National Advisory Board

The National Advisory Board (NAB) advises the center staff on a broad range of topics, including evaluation and improvement of existing programs and activities; suitability of proposed new programs; attracting new resources to deepen and expand the center’s work; and integration of community and public service into the mainstream of the university’s activities, particularly its teaching and research. 

The Haas Center encourages Stanford graduate and undergraduate students to serve as members of its National Advisory Board. Appointments are made for one year with the opportunity to renew for an additional year. All Stanford students in good standing are eligible to apply. In order to provide their unique voice, student members are expected to attend a fall student orientation and all NAB meetings, give a concentrated amount of time the week prior to each meeting to review the meeting packet, complete specific tasks as charged between meetings, and serve as a liaison between NAB and students as appropriate. Student members will also be paired in a mentoring relationship with other members of the National Advisory Board.

2022-23 National Advisory Board

Member Bios

Katie Hanna Dickson, Chair

Katie Hanna Dickson, '84, studied human biology at Stanford and received a master’s in health education and behavioral science from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. She worked as intervention director in the Youth Studies program at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention until 1995. She is currently an assistant editor and also serves as chair of the board at Narrative Magazine, a nonprofit dedicated to providing universal free access to great literature, where she is currently focused on their initiative to support teachers in the classroom and encourage high school students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to find their voices in the literary arts. Katie is the author of two published literary short stories and is at work on a series of linked short stories. She is an active supporter of public service organizations, including Ms Magazine and the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campus Vote Campaign. 

Leela Stake Young, Vice Chair

Leela Stake (Young), ’03, MA ’03, is a senior partner at FleishmanHillard, where she leads the firm’s global diversity, equity and inclusion practice and purpose work. She has worked with more than 100 of the world’s most influential companies and organizations on pressing issues facing people and our planet. Under her leadership, FH4Inclusion, the agency’s global award winning pro-bono initiative, has engaged more than 1,000 employees to provide 28,000 hours of service. Leela was previously chair of the Global Sustainable Growth & Corporate Responsibility practice at APCO Worldwide and worked at The Asia Foundation in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines. Leela graduated from Stanford with an MA and BA with honors and distinction and helped develop Stanford’s first social entrepreneurship curriculum. She was awarded the Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy and the Lyons Award for Service from Stanford. Leela is on the Advisory Council of REDF.

Javier Aguirre

Javier Aguirre, ’96, serves as director of Reentry Services for the County of Santa Clara. He is responsible for the operations of the County’s reentry resource centers in San Jose and Gilroy, countywide coordination, and evaluation and oversight of the Public Safety Realignment Program and Adult Reentry Strategic Plan. Reentry offers services to formerly incarcerated Santa Clara County residents and individuals on active probation and parole supervision.  Javier has 20 years of experience with the County of Santa Clara, including eight as a senior policy aide and five as a budget analyst. Javier also served as an elected school board trustee for the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education and is currently a member of the Latino Family Fund de Gilroy, a family-advised fund to increase the participation and visibility of Latinos in the philanthropic sector and to instill Gilroy youth with a commitment to giving and leadership in their community. As a Stanford undergraduate, Javier was involved in the Community Service Work-Study program through the Haas Center and founded Los Hermanos de Stanford in 1994 as a siblinghood student-organization promoting community service, academic excellence, and cultural awareness. After graduating from Stanford, he earned his JD from Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Law School Los Angeles in 1999. In 2015, he was invited to be a part of a Stanford Needs Alumni Perspective panel made up of seven alumni experts who assisted the Haas Center in exploring alumni engagement and branding for the debut of Cardinal Service. Javier is motived to support the Haas Center to foster community partnerships advancing racial equity while encouraging public service to students. 

Adam Bad Wound

Adam Bad Wound, MA '05, MA '06, serves as chief development officer of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service supporting the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the largest national park units in an urban setting. His career began at Stanford at the Haas Center for Public Service, in a joint appointment with the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. Since then, his career has focused on advancing conservation philanthropy at the California Academy of Sciences, NatureBridge, and the Wilderness Society. Most recently, he was chief development officer at GRID Alternatives, where he founded the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund. He holds a Bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College, a Master’s degree from Columbia University, two Master’s degrees from Stanford University, and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from Harvard University. Adam actively volunteers at Stanford and previously completed a term as a member of the board of directors of the Stanford Alumni Association.

Henry J. Brandon, III

Henry Brandon, III, ’78 (Parent ’17 and ’19), has nearly 30 years of experience in the private equity industry. He is Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Nile Capital Group, a Los Angeles based private equity firm specializing in making investments in the asset management industry. As an investor, advisor and financier to growth companies, Henry has an extensive track record of success partnering with exceptional executives and entrepreneurs to create companies of enduring value. Henry serves or has served on several nonprofit boards, including vice president and founding board member of the Advocates Foundation and the APGA Tour, The Riordan Programs, Sound Body Sound Mind, The Friends of Expo Center, World Golf Foundation Diversity Task Force, Arthur Ashe Safe Passage, the Inglewood Baseball Fund and is Treasurer of USA Triathlon. He currently serves as President of the Stanford National Black Alumni Association and is a Board Member of the Southern California Stanford Black Alumni Club, is a Stanford Admissions Volunteer and is a past member of the Stanford Athletic Board. Mr. Brandon earned a BA in economics from Stanford, where he was a member of two NCAA Championship tennis teams, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School.

