POWERED BY WOMEN

We are proud to be a women-led organization, providing compassion-led solutions which break the cycle of trauma and establish a new cycle of trust, well-being, choice and independence.

Sarah Symons, Owner & CEO of Her Future Coalition headshot

Sarah Symons

Founder & CEO

Sarah started HFC in 2005 with her husband John Berger.  Formerly, she was a composer of music for TV and film, and before that, a counselor and art teacher at Creative Arts Workshops in New York City.  Author of THIS IS NO ORDINARY JOY. View Sarah’s TED Talk about Living Heroically. Sarah is passionate about empowering survivors to be changemakers in their families and communities.

Home base: St. Augustine, FL 

Learn more about Sarah’s story HERE >

Amanda Cunningham, Her Future Coalition staff member

Amanda Cunningham

Development Director

Amanda crossed paths with Her Future Coalition in 2015 on a service trip to India and has been deeply connected to our work ever since. She has a B.A. in marketing, is a 500 E-RYT yoga instructor & offers retreats/immersions domestically and in India. You can learn more on her site: amandabyoga.com.


Home base: Charleston, SC

Touch base: amanda@herfuturecoalition.org

Nafiza, Her Future Coalition staff member

Nafiza Khatun

Country Director

Nafiza has a degree in Business from Chandra Chowdury College and is passionate about commerce as a means for uplifting vulnerable women.  Before coming to HFC, she worked as a community liaison, computer skills tutor, and counselor at Apne Aap and Uddami.

Home base: Kolkata, India
Soma Seal, Her Future Coalition staff member

Soma Seal

Program Director

In addition to her counseling, training, translation and management roles, Soma is a gifted goldsmith and jewelry designer.  In her spare time, she runs House of Hope, a sewing project providing income to vulnerable women in her community.   Soma is passionate about her newest role at HFC: training women jewelers in our red light area Resource Center.

Home base: Kolkata, India

Maura Hurley, Her Future Coalition staff member

Maura Hurley

Education Director

Maura has been living and working in Kolkata for the past 20 years, as an art teacher, language teacher and translator.  She is passionate about helping provide top quality education to all children, regardless of their background or economic circumstances.

Home base: Kolkata, India
Touch base: maura@herfuturecoalition.org
Dianna Badalament, Her Future Coalition staff member

Dianna Badalament

International Jewelry Program Director

Dianna has been working with HFC for  ten years -training, managing and designing for HFC’s multiple jewelry programs. With a background in political science and social issues and her own jewelry business,  Dianna has a passion for empowering women and solidifying their economic solvency through the ancient art of goldsmithing, and lots of love.

Home base: Healdsburg, CA
Touch base:dianna@herfuturecoalition.org

Caroline Hughes, Her Future Coalition staff member

Caroline Hughes

Social Media & Communications

Caroline’s B.A. in Political Science and extensive creative writing experience give her an edge in content creation for Her Future Coalition social media. In addition, she owns and manages her digital marketing firm, Caroline Hughes Marketing  helping nonprofits and businesses all across the United States make their mark with branding, design and communication services.

Home base: Franklin, TN
Touch base: caroline@herfuturecoalition.org

Minu, Her Future Coalition staff member

Minu Chetri

Community organizer

Minu has been working as an advocate and community liaison in some of Kolkata slum communities and red light areas for the past 15 years.  She is overjoyed to join the HFC team in an official capacity, and to begin outreach to women and children in the Kidderpore red light area, so that they can access services at our newest Education and Drop-in Center.

Home base: Kolkata, India

Sonali, Her Future Coalition staff member

Sonali Khatoon

training & production manager

Sonali first joined the HFC family as a program participant, growing up in a shelter home in Kolkata.  After graduating high school, she joined our jewelry program and became an expert goldsmith while also working her way through college.  She recently graduated from Netaji Open University with a degree in Liberal Arts with Bengali Honors.  “I like to work at HFC because it is like a  family to me. Most importantly this is a roof under which I feel safe to be a woman and I can be independent and I can offer good work to everyone who has given me opportunities in every possible way!”

