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!
2019-20 Leadership Board Members
April J. Bell, BA 1995 (co-chair)
April Day, BA 2002 Barb Prescott, BA 1987 Elena Semeyko, MA 2019 Gabriela (Gabie) Bernal, MS 2014 (co-chair) Gabriela (Gaby) Quintana, BA 2015 Lisa Calfas, BA 2009 Prathima Setty, BA/BS 1995 Sandy Chang, BS 2001, MS 2003, PhD 2007 Sarah Roberts, BA 2016 Vivian Gee, BS/MS 2002 |
2019-20 Leadership Board Member Bios
Dr, 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. She defended her doctoral thesis in December 2019 and received her PhD in Epidemiology from the IU School of Public Health. She will begin her postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF in 2020. 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 traveling.
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.
Elena Semeyko is a lifelong learner and designer of educational products. She had a chance to work on digital learning solutions for students and adult learners in Russia, the UK, and the US. At Stanford, Elena attended the Learning, Design & Technology program at the Graduate School of Education and participated in Stanford Ignite, a certificate program at the Graduate School of Business. She also holds a Master's degree in Biology from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Elena loves to connect people and help them in building meaningful collaborations -- and looks forward to use this passion for the benefit of the WIN community. In her spare time, Elena enjoys learning languages and dancing Argentine tango.
Gabie Bernal is passionate about empowering women to be the best version of themselves while navigating biases in the workplace. She serves as co-chair for the Cardinal Young Alumni of San Diego. 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 genomic 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 returning for her third year on the board, this year as a co-chair.
Gaby Quintana is passionate about creating meaningful and long-lasting positive change. She’s from the beautiful town of Cuernavaca in Mexico and moved to the Bay Area to attend Stanford University. While at Stanford, she fell in love with the nonprofit industry. Through her work with the Bay Area Video Coalition, she has collected, shared, and celebrated the stories of SF’s immigrant populations and taught filmmaking to emerging artists. She has also worked extensively in independent filmmaking, primarily with writer/director Florencia Manovil (Dyke Central), on narratives that highlight queer women of color and trans/non-binary characters. Most recently, as Chief Academic Officer of Next Generation Scholars, a college access nonprofit that serves first generation students and their families, she developed an interest and passion for nonprofit leadership and management. She is thrilled to join WIN’s board and support a network of women looking to positively transform the lives of their communities!
Lisa Calfas completed her undergraduate in Psychology at Stanford. After graduation she joined Google as a People Analyst in HR where she studied how to make employees happier, healthier, and more productive. She moved to NYC to transition into Sales where she helped Google's brand clients effectively connect with consumers through digital marketing. Now as a career coach, Lisa works with clients to find and create meaning and joy at work
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.
Sandy Chang is passionate about empowering the next generation of changemakers and creating connections between different fields. She taught engineering most recently at the University of Calgary, where she started the first Canadian collegiate chapter of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) with her students. Her research focus has been on engineering education through social engagement, creating a course on social entrepreneurship with an engineering spin and a focus on design thinking. Prior to her life as an academic, she worked in the environmental field in both the public and private sectors as well as internationally at the World Bank. Sandy has a BS in Geological and Environmental Sciences with a focus on Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, minor in Physics, and stayed at Stanford for her MS and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology.
Sarah Roberts is passionate about creating contexts in which women and girls can thrive. Currently, Sarah works as a research assistant at a foundation in Omaha, NE. As an undergraduate at Stanford (’16), Sarah majored in Human Biology, concentration in Women’s Health and Sexuality, and minored in Creative Writing. She also worked at the Women’s Community Center, and she was a Kitchen Manager at the Enchanted Broccoli Forest. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys weightlifting, cooking new recipes, and spoiling her dog, Coco.
Vivian Gee has nearly 20 years of experience bridging business, funder, and social sector interests internationally. She has lived and worked in 9 countries across 3 continents, and is very much a global citizen at heart. She advises and does strategic planning for funders and impact-driven organizations, including helping a Giving Pledge family define their 10-year $1 billion spend-out commitment. At Temasek, one of the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore, Vivian focused on corporate philanthropy, overseeing endowments totaling $1.5B for six operating foundations. Vivian also played a key role in establishing the Alliance for Financial Inclusion as the first international policy innovation network promoting financial inclusion for 1.7B unbanked adults worldwide. A former World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, Vivian built a leading community of social entrepreneurs, and fostered collaboration across businesses, governments, and civil society to promote inclusive economic growth. Vivian has an international MBA (INSEAD), and a B.S. and an M.S. in engineering (Stanford University).