Ronald Brown

Ronald Brown, '94, is head trader of Park West Asset Management, an investment firm in Larkspur, California, and has spent his entire career in investment management and investment banking in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Stanford, Ron serves on the LEAD (Lifelong Engagement and Advocacy for Development) Council. Ron co-chaired his 10th and 15th undergraduate reunion campaigns, and recently served on the advisory council of the Graduate School of Education. Ron serves on the board of trustees of San Francisco Day School and was previously treasurer of the preschool, Pacific Primary.

Valerie Brown

Valerie L. Brown, MPH, ‘98, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated from Stanford University with a dual undergraduate degree in human biology and political science.  She also completed an honors thesis on the disparity between drug treatment and incarceration amongst drug-addicted residents of East Palo Alto, California. Valerie brings a long standing commitment to service with strong ties to the Haas Center, having participated in its mentoring and tutoring program during her freshman year, as well as being named the inaugural recipient of the Amy Biehl Fellowship. Her dedicated efforts led to her first overseas experience creating community service programs in Cape Town, South Africa.  Valerie also earned a master's degree in public health at Emory University, focusing on health policy and management.  She began her career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) where she worked as a health communications writer for a variety of projects including The Strategic National Stockpile.  A career change to the pharmaceutical/biotech industry brought her to Long Beach, California in 2006, where she currently resides with her husband and two children.  Valerie is the current president of the Stanford National Black Alumni Association and has held roles of secretary, vice president and president of the Stanford Black Alumni Association of Southern California.  She’s participated and held leadership positions in several fundraising projects as a Stanford alum, including one that raised over $250,000 for the Black Community Services Center.  Valerie also serves as a mentor and speaker for the undergraduate program in human biology and is a long time contributor to the Stanford Admissions Office as both a volunteer and a part-time employee.

Stuart C. Burden

Stuart Burden, ’84, received his undergraduate degree from Stanford and his MHS in public health from Johns Hopkins University. His career has blended philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, strategy consulting, and global health. He is currently the vice president of corporate and foundation relations for Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Stuart previously served as a consultant with Monitor Institute (now Monitor Deloitte) and the director of the Community Affairs Department of Levi Strauss & Co. and the Levi Strauss Foundation. Prior to Levi Strauss, Stuart worked for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in Chicago, as well as the Ford Foundation, New York Foundation, and Citibank in New York. From April 2000 to January 2003, Stuart served on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Presently, Stuart serves on the Board of Directors of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and the International Women’s Health Coalition in New York. Stuart has participated in many service endeavors for Stanford, including Stanford Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 2005to 2014, (serving as chair from 2011-2013). He has also been involved with Stanford Connects and the Leading Matters Steering Committee. He has also served as a visiting mentor for the Haas Center, where he was involved as an undergraduate.

Tanner Christensen

Tanner Christensen, ’24, is a junior from Utah, majoring in psychology with minors in human rights and Spanish. He is extremely passionate about human rights issues, especially those involving discrimination and systemic oppression. Through the Haas Center’s Community Service Work Study (CSWS) program, Tanner worked at Root & Rebound – an Oakland based nonprofit focused on helping communities most harmed by mass incarceration. Most recently, Tanner was a Cardinal Quarter Fellow working at the New York City Commission on Human Rights as a legal intern, contributing to their mission to prevent discrimination in NYC. At Stanford, Tanner is a member of the Stanford Cheer Team, works as a Cardinal Service Peer Advisor, advises first-generation, low-income high school students through Matriculate, and staffs Burbank (Stern). After graduating, Tanner hopes to attend law school to pursue a career in public interest law.

Gabrielle Crooks

Gabby Crooks, ’23, is a Maryland native majoring in International Relations and minoring in Human Rights and Spanish. Gabby is passionate about public service and human rights, both domestically and abroad. At Stanford, she works with the Cardinal Careers team out of the Haas Center as a student assistant and is a peer advisor for the Cardinal Service program, as well as staffing the Black Community Services Center. She also is entering her second term as an undergraduate senator and is co-president of Stanford Women in Law (SWIL). This past summer, Gabby was a Public Interest Law Fellow, as part of the Cardinal Quarter program, with San Francisco-based organization, Accountability Counsel, where she supported the organization’s mission to protect the human rights of marginalized communities around the world. After Stanford, Gabby hopes to attend law school and advocate for human rights around the world.

