new york leadership

Angie Grabski serves as managing director of Step Up Women's Network's New York office. Angie came to Step Up New York after serving as the managing director of Step Up Los Angeles for two years.

As the managing director, Angie oversees all fundraising, strategy, programming and staffing for Step Up New York and ensures that Step Up's mission of bridging communities of professional women and underserved girls is executed successfully.

In 2011, eHow named Angie to its list of 100 Women of Shift, recognizing women who live their passions, embrace their interests and overcome obstacles by discovering the expert within.

Angie came to Step Up after having held membership and marketing roles at UCLA, at both the UCLA Alumni Association and the UCLA Anderson School of Management. There, Angie was responsible for generating $1.5 million in revenue annually through memberships at the alumni association and supervising all marketing, data and online services efforts at UCLA Anderson, in addition to executing the annual Alumni Weekend Leadership Conference.

Prior to UCLA, Angie served in membership and meeting planning roles for the American Staffing Association, a nonprofit trade association located in Washington, DC.

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 2003, Angie joined Step Up as a member and became an active volunteer before becoming part of the staff in 2008. Angie received her B.S. in journalism from Boston University.

Sarah Kate Wagner serves as program manager for membership & events for Step Up Women's Network's New York office. As program manager, Sarah Kate is responsible for all membership acquisition and renewal, relationship building and event planning.

Prior to joining Step Up, Sarah Kate served as an associate at Phreesia Inc., where she assisted in general outreach and communication as well as presentations to potential clients and investors. Before moving to New York and joining Phreesia, Sarah Kate was a legal assistant at Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP in Washington, D.C., where she supported three senior attorneys.

Sarah Kate received her B.A. in American Studies from Brown University.

As president and chief operating officer, Linda Descano oversees management of Women & Co., a division of Citi that provides women with educational resources for navigating life transitions and planning their financial future.

Linda joined Women & Co. in 2003. Prior to joining Women & Co., from 1999 through 2002, Linda was a director and portfolio manager in Citi's Private Portfolio Group, where she co-managed customized investment portfolios for individuals and institutions and oversaw the firm's socially responsible investment program. Before that, Linda served as senior vice president and director of environmental affairs for Citi predecessor company, Salomon Inc., which she joined in 1994.

An accomplished speaker, Linda has spoken at hundreds of major conferences around the world on an array of personal finance, investment and leadership topics. She is a member of several professional associations, including the CFA® Institute, New York Society of Security Analysts, Financial Communications Society, and Women In Communications. Linda also serves on the New York Board of Step Up Women's Network, co-chairs Dress for Success' Financial Literacy Committee, and is a member of the National Organization of Italian American Women. From 1997 through 1999, Linda chaired the steering committee of the United Nationals Financial Institutions Initiative on the Environment. Linda also has served on the Environmental Financial Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as the boards of the René Dubos Center for Human Health and the Environment and Recycled Paper Coalition, among others.

Passionate about education and science, Linda recently endowed the National Organization of Italian American Women with the Nina Anna Scholarship, in honor of her grandmothers, Nina Gaspari Pennachietti and Anna Fortunato Descano, which is a needs-based scholarship awarded to an Italian-American woman pursuing higher education. She also supports the Prudy Astrella Legacy Scholarship in honor of her inspirational fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Astrella; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian; and the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Among her many accomplishments, Linda was the New York recipient of the 2009 Corporate w2wlink Ascendancy Award for her career achievements and her dedication to mentoring women. She was recognized as a Wise Woman by the National Organization of Italian American Women in 2008. She received a Human Rights Leadership Award from Church Women United in 1999 and an Environmental Leadership Award from the United Nations Environment Programme - North America in 1997.

A native of Philadelphia, Linda attended Temple University and graduated with a bachelor of arts in geology. She holds a Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Wendi serves as Yext's EVP of Sales & Services. Prior to Yext she was VP of Account Management at Yahoo!, responsible for the 600-person North American region team. Wendi joined Yahoo! as a member of the Right Media Leadership team. Wendi has also held executive leadership roles at Gartner, Scient and Price Waterhouse's Media and Entertainment practice. She has a B.S. in Industrial Management and Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology.