Meet The Team
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Gabby Shacknai, Cofounder and Co-CEO
Gabby Shacknai is the cofounder and Co-CEO of Beautyfor, as well as a longtime journalist covering beauty and wellness, consumer-facing business, and lifestyle. Her work regularly explores the intersection of beauty and culture and has appeared in Allure, Forbes, Fortune, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, and Women’s Health, among other outlets.
Gabby is passionate about sustainability and philanthropy, in the beauty space and beyond, and has collaborated with globally recognized brands to champion these efforts. With Beautyfor, she hopes to shine a light on industry players who are doing good and to prove that beauty can be a beacon for change. Gabby holds a Master of Arts in English Literature and History from the University of Edinburgh and a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
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Zoë Weiner, Cofounder and Co-CEO
Zoë Weiner is the co-founder and co-CEO of Beautyfor, as well as a longtime beauty and wellness journalist and editor. She was previously the senior beauty editor at Well+Good, where she oversaw all of the brand’s beauty content and hosted the “Routine Rundown” podcast. Her work has appeared in Allure, Women’s Health, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire, Byrdie, Bustle, and more.
Zoë’s work focuses largely on the link between beauty and wellbeing, and with Beautyfor, she hopes to bring that conversation to the forefront by fostering a meaningful community and by highlighting brands working to prove that beauty is more than skin-deep. Zoë holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University and a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University.
Board of Directors
Hilary Sheinbaum, President
Hilary Sheinbaum is a journalist, the founder of GoingDry.co, and the author of “The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October, and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month” (HarperCollins), a judgment-free guide to giving up alcohol for a month-long period. Her next book, “Going Dry: A Workbook: A Practical Guide to Drinking Less and Living More” (Quarto), will publish on Sept 3, 2024.
Hilary has been featured extensively in news articles and on broadcast segments, including in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on “Good Morning America.” Her first TEDx Talk, covering the topic of dry dating, went live in October 2023.
Gabby Tolkin, Secretary
Gabby Tolkin is a privacy specialist, overseeing FTC compliance for Amazon Devices & Services Trust & Privacy. Her dedication to solving nascent and complex issues spans large-scale enterprises, government, and startups. Prior to joining Amazon, Gabby advised multinational Fortune 500 corporations on legislative and regulatory privacy obligations to drive responsible innovation. She also co-authored pivotal research on privacy for children and vulnerable groups, which informed reforms to Australia’s federal Privacy Act.
A beauty lover, Gabby was a founding team member of Atelier, a beauty product development and supply chain management platform featured in WWD and the Australian Financial Review and recognized as a Founders Forum rising star. Gabby holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honors from the University of Edinburgh.
Pia Velasco, Treasurer
Pia Velasco is a journalist focused on the beauty sector, with over a decade of editorial experience. She has held positions at outlets such as InStyle, Vogue, and People en Español, and has written for Elle, Allure, Byrdie, Coveteur, Latina, and more. Pia is a columnist for the Fragrance Foundation, where she covers fragrance forecasts, and acts as an advisory board member at Sparks + Honey, a cultural intelligence agency in Manhattan.
She specializes in the intersection of beauty with culture and technology, particularly in the realms of emerging tech such as AI, VR, and AR, a link she further explores in her role as a Content Specialist on the Gen AI team at Meta. Consulting clients have included media platforms, like Snapchat, and global brands, like Unilever and Procter & Gamble. Pia holds a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from New York University and a Master of Science in journalism from Columbia University.