Angela Filo

Angela Filo, ’93, co-founded and leads Yellow Chair Foundation, a family foundation established in 2000 that gives grants in the areas of educational equity, climate change, civil liberties, investigative journalism and U.S. maternal health. Angela serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University and on the Stanford Graduate School of Education Advisory Board as well as the Undergraduate Cabinet. She has been involved with nonprofits, in both staff and board roles, since her undergraduate days spent volunteering and working at the Haas Center. For almost a decade she taught journalism and photography at Eastside College Preparatory School, in East Palo Alto, California. Angela serves as a board member for ProPublica and is an advisory board member of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, where she is an alum. She currently co-chairs the American Civil Liberties Union’s national centennial campaign.

Katherine Flores

Gabi Gavrila

Gabriela (Gabi) Gavrila, MA ’21, PhD ’23, is training as a sociologist at the Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), where she focuses on the role of colleges and universities in their local communities and within the larger society, with a focus on diversity and sustainability initiatives. Her research interests are at the intersection of higher education sociology, organizational theory, and urban studies. In addition to her Stanford affiliation, Gabi holds a BA from Occidental College in Los Angeles and an MPA from University of Pittsburgh’ Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. During her time in Pittsburgh, she served on the Board of a regional foundation dedicated to empowering girls, women, and people with disabilities in Western Pennsylvania, which has greatly shaped how she thinks of community-engaged work and the public service calling. Originally from Europe, Gabi also worked in London, United Kingdom for a couple of years before coming to Stanford to pursue her PhD. While at Stanford, Gabi has served as a student representative on the Board of Judicial Affairs and the Academic Council’s Committee on Research (C-Res).  Most recently, she was a Graduate Fellow for Community-Engaged Research with the Haas Center for Public Service, where she was responsible for organizing the 2021-22 “Research as Praxis” workshop series, which was aimed specifically at graduate students but open to all members of the Stanford community interested in learning more about and developing skills in community-engaged scholarship and community-based research.

Jose Gordon

Jose Gordon, ’99, is business lead for Communications at Facebook, overseeing strategy and planning globally. Previously, he was senior director and head of Global Communications at eBay; in addition, he served as president of the eBay Foundation and led the company’s philanthropy in support of small business and inclusive entrepreneurship. Jose joined eBay from the Golden State Warriors Community Foundation in Oakland, where as executive director he built and led the NBA’s leading team foundation, targeting educational equity and youth development. Previously, he served as senior director of communications for the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health in Palo Alto. Jose graduated from Stanford University with degrees in economics and American Studies and received the school’s James W. Lyons Award for Service and a Stanford in Government Fellowship. Committed to equity and mentorship, Jose has served as an advisor to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Northern California Grantmakers, Good Tidings Foundation, Playworks, and Learn Fresh. He also coaches youth basketball and soccer.

Mimi Haas

Mimi and her late husband, Peter Haas, were early significant supporters of the Public Service Center at Stanford, which was renamed in 1989 in honor of the Haas family of San Francisco in recognition of major endowment gifts that secured the future of the center. In 2004, the Haas family reaffirmed their support of public service education at the university by endowing the Peter E. Haas Directorship (held by the center’s faculty director) and creating a new endowment to advance service learning at Stanford. Mimi has served on the NAB since its founding. Peter served on Stanford’s board of trustees with founding Haas Center board member John W. Gardner, whom Peter and Mimi admired greatly. Gardner was the first incumbent of the Miriam and Peter Haas Centennial Professorship in Public Service (established 1989). Until his death in 2005, Peter was a major leader in the Bay Area corporate and civic community, known for his socially responsible business ethics and practices. Mrs. Haas is president of the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, a position she has held since August 1981. As president, Mrs. Haas has been deeply committed to ensuring that low-income young children and their families receive access to high-quality early care and education as well as health services in San Francisco. With the overwhelming evidence of the importance of early development and education, Mrs. Haas has been steadfast in supporting programs that lay the emotional, physical, and intellectual foundation for every child to enter kindergarten ready to learn. She is the vice chair of the Board of Trustees and chair of the Compensation Committee and chair of the Governance Committee of the New York Museum of Modern Art, vice chair of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and serves on the Board of Directors of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Martha’s Vineyard Youth.  She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Global Philanthropists Circle. She previously served on the board of Levi Strauss & Co for two separate terms: 2004-2006, 2014-2018; The Terry Sanford Institute for Public Policy at Duke University; the San Francisco Symphony; San Francisco University High School; Summerbridge National; and Children Now.

Jacob Harriman

Jake graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 1998 and served seven and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Platoon Commander in both the Infantry and Force Recon. During his military service, Jake led four operational deployments, including two combat tours in Iraq. Following his service, Jake attended Stanford Graduate School of Business. While at Stanford, he founded Nuru International to eradicate extreme poverty in the world’s most unstable, vulnerable regions to help end violent extremism. He graduated in 2008 with his MBA. From 2017 to 2019, Jake helped draft, introduce, and work to pass groundbreaking new legislation called the Global Fragility Act of 2019 that equips America with new authorities and resources to prevent conflict and stabilize some of the most fragile regions of the world. Now he has turned his attention to helping protect the American Democratic experiment as the Founder and CEO of More Perfect Union, a 10-year plan to heal the divide in the nation and make our government work for the American people by building a viable center in American politics and a nationwide movement for unity and reform, as well as passing new legislation to reform the electoral system and structural rules and norms of Congress. Jake has received several honors and been interviewed on ABC, Al Jazeera America, BBC World Service, CNN, Fox Business and MSNBC’s Morning Joe and received coverage in the Christian Science Monitor, Devex, Forbes, Huffington Post, The New York Times, Stanford Magazine, Fox News, and others.

