Nina began her journey on the beaches of Southern California, where big dreams swirled as she took in the vast and haunting beauty of the Pacific Ocean. Journalism—combining a love of writing with a front-row seat in the theater of public life—became her calling at UC Berkeley. She co-wrote a best-selling book on a U.S. President at age 24, went on to cover the business and fame of Hollywood for the Los Angeles Times, and finally found her groove at the paper’s Sunday Magazine, The Boston Globe, and as Fortune’s Washington editor—writing about policy, politics, and the people behind both. Along the way, she had three kids, wrote a book, taught at the Harvard Kennedy School—and discovered a new passion: empowering global women leaders. As chair of Fortune Most Powerful Women International, Nina was inspired by women leaders in Hong Kong, Toronto, London, and Paris. At the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), she helped launch a program to amplify the voices of women in global security. And now, in addition to her leadership at multimedia company SellersEaston Media, Nina is excited to be building the lifelong network of support we call JOURNEY.

Pattie’s journey began in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and took her to the University of Virginia, where she created a magazine called Creator—her first stab at profiling leaders and innovators. Never imagining a career in business journalism, she fell into a job at a startup, The Washington Business Journal, and loved it because business leaders, she realized, can change the world. Two years later, Pattie landed an entry-level reporter job at Fortune, quickly moved up to writer, and built a reputation for procuring hard-to-get interviews and probing the humanity of leaders. Pattie pioneered deep coverage of women business leaders—a tiny club in 1998 when she co-founded Fortune Most Powerful Women. Over the next 22 years, Pattie led MPW, expanding it from a list to a conference to a community with events around the world. She co-founded (with Dina Powell McCormick) the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Mentoring Partnership and other programs to support women leaders. Prodded by many MPW to do her own thing, Pattie took the leap in 2016, co-founding SellersEaston Media with Nina Easton to tell stories of leadership and impact for prominent companies, non-profits, and people. Pattie is Co-CEO of SellersEaston. Her lifelong passion to connect and empower women leaders now continues with JOURNEY.

Julie’s journey started in Southern California, surrounded by supportive parents and family who cared more about others than themselves. This upbringing has been critical to the way she sees the world and the decisions she’s taken along the way. A passion for understanding others and seeing the world led to a focus on foreign policy, a Master’s from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a career in journalism. Julie spent a decade at Fortune, writing and editing. She also developed and ran Fortune’s Notebook Mentoring program for 10 years. Inspired by entrepreneurs she met along the way, Julie co-founded and ran Altruette, a social enterprise, for the next decade. Today, as JOURNEY’s Executive Director, she drives the organization’s strategy and operations, equipping the best women leaders of tomorrow to reach the top and scale their impact.

Nicole Didda’s journey began in New York City and continued in Brussels, where the seeds of her lifelong love of language were planted. She went on to attend the School of Languages and Linguistics at Georgetown before launching a 30-year career in communications. As an EVP and General Manager at Edelman, she headed the firm’s San Francisco office. She also served as a partner at Mercer Delta Consulting and later Chief Communications Officer at Skanska, a Fortune 500 construction and commercial real estate firm. Nicole joined SellersEaston in 2020, where she works with corporate clients and individual executives to hone their messages and vision and communicate their story to all stakeholders with impact and authenticity. A Founding Partner of JOURNEY, Nicole provides executive coaching, communications counseling, presentation training, and board placement support to Fellows.

Mary’s journey began in Clear Brook, Virginia (pop. 3,259), where she discovered a love of creative leadership. Inspired by her late father’s dedication to serving their community, Mary worked on Capitol Hill while working towards her degree, which she obtained from James Madison University in a BS in writing, rhetoric and technical communications.
With her artistic talents, graphic design skills, and attention to detail, Mary constantly improves processes as she helps us build JOURNEY.

Sam’s journey began in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where her modest upbringing instilled humility, resilience, and a strong work ethic. Sam has spent her career supporting high-level executives in a range of fast-paced, demanding environments. Her diverse experience in law and sports, including her role as sponsorship coordinator for the Washington Bullets, Washington Capitals, and Washington Warthogs, honed her meticulous attention to detail, event planning creativity, and collaborative spirit. Sam’s can-do attitude, proactive approach, and dedication to teamwork make her an invaluable asset to the JOURNEY team.