The Stanford Alumni Women's Impact Network is run by a volunteer leadership board of alumni across the globe. We meet monthly to plan events and develop strategies for outreach and engagement, and we are always looking for more people to be involved! Interested in joining the board or serving as a regional ambassador in your region? Check out our GET INVOLVED page - we'd love to hear from you!
2018-19 Leadership Board Members
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Alexis Charles, PhD 2016
April J. Bell, BA 1995 (co-chair) April Day, BA 2002 Barb Prescott, BA 1987 Diana (Dee) Cruz, BA 1995 Erika Topete, BA 2012 Gabriela (Gabie) Bernal, MA 2014 J. Nadine Gracia, BA 1995 Kelly McKenzie, BA 2003 Marta Hanson, BA 2011 (co-chair emeritus) Prathima Setty, BA/BS 1995 (co-chair) |
WIN 2018-19 leadership board retreat (August 2018)
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2018-19 Leadership Board Member Bios
Alexis Charles is dedicated to education, inclusion, and advancing social justice issues. Alexis currently works at the Obama Foundation as Learning Design Associate. Prior to that she worked as the Education Lead at LeanIn.Org, an initiave of the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, and as a writer on the Communications team at Code for America. Alexis received her PhD from Stanford in Modern Thought & Literature, where she researched, wrote, and taught courses in gender, race, afrofuturism, and social change in popular culture. Alexis has a BA in English from the University of Southern California and an MA in American Studies from Columbia University. Alexis lives in the District of Columbia and is enjoying going to DC coffee shops, exploring museums, and experiencing all four seasons.
April J. Bell has a passion for positive reproductive health and a commitment to work that prioritizes women, girls, and youth. A veteran global health professional and epidemiologist, she spent 10 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working in a variety of capacities, including bioterrorism, HIV, foodborne diseases, and reproductive health and in several sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi. A Hoosier by birth, she received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and her MPH with a dual concentration in Epidemiology and Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine. Currently, she is finishing her doctoral dissertation and planning to receive her PhD in Epidemiology from the IU School of Public Health in 2018. Prior to joining her doctoral program, she served as the Research Program Manager at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), an HIV treatment and care program, in Eldoret, Kenya. When she isn’t working on her dissertation, hanging with her Girl Scout troop, or leading her recently launched global public health consulting firm, Bell Consulting Group, LLC, April can be found in the East Bay, enjoying the wonderful weather and spending time with friends.
April Day completed two undergraduate majors, Japanese Studies and Native American Studies, at Stanford. She participated in the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies consortium program, studying in Kyoto, Japan. While at Stanford, she also volunteered in different projects and an ongoing program coordinated by the Haas Center for Public Service. After Stanford, she attended law school at Columbia, where she volunteered to assist survivors of domestic violence. After law school, she helped launch a regional chapter of a progressive lawyers' organization. As an alumni, she has participated in the Stanford Alumni Mentoring (SAM) program. Her interests include reading and travelling.
Barbara Mary Prescott, M.A., M.Ed., is an independent scholar, literary anthropologist, educational researcher, and sometime poet. She is currently studying the poetry of Dorothy L. Sayers written while Sayers was an Oxford University student, 1912-1915. Barb Prescott has published three books of poetry and various articles in academic journals, among those: Child Language, The Stanford Forum for Research on Language Issues, Proceedings of the International Congress of Linguists, Inklings Forever: Proceedings of the Colloquium on C.S. Lewis and Friends, and she has contributed numerous sonnets to published collections of poetry. Barb is active in social media and manages several Facebook pages, including SONNET, a journal of poetry, Dorothy L. Sayers in Oxford, and Anglo-Saxon Language. A native of Chicago, Barbara has graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois, and is an alumna of Stanford University, 1987. She is married, with two children, and currently resides in Wheaton, Illinois with occasional jaunts back to Stanford and San Francisco simply for the pleasure of returning home every so often.
