Meet the Board Members

Allison Herrera

Allison Herrera, a New Orleans native, is the founder & CEO of Uptown Girl Media, LLC., a marketing agency specializing in digital advertising.

After beginning a career in broadcast journalism with Raycom Media (who at the time owned television networks such as WVUE Fox 8 in New Orleans & WAFB Channel 9 in Baton Rouge), she fell in love with the idea of using the knowledge & tools she gained in media to help businesses & brands advertise themselves. She then left the news industry with a heavy, but hopeful, heart to pursue her dream – opening a media marketing agency focusing on video for digital advertising. After almost a year in business, she began expanding the depth of services Uptown Girl Media offered, thus positioning the company as a full service marketing agency.

Herrera is a valuable player in her industry, as she is the first minority owned company that transformed the idea of video advertising in New Orleans. Before launching her own agency in 2019, Herrera received experience in sales, advertising, public relations and much more throughout her career and multiple roles. She is an alumna of St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Louisiana State University and Delta Gamma Fraternity, where she obtained countless honors from National Honor Societies and recognitions from a handful of organizations throughout her time in school.

From working hands-on with students at St. Michael’s Special School to supporting charities such as Son of a Saint, Herrera is a strong believer in giving back to her community. In her spare time, Herrera enjoys spending quality time with her loved ones, watching Louisiana sports, reading, trying new dishes around the city and watching movies with her Yorkipoo, Gumbeaux.

Lauren Evans

Earning her Bachelor’s at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Public Relations, Lauren Evans quickly learned her passion was digitally connecting brands with their target audience. As a socially conscious extrovert with a natural love for customer service, she approaches each client intending to make their goals her own.

Now, as an Account Manager at FSC Interactive, Lauren pairs her dedication to helping others with her love for the ever-changing landscape of the internet to maintain clients’ presence online. With over six years of account service experience at digital marketing agencies, Lauren is well versed in Search, Social, Content, and Email marketing for various industries.

Robert Baer

With over 40 years of banking experience Robert works with companies creating innovative solutions that drive improvement across people, processes, and technology. These solutions break down barriers between functions to execute programs and projects that align growing organizations with shifts in regulatory compliance, the economic landscape and market conditions while focusing on continuous improvement, innovation, and business process optimization. He is an engaging and influential leader, coach, and business partner.

Eleni Hampton

Eleni Hampton is the Manager of Digital Strategy at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. In this role, she develops impactful digital campaigns to connect patients with high quality healthcare services. With a rich background in the agency world, Eleni has honed her skills as a media planner and digital strategist, working across various industries, with a strong focus on healthcare. She has driven innovative and effective media strategies for clients ranging from local clinics to national healthcare, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies.

Eleni earned her degree in marketing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She began her career at a large healthcare marketing agency in St. Louis, Missouri, before taking the bold leap to move to New Orleans. Eleni possesses specific expertise in digital media planning, reporting and analytics, as well as research and insight generation. Her ability to leverage data and insights to inform strategy and optimize performance makes her a key player in the digital landscape of healthcare.

Passionate about leveraging marketing to improve the patient experience, Eleni is dedicated to making a positive impact in the field.

Reyna Rivera

Reyna V. Rivera brings over a decade of marketing experience to her role, with a robust foundation in photography and graphic design complemented by a formal education in Public Relations and Marketing from Tulane University. Her career is marked by a strong focus on photography, videography, and organic SEO, where she excels in creating engaging brand storytelling through diverse media.

As the Marketing Manager at Mullin, a high-end landscape company, Reyna applies her creativity and strategic insight to lead the marketing division. She skillfully manages and integrates a range of marketing activities including dynamic social media campaigns, comprehensive content development, and targeted digital advertising. This ensures Mullin’s brand message is consistently and effectively conveyed across all platforms. Reyna’s passion for leveraging innovative video and photography techniques to showcase businesses has been instrumental in driving Mullin’s success.

Reyna also plays a vital role in the American Marketing Association New Orleans, where she manages communications, and she is an active member of the SMPS (Society for Marketing Professional Services) communications committee, further enhancing her impact within the regional marketing community.

Bente van der Made

Bente van der Made has been in the IT industry since the late 90’s, starting out working at a software lab and finally getting caught by the internet. Bente believes the internet is one of the greater inventions of our times, allowing people to connect and to share information all over the world.

In her younger years she went to college to study Biology and became a Tropical Ecologist with a minor in Communications. Even though she didn’t work as a biologist for long, she still values the great education and the way it made her think.

Bente’s passion is to share her knowledge and to make people successful on the web. She works mainly with small and medium businesses and likes to keep things affordable and practical.

Charique Richardson

Charique L. Richardson, MBA is the founder of Digital Innovation Media Group. Her company helps small business owners and organizations stand out online, generate more leads, and increase traffic to their websites without sitting on the computer all day. her company specializes in web design, website redesign, search engine optimization, and social media management.

Charique works primarily with small business owners, non-profit organizations, and educational institutions. Her clients rave about getting booked for interviews, being noticed online, and converting more clients to their businesses. They especially love the personal attention, coaching, and encouragement they receive from Charique and her team.

She started her company after 25 years of working in marketing and sales with leading companies like Pfizer and Duke Hospital. Charique also speaks to professional associations and loves sharing her knowledge with her audience.

Charique has been an advocate for workforce diversity during her time working in the corporate setting. She’s a former member of the Duke School of Medicine Council on Diversity and the Duke Cancer Institute Diversity Council.

Charique is currently serving on the American Marketing Association’s New Orleans Chapter’s Board of Directors as the Diversity and Inclusion Chair. She is also a member of the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Fidelity P.O.W.E.R., and Business Network International. She resides in New Orleans, LA with her husband and 3 sons.

Charique received her Bachelor in Business Administration and her Master of Business Administration in Marketing from Florida A&M University’s School of Business and Industry.

Sam Olmsted

Sam Olmsted is an experienced marketing professional who specializes in building integrated and holistic marketing campaigns across a wide field of industries. Sam brings an analytical approach to his marketing efforts, looking at trends in data to create impactful campaigns that lead to higher online visibility for his clients. He couples that with a creative approach to content, with years of experience holding company-wide workshops and brainstorms to establish insights that lead to meaningful written and visual content.

As the New Orleans Managing Director at Online Optimism, a locally-based digital marketing agency, Sam oversees the company’s headquarters and meets weekly with the directors of the Social Media, Search Engine Marketing, Search & Content, and Design departments to ensure they are producing thoughtful, well-researched, and revenue-driving campaigns and projects. Sam works with clients in varying industries, from cryptocurrency to healthcare to any business sector that needs more exposure on the web.

Sam graduated from Tulane University and double-majored in finance and entrepreneurial management. After working in real estate, SaaS, and hospitality, Sam garnered the experience required to offer holistic marketing solutions to his clients.

Sam is also both a content creator and a content curator in his free time. Sam manages multiple social media accounts that feature original hand-drawn cartoons or well-edited photos of dogs and generate well over 10,000 impressions a week.