Elyse Mallouk, VP of brand marketing, Kickstarter
Kickstarter
Mallouk is responsible for building awareness and affinity for the Kickstarter brand across the entire breadth of the creative industry, from fine art to tabletop gaming. Under her two-year tenure, pledges from brand channels have increased by more than 160%, according to Kickstarter.
Under Mallouk’s leadership, the brand marketing team in 2022 launched Witchstarter, an open call for projects with a magical theme. It became the most-funded open call in Kickstarter’s history, having driven $9.5 million in pledges.
Mallouk’s team also operates Kickstarter’s Creative Independent, which showcases more than 1,000 interviews with people from the creative community, designed to foster inspiration. The team also runs the annual Made 100 competition, an annual open call for smaller projects.
This year, as part of Kickstarter’s brand awareness efforts, Mallouk’s team plans on bringing more visibility to its Forward Funds program, which offers access to larger institutional backers — including foundations, nonprofits, and other organizations. Last year, for example, Creative Capital and Skoll Foundation partnered to launch a $500,000 fund to support projects from Asian, Black, Indigenous, and Latinx creators in the US.
Prior to joining Kickstarter in 2018, Mallouk worked at the Whitney Museum of American Art, responsible for producing its digital content.