Diana (Dee) Cruz is an operations professional with 18+ years of leadership experience in Finance, Operations and Quality Assurance roles. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt and has an accomplished track record in service delivery, and business process improvement. Dee is currently a Vice President of Operations at Cambia Health Solutions in Portland, Oregon. Dee is from the Mission District in San Francisco where her family lived after immigrating from Mexico. Growing up, she gained a passion for social justice issues including equity and access to affordable healthcare and housing. Dee serves on the Board of Familas en Acción, which provides patient navigation and support to Latino clients in the Portland area suffering from chronic illnesses. Dee is also a 2018/2019 American Leadership Forum of Oregon Fellow. Dee has a BA in International Relations from Stanford University (95). Dee was fortunate enough to study at the Stanford in Florence program and has a passion for Italian art, food and wine to this day. When not working, Dee enjoys spending time exploring Portland with her spouse and teenagers, following the SF Giants and Golden State Warriors, crafting and listening to Hamilton and a variety of podcasts.
Erika Topete is the Assistant Director and Lecturer for Stanford's Financial Literacy Office Mind Over Money where she's dedicated to democratizing access to financial information and guidance for all students. In addition to financial literacy, Erika is passionate about women empowerment and leadership, evident with her work at the intersection of finance and women. At Stanford, Erika studied political science and was actively involved with the multicultural and philanthopic women's organization Sigma Theta Psi. Currently, Erika lives in Burlingame and serves on the board of the personal finance nonprofit Generation Wealthy.
Gabie Bernal is passionate about empowering women to be the best version of themselves while navigating biases in the workplace. She serves as VP of Member Services for the Society of Women Engineers Santa Clara Valley section. She is also a mentor to young girls in Hayward for LISTAS (Latinas in STEM to Achieve Success) where she is also a board member. Through the LISTAS organization she hopes to enact change and encourage minority girls to pursue degrees in STEM where women and specifically women of color are typically underrepresented. Gabie holds two engineering degrees with a B.S in Chemical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara and a masters in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford. She currently works as a process development engineer in the medical device industry where she fulfills her passion for critical thinking while finding fulfillment and joy that her work is contributing to improve people's health outcomes. Gabie is excited for her first term on the WIN board as Ambassador Program Lead.
Dr. J. Nadine Gracia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a national non-profit, non-partisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization in Washington, DC. A pediatrician by training with a passion for championing equity and opportunity, she served in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In that capacity, she directed policies and programs to end health disparities and advance health equity and provided leadership on administration priorities including health reform and criminal justice reform. Previously, she served as Chief Medical Officer in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, where her portfolio included the White House Council on Women and Girls, disaster preparedness, environmental health, and global health. Prior to that role, she was appointed as a White House Fellow at HHS and worked in the Office of the First Lady on the Let’s Move! initiative to solve childhood obesity. She received a Bachelor of Arts in French from Stanford University, a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. Active in civic and professional organizations, she is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and serves on the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. A first-generation Haitian-American, she cherishes spending time with family and friends and is an avid sports fan.
Kelly McKenzie partners with organizations and their people to evolve how they think, plan and work in a rapidly changing world. As an Agile Coach with Accenture, Kelly helps clients leverage change to foster innovation and seize new opportunities. Before joining Accenture, Kelly spent 15 years studying and leading change in government and nonprofit organizations. She has a passion for serving others, which was nurtured at Stanford through working at the Haas Center, tutoring with EPATT, and spending a quarter at Stanford in Washington. Kelly majored in American Studies at Stanford and holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Outside of work, Kelly enjoys traveling with her husband Ameen and volunteering with Sky's the Limit, an Oakland-based nonprofit that supports young entrepreneurs. Her goals for the upcoming year are to learn how to whitewater kayak, and to plan an awesome Impact Retreat for WIN!
Marta Hanson is a passionate advocate working at the intersection of leadership development and social change. Currently, Marta serves as Assistant Dean & Associate Director of the Stanford Women's Community Center, where she gets to build and support a thriving intersectional feminist community. As a certified strengths coach through Gallup, Marta uses the framework of strengths-based development with students on campus, and with social impact organizations on the side. Prior to her role at Stanford, she was the Deputy Finance Director for the 2014 re-election campaign of California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and worked at NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights advocacy organization, in both Washington, DC and San Francisco. As an undergraduate at Stanford, Marta majored in American Studies and Feminist Studies and managed to take classes for both while studying abroad in Spain and Germany; she also worked at the Women's Community Center and was a student delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meetings in 2011. In addition to her board service with WIN, Marta served for five years on the SF board of New Leaders Council, which trains and supports emerging progressive leaders, and she currently co-chairs the NLC Women's Caucus. Marta loves traveling and dancing the lindy hop, and she can say "thank you" in over a dozen languages. @martahanson
Dr. Prathima Setty is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist practicing in the Northern Virginia area. She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and her special interests include reproductive endocrinology, contraception, preventive health, and minimally invasive surgical procedures. While in medical school, she was involved with the Women In Medicine group, served as treasurer for her class, and took part in a program in which she served as a medical advocate for a local pregnant adolescent. She is a part-owner of a full service salon and medical spa and serves as a physician advisor for a medical compliance company. She stays involved in the international women's health community as the President of the D.C. Chapter of Save a Mother, a grassroots organization striving to decrease maternal and child mortality in India. While at Stanford, she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in Biological Sciences and Art History. She also was treasurer for Sanskriti, worked as a biology lab teaching assistant, and served as an academic advisor. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two active children, as well as traveling, learning different languages, and experimenting with healthy recipes in the kitchen.
