Advertising leadership team across digital, cable, and broadcast. Sarah began her career in merchandise planning at Abercrombie & Fitch, leading long-term business planning and forecasts for the Abercrombie kids business. Believing that storytelling can change the world, she pursued an MBA to pivot into the media and entertainment industry. Sarah worked at Hulu on their distribution/partnerships team and MediaLink, a strategic advisory firm focused on media, marketing, entertainment, technology, and finance. As a consultant, Sarah conducted diligence as well as analyzing go-to-market strategies for clients such as Google, Snap, and Unilever. Sarah holds her BFA degree from Washington University in St. Louis and her MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. In her spare time, Sarah loves attending Broadway shows, visiting theme parks, and rooting for the Miami Heat.

Robin M. Honig is a seasoned financial and operational executive with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare, non-profit, and university industries. Robin’s most recent position was the CFO of ColumbiaDoctors and Chief Business Development Officer, responsible for financial oversight, strategic planning, process reengineering, contract management and revenue cycle for the clinical component of the Columbia Physician and Surgeon’s. Previous to Columbia, Robin served as the Associate Dean of Finance and Administration in the Biological Science Division at the University of Chicago, which includes the university’s medical school and practice plan from 2006-2017. Before moving into healthcare and higher education financial administration, Robin worked at Trans National Group as Vice President of Finance and at PricewaterhouseCoopers, formerly known as Coopers & Lybrand, in audit and consulting roles. Robin received a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the Boston University School of Management and is a certified public accountant. In addition to serving on E2AC Advisory Board, Robin is on the Board and Finance Committee of Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC).