Meet Mariya Kemper-Reiss
Mariya was born in Kiev, Ukraine (former Soviet Union) to a Jewish family with deep generational roots in Ukraine. In 1989, Mariya’s family immigrated to the United States as political refugees. Their journey was a long one. Called “stateless”, the family had to give up their citizenship upon leaving. For over four months they traveled with many other refugees through Austria and Italy while awaiting the documents to enter the United States. They arrived in December of 1989 which marked the beginning of their American Dream.
Mariya attended Baruch College from 1992-1996. Upon graduation, she began a career in Advertising – Strategic Media Planning. It turned into a 20 year career with flagship clients like Hershey, Merck, Lufthansa, MoMA, and Chanel. As a Senior Partner, Managing Director, Mariya was responsible for spearheading clients’ media efforts in a multi-channel approach.
Mariya retired, in 2016 in order to be able to be more present with her family – husband Brian, and sons Logan and Cooper. Since then Mariya has been an active volunteer, fundraising for multiple charities, and holding leadership positions in school PTAs and HOA Community Boards. Her hobbies include tennis, gardening and bee keeping.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24th, Mariya has thrown herself into every opportunity to help Ukraine and Ukrainians in their time of need. She is deeply worried about her family and childhood friends who remain in Kiev to this day. Her heart breaks for all of Ukraine and its quest for Freedom. Mariya vow to do everything she can to support her homeland - now and forever!