April J. Bell has a passion for positive reproductive health and a commitment to work that prioritizes women, girls, and youth. A veteran global health professional and epidemiologist, she spent 10 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working in a variety of capacities, including bioterrorism, HIV, foodborne diseases, and reproductive health and in several sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi. A Hoosier by birth, she received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and her MPH with a dual concentration in Epidemiology and Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine. Currently, she is finishing her doctoral dissertation and planning to receive her PhD in Epidemiology from the IU School of Public Health in 2018. Prior to joining her doctoral program, she served as the Research Program Manager at the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), an HIV treatment and care program, in Eldoret, Kenya. When she isn’t working on her dissertation, hanging with her Girl Scout troop, or leading her recently launched global public health consulting firm, Bell Consulting Group, LLC, April can be found in the East Bay, enjoying the wonderful weather and spending time with friends.
April Day completed two undergraduate majors, Japanese Studies and Native American Studies, at Stanford. She participated in the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies consortium program, studying in Kyoto, Japan. While at Stanford, she also volunteered in different projects and an ongoing program coordinated by the Haas Center for Public Service. After Stanford, she attended law school at Columbia, where she volunteered to assist survivors of domestic violence. After law school, she helped launch a regional chapter of a progressive lawyers' organization. As an alumni, she has participated in the Stanford Alumni Mentoring (SAM) program. Her interests include reading and travelling.
Barbara Mary Prescott, M.A., M.Ed., is an independent scholar, literary anthropologist, educational researcher, and sometime poet. She is currently studying the poetry of Dorothy L. Sayers written while Sayers was an Oxford University student, 1912-1915. Barb Prescott has published three books of poetry and various articles in academic journals, among those: Child Language, The Stanford Forum for Research on Language Issues, Proceedings of the International Congress of Linguists, Inklings Forever: Proceedings of the Colloquium on C.S. Lewis and Friends, and she has contributed numerous sonnets to published collections of poetry. Barb is active in social media and manages several Facebook pages, including SONNET, a journal of poetry, Dorothy L. Sayers in Oxford, and Anglo-Saxon Language. A native of Chicago, Barbara has graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois, and is an alumna of Stanford University, 1987. She is married, with two children, and currently resides in Wheaton, Illinois with occasional jaunts back to Stanford and San Francisco simply for the pleasure of returning home every so often.
Diana (Dee) Cruz is an operations professional with 18+ years of leadership experience in Finance, Operations and Quality Assurance roles. She is a Six Sigma Black Belt and has an accomplished track record in service delivery, and business process improvement. Dee is currently a Vice President of Operations at Cambia Health Solutions in Portland, Oregon. Dee is from the Mission District in San Francisco where her family lived after immigrating from Mexico. Growing up, she gained a passion for social justice issues including equity and access to affordable healthcare and housing. Dee serves on the Board of Familas en Acción, which provides patient navigation and support to Latino clients in the Portland area suffering from chronic illnesses. Dee is also a 2018/2019 American Leadership Forum of Oregon Fellow. Dee has a BA in International Relations from Stanford University (95). Dee was fortunate enough to study at the Stanford in Florence program and has a passion for Italian art, food and wine to this day. When not working, Dee enjoys spending time exploring Portland with her spouse and teenagers, following the SF Giants and Golden State Warriors, crafting and listening to Hamilton and a variety of podcasts.
Erika Topete is the Assistant Director and Lecturer for Stanford's Financial Literacy Office Mind Over Money where she's dedicated to democratizing access to financial information and guidance for all students. In addition to financial literacy, Erika is passionate about women empowerment and leadership, evident with her work at the intersection of finance and women. At Stanford, Erika studied political science and was actively involved with the multicultural and philanthopic women's organization Sigma Theta Psi. Currently, Erika lives in Burlingame and serves on the board of the personal finance nonprofit Generation Wealthy.