DeAndre Johnson

DeAndre Johnson, ‘24, is a junior studying public policy with a concentration in discrimination, crime, and poverty. Having grown up low-income in the South (including Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas), he is interested broadly in understanding the causes and consequences of growing income inequality and developing solutions to address it. To this end, he has become involved in service endeavors in and outside of the Haas Center centered on empowering historically marginalized communities. At the Haas Center, he has tutor-mentored with the High School Support Initiative (HSSI) and worked as an education partnerships fellow supporting the East Palo Alto Stanford Academy and HSSI. DeAndre is also involved in research in labor economics and policy, trying to understand barriers to employment and upward career mobility. He is a resident assistant in Otero, the public service and civic engagement theme dorm. Outside of service and the classroom, DeAndre serves as financial officer and sings baritone in the Stanford Fleet Street Singers, the university’s only all-original comedy acapella group. After Stanford, DeAndre hopes to pursue graduate study in economics and eventually influence economic policy-making at state and national levels.

Liana Keesing

Liana Keesing, '23, studies electrical engineering with a minor in physics and honors in ethics in society. Passionate about the intersection of democracy and emerging technology, she's worked on everything from blockchain-based voting machines to VR tools for gerrymandering education to the ethical design of smart home surveillance systems. She has an impressive collection of voting-themed jewelry and socks, stockpiled from her time as the co-director of StanfordVotes (2020 election cycle), as a national co-chair of the SLSV Resources & Support Subcommittee, and as the chief of staff for Stanford's Democracy Day 2022. She is also in her third year as a captain for the Division I fencing program, where she established a public service requirement for the team, and serves as one of Stanford's representatives to the PAC-12 Student-Athlete Leadership Team. Liana co-founded and now leads research efforts for her startup, developing low-cost, machine-learning-enabled integrated sensor systems to increase sustainable practices in small farms across California. On campus, when she's not soldering PCBs in lab64, you can find her practicing cello, working as a section leader for CS107E, and planning her next backpacking trip. With the support of the Haas Center, Liana was named a 2022 Truman Scholar.

Jocelyn Lee

Jocelyn Lee, ’93, MA ’94, has been an educator for more than 25 years and is a graduate of Stanford with a bachelor’s degree in American studies and a master’s degree in education; she holds additional post-graduate teaching credentials. Jocelyn began her teaching career as a high school student teacher in the Stanford Teacher Education Program, working to support the achievement of high school students from East Palo Alto. She has served as a school leader from the preschool level through high school for 20+ years, providing leadership, guidance, and support to teaching staff and developing practices to help bring about educational equity. Jocelyn focused on educational improvements that were responsive to the unique needs of each school community, including increasing access to technology, designing programs to give girls more access to STEM, and partnering with community organizations to provide enrichment opportunities. These interventions improved achievement for historically underserved students at each school she led. Jocelyn has a deep commitment to giving children a positive experience in their educational journeys with a focus on community engagement and family/school bonds.  Most recently, Jocelyn has focused on supporting organizations with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts and works at Reach University as the director of special projects.  Reach's mission is to help schools grow their own highly effective teachers and leaders, pursuing equity in underserved urban and rural communities. Reach also seeks to advance the efficacy and adoption in higher education of inquiry-based instructional methods and job-embedded degree pathways. 

Cameron Linhares-Huang

Polly Liu

Polly Liu, '95, MBA '00, holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford Business School. In 2001, she founded Beau-coup, an e-commerce company in the party supplies space. She is an active community volunteer and enjoys working with local organizations such as East Palo Alto Academy Foundation, Peninsula Bridge, and Second Harvest Food Bank. At Stanford, she currently serves on the Stanford LEAD Council and is a 25th reunion campaign committee member. As a Stanford student, she was involved in the Haas Center, including holding a summer philanthropy fellowship. Polly was featured in Bay Area Parent in March 2020 for organizing Free Laundry Friends, a fundraising effort that helped pay for laundry services in underserved communities impacted by the pandemic, including for many El Camino Hospital staff members. She is also currently a board member of the East Palo Alto Academy Foundation.

