Biographies and experience
Growing up in South Africa, Hayley saw the effects of social injustice firsthand — and the power that a fierce passion and shared purpose can have in bringing about positive social change. It was this discovery early in life that inspired her to pursue her passion for telling stories and driving action, ultimately founding the Additive Agency.
Prior to founding Additive, Hayley led large-scale brand transformation efforts at Siegel+Gale for clients such as the Y (YMCA), Aetna, Rotary International and Memorial Sloan Kettering, as well as launched new brands, such as Understood and Life Tuner (by AARP). She also developed corporate social responsibility programming benefitting social enterprises in Africa and Asia.
Previously, Hayley managed public affairs at Columbia University, where she was responsible for protecting and promoting the reputation of the Law School, its faculty and programs. The first years of her career were spent working with advocacy and affinity groups to shape the conversation around infectious diseases and destigmatize issues like depression.
Hayley designed and teaches a graduate class called “Purpose-Driven Communications” at Columbia University and is a frequent guest lecturer at New York University. She sits on the board of Democracy Works and the Tyler Clementi Foundation, and lives in Brooklyn, NY with her family.
Rachel has a passion for understanding people and how they think and behave, which she uses to help organizations effectively engage stakeholders and inspire them to action.
At Additive, Rachel has helped lead brand engagements for a diverse set of clients, including New 42, the Y, Syracuse University, Brigham Health, University of Chicago, News Literacy Project and Gap Foundation.
Before joining Additive, Rachel worked at BuzzFeed, helping Fortune 500 brands and nonprofits execute their marketing strategies. Prior to that, she worked on large research and strategy initiatives at Siegel+Gale for clients such as MIT Sloan School of Management, Rotary International and Flywheel, among others.
Rachel graduated magna cum laude from the University
of Pennsylvania with a BA in cultural anthropology.
Justin began his career working in story development at RKO Pictures, where he examined how boldness, credibility and the strategic management of expectations work together to create the stories that move the world.
He believes great brands, like great stories, gain affinity and momentum by establishing and then anticipating what happens next.
As a writer, brand strategist and namer (with previous experience at Interbrand and Sullivan), Justin has worked with clients like AT&T, Bank of America, GrowNYC, New 42 and Syracuse University, helping each find the right words to tell their stories.
Justin graduated from Chapman University with a BA in screenwriting.
Chinyelu is driven by people, purpose and passion. With a background in marketing communications and nonprofit operations, Chinny has developed brand strategies, integrated marketing communications plans and strategic plans for clients as varied as Charity: Water, DonorsChoose, Memphis Tourism, Harlem Children’s Zone and McCarter Theatre Company, Syracuse University, Catholic Community Foundation of Long Island, Gap Foundation and United Nations Foundation, to name a few.
Prior to Additive, she worked at Outbrain, developing email marketing programs and social media strategy from concept to completion with a focus in customer acquisition and retention. At iMentor, she founded and wrote profile stories for a monthly segment showcasing the trials and triumphs of mentor-mentee pairs and led orientation sessions, converting prospects into full-time, volunteer mentors.
Chinyelu holds a master’s degree in strategic communication from Columbia University.
As a writer and educator, Catherine strives to equip people and organizations with the tools they need to inspire change through strategic storytelling.
Catherine has drafted messaging for a range of national and regional clients including Columbia University School of Nursing, Foster America, Mount Sinai, Carnegie Science, BroSis and Phoenix Children’s.
Prior to Additive, Catherine spent nine years in primary, intermediate and post-secondary writing classrooms where she helped students identify storytelling goals and techniques to achieve them in written and multimodal formats. She worked concurrently as a grant writer at Red Olive Culture Commons where she supported fundraising functions at Black arts organizations including Cave Canem and viBe
Theater Experience.
Catherine graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University and holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of South Carolina.
At Additive, Sacha is the connector across the strategy, content and design teams, providing vital project management and research support. She’s supported clients such as Phoenix Children’s, Carnegie Science, University of California, Berkeley and more.
She began her career in executive search, where she fine-tuned her skills in client relations. Her education focused heavily on health and social justice campaigns, including independent research for her undergraduate institution, which is where her interest in purpose-driven work was sparked.
Sacha graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Human Communications.
Rachel is a purpose-driven strategist and storyteller. Rachel has over a decade of experience in the nonprofit sector, working across marketing, fundraising and program management at organizations such as the Whitney Museum, the Public Theater and New York Stage and Film. Most recently, Rachel has provided insights and fundraising counsel to PBS Distribution, Snapchat, Color Farm Media and the Lower East Side Film Festival.
Rachel began her career onstage, performing in a musical about calculus, a few Shakespeare plays, a dinner-theater murder mystery, and in ensembles at the Upright Citizens Brigade. In addition to a sense of humor, Rachel holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from the University of Southern California.
Hubert has a long career spanning the advertising, marketing, public relations, crisis communications and branding sectors.
At Additive, he provides technical design oversight across all creative deliverables and creative counsel across strategy deliverables. During his tenure he has developed multi-channel guidelines, tools, templates and collateral, including impact reports, for clients as varied as Harlem Children’s Zone, Columbia University School of Professional Studies, The JED Foundation (JED), Mouse, Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), Phoenix Children’s, Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care, Lighthouse Guild and Jonas Philanthropies, among others.
Before joining the Additive Agency, Hubert was at MSLGroup and Siegel+Gale, where he developed print and digital assets for product launches, trade shows, conferences, social media and influencer outreach.
Kruti is a multi-disciplinary designer with a specialization in branding and systems design. She uses strategic storytelling and market research to design efficient solutions and systems through unified brand experiences.
Prior to joining Additive, she was senior designer at Bulletproof, where she led and contributed to design work for clients including Hershey’s, Mondelez and Diageo. Previously, at Landor & Fitch, Kruti designed for iconic brands including Starbucks and P&G. These experiences have shaped her unique perspective on brand strategy and visual design.
At Additive, her clients include Syracuse University, World Wildlife Fund, Mount Sinai, United Way and Carnegie Science.
She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons School of Design.
Ricardo has led large-scale, integrated engagements for Syracuse University and Columbia University School of Professional Studies, among others.
In addition to developing dynamic visual systems, Ricardo has deep expertise in applications across channels, including environments, publications and multimedia. Prior to joining Additive, Ricardo worked at Siegel+Gale, where he developed designs for Flywheel, Memorial Sloan Kettering and Monster.com. Before that, Ricardo worked at Ogilvy, where he created advertising for IBM, Gap and the UN, and Prologue Films, where he created storyboards for a wide range of clients, including Nike.
Ricardo studied graphic design at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena and hails from Mexico City.
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