About the New York Handmade Collective
The NY Handmade Collective, is a 501(c)6 nonprofit made up of a vibrant group of artisans who live and/or work in and around New York City.
We are committed to sharing our knowledge, skills, and creations with the community in an effort to foster a greater appreciation of the aesthetic, environmental, and economic importance of handmade products.
We are dedicated to developing the potential of our members through mentorship, education, in-person selling opportunities, and small business development workshops.
Meet the Board of the NY Handmade Collective:
Coleen Phoenixx
President & Operations Director
Coleen joined NYHC in 2016 and was elected to the board in February 2021. She's a neurodivergent skincare Sorceress, who spends her days formulating sensory friendly skincare for Rising Phoenixx.
Rachel Soares
Membership Director
Rachel Soares joined NYHC in 2015, and was elected to the Board in March 2022. Her favorite creative outlet is hand-stamping quirky keychains for her shop, Ye Old Stamping Grounds. She previously worked for 8 years researching diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Lina Del Plato
Marketing Director
Lina joined the NYHC in February 2020 and became our Marketing Director in April 2024. She is the owner of Lina Del Plato Designs, where she designs customized baby, bridal, and adoption gifts, as well as apparel, totes, and aprons. When she is not designing, she is an attorney for children in New York Family Court, representing mostly children in foster care. Most of her inspiration comes from her daughter, who encouraged her to start her business and her blog.
Olivia Michel
Programs Director
Olivia joined NYHC in August 2022 and was elected to the board in June 2024. Although her background is in Marketing, her true passion is for high touch, personalized communication. This led her to create beautiful, handcrafted stationery and complementary goods for her Stationery shop, ByGrace Expressions.
HanaKyle Moranz
Partnership Director
HanaKyle joined NYHC in early 2024 while seeking a community of creators to connect with upon her return to ceramics after a long hiatus. As a massage therapist for over 18 years, she uses her extraordinary sense of touch to finesse each piece she creates to be satisfying to the eyes and hands. Her work is primarily thrown on the pottery wheel, entirely produced in Brooklyn, NY, and is intended to contain what you find precious and mundane every day.
Audrie King
Junior Board Member
Lissa Bowman
Junior Board Member
Kim Suttell
Financial Secretary
Kim is a retired bureaucrat who cannot get away from paperwork. A quilter from a young age, she gravitated toward paper collage as an artistic medium and enjoys making art from what gets thrown away. She joined the Collective in 2023 seeking both the cooperative aspect of artists/makers helping each other and the practical support and guidance offered. Still a lover of a good spreadsheet, she is pleased to step up as financial secretary.
Audrie joined NYHC in January 2021 and was elected to the board in June 2024. Audrie's 9-to-5 is working at the intersection of public policy and public health. She is a lifelong lover of DIY and in her spare time, she gets her creative thrill by making hand-poured candles. Audrie has been making candles for almost a decade and opened her candle business, Joyce & Rose, on Etsy in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lissa joined NYHC in 2023 and was elected to the board in 2025. A retired school psychologist for preschoolers with disabilities, she is now living her best life as a maker, in which the NY Handmade Collective played a big part. Lissa was born in Ohio, raised a family in South Carolina, and moved to Brooklyn in 2017. Since then, she rekindled her love of making, revived a super old Etsy shop, made amazing new creative friends, and began selling in-person at city markets. Lissa’s cottagecore boutique is Curious Forest Couture, where she sells upcycled clothing, among other whimsical things. CuriousForestCouture.etsy.com