Our Team

Stephanie KaufmaN

Founder & Managing DirectoR

Favorite Place to Travel: Tanzania
Favorite Method of Travel: Golf carts and boats
Favorite Drink: Pimm's Cup - my grandmother's favorite!

  • While finishing school, Stephanie worked at the law firm Cooley Godward Kronish, San Diego as an attorney recruiter. In this role, she helped plan the summer associate events, through which she realized that her current path of going to law school was wrong…that she’d rather plan the events the lawyers attended! She has been doing corporate event planning since then.

    Stephanie’s thirteen years of event management experience includes a wide variety of gatherings, from board meetings in Fiji to city-wide conferences in Jackson, MS. She’s had the privilege to work with everything from non-profits to start-ups to Fortune 50 companies. She enjoys making each event special and ensuring each guest feels like a VIP. Stephanie loves a challenge and thrives at finding unique solutions to make each program shine. She has planned domestic and international events for clients in the technology, arts, retail, pharmaceutical, agriculture, travel, non-profit, and hospitality industries.

    Stephanie graduated from University of California, San Diego with a BA in Political Science and a concentration in International Studies. She resides in San Francisco with her husband, Alex, and their two dogs, Mowgli and Blue.

CathArine Lipton

Lead event planner

Favorite Place to Travel: Anywhere with mountains.
Favorite Method of Travel: I love traveling by train
Favorite Drink: Paloma with jalapeno

  • Catharine has 15 years of experience in the event & meeting planning industry, dabbling in venue management and catering before landing in full service meeting and conference management. She has driven all stages of the event-life cycle from conceptual brainstorming and strategy to final budget reconciliation and ROI analysis. Catharine has built a strong, diverse portfolio including VIP client events, advisory boards, sales meetings, executive retreats, and large-scale technical conferences.

kimberly Mhlaba Johnson

Director, Incentive Events & EXPERIENCES

Favorite Place to Travel: Hawaii
Favorite Method of Travel: Moke
Favorite Drink: Mai Tais from Monkeypod! OR Anything out of a coconut or pineapple

  • Kimberly (Kym) is a certified incentive travel professional (CITP) and Hawaiian Destination Specialist, who has been immersed in the world of corporate events and luxury travel for over 15 years. From organizing events in destinations spanning Thailand, the Caribbean, and Monaco, she loves infusing each gathering with local culture and a touch of giving back. Bringing people together and crafting extraordinary experiences is what fuels her passion, and she thrives on creating memorable moments one event at a time. 

Tom T. young

Creative Strategist

Favorite Place to Travel: Bath, UK
Favorite Method of Travel: Roadtrip!
Favorite Drink: (very) Dirty Martini

  • Tom Tamayo Young is a Partner of Flannel & Blade and a Co-Founder of Vital Little Plans.

    He has a background that includes theater production, program design, event planning, project management, curriculum development, teaching artist work, landscape architecture, graphic and web design, and creative community development. His formal education spans ecological science, music theory and composition, landscape architecture, and creative placemaking. Thomas's professional career includes helping to design and execute dozens of regional and national events around the field of creative placemaking.

Emmakylee rice

Lead Event Planner

Favorite Place to Travel: Anguilla for beaches and Paris for culture
Favorite Method of Travel: Plane
Favorite Drink: Champagne – There’s always a reason to celebrate!

  • EmmaKylee is a lead planner for Looking Glass Creative. In this role, she supports and manages events from agenda development and registration to pre-planning logistics to onsite execution to post-event communications and budget reconciliation. She has been in the events industry for about eight years and earned her CMP degree in 2019. EmmaKylee currently resides in Tuscaloosa, AL. She is passionate about planning the best events for her clients, traveling the world, spending time with her husband and two cats and her alma mater’s football time (Roll Tide!).

Laura Magel

Vp of Social events & Weddings

Favorite Place to Travel: Nantucket
Favorite Method of Travel: by plane, train, or sailboat
Favorite Drink: Hugo Spritz

  • Laura brings nearly two decades of event planning expertise to the Looking Glass Creative team. Her portfolio spans intimate gatherings to multi-day international events. Laura’s passion for the industry stems from her love of connecting with extraordinary people and celebrating the important relationships and milestones in their lives.  As the former founder and principal of Laura Wright Events, she brings an extensive wedding planning portfolio to the team. Her work has been featured in Vogue Weddings, The Knot, Style Me Pretty, Green Wedding Shoes, Carats & Cake, and 7x7 Magazine. Laura excels at transforming our client’s visions into meticulously executed realities. She is recognized for her sharp attention to detail and impeccable design eye. 

    At home in Mill Valley, CA, Laura cherishes life with her husband, their son Finley, and their rescue dog, Sawyer. Together, they enjoy the vibrant local community and the beautiful surroundings that inspire Laura’s dedication and creativity.

Jessica Jasionowski

Event operations

Favorite Place to Travel: Ireland
Favorite Method of Travel: Catamaran 
Favorite Drink: Whiskey Sour (topped with a frothed egg white and a cherry!)

