International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and serves as a call to action for furthering gender parity.
At A2IM, we strive to ensure equal representation in all that we do, from events to leadership, and continually discuss steps we can take to advocate for women in a largely male dominated industry. We know there is still a long way to go, but are also proud to acknowledge and celebrate the milestones we’ve crossed.
Celebrating the kick-ass women that keep our lean and mighty A2IM team running, get to know them and the work they do below:
Lisa Hresko, General Manager
Meet Lisa, A2IM’s General Manager.
Lisa works to ensure that the independent music community in the USA receives the highest level of educational resources, and that all A2IM initiatives create support and value for the independent community. Prior to A2IM, she spent nearly a decade at CMJ during which time she held several positions including Editor-in-Chief. Lisa was recently named to Billboard’s 2023 Women in Music Executive list.
On her birthday we eat bialys instead of cake.
Alyssa Mark, Senior Director of Label Member Relations
Basically always crate digging, meet Alyssa, A2IM’s Senior Director of Label Member Relations.
Alyssa is an industry relations specialist who has worked in music for over a decade. First entering the space via her local college radio station, Alyssa has worked in both the DSP and label space, multiple music-tech start-ups, and currently oversees A2IM’s label membership.
Alyssa works with industry leaders to support the over 800 independent record labels and music services across the United States that make up our membership. Uniquely positioned at the center of the indie space, Alyssa identifies and understands the needs of our members, and maintains a pulse on the health of the sector.Alyssa is also a huge vinyl enthusiast, collector, and DJ. She runs a women’s vinyl collective called Girls Gone Vinyl, whose mission statement centers around reaffirming women’s presence in DJ culture, and creating a positive environment to celebrate and discover new music.
Sheryl Cohen, Head of Strategic Planning
Team A2IM’s #1 plant mom, meet Sheryl, A2IM’s Head of Strategic Planning and A2IM’s longest-serving staff member.
She began as the Operations Manager and has worked her way up to an executive position within the organization. She is the project lead and program curator for Indie Week. Under her guidance, A2IM has succeeded in gender-balancing the panels, and nearly doubled the curated programming. Sheryl coordinates A2IM’s highly successful, members-only mentor program. The program, now in its 7th cycle, has been wildly popular with the participation of both mentors and mentees from a majority of A2IM member companies.
Sheryl is the Voice of God for the A2IM Libera Awards.
Xin-rui Lee, Communications Lead
Xin-rui is A2IM’s Communications Lead, overseeing all marketing, communications and content creation.
After graduating with a degree in Philosophy from NYU, she got her her first job in New York’s independent music scene at the label Cascine, and venue Baby’s All Right.
Now nearly 3 years deep as communications lead at A2IM, she aspires to further her career in project management within the music industry, and eventually open her own venue. In her free time, Xin is a DJ going by the moniker Lao Gan Mami, an avid climber and a burgeoning knitter.