Board of Directors
Sara Ziff is the Founder and Director of the Model Alliance. She has worked as a model for over a decade, walking in runway shows for Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel, and appearing as the face of Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic, and Stella McCartney. She is currently represented by the Marilyn agency. In 2009, she co-directed and produced the feature film Picture Me, which chronicles her and other models’ experiences of their industry. Sara earned a B.A. in Political Science, with a focus on labor and community organizing, from Columbia University.
Susan Scafidi is the Director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, and she is the first U.S. law professor to offer a course in fashion law. Her areas of expertise encompass property, intellectual property, cultural property, international law, trusts & estates, and legal history. Prior to teaching at Fordham, she was most recently a tenured member of both the law and history faculties at Southern Methodist University and taught at a number of other law schools, including Yale and Georgetown. Professor Scafidi also writes a blog on law and fashion, in particular intellectual property, Counterfeit Chic.
Dorian Warren is an assistant professor of American Politics at Columbia University who specializes in the study of inequality and American politics, focusing on the politics of marginalized groups. His research and teaching interests include labor organizing and politics, race and ethnic politics, urban politics and policy, American political development, community organizing, public policy, and social science methodology.
Jenna Sauers is the Editor of the Model Alliance’s Daily Feed, which keeps models informed of labor issues in the fashion industry. Jenna is a former model who now works primarily as a journalist covering the fashion industry. She blogs for Jezebel, and has written for publications including the New York Times, the New York Observer, and Jalouse. Jenna is a graduate of the University of Iowa, with a B.A. in French and English literature.
Advisory Board
Alan S. Gordon is a labor and entertainment attorney who is the National Executive Director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the labor organization that represents opera singers and ballet dancers in the United States. An expert in collective bargaining for live performers, aspects of his career have been fictionalized in the motion pictures Nuts and Norma Rae.
Amy Lemons grew up in Richmond, Virginia. At fourteen, her dentist’s secretary suggested she try modeling because she was tall and had the “all American” look. The local modeling agency sent her pictures to NYC and she was signed with IMG and started working with top photographers including Bruce Weber and Steven Meisel. She took a break from modeling in 2004 to earn her bachelor’s degree from UCLA. Amy signed with Ford in January 2009 they embraced her for her natural size and she started working immediately. Amy has recently relocated back to New York and continues to be a health and body image advocate to women.
Carré Otis published her memoir, Beauty Disrupted, in 2011 with HarperCollins Publishers. She’s a regular guest blogger on Huffington Post, Mind Body Green, Elephant Journal, Patheos, and The Conversation. She’s also a contributing writer for Vogue Australia. She’s passionate about the dangerous impact subversive media-messaging has on our culture-especially our young women-but also enjoys writing on topics related to health, nutrition, yoga, relationships, sexual intimacy, mind-body connection, and spirituality. She’s on the Advisory Board of the Model Alliance, as well as an Ambassador for National Eating Disorders Association.
Chris Gay is the President of the Marilyn Agency in New York. Chris has worked in New York for the past twelve years and has managed the careers of some of the industry’s most well-known and successful models, including Adriana Lima, Naomi Campbell, Constance Jablonski, Liu Wen, and Isabeli Fontana. In the past decade, Chris has negotiated some of the largest beauty, fashion, and brand endorsement deals on behalf of fashion models. Chris currently resides in TriBeCa, New York, with his daughter Blue.
Coco Rocha never expected to become one of modeling’s brightest stars. After being scouted at an Irish dance competition in her hometown of Vancouver, she soon landed her first cover of Italian Vogue with world-renowned photographer Steven Meisel. Coco has since positioned herself as one of the most digitally savvy models of her generation with her highly followed blog and social media platforms. She is one of the few industry insiders who have spoken out about the prevalence of eating disorders in the modeling industry and the need for reform. A resident of New York City, Coco spends her free time working with charities SenhoaLakayPam and Strut For A Cure
Deborah Allton-Maher is the Associate Executive Director of AGMA, an employment and labor attorney, and a retired ballerina who danced for twenty years in the Corps de Ballet of the Metropolitan Opera. She has a B.A. from Juilliard and a J.D. from Fordham Law School.
