Tips & Tricks

Lara Gomora

Digital Designer

Lara has been delivering creative web design and branding to businesses, startups, and nonprofits for the past decade. She has a strong background in marketing and brings both a creative and pragmatic approach to all design. Lara likes to dive deep into the needs of each client, expressing their most important value and messaging visually and consistently. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University with a Visual Communications degree, with an emphasis in Graphic Design. Specializing in web design, she has created dozens of websites, brand identities, and other designs in the print and digital realms.

An avid nature and music lover, Lara is also the Marketing Director & Designer for Pickin’ in the Pines Bluegrass & Acoustic Music Festival (one of the few Nonprofit music festivals around) and has been involved in the branding and management of the festival since its inception in 2006. She resides in Flagstaff, Arizona where she is active in the local arts and music community. She enjoys exploring trails, rivers and backpacking in her spare time, and hanging out with her little ten-pound dog Pancho and her family. 

Luda Polyakova

Content Strategist

Luda is a strategic and creative thinker who supports clients’ goals by conceptualizing, planning, designing, creating, editing, and publishing content. With persuasive verbal and writing skills, she is a strong presenter and meeting facilitator who enjoys working closely with clients to bring their brand vision to life.

Luda’s well-rounded perspective comes from years of copywriting and content creation, including higher education, nonprofit, corporate, small business, and digital agency environments. With firsthand experience creating content, she brings a pragmatic point of view when managing projects and collaborating with her teammates and clients.

A meticulous editor, Luda will ensure your brand’s voice is consistent and true to what you stand for.

Luda admittedly still plays Wordle every day. When she’s not behind a screen, you’ll catch her staring wistfully out the window, making pottery, or enjoying the outdoors in Southwest Colorado.

Julie Tuerk

Web Developer + Code Creator

Julie brings a diverse background to her practice of web development. She has studied computer programming, art, and psychology, and is also a certified sommelier. Her eagerness to learn new technical skills has enabled numerous small businesses and nonprofits to create an online presence, improve website functionality, and manage data.

Julie loves solving problems with creative solutions, but is equally at ease using traditional methods to help clients realize their vision.

Michelle Dodd

Founder + CEO

Michelle Dodd is the founder and CEO of Merge Studio, a web design and digital marketing agency serving mission-driven organizations across the country.

After more than two decades in digital communications, Michelle finds joy in putting all the pieces together to raise the bar for clients: by building and leading the right team and finding and serving the right clients. Michelle’s experience in marketing and web development fosters a big-picture approach that leads to tailored, effective solutions.

Michelle spent a few years adventuring on multi-month self-supported bike tours, sea kayak expeditions, and through-hikes. These days she balances her time behind a screen with backpacking, mountain biking, and skiing with her husband and daughter.

Dina Barnese

Project Manager + UX Strategist

Dina joined the Merge team in 2017. As a UX Strategist, she applies human-centered design principals to websites and mobile apps, keeping the user experience top of mind. She approaches project management with a goal of guiding the client’s vision to reality, keeping the big picture in mind while managing details and tasks.

Dina has more than two decades of experience in the tech field. She has worked as a database and software developer, business analyst, UX designer, and project manager. She also has experience as a mediator: she served as a volunteer court-appointed mediator for eight years, during which time she continued training in advanced facilitation, negotiation, and mediation skills.

Outside of the IT world, Dina is a potter, musician and nature lover. She serves on the board of directors for the Flagstaff Foundry, a nonprofit performing arts incubator.

Stacey Schultz

Co-founder + Visual Designer