In addition to being an adoring fan for years, Mariana has been helping to guide and support CMS marketing, communications, event production and strategic planning endeavors for the past two years. 

Mariana specializes in passion marketing and creative event production. Her decades of experience span working in the entertainment industry, public relations firms. educational organizations, and cultural institutions. She has created and produced hundreds of events, from exclusive fundraising soirées to many hundred participant festivals. 

Mariana helped found (and name) UpStart, a nonprofit startup accelerator, which scaled to open offices across the United States. Mariana led UpStart and its UpStarters in branding and marketing-communications efforts. 

The popularity of Mariana’s favorite question, “what’s the fun element?” is the inspiration for her production company name: The Fun Element. 

Mariana graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa from the UCLA School of Communications. Her passion for theater and improvisation led her to the Groundlings Actors Studio. She uses her improv techniques daily with her clients and children. 

Mariana lives in San Francisco with her husband and their two kids. She has been the social director for her daughter’s school for six years, planning dozens of social and volunteer activities.

Mariana’s proudest pandemic achievement is organizing a socially distant dog parade for her son’s second birthday, attended by 107 dogs.