Intersect Designs is founded by one of New York’s emerging jewelry designers, Karen Ko.

The passion for jewelry began in Karen’s childhood, where her earliest memories were of glittery gold jewelry in her parent's jewelry retail store in Lahaina. From Lahaina, Hawaii to the “Big Apple” New York City, Karen dove right into the heart of New York, graduating from Columbia University, and spending a few years working in finance.  Eventually, Karen followed her true calling in fashion and luxury and pursued a jewelry design degree at FIT.

Inspired by her city surroundings, from the runway fashion shows to the hip soho art and design scene, Karen saw a vision of design potential within the world of jewelry. Thus Intersect Designs was created: the intersection of creativity and design to push the boundaries of the jewelry industry.

Emilie Yane Lopes is the European connection of Intersect Designs. Born in France, but raised in Hawaii, she has over the years moved across the US, finally relocating back in Europe, in the Netherlands.   As the creative director of Intersect Designs, Emilie is the talent behind the branding, marketing materials, and web design of Intersect Designs.

With a degree in Architecture from University of Michigan, her interests extend into design, photography, graphic design and other creative outlets. With an eye for fresh and interesting ideas in fashion and design, she shares the vision of placing Intersect Designs at the forefront as a multi-faceted design firm.

Bahriye Gören is currently a Senior Consultant at EffectiveBrands, a strategic marketing consultancy that focuses exclusively on the challenges and opportunities of global marketers. Having spent most of her career at Unilever in international marketing roles (e.g. Ben & Jerry’s Brand Development for Europe) she has extensive experience in Brand Strategy, Product Innovations, and Brand Activation. Clients at EffectiveBrands include Starbucks, Sony Ericsson, Unilever, Philips, Sara Lee, Mars, Cargill, Diageo, J&J and Amex. Bahriye has worked across the globe in the US, Europe and Asia and currently resides in New York City.

Cristina Bugnaru is a Product Marketing Manager with Experian Simmons, a subsidiary of Experian Marketing Solutions that provides consumer behavior data to clients, allowing them to better understand their customers and prospects, as well as know where and how to advertise most effectively. Prior to Experian, Cristina was an eBusiness Researcher with the Marketing & Strategy Group at Forrester Research and an Associate Buyer at Ross Stores, Inc.  Cristina specializes in marketing research, ecommerce and strategy and she has an MBA from American University's Kogod School of Business.