Leigh Sherwood Matthes

Leigh Sherwood Matthes is a native New Yorker with a 15-year history in marketing and advertising between NYC and Los Angeles. Currently she is an active philanthropist and real estate renovator. Matthes has been a past trustee at the UCSF Foundation, the Katherine Del Mar Burkes School, and the Bay Area Discovery Museum. As a past member, Matthes has served with the UCSF Cancer Council, the Center for Childhood Creativity, and was a past board member of Holsted Marketing, a Manhattan-based direct marketing firm. Additionally, Matthes has chaired or co-chaired events for Every Mother Counts (a global outreach maternal health organization), UCSF Cancer Center, UCSF Pediatric Oncology Center, San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center, Tipping Point Community, Gladstone Institute, Break Through Collaborative, Commonsense Media, California College of the Arts, Environmental Working Group, and SMART (an organization that provides low-income students access to exceptional education and support on the path to college). She also co-chaired ongoing events for the UCSF Wellness Lecture Series. With her passion for education, Matthes currently serves as either a trustee or advisory board member for Stanford’s School of Education Challenge Success program, Slide Ranch, and the Convent of the Sacred Heart Advancement Committee. Matthes believes in the spirit of both a local and global community. As a mother and leader, Matthes has organized service trips for groups and her family to Indonesia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, South Africa, and Guatemala. Matthes thrives on the challenge of combining creativity with business.

Christopher Maximos

Christopher Maximos, '23, is a senior from New Jersey studying political science and cognitive science. He is interested in the interplay of technology and politics, namely the opportunities and challenges that emerging technologies pose to democracies. On campus, Christopher serves as the chair of Stanford in Government, the university's largest policy-focused student organization, and oversees operations for Democracy Day. He previously led Rewired Magazine and worked as a resident assistant in Otero, the public service and civic engagement house. Beyond the classroom, Christopher serves as a research assistant to Marietje Schaake at the Cyber Policy Center and volunteers for the City of San José in its Office of Technology and Innovation. He previously worked on privacy policy at Meta, COVID-19 digital response at the New Jersey Office of Innovation, and education policy at the Aspen Institute. After graduation, he hopes to attend law school and pursue a policy career.

Sasankh Munukutla

Sasankh Munukutla, ’22, MS ’23, is a coterm from Singapore. For his undergraduate degree, he majored in Computer Science and minored in Cognitive Science, and he is currently pursuing a master’s in Computer Science. He is returning to the National Advisory Board for a second year. Sasankh is currently working at the intersection of AI and Climate to help scale sustainable agricultural practices around the world. He is passionate about the intersection of technology and social impact. During the summer of 2019 following his frosh year, Sasankh worked at Tarjimly through a CS+Social Good Fellowship from the Haas Center for Public Service, where he built technology to help with language translation for refugees that is now used in refugee camps around the world. This foundational experience inspired his passion to bring a social impact lens to all his endeavors during college. His past work also includes using NLP to improve the sentiment and attitude toward refugees in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Since January 2020, he has been working on AI for Climate Change research as part of the Stanford ML Group led by Professor Andrew Ng, which has resulted in a publication on novel findings and methods at NeurIPS. He has also worked on Safety Machine Learning at Uber as a Kleiner Perkins Engineering Fellow (Summer 2020) and built NLP technology to help dyslexic people write better at Microsoft (Summer 2021). During his time at Stanford, Sasankh served as the Vice President and President of CS+Social Good, where his work included expanding the Fellowship Program with the Haas Center. He also co-founded the CS Undergraduate Council to help with mentorship, DEI, and advocacy, and has served for two years on the Board of TechShift, an international alliance of over 30 organizations, where he set up a Global Tech for Good summer fellowship to support students from around the world to work at tech nonprofits, inspired by the CS+Social Good Fellowship at Stanford. Sasankh is an Accel Leadership Program (STVP) Fellow ’22 and Pear Garage ’22 member. Prior to Stanford, Sasankh took two gap years to serve as a combat leader (Infantry Platoon Sergeant) in the Singapore Armed Forces. Growing up across countries as a third culture kid, Sasankh is deeply inspired by and committed to public service across borders and global citizenship. 

Carolina Nazario

Carolina Nazario, ‘24, is a rising junior from Waterbury, Connecticut studying sociology and political science. She is passionate about making legal services more equitable for those who need it most, as well as public service and civic engagement. While at Stanford, Carolina served as the sophomore service liaison coordinator, where she worked with sophomores from around campus to promote service in their own dorms. She also worked as an intern for the Public Service Career Network, working to understand and promote service careers on campus. Through a two-quarter Law and Policy practicum called Unlocking Justice, Carolina worked to research the form submission process for self-represented litigants and how to make the process simpler and more accessible. She is excited for the upcoming year where she will be working as a Cardinal Service Peer Advisor. In the future, Carolina wants to go to law school and work in public interest litigation in order to promote equity and accessibility in the legal space.

