Our team

Lynn Harris

Founder and CEO

Lynn is a proven brand-builder, award-winning journalist and author, communications executive, and performer/producer/teacher of comedy and humor who is headquartered at the intersection of pop culture and social change. With supergenius Chris Kalb, she co-created Breakup Girl, the only superhero who can both bend steel bars and mend broken hearts, and built the character into books, the web, TV, and live comedy, creating one of the internet’s earliest and biggest success stories. She is author of six humorous fiction and non-fiction books, including Death By Chick Lit (called “brilliant” by New York Magazine) and Breakup Girl to the Rescue! Her writing—on gender, culture, and a range of social justice issues—has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Salon, Glamour, The Nation, and a twenty-five-year-career’s worth of national newspapers, magazines, and literary anthologies. As VP of communications for the global human rights group Breakthrough, Lynn brought her blend of humor and advocacy to drive some of the U.S. office’s most visible and highest-impact programming, including: Dudes Against Violence Against Women: Because DUH, the sold-out comedy series that reached more than 38 million and saw a 300% increase in revenue, and the “Be That Guy” animations screened on NASCAR and Indy 500 Jumbotrons. She is a co-founder of Persisticon, the wildly popular comedy event series that has raised more than $45,000 to help elect women. As a comedian and storyteller, she performed at Joe’s Pub, the 92nd Street Y, Gotham Comedy Club, Caroline’s on Broadway, and more. She has appeared on TV, radio, and podcasts a jillion times, including as a Tonya Harding lookalike, which is a long story. @harrislynn

Ami Vora

Product

Ami is a strategist who loves building products and excels at executing on both business and creative initiatives. She spent more than a decade at Deloitte Digital crafting growth strategies, designing user experiences, and implementing technology solutions for her clients. She also worked in product marketing as an MBA intern at Twitter. Ami studies acting and assists with productions at the T. Schreiber Studio for Theater & Film. She holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BS in Applied Mathematics and a BA in Economics from University of California, Davis. @asvora

Emily Pasqua

Community Manager

Emily is a comedy writer and a former intern at Last Week Tonight, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and Wicked! @drastic_antics

Cassandra Alcide

Digital

Cassandra is a digital marketer, content producer, and comedy writer. She co-launched Swagger.nyc, a pop culture site and white-label agency where she produced branded content and wrote about internet culture, social issues, and (duh) Rih-yoncé. She is working on her Great Millennial Dramedy™@Cassalcide

Elsa Waithe

Founding Instructor

Elsa is a comedian who has been featured on This American Life, at frank, and at in Time Out New York’s LGBTQ POC We’re Obsessed With list. @elsajustelsa

Amy Keyishian

Articles Editor

Amy has performed stand up and improv and has written for magazines in every genre, including Maxim, Glamour, Self, Redbook, and Men’s Health. She was a staff writer at Cosmopolitan and the sex-advice columnist for the military-focused magazine Drill. She has also written young-adult fiction (with three books under her own pseudonym, Amy Kaye) and is a cross-stitch enthusiast. @madfoot

Emma Tattenbaum-Fine

Senior Writer

Emma is a comedy writer and performer who can be seen on Netflix in the acclaimed series Explained and who has hosted HQ Trivia live in front of millions of players internationally. She was named a 2016 Comedy Central Comic to Watch and a finalist in the truTV Comedy Breakout competition at the 2017 New York Television Festival. Emma was a staff writer on Almost Genius at truTV, and as an actor has collaborated with Al Sharpton, Reggie Watts, Aparna Nancherla, and Amy Poehler’s “Smart Girls at the Party.” Emma is a founding member of sketch group Political Subversities. @EmmaTattenbaum @emmatbomb

Marc Sokol

Operations/Consultant

Marc makes mission-driven companies go. He manages all people, finances, and operations for the global human rights organization Breakthrough. As VP for Business Development of a national school reform organization, he designed the staff and operation systems, programs, and budgets, building to 100 trainers delivering 4,500 training days yearly.

Abby Sher

Abby is a writer, performer, and mother of three cool beans who has performed with The Second City, ImprovOlympic, HBO, and NPR. She is author of the novel All the Ways the World Can End, her memoir Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl who Couldn’t Stop Praying (which got a nod from Oprah), and several other books. @abbysher

Avery Lender

T.A., PROMPTS WRITER

Avery is in her first year at B.U. In NYC, she performed monthly at Gotham Comedy Club with Kids ‘N Comedy, and has appeared at the Cinderblock Comedy Festival, Broadway Comedy Club and UCB East. @uptownjam

Drae Campbell

Drae is a writer, actor, director, storyteller, dancer, and nightlife emcee who has a leading role in “Dinette,” which the New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum called a “gem.” She has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, won the grand prize at the San Miguel De Allende Storytelling Festival, and once reigned as Miss LEZ. She hosts and curates a monthly queer storytelling show called TELL at BGSQD.

Jes Tom

Jes gleefully provides the non-binary queer Asian-American radical cyborg perspective that everyone never knew they wanted. Jes performs at clubs and colleges all over New York and the country. They starred in the viral Ghost in the Shell PSA and made Time Out New York’s LGBTQ POC We’re Obsessed With list in 2017. @jestom

Joanna Briley

Joanna founded Laff Tracks MetroComics Inc., a comedy organization that allows MTA employees (like her) to combine their sense of humor with their personal experiences working in the world’s largest transportation system. She also hosts the monthly LaffTracks Comedy Showcase and develops talent at the Brooklyn House of Comedy. She has appeared on Lifetime TV’s “Fempire” ad campaign, “Watch What Happens Live” on Bravo TV with Andy Cohen, and on Wendy Williams’s “Street Talk.” @1FunnySistah2

Kerri Louise

Kerri was a finalist on Last Comic Standing, which led to her own reality show, Two Funny. She was a correspondent on the Oprah Winfrey Show and has also appeared on Comedy Central, The View, VH1, 20/20, and many more. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, comedian Tom Cotter, and their three sons. @kerrilouiselaff

Blair Dawson

Intern, Workshops

Blair is a standup comic and improvisor who produces and co-hosts a monthly storytelling and stand-up show sponsored by Babeland called “U Up?” @UrGirlBlair

Carsen Smith

Intern, Branding And Content

Carsen performs standup and improv in New York City. She co-created the improvised cooking show “I’ll Have What She’s Having,” which ran at Nashville’s Third Coast Comedy Club. @carsenasmith

Maizie

Intern

Maizie is obsessed with Saturday Night Live and plans to be a comedian when she grows up. @maizzzie

Sophie Zucker

T.A.

Sophie is a comedian-slash-child-star who loves musicals and slime. She has appeared in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and has written and produced videos for Jill Soloway’s wifey.tv. She wrote, produced, and starred in a million sold-out shows in New York and is now a TV writer in L.A.. @mightyzucks

Alex Wolfe

ADMIN + CREATIVE

Alex recently graduated from Vanderbilt University, where she was managing editor of humor magazine The Slant. She also co-created and performed in Vanderbilt’s first standup showcase. @alexwolfepack