2025-2026 WDM Leadership Academy Class

Vanessa C. Marcano-Kelly is a native of Caracas, Venezuela. She is a certified court interpreter in the state of Iowa, owner and lead linguist at Caracas Language Solutions, LLC since 2015. She is also a contracted translator with Principal Financial Group, a Fortune 500 Company.

Vanessa specializes in community, conference, and legal interpretation, as well as translation, subtitling, and some voice over work. She began regularly interpreting and translating during her work as a community organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement from 2012 to 2014, and a year after realizing her passion for this profession, she obtained the Iowa Spanish Court Interpreter Certification, which she has held since 2015 (Class A).

Vanessa’s interpretation and translation experience is varied and multifaceted. Past performance includes: Sen. Bernie Sanders, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, former Democratic presidential candidates Sec. Julián Castro, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren; community meetings with the US Department of Labor, former US Congressman Tom Latham, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario, among others. Vanessa is the 2014 recipient of the LULAC Iowa Latino Leadership award, a 2014 graduate of the Latina Leadership Initiative and a 2015 New Leaders Council Fellow. She graduated with honors with a BA in Global Studies and French from South Dakota State University, and received a judiciary interpretation and translation specialization certificate from Des Moines Area Community College. She serves on the board of directors of the Des Moines Film Society, and the inaugural board of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.

Christina Gayman joined Syverson Strege in 2022 as Director of Communications & Marketing  after spending the previous 12 years in corporate communications roles at large companies in the grocery and construction industries, including Hy-Vee, Inc., and Caterpillar, and leading client accounts at marketing agencies Two Rivers Marketing in Des Moines and Zenzi in San Diego.

Writing is her passion, and the first seven years of her career were spent as a newspaper and magazine writer in Florida and Alabama near where she grew up. Christina has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida and has her master’s degree in journalism from the University of Alabama. She is also an Accredited Public Relations (APR) professional who loves to create and implement strategic communications and marketing campaigns.

Litigation attorney with Dentons Davis Brown. Additional experience with commercial property tax appeals.