Emily Nichols

Emily Geigh Nichols (she/they) is a senior at Stanford University studying African & African American Studies and Mass Communications. During her college career, she has served as president of Black Student Union, chair of the 23rd ASSU Undergraduate Senate, and director of Social Justice for Stanford Women in Law. In addition, Emily has also served as leadership development chair for the Black Community Services Center. During the past two summers, Emily Nichols interned at the Bail Project as a national policy intern, served as an advocacy fellow at the Gathering for Justice, interned for former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, and co-founded the national #Students2Stay movement. Additionally, Emily was recently selected as a 2022 Truman Scholar Finalist and Sidley Law Scholar. Emily's academic interests center on how to use law, advocacy, and arts to eradicate the school-to-prison pipeline and reimagine educational institutions that center transformative justice. In the near future, she hopes to attend graduate school and receive a joint JD/MFA in law and film. In her spare time, Emily is a part time content creator where she enjoys styling clothes, working on her fashion and wellness blog, and vlogging about her experience at Stanford.

Michael Ortiz

Michael Ortiz, '05, is senior policy director at Sequoia Capital where he works with investors, founders and companies on emerging tech policy or regulatory issues. From 2020-2021, he participated on the Biden-Harris Transition Team, where he served as a Member of the National Security Council Agency Review Team and led the confirmation teams of the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks. Michael previously served as Head of Public Affairs at Roivant Sciences, a unicorn parent company of biotechnology and technology subsidiaries. From 2009-2017, Michael held senior positions in the United States government at the White House, National Security Council (NSC), and Department of State. He served as Deputy Counterterrorism Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State and Senior Advisor to the National Security Advisor, Ambassador Susan Rice, at the White House. Earlier in his career, Michael worked on President Obama’s top legislative initiatives at the White House and the NSC. He also served on the Obama-Biden Transition Team, and was an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Barack Obama. Michael is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Stanford in Washington National Advisory Council, Stanford’s Haas Center for Public Service National Advisory Board, and the Stanford Associates. He has participated in the Aspen Institute Socrates Program and the Milken Institute Associates program. Michael graduated with honors from Stanford University.

Catherine Payer

Catherine Payer is a 1986 graduate of Stanford and has remained an active volunteer, serving on the Parents and Family Advisory Board and co-chairing several undergraduate reunion campaigns. Having retired from full-time legal practice, she spends her time on various nonprofit boards including Planned Parenthood South Texas (Executive Committee and Treasurer) and The San Antonio Library Foundation.

George Peinado

George Peinado, ’92, has been investing in both large and small consumer-facing businesses for most of his 30-year private equity career. For the last ten years, he has been investing in companies and entrepreneurs in the consumer space through his company, GAP Investments. Prior to forming GAP, George served as a managing director for Chicago-based Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) and as a principal of DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (DLJMB) in New York. George currently serves and has served on over a dozen corporate boards, including CDW, Yankee Candle, Bolthouse Farms, and Simple Mills. Prior to relocating to Dallas a year ago, he was on the Board of the Chicago Botanic Garden and was active in his community youth soccer and hockey programs, both as a board member and coach. George received his BA in international relations and economics from Stanford in 1992 and MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth in 1997.

Mindy Rogers

Mindy Rogers, '84, MBA '88 (Parent '13, '16, and '19), began her career at Bain & Company. Later, she joined Wells Fargo Bank and held a variety of managerial positions in Wells Fargo's banking operations, including vice president and general manager of Northern California check processing. After leaving the bank, she became a consultant to Wells Fargo on a wide range of issues. Mindy is a member of the board of trustees at Stanford University and has served on Stanford's Graduate School of Education Advisory Council and the Parents Advisory Board, of which she is a past co-chair. She is a director of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford Health Care, and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. In addition, Mindy sits on the board of Positive Coaching Alliance, College Spring, and Coaching Corps. She serves as board chair for the East Palo Alto Academy Foundation and is a former board member of Sacred Heart Schools in Atherton, where she served as chair for four years. She earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business.

Brian Rosenberg

Brian Rosenberg is currently Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  From 2003 until 2020, he served as the 16^th President of Macalester College.  His articles on higher education appear regularly in The Chronicle of Higher Education and have also appeared in publications including The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.  He serves as Senior Advisor at the African Leadership University and as a member of the boards of the Teagle Foundation, the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, and Allina Health.

Rosenberg received his B.A. from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in English from Columbia University.  Prior to arriving at Macalester, he served as Dean of the Faculty at Lawrence University and as Professor and Chair of the English Department at Allegheny College.  He is the author of two books and many articles on Victorian literature

Candace Ryu

Jennifer Satre

Jennifer Satre, ’71 (Parent ’01, ’07, ’10), grew up in Madera, California. After graduating from Stanford, she earned her teaching credential from the University of California, Berkeley. She taught elementary school for many years in both California and Nevada before earning her master’s in education from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1980. A veteran teacher, Jennifer has been a community leader in Reno for decades and serves on many boards in the state, including as an officer for the Stanford Club of Northern Nevada and the Sierra and a board member of the Nevada chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She is an advisory board member and past board chair of the Community Foundation of Western Nevada. Jennifer and her husband Phil, ’71, are longtime volunteers and supporters of various Stanford efforts, including as former members and chairs of the Parents Advisory Board. They are both recipients of The Stanford Medal: Phil in 2013 and Jennifer in 2019.

