A B O U T U S
Showing Up with a Fierce Commitment to Your Excellence
The word ARISTA (άριστα, AH-ri-stah) means “Excellence” in Greek. Our boutique consulting firm offers custom, comprehensive education consulting services from start to finish, for individuals, teams, and organizations. We help you empower the potential and the excellence that each human being uniquely possesses.
“Elaine’s expertise and enthusiasm were a wonderful addition to me and my team’s professional journey. Her personalized approach and candor allowed for the growth, application, and effectiveness we were striving for. A wonderful experience!”
- ROBERT HAM, VICE PRESIDENT,
GLOBAL EDUCATION AT MOROCCANOIL
The insight and impact to develop your people into their true potential.
ARISTA’s President & Founder
Born 100% Greek in New York City, President and Founder Dr. Elaine Chugranis planted the seed for ARISTA Consulting at just six years old. She went to afternoon Greek school after regular school every week; one day, her Greek school teacher Mrs. Raptis wrote the word, “άριστα!!” (ARISTA!) on one of her tests, meaning “Excellent!” Elaine went home curious and asked her father the meaning of this word. Since then, Elaine has committed to excellence in her own life and the lives of those she works with through building intentional connections that spark our truest purpose.
Elaine is an exceptional leader and facilitator, ready to build brand equity and drive business results through bespoke workshops, coaching, education strategy, and curriculum development services. Striving for excellence is how Elaine delivers on her clients’ goals, by working hard to show up as her best self. As a former VP of Global Education for a Fortune 500 company, she learned to execute best-in-class education programs. Elaine also spent time teaching in public schools at the high school and university level.
Elaine holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from New York University, where she was a Departmental Fellow, graduated summa cum laude, and received a Dissertation of the Year Award nomination. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Spanish and Italian and a Master of Education degree, both from the University of Virginia where she graduated with distinction. She also spent time studying abroad in Spain, Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, Cuba, and South Africa. She currently lives in New York City and enjoys photography, floral design, travel, and experimenting with new recipes.
Taking inspiration from Brené Brown, Adam Grant, Carol Dweck, and Susan Scott, Elaine has cultivated an authentic leadership philosophy that resonates with teams and organizations around the world. She asks not how she can help you, but how she can support you through partnerships that create meaningful impact for yourself and your team.
Meet the ARISTA Team
ARISTA Consulting’s workshops, coaching, and customized offerings are executed by Dr. Elaine Chugranis and a distinguished team. After all, we’re better together.
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Carla Iliescu
Carla Iliescu specializes in helping leaders and teams realize their full potential. A global leader in the cosmetics industry, Carla was formerly the VP of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Bumble and bumble, and Clinique. Carla has a BS in Business Administration, plus certifications as a Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, Fierce Facilitator, Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, and MindGym Coach. Born and raised in Kentucky, Carla lives in New York with her son Andrew and French bulldog Buster.
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Carrie Skowronski
Carrie Skowronski is a courage-builder and facilitator of leadership development programs. Her coaching blends the perfect motivational and science-backed spark you and your team need to replace outdated patterns of behavior. Carrie’s background is in organizational leadership and applied positive psychology, and she is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and Dare to Lead™ Facilitator.
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Mary Proctor Trane
Mary Proctor Trane is a facilitator, speaker, and coach dedicated to developing courageous, authentic, and effective leaders. Specializing in leadership, team development, and communication, Mary has coached and trained thousands of leaders to help them achieve desired results. She is an NYU-certified Coach and holds an MFA from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory. Mary is certified in Dare to Lead™, Fierce Conversations, Gallup Strengths, Leading at the Edge, Hogan Assessments, Insights Discovery, MindGym, and Franklin Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®.
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Raabia Shafi
Raabia Shafi works with clients to determine how their internal culture impacts the customer experience. After 10+ years of directing global engagements that leverage her business strategy expertise, Raabia helps workplaces improve from the inside out, starting with leaders. Her superpower is helping executives figure out how they can be better leaders by empowering teams and holding them accountable to clearly defined expectations.
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Nicole Cichocki
Nicole Cichocki blends positive psychology, energy medicine, and 20+ years of experience as an instructional designer and hairstylist. In addition to her facilitation work, her Embeautyment practice combines hair care with energy healing therapies that place wellness at the center of the client experience.
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Jung Hwang
Jung Hwang is a designer specializing in creating, developing, and designing educational development programs in both digital and in-person formats. Jung has over 15 years of experience in global education curriculum development. She plays an integral role in developing and designing digital education platforms with leading brands.
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Louis Chugranis
Over the last twenty five years Louis Chugranis has been a builder, designer, and educator. He has expertise in design, using the design process and design thinking to help others solve problems and adapt to changing environments. Louis’ specialty lies in assisting individuals and groups develop their skills and talents, and pushing beyond plateaus of latent potentials.
Louis completed his Bachelor of Science at Cornell University and his Master of Science at Columbia University. He is currently studying toward a Master’s in Education Leadership at Harvard University.
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Christine Symons
Christine Symons works closely with ARISTA Consulting to meet all administrative and service aspects of workshops. With over 15 years of customer service experience, her primary role is to ensure clients receive personalized, high-touch service.
Our Commitments to You
Excellence
Our inspired approach to excellence becomes a scalable education solution for your team and your organization’s culture.
Elevation
We believe in the leader in each and every one of us. We elevate your impact and your team’s through educational consulting services, so you can achieve optimal performance.
Essential
With burnout more prevalent than ever before, honoring our whole being is essential. We infuse professional wellness and self-care into each of our offerings.