Home base: Kolkata, India

Kulsum Hamid

Vocational Program Director

Kulsum holds a post graduate degree in Peace and Conflict Studies and Management from Sikkim University. She’s extremely vocal about women and child rights and has worked in the slums of Kolkata in various vocational, educational and community mobilization projects. 

Home base: Kolkata, India

Part-Time, Advisory & Volunteer Staff

Our work would not be possible without the dedication and talent of our part-time and advisory staff and volunteers:

Sarah Annay – Photography & Media

Aslyn Baringer – Videographer

Felicity Denby – Jewelry Trainer

Heather Deyo – Business Strategy Advisor

Nancy Edwards – Jewelry Trainer/Designer

Angela Walter – Marketing Advisor

Paul Suit – Asia Program Advisor

Her Future Board of Directors

When Diane saw the documentary “The Day My God Died” in 2009 she felt that abusing the most innocent and vulnerable among us for huge profits was the most egregious injustice on the planet. Diane works with a dedicated group of people in Denver to educate and fundraise in support of our mission. Diane has run her company, Expanded Learning, for 35 years, and recently published her first novel.

Home base: Denver, CO

Co-Founder of Her Future Coalition, Impact Solutions Architect at Toniic, an impact investment advisory firm. After 18 years on Wall Street, John left his job as an institutional sales investment banker to join his wife Sarah in starting this charity. HIs expertise in social impact business, technology and international development continue to be integral to the success of the organization.

Home base: St. Augustine, FL

Farah is a Partner at L Catterton, where she focuses on consumer and retail-focused private equity investing in fast growing businesses including beverage, food, retail, restaurants, personal care products. Farah is a Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude graduate of Mount Holyoke College and received her M.B.A from Stanford University. Providing opportunities for women and girls in her native India is a family affair for Farah, whose brother, sister, and sister-in-law have all been integrally involved with Her Future over the past 15 years. 

Home base: New York, NY

Two-time Emmy Award winning consumer and investigative reporter. Producer – RealDeal Productions, Columnist – MarketWatch. Jeanette made a documentary short film about Her Future Coalition in 2011, and is currently running a highly successful jewelry party program for us in the Bay Area.

Home base: Redwood City, CA

As an arts program manager for multiple nonprofits, and a New York City public school teacher, Shira has dedicated much of her life to art education and community development through the arts. She has been passionate about the power of arts to heal and transform lives, including her own, since childhood as the daughter of an artist. She has been working in the field since she was 16.

Home base: Brooklyn, NY

Jenny has worked in nonprofits for 30 years, in program planning, development and executive leadership. She is currently President of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council in Pittsfield, MA, and prior to that she led the North East Community Center in Millerton NY for 17 years. Jenny earned her BA from Yale, and her Masters in Public Administration from the Univ. of Connecticut She writes about film and dance, studies improv theater, and has been friends with HFC founder Sarah Symons since the sixth grade.

Home base: Northampton, MA

MBA, MPP, is owner and principal at Mission Spark, a management consulting firm dedicated to leading organizational change and improvement in complex and often resource-constrained settings. Kara has led award-winning community collaboratives; designed, managed, and evaluated multiyear social change initiatives; and provided in-depth consulting services to more than 100 nonprofits, social enterprises, corporations, and philanthropic foundations.

Home base: Denver, CO
Tish is the owner of Ananda Mind-Body Therapies LLC. She blends her dual careers in Clinical Social Work and Meditation + Yoga to skillfully create space for her clients to find empowerment in emotional healing and healthy change. Tish has a rich experience of being in service which includes formally serving as Board Chair for the nonprofit Master Yoga Foundation. Currently she offers virtual therapeutic support for HFC staff and facilitates therapeutic trauma sensitive programs on the ground in Kolkata, India. 
 
Home base: Boston, MA
 

Danielle traveled with Her Future Coalition on a service trip to India and has been dedicated to the work ever since.  She comes to HFC with over 20 years of experience working with non-profits and community organizations.  She is a realtor by profession and also offers interior design.

Home base: Charleston, SC

Founder and Executive Director. 

Home base: St. Augustine, FL