Our Team

We are a female-inspired movement.

Julie Egan

Founder

Diplomat. Culturalist. Politico. Bon vivant.

Julie likes to foster “bold, persistent, experimentation” at the intersection of art, activism and diversity. Building on over two decades of global partnerships experience, including as a diplomat at the State Department and as a senior Obama White House official, Julie Egan launched Salonniere to perform a different kind of diplomacy—one aimed at creating a seat at the table for underrepresented voices at the highest levels of the art, culture, international affairs and thought leadership worlds.

While at the State Department, Julie executed diplomatic ventures as varied as entrepreneurship diplomacy, city diplomacy, hip hop diplomacy, and food diplomacy. She helped design and launch President Obama’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit—which has brought together over 50,000 of the world’s top entrepreneurs, investors and visionaries in nine countries. She was the architect of a trailblazing five country global partnership in North Africa during the Arab Uprisings that included the creation of first-ever U.S. - North Africa local boards composed of change agents, thinkers, creatives and young entrepreneurs.

Egan served in The White House on a historic team of senior advisors sent by President Obama to Detroit to assist in the recovery of an iconic American city following the most significant muncipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. In Detroit, she initiated the first refugee resettlement strategy for Detroit and a city-wide conversation on how city diplomacy and culture could be used in Detroit's renaissance.

A fourth generation Detroiter, Egan serves as a political appointee of Governor Gretchen Whitmer on the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, on the Detroit Institute of Arts African and African-American Art Board and as an adjunct fellow at the Columbia University City Diplomacy Lab. She is a Fulbright scholar and a recipient of the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship. She is the granddaughter of farmers in Canada and entrepreneurs in Detroit, and has lived and worked in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. She loves to cook and collects female-designed sneakers.

Danielle Waddell

Chief Operating Officer

Danielle Waddell leads on planning, events and operations for Salonniere. Danielle has dedicated her career to serving disadvantaged youth and increasing awareness of workforce development opportunities though a 21 year career in public service and the non-profit community. Danielle played an instrumental role in the development of The Suitor's Academy, an organization dedicated to moving youth in Chicago from the concept of being consumers to producers through engagement in the fashion, textile and merchandising industry. She is also an experienced traveling event planner.

Danielle most recently served as the labor expert and a Deputy Director of the White House Detroit Federal Working (DFWG) under the Obama Administration focusing on the development and implementation of technical assistance across the public workforce system including economic development and human services in the City of Detroit. In this role, Danielle assisted with the coordination of over 20 federal agencies’ Detroit focused grant investments. She also played an instrumental role in the ongoing development of the Mayor’s Workforce Development Board. Danielle worked closely with Detroit nonprofit organizations providing workforce development services to the public, engaging their staff on strategies to connect with the existing system and engage employers. Prior to joining DFWG, Ms. Waddell served as the workforce development expert on the Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) teams in Gary, IN and Rockford, IL assisting each city with strategies to address long term unemployment, youth recidivism and career and technical education gaps in the communities.

She is a proud product of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and is the Board Chair for its Alumni Association, a graduate of the Historically Black College, Virginia State University and DePaul University. Danielle is an avid reader of historical fiction and African-American literature and history. She lives in Chicago and travels frequently to Detroit, where she and her husband both have family.

Meredith Kerekes

Head of Marketing + Strategic Partnerships

Meredith Kerekes leads on strategic partnerships, marketing and strategic communications for Salonniere. Meredith likes to build or fix things. With a focus on brand marketing and strategy, she has launched, scaled, and managed startups through Fortune 50 businesses around the globe for over twenty years. She is particularly interested in opportunities and ventures that sit at the intersection of work, women, and wellness.  Her most recent projects include developing and managing the Beauty Made in Italy brand and trade promotion program for the Italian government; launching a Board Certified Dermatologist-led skincare brand in Sephora, Saks Fifth Avenue, & Net-A-Porter; and turning around a nationally recognized maternal mental health group practice. Meredith is the former Chief of Staff and Chief Marketing Officer at TechTown Detroit.

Chandra Moore

Architecture + Design

Chandra Moore leads on Architecture and Design for Salonnière. She is the Director of Design and Founder of coG-studio LLC. She grew up in California where she began her experience working in Architecture firms when she was a student in high school. This experience provided the foundation for her working in established Architecture firms around the world. She received her Bachelors and Masters of Architecture from the University of Detroit Mercy in 2000, with a focus in Community Development. This degree cumulated in a design thesis, which focused on the meaning and the mechanics of Youth and their Environment. In addition to analyzing Urban Communities like Detroit, Chandra was given the opportunity to practice in the United States, and abroad including China, London, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Tennessee, Washington DC, Minneapolis, and San Francisco where she worked in a joint venture with London’s Architecture firm Zaha Hadid.

As a Lead Designer within a variety of Architecture Firms, she has had the opportunity to design 34,000 square foot Therapeutic Wellness Center for The Saben Center in Los Angeles; the child-parent rooms at St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis Tennessee; and provide both design and construction administration services for the Detroit Riverwalk Pavilions. With her vast experience, she continues to push design forward within urban communities. In addition, she has served as a Professor at the University of Detroit Mercy-School of Architecture; Lawrence Technology University-School of Architecture; and has served as a guest lecturer at The University of Michigan-School of Architecture.

With over twenty years of professional experience in all aspects of Architectural Design, Construction Administration, and Community Development, in 2011 she started coG- studio. She continues to push design within her team as they provide unique opportunities and solutions for working families, young professionals, and developers. As she has worked on a variety of projects from the twenty-acre Detroit Medical Center Courts, to the Detroit Future City, her passion remains in revitalizing Urban Communities. In 2019, she was awarded the Spirit of Detroit Award, and in 2018 the National Design Award. She is on a variety of boards for youth in Detroit and a new member of The Gathering Spot in Atlanta, where she currently resides with her husband and three children. Her work has been published in Architect, Atlanta Voyage, and in the upcoming issue of Black Enterprise. coG-studio is currently revamping the way families live, while improving the return on investment for Real Estate Developers across the country and Fortune 500 Companies.

Leah Hill

Community Director + Project Manager

Leah leads on community and creative economy engagement in Detroit for Salonnière, in addition to her role as project manager. She returned to her hometown of Detroit to create and launch Kindred Music & Culture Festival. Kindred was inspired by the love and admiration of Detroit’s unique culture and determination to create a platform for her peers. Leah brings a strong understanding of business and processes, the importance of storytelling, the Detroit ecosystem, and a love of building platforms for creators to all projects she is involved in.

Kim Clayson

General Counsel

Kimberly Ross Clayson leads on legal affairs for Salonnière. She is Senior Counsel in the Detroit offices of Taft Law. She serves a diverse client portfolio including in business law and health law. She provides counsel to operating businesses as well as to creditors of financially distressed businesses and individuals. Kim has extensive experience restructuring business debtors and representing Chapter 7 trustees in fraud investigations and bankruptcy litigation. She was appointed and presently serves as one of only five Subchapter V Trustees in the Eastern District of Michigan under the Small business Reorganization Act of 2019. Kim serves on the Board of Directors for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation of the City of Detroit.