Meet Manya and Terri, the dynamic duo behind Project BFF–two passionate women on a mission to foster connections, spread joy, and make a positive impact through friendship and community.
Manya Chylinski
Editor-in-Chief + Cofounder
Manya is a writer, speaker, and advocate for those who experience psychological impacts from violence. She loves working with words, and much of her brain power is spent thinking about what an audience needs to know and how to communicate it in a way they’ll appreciate. With strong roots in research, thanks to a library science degree and time working as a corporate research librarian, she knows how to find the best way to tell a story. Occasionally, she isn’t working. And in those moments she enjoys travel, yoga, walking, knitting, and curling up with a really good book.
Terri Birkeland
Executive Editor + Cofounder
Creative, expressive, in awe the natural world around us and excited for opportunities to meet new friends, Terri is a writer, presenter, and communications specialist by profession. She is a native New Yorker who relocated to the Boston area several years ago. She has amassed an impressive body of work in a corporate setting, and shares her knowledge of New England waters and their inhabitants (dolphins, and shore birds and whales! Oh, my!) as a volunteer educator aboard whale watch vessels. These experiences have also been the starting points of many of Terri’s longest and most valued friendships.