Leadership Team

World map showing the location of each Altenew leadership team member

 

Tasnim Ahmed

Tasnim attained her bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010. Even though arts and crafts has always been a part of her life, she only discovered stamping in 2011, and started her blog Cards & Bookmarks the following year.

She soon realized that she had the potential to introduce designs/greetings relevant to cultures that needed to be represented in mainstream crafting space. Thus, the research and planning for Altenew began. She is committed to bringing innovative designs based on lifestyles worldwide.

In addition to leading the Product Development at Altenew, Tasnim enjoys hiking, practicing Taekwondo, and learning about different cultures and languages.

Jennifer Rzasa

Jennifer lives in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston. Although she studied viola performance at Boston University and holds a master's degree in education, her love of art has always been present in her life. She "discovered" paper crafting in 2006, but it didn't really become a hobby until four years later when she started her blog, Our Change of Art. Since then, she has been published in many paper crafting magazines, worked as a design team member for various companies, and hosted the Runway Inspired Challenge.

In addition to her paper crafting endeavors, Jennifer is a published illustrator and enjoys painting fashion illustrations. She is thrilled to be designing, illustrating, and leading Product Development for Altenew!

When she is not teaching or in her craft room, Jennifer can be found exploring the local food in Boston, riding her skateboard with her husband Dave, sewing clothing and costumes for video game/comic book conventions, or just relaxing at home.

May Sukyong Park

Originally from South Korea, May moved to Southern California with her husband in 2009. She earned her Bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Sociology in Seoul, Korea but didn't have an interest in arts and crafts until she was introduced to stamping in 2010. Card making quickly became her biggest hobby and she discovered her passion for it when she started blogging in 2012. Her popularity in Korea lead to the publication of her first cardmaking book, Hello Handmade Card, in 2015.

May turned her love for using Altenew products as a Design Team member into a job. A stickler for perfection, she is constantly coming up with creative ideas to make Altenew even better. Since moving to Austin, Texas in 2019, May has fallen in love with the state's weather and nature. When she isn't fulfilling her role as Altenew Marketing Director, she loves to go camping and hiking with her husband.

You can find May's cards on her Blog and find her cardmaking tutorials on Youtube, and connect with her on Instagram. (her camping Instagram account HERE) You can read her Designer Spotlight interview HERE and listen to her episode on the Altenew Craft Your Life Podcast HERE.

Nicole Picadura

Nicole was born and raised in South Korea and studied International Business Management in Hawaii, USA. Scrapbooking was the very first paper crafting method Nicole learned, and she got into stamping and cardmaking shortly after that, which she has been enjoying for over 15 years. Currently, she loves various coloring mediums to explore multiple methods of adding colors to her project, especially with watercolors and alcohol inks. Nicole's passion for cardmaking led her to do a project with Altenew in 2015 - since then, she has worked on various projects and grown her role in the company as Operations Director.

Nicole's main paper crafting style is Clean and Simple, and she believes anyone can create beautiful cards without spending too much time. She is passionate about sharing the love of handmade, hand-stamped cards. She loves teaching classes and filming video tutorials to share her passion with fellow crafters.

You can find more of Nicole's creations on her blog and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.

Lydia Evans

Lydia lives with her husband and two little ones in Buckley, Flintshire, North Wales, UK. She has a degree in English and Media and always wanted to be a children's TV presenter when she was younger. She has always been crafty - ever since she can remember, she has been cutting paper and sticking things. She got into stamping through scrapbooking. Lydia started scrapbooking in 2009 when she had her little boy and then wanted to take her pages further and make her own patterned paper; stamping helped her do just that. Her passion is for CAS-style cards. She sometimes likes to add lots of techniques to her cards, but there is always a clean look about them. Lydia has been published in a number of magazines, teaches card classes, and used to represent Altenew on UK's Create and Craft channel.

You can find more of Lydia's creations on her blog and connect with her on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram and Youtube.

Nabil Rab

Nabil Rab completed his MBA at New York University in 2011 and graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor's in Behavioral Biology in 2005. Before joining Altenew full-time, Nabil worked in different industries, including healthcare technology/management consulting, project/portfolio management, pediatric neuroscience research, and non-government space.

Nabil provided initial seed funding to launch Altenew and has provided increasing business and leadership oversight since 2014. He loves being part of a community that strives to inspire/enable one another to make handmade projects and gifts.

You can reach out to Nabil anytime (especially if you are looking for partnership opportunities, have suggestions on how Altenew can improve its product offerings/services, or want to discuss business strategy).

Semir Kahvedzic

Semir completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Criminology from the University of South Florida. Before joining Altenew in 2020, Semir worked in various industries, including law enforcement, manufacturing, and education. He served as a State Trooper for the Florida Highway Patrol and worked in alloy-based metal and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Additionally, he taught English as a foreign language to middle school and high school students in multiple countries: Turkey, Belgium, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Semir was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and moved to the United States as an adolescent. In his free time, Semir enjoys homesteading and the great outdoors with his family. Please reach out to Semir at semir@altenew.com should you have any questions.

Moamen Ahmed

Moamen was born and raised in Egypt, earning his bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering and Interior Design in 2013. He subsequently gained professional experience in the field, working in various capacities at architectural designing and video game marketing companies.

In 2018, Moamen moved to Greece to start a new chapter in his life with his soon-to-be wife. At this time, he joined Altenew, where he discovered his passion for planning and strategizing to create a delightful user experience for the company's visitors. Though not an avid crafter, Moamen takes great pride in being part of a community that brings joy to others through the art of paper crafting.

Moamen's expertise in planning and marketing has proven invaluable to him and his team through his work at Altenew, and his commitment to the company is unwavering. If you're interested in learning more about Altenew through various channels and devices, don't hesitate to reach out to Moamen via email (moamen@altenew.com). He's always happy to help!

Maryam Perez

Maryam lives in Chile and has been working in the paper crafting industry since she was very young. Her passion for creativity and design has led her to have different roles and she is thrilled to be, designing products, doing product photography, and leading the Graphic Design Team for Altenew!

When she is not designing, Maryam can be found in her craft room playing with her Altenew products and creating cards. She also loves to organize things and is always up for learning something new.

You can learn more about Maryam and her creations on Maryam's Instagram and Youtube channel. Always feel free to say hi and connect with her!