  • Jessica Jasionowski is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she studied Psychology and English with a focus on Irish Literature through the University College Dublin. She has a background in theatre and film, as both a writer and a performer; Jessica has also worked as an advocate for children's rights on set as well as for improving accessibility for patrons of theatre in New Jersey & New York City. While working across these artistic industries, she developed a passion for organizing galas for non-profit theatres and helping to facilitate events that focus on the intersection between art and community. She's been fortunate (and thrilled!) to help plan and produce exciting political and cultural events with clients around the world. When she is not visiting friends in Leipzig, Jessica spends her time with her family, six tiny chihuahuas, and one not-so tiny turtle in Central New Jersey.

jasmine jones

Event operations

Favorite Place to Travel: Anyplace I’ve never been before
Favorite Method of Travel: By car
Favorite Drink: Diet Coke or COFFEE!

  • After finishing her degree at Ball State University in public relations, Jasmine moved to Atlanta, where she has been planning meetings and events since 2012. While she can help coordinate any aspect of a meeting, her strong suit is in technology. This skill was especially helpful in 2020 when meetings were forced to an online format. Her favorite part of organizing meetings is helping clients feel at peace, knowing that their event will go off without a hitch. On the occasion that there is a surprise or two, Jasmine looks forward to handling the issues behind the scenes where no one knows the difference. Jasmine currently resides outside of Atlanta, GA, with her husband, her two little divas, and a furbaby- Jackson!
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jill David

Event operations

Favorite Place to Travel: I love traveling in Europe. Magic!
Favorite Method of Travel: I love a long plane ride.
Favorite Drink: A very cold flute of good quality champagne.

  • Jill David is a Senior Event Producer with more than 25 years of corporate meeting and event planning experience.  Her greatest strengths are her expert attention to detail and strong work ethic.  She is also highly skilled in client relations, vendor management, registration and on-site logistics.  Jill has a proven record of consistently delivering high-quality events for her broad and diverse list of clients. 

    She has produced meetings and events for companies such as Nike, The Walt Disney Company, Sony PlayStation, The Jordan Brand, Riot Games, Forbes Travel Guide, and USA Men’s Olympic Basketball. Jill also has experience working at large-scale sporting events like The Super Bowl, Formula 1, and The Rose Bowl. So, whether it’s a Black-Tie Gala for 700 luxury hoteliers, an Incentive Program for 50 executives or an International Sports Marketing event, Jill has produced it all. 

    Jill has a passion for travel and has managed events across the United States, in dozens of other countries, and on 4 continents, so far.  She is a genuine people-person and thrives on taking care of her attendees needs while they are at her program.  Meeting and Event production is literally her dream job!

    When she’s not working, she’s enjoying life in Southern California, with her husband of 22 years and three very active kids.

Lauren long

Event operations

Favorite Place to Travel: Phuket & Maldives are on my bucket list
Favorite Method of Travel: Planes or Trains
Favorite Drink: An ice cold Stella or a bold Malbec

  • While finishing her business degree from the University of Georgia, Lauren began in the hospitality industry by working at a local catering and design company in Athens, GA. After finding that her passion lies on the corporate side of the events industry, she began her career with a Destination Management Company (DMC) in Atlanta working in Creative Services and planning events all over the Southeast from small mom and pop business to Fortune 100 companies. Over the past couple years, she has expanded her experience into meeting planning, partaking in both pre and post planning as well as on-site operational work as a travel director. Lauren resides in Metro Atlanta with her husband, daughter (Kate) and chocolate lab (Emma).

Jessica Gatton

Event operations

Favorite Place to Travel: Anywhere with warm sand & cool water, mountains to climb & fresh air to breathe.
Favorite Method of Travel: Bicycle!
Favorite Drink: Spicy margarita

  • Jessica is a graduate of California State University Monterey Bay, with a degree in Communications, specializing in Creative Writing/Social Action. After completing her degree and falling in love with the Monterey coast, she first dove into the hospitality industry through a position for CSU Summer Arts. Her passion for providing the best guest experience only grew as she transitioned into the conference and events world. Over the last 7 years, Jessica has supported large-scale conferences and meetings, fostering relationships with venues, labor unions, and clients both domestically and internationally. She supports events from start to finish, from venue selection and site visits to vendor management, logistics, communications, budget management and reconciliation, onsite support, and post-event analysis. Her event and project management portfolio includes technology & media companies, education advisory boards, luxury car manufacturers, and wineries. When she is not traveling for work or to see her family, Jessica spends as much time as she can outdoors, hiking, cycling, or practicing yoga.

joe ciampi

virtual event technician

Favorite Place to Travel: Los Angeles, or California in general
Favorite Method of Travel: Car
Favorite Drink: Anything with rum, I’m a pirate at heart

  • Joe is a New Jersey based educator, producer, and tech nerd. A Rutgers University graduate who specialized in early American Literature and music theory/production, he joined Looking Glass Creative’s virtual events team in 2020. Former gigs include Director of Production for ReThink Theatrical and Stage Manager for Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Cholai Witter

head of accounting

Favorite Place to Travel: Europe and secluded tropical islands with natural landmarks
Favorite Method of Travel: By train and cruise in Europe
Favorite Drink: Simple tea and coffee!

  • Cholai's career history for the past twenty plus years in the Bay Area spans medical, corporate, financial and public accounting.

“It's important to us that those we work with feel proud and connected to the work we do. Working with the planners at Looking Glass was great because they really got us, providing support and understanding every step of the way. They gave us useful insights and helped us know what to expect.”

National Arts Strategy