Gabie Bernal is passionate about empowering women to be the best version of themselves while navigating biases in the workplace. She serves as VP of Member Services for the Society of Women Engineers Santa Clara Valley section. She is also a mentor to young girls in Hayward for LISTAS (Latinas in STEM to Achieve Success) where she is also a board member. Through the LISTAS organization she hopes to enact change and encourage minority girls to pursue degrees in STEM where women and specifically women of color are typically underrepresented. Gabie holds two engineering degrees with a B.S in Chemical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara and a masters in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford. She currently works as a process development engineer in the medical device industry where she fulfills her passion for critical thinking while finding fulfillment and joy that her work is contributing to improve people's health outcomes. Gabie is excited for her first term on the WIN board as Ambassador Program Lead.
Dr. J. Nadine Gracia is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a national non-profit, non-partisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization in Washington, DC. A pediatrician by training with a passion for championing equity and opportunity, she served in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In that capacity, she directed policies and programs to end health disparities and advance health equity and provided leadership on administration priorities including health reform and criminal justice reform. Previously, she served as Chief Medical Officer in the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, where her portfolio included the White House Council on Women and Girls, disaster preparedness, environmental health, and global health. Prior to that role, she was appointed as a White House Fellow at HHS and worked in the Office of the First Lady on the Let’s Move! initiative to solve childhood obesity. She received a Bachelor of Arts in French from Stanford University, a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. Active in civic and professional organizations, she is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and serves on the National Social Action Commission of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. A first-generation Haitian-American, she cherishes spending time with family and friends and is an avid sports fan.
Kelly McKenzie partners with organizations and their people to evolve how they think, plan and work in a rapidly changing world. As an Agile Coach with Accenture, Kelly helps clients leverage change to foster innovation and seize new opportunities. Before joining Accenture, Kelly spent 15 years studying and leading change in government and nonprofit organizations. She has a passion for serving others, which was nurtured at Stanford through working at the Haas Center, tutoring with EPATT, and spending a quarter at Stanford in Washington. Kelly majored in American Studies at Stanford and holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan. Outside of work, Kelly enjoys traveling with her husband Ameen and volunteering with Sky's the Limit, an Oakland-based nonprofit that supports young entrepreneurs. Her goals for the upcoming year are to learn how to whitewater kayak, and to plan an awesome Impact Retreat for WIN!
Marta Hanson is a passionate advocate working at the intersection of leadership development and social change. Currently, Marta serves as Assistant Dean & Associate Director of the Stanford Women's Community Center, where she gets to build and support a thriving intersectional feminist community. As a certified strengths coach through Gallup, Marta uses the framework of strengths-based development with students on campus, and with social impact organizations on the side. Prior to her role at Stanford, she was the Deputy Finance Director for the 2014 re-election campaign of California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris and worked at NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights advocacy organization, in both Washington, DC and San Francisco. As an undergraduate at Stanford, Marta majored in American Studies and Feminist Studies and managed to take classes for both while studying abroad in Spain and Germany; she also worked at the Women's Community Center and was a student delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meetings in 2011. In addition to her board service with WIN, Marta served for five years on the SF board of New Leaders Council, which trains and supports emerging progressive leaders, and she currently co-chairs the NLC Women's Caucus. Marta loves traveling and dancing the lindy hop, and she can say "thank you" in over a dozen languages. @martahanson
Dr. Prathima Setty is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist practicing in the Northern Virginia area. She is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and her special interests include reproductive endocrinology, contraception, preventive health, and minimally invasive surgical procedures. While in medical school, she was involved with the Women In Medicine group, served as treasurer for her class, and took part in a program in which she served as a medical advocate for a local pregnant adolescent. She is a part-owner of a full service salon and medical spa and serves as a physician advisor for a medical compliance company. She stays involved in the international women's health community as the President of the D.C. Chapter of Save a Mother, a grassroots organization striving to decrease maternal and child mortality in India. While at Stanford, she earned a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in Biological Sciences and Art History. She also was treasurer for Sanskriti, worked as a biology lab teaching assistant, and served as an academic advisor. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two active children, as well as traveling, learning different languages, and experimenting with healthy recipes in the kitchen.