Nicole J. Sheehan

Nicole J. Sheehan, ’89, graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics, and received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994. Following a successful career in investment banking with Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette and investment management with Symphony Asset Management, she has dedicated herself to helping educational and environmental nonprofit organizations pursue meaningful causes. Nicole currently serves on the National Board of Directors of NatureBridge, the Board of Trustees of Menlo School, and the DNC National Finance Committee, and volunteers as a member of the Open Space Council of the Jackson Hole Land Trust. Nicole is a past board member of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and Lick-Wilmerding High School and served on the Woodside School Foundation Board. An active volunteer for Stanford, Nicole most recently was  a member of the 25^th reunion  committee, and has also held various volunteer  roles for Harvard University and for Sidwell Friends School. Nicole feels that assisting in the growth and development of transformative organizations, and working with people who are making a difference in the world, is deeply gratifying. 

Dorothy Shubin

The Honorable Dorothy Shubin, ’81 (Parent '23), serves as a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court, presiding over felony criminal cases and is a member of the court community outreach committee. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 2001, Dorothy prosecuted criminal cases as an assistant United States attorney for the Central District of California and was deputy chief of the Major Frauds Unit. Dorothy earned a BA from Stanford in history and a JD from the UCLA School of Law. Dorothy has served on various nonprofit boards, including the boards of Polytechnic School and The Children’s Center at Caltech and served as board chair of the Western Justice Center, a nonprofit dedicated to building a more civil, peaceful society. Dorothy is on the board of the Stanford Club of Pasadena and has served as co-chair of the board.

Janna Smith Lang

Janna Smith Lang, PhD’69, P’91, practiced audiology with a special emphasis in pediatric audiology. Her work with deaf and hard of hearing children began with a parent/infant program and continued later in a medical setting and a private practice. While at Stanford, Janna saw the first electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve in a deaf ear which led to the development of the cochlear implant.  Over her career, Janna was able to watch the cochlear implant develop to become a routine clinical tool for bringing “hearing” to deaf ears.  In the late ‘90s, when universal newborn hearing screening (NHS) became a standard, Janna served on the panel for the development of the NHS program for California.  She then developed the NHS program for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center and became a consultant for NHS programs across California.  Janna has made numerous professional presentations and has several publications.   In addition to her professional work, Janna was an appointee to and later chair of the Speech Pathology and Audiology Examining of the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance and Editorial Board Member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology.  She also serviced on numerous committees and was president of  California Speech-Language-Hearing Association, served on committees and was president of the California Association of Speech Pathologists and Audiologists in Private Practice, member of the Board of Directors of Project IDEA (Infant Deafness Educational Assistance), member of the Advisory Board for Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf, member of Advisory Board for Phoenix Education Center, Board of Trustees and Board president for Hillbrook School,  Board of Trustees for Council of State Speech-Language-Hearing Association Presidents, various committees and Legislative Councilor for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, member of Audiology Technical Advisory Committee and Advisory Panel for Newborn Hearing Screening for California Children’s Services, and member of Utilization Review Committee for Santa Clara Family Health Plan. 

Bill Somerville

President and CEO of Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF) and a founding member of the NAB, Bill has decades of experience in the nonprofit sector. He is a nationally recognized expert on creative grantmaking, having spent more than 50 years developing innovative programs to help the neediest among us. In 1991, after 17 years as the executive director of the Peninsula Community Foundation (now known as the Silicon Valley Community Foundation), Somerville founded Philanthropic Ventures Foundation (PVF), which specializes in creative giving programs customized to donor’s interests. Bill has consulted with over 400 community and family foundations in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He is a recipient of the 2004 Gerbode Fellowship Award in recognition of outstanding achievement as a nonprofit executive. He serves on the advisory boards of the Peery Family Foundation, the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare, and the Junior League of Palo Alto. Bill has worked with the Haas Center for Public Service to establish the Tom Ford and Sand Hill Fellowships, to introduce more young people to philanthropy and foundation work. He authored Grassroots Philanthropy: Field Notes of a Maverick Grantmaker with Fred Setterberg, which is a guide to decisive, hands-on grantmaking.

Julia Spiegel

Julia Spiegel, '06, is an impact litigator and human rights advocate with more than a decade of experience in some of the highest levels of federal, state, and local government.  She currently serves as a deputy legal affairs secretary for California Governor Gavin Newsom, where she advises the governor, directs litigation, and helps oversee the state’s reproductive rights, consumer protection, privacy, immigration, and health and human services work.  She also teaches foreign relations and constitutional law and U.S. foreign policy at Stanford Law School and Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy Program.

Julia previously served as a deputy county counsel in the Santa Clara County Counsel’s Office, where she litigated high-impact lawsuits on immigration, voting rights, and other social justice matters.  Julia was named a California Lawyer Attorney of the Year for her work to secure a nationwide injunction barring federal defunding of sanctuary jurisdictions.  She also served as a senior advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power and as a law clerk to Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Before graduate school, Julia researched armed conflict in eastern Africa for the Center for American Progress and the International Crisis Group.  Julia is a graduate of Yale Law School (JD), Princeton School of Public & International Affairs (MPA), and Stanford University (BA).

