Women+ in Technology of New York National Leadership Team

 Shelda is a Senior UX Designer and AI-driven experience strategist with 10 years of experience across healthcare, telecom, and enterprise platforms. Throughout her career, she has led design teams, built design systems, and made complex products easier for people to use. Most recently, she served as Membership Experience Lead at the Human Centered AI Institute. There, she helped designers turn AI theory into practice, supporting courses and a global community that reached more than 7,560 students across 24 countries in 2025. She also builds agentic AI workflows for businesses, always with the people who use them at the center.

As President of the New York chapter of Women+ in Technology, Shelda is building a home for women in tech across the NYC metro area. She has assembled an all-volunteer founding team covering training and certifications, finance, data, marketing, and membership, with one shared goal: to help more women enter, grow, and lead in tech. Together they are building the chapter around WIT’s three pillars: connection through networking events, free tech certifications (including AI) through WIT’s national sponsorships, and education and community outreach.

 Grace Berrien is an Investment Banking Associate in Barclays’ Global Technology Coverage Group in New York, where she works on mergers and acquisitions, financing, and strategic advisory across a variety of technology sectors. She combines analysis, research, and relationship building to inform strategic decisions. Grace graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Economics and a minor in Data Science, and has applied data analysis and automation across manufacturing, corporate risk, and finance. At UVA, she served as CEO of Smart Woman Securities, leading a 180-member organization dedicated to investment education and empowering women in finance. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, distance running, and international travel.

As Data Lead for the New York chapter of Women+ in Technology, Grace organizes and analyzes membership, event, and engagement data to help guide the chapter’s growth. She develops dashboards and reports that turn data into insights, helping leadership strengthen programming and track progress toward chapter goals. Grace is excited to help build a community where women across the NYC metro area can develop new skills, build connections, and find support as they shape their careers.

       Cynthia is a Senior Product Designer with more than 8 years of experience across fintech, enterprise security, telecom, and healthcare. She has designed experiences for Cisco, JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, and American Express, leading end-to-end design, guiding user research, and partnering with cross-functional teams to create intuitive, user-centered products. Outside of product work, Cynthia is a lifelong New Yorker and illustrator who founded Tiny Jars of Stars, a kindness project that leaves kindness notes in public spaces for strangers to find, hoping each message reaches someone who needs it most.

As part of the Marketing and Communications team for the New York chapter of Women+ in Technology, Cynthia helps share the chapter's story and connect women across the NYC metro area to its events, certifications, and community. When she first started in design, she wished there had been a group like this to turn to for guidance and support. Now she wants to help build that space for the women coming up behind her. She believes deeply in giving back to the community that shaped her, and she is proud to help more women enter, grow, and lead in tech.