by Alessa Aguayo, LC, WELL AP
I still remember going to my first WILD event over a decade ago. It was in Philadelphia during Lightfair, I was invited by one of my coworkers and I was really nervous to go. To be honest, I had not had great experiences with women in our industry and couldn’t believe there was a community of welcoming, like minded women. To my surprise, there was and I immediately fell in love with WILD! Working in National Accounts, covering different territories and living in a few different places has allowed me to be attend events for a few different chapters.
While each chapter is different, the feeling is the same – community and camaraderie.
At the time there wasn’t a board and, even if there was, I would have never thought that I would be President. I am currently the only original board member since we formed the WILD International Board in 2021. I started as Director of Outreach then began my four year Presidential track: Vice President (President-Elect) under Kelly Roberts in 2023, President in 2024 and 2025, and then Vice President (Past President-Elect) under Stacey Bello for 2026. All in, I’ll have served over six years on the board – it may be a record but there’s still time for someone to beat it!
My time as President has had its ups and downs, there are challenges with being the leader of a volunteer organization. There are times when the criticism hurts, when you question yourself and when you think what did I get myself into? But overcoming all the hardships made me a stronger person and leader. It taught me so much about myself, about management and working with others. One thing I always say is that I gained so much professional knowledge that I would not have learned at my normal job.
Being President of a multi-national non-profit gave me so much hands on business experience from marketing, accounting, legal and more. The goals I set for myself were to grow our membership in numbers and in chapters and to create a mentorship program. During my Presidency, our membership grew over 150% from 316 members to 809 members. We added many chapters across the US and Canada including: Boston, Spokane and Edmonton. In addition, we added a WILD Mentorship to our Programs offering – this most recent group is nearly 100 participants!
These milestones wouldn’t have possible without the other board members and Mentorship program leaders. I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many amazing women that I wouldn’t have normally crossed paths with. Sure some connections have helped me professional but more importantly, I have made some great friendships and true connections. Through WILD, I can go to almost any lighting event anywhere in the country or world and see a familiar face because of our organization. There’s a sense of community that can’t be explained.
Serving as President of WILD International has lead to so many other opportunities for me as well. I spoke at the Women’s Luncheon at Lightapalooza in 2024 and 2025 about WILD. I was invited to a Girls Inc. Gala in New York City and was invited to speak on a panel to encourage high school students to explore careers in Construction and Lighting. Delta Airlines also invited me to a private event at Yankees Stadium for an event called Women in Male Dominated Fields. I am honored to be included in these events and I believe WILD opened up these doors for me.
While my Presidency is over, my responsibility is not – I will serve 2026 as Vice President.
I’m so excited to see Stacey take over, she is already doing great things! In addition to supporting her, I will be running a call for volunteers and running elections. We will be filling the Presidential spot, so if you are interested and would like to chat then please let me know.
Serving as President of WILD is a unique opportunity that taught me so much, allowed me to meet so many great women and opened so many doors. I am truly grateful to have served as President and have such a rewarding experience. I would love to speak to anyone that is interested in serving on the Board.
Stay Wild,