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
Tessa Abedon
Content/Strategy
Tessa Abedon is a 20-year-old student at Tufts University, where she performs with sketch, standup, and improv comedy groups. She has taken classes with various comedy institutions, including The Second City in Chicago, and makes her own content through Instagram and YouTube, where she influences influencers. @tessabedon YOUTUBE
Naomi Pitt
Intern, T.A., Social Media
Naomi is a comedian, musician, and lover of all things cheese. @pittisbananas
Alyssa Jethani
Advisor
Alyssa is obsessed with building products that delight and inspire. She brings her experience at Deloitte Digital and the College Board to early-stage startups including PureJoy, InField Health, and Therappy. She holds an MBA from Yale School of Management and a BA in political science and international studies from Yale University. @juggle_
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
Codi
Prompts writer
Codi is a high school junior who has written her first screenplay and many poems, and is now working on her first contemporary fiction novel! A certified Krav Maga instructor, she loves teaching girls in and out of the gym. Codi is dedicated to helping girls find their confidence and voice!
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.
Instructors
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
FORMER TEAM/ALWAYS FAM
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