About
The Mission
Our mission is to be a trusted source of industry information, creative inspiration, and community for craft professionals. We’re working to help our members:
- Stay current on industry news, trends, and opportunities
- Make connections with other small business owners
- Develop viable business models
- Achieve profitability
- Run their businesses according to their own standard of ethics
The Founders
Craft Industry Alliance was founded in 2015 by Abby Glassenberg and Kristin Link. They each had over a decades’ worth of experience as craft industry professionals. They’d been designers and producers, makers and retailers, writers and teachers. Their vision was to build a thriving trade organization that meets the specific needs of today’s craft industry professionals and offers an opportunity for makers, suppliers, designers and writers to join together as allies under a united “craft industry” umbrella. In 2019, Kristin moved on from the company, but they remain friends and her vision was an integral part of the organization’s foundation.
The Team at Craft Industry Alliance
Abby Glassenberg
President and Co-Founder
Abby co-founded Craft Industry Alliance and now serves as its president. She’s a sewing pattern designer, teacher, and journalist. She’s dedicated to creating an outstanding trade association for the crafts industry. Abby lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Laura McDowell Hopper
Social Media Manager and Staff Writer
Laura is our Social Media Manager and Staff Writer. Her work has appeared in Quiltfolk, Modern Patchwork, QuiltCon Magazine, and more. She is also an award-winning curator focused on textile preservation, an avid quilter, and a volunteer on nonprofit quilt boards. Laura believes that every crafter has an interesting story to tell, and she is committed to telling those stories elegantly and rigorously. She lives near Chicago, Illinois.
Kate Ankeny
Operations Manager and Outreach Coordinator
Kate is our Operations Manager and Outreach Coordinator. She has a background working in the arts non-profit, marketing, and design industries. Kate has coordinated with craft business owners to put on workshops, guest artist residencies, discussions, and large scale creative events. In her design business, she creates visual branding and promotional pieces for creative entrepreneurs. She lives in Silverthorne, Colorado.
Lindsie Bergevin
Graphic Designer
Lindsie does all of our graphic design work. She specializes in serving craft and quilt industry professionals, helping them take their businesses to the next level with cohesive branding, pattern and publication design, technical illustration, website design, and software training. Lindsie lives in Boise, Idaho.