Doreen Small is a seasoned intellectual property lawyer and a recognized expert in the field of fashion and fashion modeling law. She is an adjunct professor at the Fashion Law Institute. Along with Ali Grace, Doreen created the curriculum for and teaches the first-ever course in Fashion Modeling Law. Doreen has served as in-house counsel for a number of major fashion and entertainment companies, most recently as General Counsel/Vice-President Legal and Business Affairs for Ford Models, Inc. Currently, Doreen is Counsel at Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe. Doreen is also a member of the Museum of Modern Art’s Contemporary Arts Council.
Flora Stamatiades is the National Director of Organizing and Special Projects of Actors’ Equity, the union that represents actors in the United States. She has a B.A. from Amherst and an M.F.A. from Yale.
Milla Jovovich is a highly regarded model, actress and spokesperson. Scouted at the tender age of eleven, she has been featured in countless magazines and campaigns. Milla is an international spokesperson for cosmetic giant L’Oreal Paris and she has starred in over two dozen films. With the release of Resident Evil: Retribution in 2012, Milla will become the only woman ever to have starred in a five movie franchise. In 2003 Milla co-founded a fashion line Jovovich-Hawk, which earned her a finalist position in the “Best New Designer” category for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund initiative. Milla resides in LA with her husband Paul W.S. Anderson and their daughter, Ever.
Shalom Harlow has graced the covers of the world’s top fashion magazines, worked with the industry’s most legendary photographers, and has been the face of luxury brands from Chanel to Versace. Shalom’s role as co-host of MTV’s “House of Style” and her appearance in the documentary “Unzipped” led to acting roles in several films including “In & Out,” “Head over Heels” and “How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days”. Having found success in both the acting and modeling industries, she has worked in one field that has protected rights for workers, and one field that does not. Based in New York City, Shalom is a passionate supporter of green technology and environmental conservation
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Trish Goff left home at 15 to launch one of the most prolific modeling careers of the late ’90s and 2000s. A favorite of some of the world’s top photographers including Steven Meisel and Patrick Demarchelier, Trish appeared on the covers of countless magazines such as American, French, Italian and German editions of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and in numerous ad campaigns. Opting to start a family at the height of her career, Trish gave birth to a son, Nyima in 1997, and after getting her GED and taking classes at the New School, she juggled a successful modeling career with her roles as as single mom and student. Passionate about diet and nutrition, Trish currently lives in New York.
Rachel Blais has worked as a model for over a decade, which brought her to live in Paris, New York, London, Milan and Tokyo. Her clients have included renowned designers as well as prestigious and underground magazines. She appears in the acclaimed documentary “Girl Model” and started advising on the film two years prior to its release. In 2011, she began speaking regularly at film festivals, universities and to the media about the film and ways to improve the industry. Rachel also serves on the models’ committee of the Equity trade union in the UK. She blogs for the RQASF, a women’s health organization in Montreal.
Meredith Hattam is the Model Alliance’s Graphic Designer and is behind all design elements related to the organization. A former model and journalist from San Diego, Meredith has written for Riviera Magazine, San Diego Magazine, and NPR San Diego. In addition to being our graphic designer, she is presently a full-time advertising copywriter based in New York. As a model, she has lived and worked in NY, Beijing, Istanbul, Mexico City, and Milan. For more of her design work, click here
Kelli DeSantis is the Web Developer for the Model Alliance. She began her digital career in Marketing and Advertising as the Director of Online Media for Endai but the desire for travel and meeting the love of her life led her to start her own full service, interactive media development company that specializes in building and servicing Content Management Systems. Offering a range of services in Email Marketing, Custom WordPress Development, Web Design, Social Media, Graphic Design, Joomla, SEO and much more.
Tracy Murphy grew up in Flint, Michigan. At 18, her passion for beauty and art brought her to NYC to become a makeup artist. She is now one of the most sought after artists in the business, constantly traveling the globe to work with the top talents in the industry. She is represented by Jed Root, Inc and resides in NYC.
