Katie Bird
Editorial Researcher

Katie joined SunStar Strategic with experience in marketing, communications and journalism. She has worked with newspapers, non-profits and agencies to plan and organize events, coordinate donors and volunteers and strengthen clients’ presence in the marketplace through social media and traditional media outlets. Katie has an M.A. in Public Communication from American University. She received her B.A. in English/Creative Writing and Psychology from Sweet Briar College, where she also had the opportunity to study English and history abroad in Oxford.

Katie can be reached at KBird@SunStarStrategic.com.

Sue Bryant
Operations Manager & Partner

Sue Bryant has strong management experience in a sales and marketing environment, and has worked extensively in client services. In her current position she is heavily involved in the day-to-day operation of the business and also provides editorial input for a variety of in-house materials, client projects, and SunStar's sister site Fund Factor.

Sue is originally from England. She received her B.S. and M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Towson University in Maryland.

Marilyn Dale
Director, Creative Services

Marilyn brings a wealth of industry experience in financial services of nearly 30 years. For eight years, she served as the Director of Marketing at Calamos Investments, creating marketing and communications targeted to financial consultants and the investing public for institutional, separately managed individual accounts, and a family of mutual funds.

With a unique blend of industry knowledge with a flair for design and copywriting, Marilyn has written and executed marketing plans, managed print and digital campaigns and produced numerous brochures, newsletters, e-news, fact sheets, sell sheets, and other collateral materials including Web sites. Marilyn manages our team of graphic designers, writers and Web programmers.

Marilyn has an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois in Chicago specializing in marketing and finance. She also attended the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Colorado, Boulder, ranking in the top five of her class. She earned a B.A. magna cum laude/Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.

.

Milin Iyer
Senior Account Executive

Milin joined the SunStar team with a strong background in business development and marketing, as well experience in energy and power distribution.  Previously, he worked as a business development manager for an international trade and development company, dealing with manufacturing companies. Prior to this, he developed power engineering knowledge while working for an engineering firm, where he coordinated projects with various energy utility companies. Milin received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA and has an MBA from the George Washington University in Washington, DC with concentrations in finance and international business. 

Seuk Kim
Vice President & Partner

Seuk joined SunStar after successful completion of the M.B.A program at the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, D.C. He brings to the team his experience as a registered representative with AXA Advisors, where he earned his Series 7 and 66 licenses. In addition, he has worked as a trader on Wall Street where he earned his series 55 license.

Seuk received his B.S. in Marketing from George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, and had dual concentrations of finance and marketing in his MBA program.

Jeren Mametklycheva
Senior Account Executive

Jeren joined SunStar after successfully completing her MBA degree at the Kogod School of Business, American University in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, Jeren was an Account Executive at a large, publicly traded commercial finance company. In this role, she maintained, monitored and serviced a multi-million dollar portfolio of real estate loans, including being responsible for analyzing the financial health of the borrowers on an ongoing basis. Jeren also has experience in international development through her previous position with a large, nonprofit organization that supplies monetary grants to countries all over the world.

Jeren earned her BBA in Finance and International Business from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Jeren's native language is Russian.

Anthony Massucci
Senior Account Executive & Director of Social Media

Before joining SunStar Anthony covered finance, media and technology as a business journalist since 1993. His stories appeared in publications including the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Chicago Tribune. He has interviewed a wide range of well- known personalities, from Steve Jobs to Jimmy Fallon. Anthony worked at Bloomberg News for 13 years and most recently at Time Warner/AOL's DailyFinance.com. He reported live from the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Market Site in Times Square for three years while at Bloomberg Television.

Anthony won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers and the New York Press Club in 2008 for his Federal Reserve reporting. Anthony received a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Melissa Murphy
Vice President & Partner

Melissa joined the SunStar team after a stint at a Herndon, VA based advertising agency. As an account executive in the public relations division, Melissa worked with technology, telecommunications and nonprofit clients. Prior to that, Melissa was a media relations specialist and registered representative at Strong Investments in Milwaukee, WI. While at Strong, she earned her Series 6, 7 and 63 licenses.

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Melissa studied marketing, advertising, and communication studies. She also studied economics at Oxford University in England and was awarded various scholarships and leadership awards. Melissa earned her M.B.A. from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Bob brings a thorough understanding of the equity markets and over 15 years of diverse financial and public relations experience to his role at SunStar. Prior to joining SunStar, Bob was a financial advisor with The Washington Financial Group, developing investment strategies for clients. Earlier in his career, Bob was an account executive and consultant for several Washington, D.C. area public relations agencies. He has also served as chief operating officer of a regional retail establishment.

Bob has earned both Series 6 and 63 licenses. He earned his B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo and an M.A. with distinction, from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

Hibre Teklemariam
Vice President & Partner

Hibre joined SunSar after spending a year in China exploring Chinese business culture. Prior to joining the SunStar team, Hibre was an account manager at Metro International, working with financial, insurance, and non-profit clients. Before Metro, Hibre was a personal banker at JPMorgan Chase. She was also a registered representative with Prudential Financial where she earned her Series 7 and 66 licenses.

Hibre received her B.S. in Management from the University of Massachusetts and had a concentration in international business in her MBA program at Pace University in New York. Hibre is fluent in Amharic (Ethiopian).