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 traveling.
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.
Elena Semeyko is a lifelong learner and designer of educational products. She had a chance to work on digital learning solutions for students and adult learners in Russia, the UK, and the US. At Stanford, Elena attended the Learning, Design & Technology program at the Graduate School of Education and participated in Stanford Ignite, a certificate program at the Graduate School of Business. She also holds a Master's degree in Biology from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Elena loves to connect people and help them in building meaningful collaborations -- and looks forward to use this passion for the benefit of the WIN community. In her spare time, Elena enjoys learning languages and dancing Argentine tango.
Gabie Bernal is passionate about empowering women to be the best version of themselves while navigating biases in the workplace. She serves as co-chair for the Cardinal Young Alumni of San Diego. 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 genomic 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 returning for her third year on the board, this year as a co-chair.
Gaby Quintana is passionate about creating meaningful and long-lasting positive change. She’s from the beautiful town of Cuernavaca in Mexico and moved to the Bay Area to attend Stanford University. While at Stanford, she fell in love with the nonprofit industry. Through her work with the Bay Area Video Coalition, she has collected, shared, and celebrated the stories of SF’s immigrant populations and taught filmmaking to emerging artists. She has also worked extensively in independent filmmaking, primarily with writer/director Florencia Manovil (Dyke Central), on narratives that highlight queer women of color and trans/non-binary characters. Most recently, as Chief Academic Officer of Next Generation Scholars, a college access nonprofit that serves first generation students and their families, she developed an interest and passion for nonprofit leadership and management. She is thrilled to join WIN’s board and support a network of women looking to positively transform the lives of their communities!
Lisa Calfas completed her undergraduate in Psychology at Stanford. After graduation she joined Google as a People Analyst in HR where she studied how to make employees happier, healthier, and more productive. She moved to NYC to transition into Sales where she helped Google's brand clients effectively connect with consumers through digital marketing. Now as a career coach, Lisa works with clients to find and create meaning and joy at work
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.
Sandy Chang is passionate about empowering the next generation of changemakers and creating connections between different fields. She taught engineering most recently at the University of Calgary, where she started the first Canadian collegiate chapter of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) with her students. Her research focus has been on engineering education through social engagement, creating a course on social entrepreneurship with an engineering spin and a focus on design thinking. Prior to her life as an academic, she worked in the environmental field in both the public and private sectors as well as internationally at the World Bank. Sandy has a BS in Geological and Environmental Sciences with a focus on Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, minor in Physics, and stayed at Stanford for her MS and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology.
Sarah Roberts is passionate about creating contexts in which women and girls can thrive. Currently, Sarah works as a research assistant at a foundation in Omaha, NE. As an undergraduate at Stanford (’16), Sarah majored in Human Biology, concentration in Women’s Health and Sexuality, and minored in Creative Writing. She also worked at the Women’s Community Center, and she was a Kitchen Manager at the Enchanted Broccoli Forest. In her spare time, Sarah enjoys weightlifting, cooking new recipes, and spoiling her dog, Coco.
Vivian Gee has nearly 20 years of experience bridging business, funder, and social sector interests internationally. She has lived and worked in 9 countries across 3 continents, and is very much a global citizen at heart. She advises and does strategic planning for funders and impact-driven organizations, including helping a Giving Pledge family define their 10-year $1 billion spend-out commitment. At Temasek, one of the sovereign wealth funds of Singapore, Vivian focused on corporate philanthropy, overseeing endowments totaling $1.5B for six operating foundations. Vivian also played a key role in establishing the Alliance for Financial Inclusion as the first international policy innovation network promoting financial inclusion for 1.7B unbanked adults worldwide. A former World Economic Forum Global Leadership Fellow, Vivian built a leading community of social entrepreneurs, and fostered collaboration across businesses, governments, and civil society to promote inclusive economic growth. Vivian has an international MBA (INSEAD), and a B.S. and an M.S. in engineering (Stanford University).