Meet the Team

Maureen Ballatori is the founder and CEO of 29 Design Studio, an award-winning creative agency for food, beverage and agriculture brands. Her experience in brand strategy helps companies scale business growth, define their unique marketing message, and attract their ideal audiences.

Maureen’s rural roots are the source of both her passion for agriculture marketing and food. She is an active member in the startup community, participating in a number of entrepreneurship incubators and accelerators and playing a key role in Upstate NY economic development. 

Maureen was nominated for an ATHENA award in 2019. She is a graduate of Nazareth College of Rochester with a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration and has won multiple international awards for branding and design.

View Our Founder’s Story

Colleen is the orchestrator of client projects and behind the scenes operations that keep our team working like a well-oiled machine. Colleen grew up on a dairy farm in Central New York and has a passion for her agricultural community.

Prior to joining our team, she spent 11-years in the financial industry managing a $200+ million-dollar portfolio. Colleen’s operational experience and insight from the financial services industry supports the agency’s growth and efficiency while maintaining the highest level of standard for our clients.

Colleen attended Cayuga Community College for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Courtney leads our creative team, and has a passion for transforming ideas into captivating visual stories. She specializes in building brand experiences, focusing on strong hierarchies and carrying visual elements through all parts of a client’s business to drive cohesion.

Before her time with Agency 29, Courtney worked in the world of retail design for companies like Procter and Gamble, Coca Cola and Starbucks. There, she gained experience using learnings from shopper research to design experiences that help drive brand and category sales in a variety of retail environments.

Courtney graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Graphic Design and minor in Advertising and Public Relations.

Jennifer is our marketing strategist and we often find her knee-deep in research with her nose in a book. She’s always ready to put her nerd hat on for any data-driven analysis, excited to dig deep into any brand’s challenges.

As our Jenn-of-all-trades, she has experience in many industries from agriculture to tourism to health and safety. We look to her for insight on all things marketing, from content ideation to development to promotion to evaluation and all the spaces in between, to amplify our clients and their work.

Jennifer graduated from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Radio and Athabasca University in Business Professional Arts: Communications Studies. She is also a Certified Associate in Project Management by the Project Management Institute.

Multi-talented creative Olivia Wendt has a unique background, having worked in Liberia, West Africa for 4 years. Her professional experience is multifaceted, having worked on in-house marketing departments and within multiple creative agencies. Prior to her time at Agency 29, Olivia worked with major brands including The Strong National Museum of Play, Health Systems for a Tobacco-Free NY, and Wegmans.

Olivia excels in taking a vision from ideation to execution through thoughtful design and art direction.  She is a true self-starter – with the innate ability to pick up new techniques, styles, and disciplines of design effortlessly.

When she isn’t working, you can find Olivia getting into anything creative, soaking in the outdoors, and finding the coolest live music around.

Franca started her career in the world of print, but has flourished into a strong multidisciplinary designer with interests in branding, web design and social media. Franca has a keen eye for detail, and is known for her process-oriented approach, blending her artistry and technical expertise.

You can find Franca spending her free time with her family and friends, or hanging from the ceiling at Aerial Arts of Rochester! She is a graduate of Nazareth College with a B.F.A in Visual Communication Design and a minor in Business Management.

Whether it’s on the soccer field or at the conference table, Michela Hanlon is a team player. She considers herself a people person and loves being able to connect folks with the resources they need. Michela has all the classic traits of an Account Manager – organized, assertive, and creative. 

Michela has strong ties to the world of agriculture – through her life on an apple farm in Kendall, NY, and participating in her County 4-H Fair for many years, she is passionate about elevating ag brands.  Michela earned her Masters in Marketing Communications Leadership from Nazareth College after completing her Bachelors in Marketing.