Manuka Valentina Stratta

Manuka is a coterm/master’s student in Computer Science specializing in AI/ML. She was born in the United States and grew up in Europe and South America. She is passionate about using technology to address social and environmental challenges. Her journey with public service at Stanford began with CS+Social Good studio, where she worked with the Santa Clara Wage Theft Coalition to develop a mobile application informing low-income workers about their rights and to combat issues such as wage theft. Interested in promoting education opportunities, Manuka co-created and taught Stanford’s first mobile augmented reality class (CS12SI), and, with StanfordXR, she organized VR/AR workshops for local high schools students. Interested in safe and sustainable transportation, Manuka interned at Uber on the safety team and Cruise on the tracking team. She is excited about using technology and AI to mitigate climate change. For her CS capstone project, she applied machine learning and satellite imagery to sustainable agriculture. She recently joined the AI for Climate Change Bootcamp as part of the Stanford ML Group led by Professor Andrew Ng. This year, she is helping Stanford Alumni in Sustainability as the undergraduate student engagement officer to connect undergraduate students with alumni and mentors working in the climate and sustainability space. 

Molly Tapias

Molly Tapias, '94, is the director of business development at EM Marketing. She is a marketing and sales strategy professional who helps B2B and B2C tech companies differentiate and win in new markets, with new buyers and selling motions. She draws from her unique background of market validation, positioning, customer insights, and social psychology. Molly completed her dissertation in social-personality psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on close relationships and stigmatized group members' prejudice expectations. Prior to earning her doctoral degree, she conducted consumer research for the Pharmacy Access Partnership and health policy research for the Kaiser Family Foundation. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and Latin American Studies with Honors at Stanford University.

Katherine Toy

Katherine Toy, ’91, MA ’95 made history when Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her as the first-ever Deputy Secretary for Access to the California Natural Resources Agency in January 2022. As Deputy Secretary for Access, she leads the agency’s efforts to expand equitable access to the public lands, museums and historic spaces operated and managed by the Natural Resources Agency for all Californians. Katherine also serves as the agency’s key point of contact with the Department of Parks and Recreation to support the department as it responds to emerging challenges and opportunities.  Katherine’s deep belief in the ability of “everyday people to make history every day” has shaped her career. She has spent the last 30 years working to increase access, belonging, and participation in public and civic spaces and institutions -- from teaching history to championing volunteer engagement, and, most recently, as Deputy CEO of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. Katherine’s knowledge and experience with parks, history, and untold stories began when she became the first Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, championing the restoration and interpretation of the historic U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island State Park. Katherine has served on a number of boards, committees, and commissions, including for the Stanford Historical Society, the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, Girl Scouts of Northern California, and the California State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Alison Upton Lopez

Alison Upton Lopez, '02, MA '09, is a senior director at Ktisis Capital, a philanthropic consulting firm. At Ktisis, she serves as donor advisor, working with individuals and families on a wide range of issues including environmental & racial justice. Prior to Ktisis, she was the founding executive director for the Julian Grace Foundation, an entrepreneurial family foundation in Chicagoland. Before working in philanthropy, Alison spent the majority of her career in various leadership roles in nonprofits in Illinois and California. She started her career as a Tom Ford Fellow at the Chicago Community Trust and has since been a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador, the executive director of Building Futures Now and I Have a Dream - East Palo Alto, and the development and communications director at NewRoot, among other roles. Alison holds an M.A in policy, organization and leadership studies from the Stanford Graduate School of Education, as well as a B.A. in psychology from Stanford. As an undergraduate, she was awarded the Sandhill Fellowship and the Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy through the Haas Center. Alison currently lives in Chicagoland and also serves on the boards for the Chicago Center for Arts and Technology and Forefront.

Anita Yu Westly

Anita Yu Westly is the co-founder of the Westly Foundation. As an immigrant from Hong Kong, she believes strongly in helping to make sure that every child in California has an opportunity to be successful. The Westly Foundation believes that investing in our children paves the way for success in the future. The Foundation invests in nonprofit organizations that improve the quality of health care and education for children from historically marginalized communities in California, enhances opportunities and skills for youth, and supports organizations that make our communities and our state better for our families. The foundation firmly believes in providing an even playing field for under-served children in California. Prior to her philanthropy work, Anita was an executive with Portal Software and worked for Accenture, providing professional service consulting to companies such as American Express and Pacific Bell, helping these companies build large operational systems. In addition to her professional work, Anita serves on the advisory board of CARE (Stanford Center for Asian Health Care Research and Education) to help improve knowledge, education, and clinical care to reduce healthcare disparities among Asian communities and population. She was also a member of the board of directors for The Role Model Program. Anita holds a BS in business administration, information systems, from San Diego State University.