Impact Week

Chris Tang

UCLA Distinguished Professor, and Edward W. Carter Chair in Business Administration

A foremost scholar on supply chain management, having published more than 100 articles in academic journals, magazines and newspapers as well as five books, Distinguished Professor Christopher S. Tang holds the Edward W. Carter Chair in Business Administration. His interest in this field began in the private sector, working for IBM on internal production planning problems. His early research focused on mainstream operations management problems, such as production planning and control, inventory models with yield uncertainties, design and control of flexible manufacturing lines, and capacity configuration problems. Tang expanded his interest and research, working with marketing researchers on production planning and promotion, joint pricing and production decision-making, and advanced booking. He continued his integration with retailing in the exploration of joint operations decisions and assortment planning, consumer shopping behaviors and product pricing.

While his research was motivated by real-life problems and industry projects, such exposure enabled him to develop teaching cases on a variety of concerns, such as micro-financing for the poor, mobile platforms for developing economies, creating shared values and direct procurement of agricultural products, response management in disasters and new business models in the age of the Internet. These new cases often went beyond the traditional topics of operations management, addressing the trendy and pressing issues faced by supply chain executives, as well as innovations that industry leaders use to create higher values in the global market.

His research now spans different areas that include global supply chain management, retail operations and social business operations. His current interest focuses on social innovation for developing countries, looking at ways that companies can operate in the environment, doing good and doing well at the same time - "where corporate responsibility, social justice, and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand."

Education

B.Sc. (First Class Honors) Mathematics, 1981, King's College, University of London
M.Phil. Administrative Science, 1983, Yale University
M.A. Statistics, 1983, Yale University
Ph.D. Management Science, 1985, Yale University

Dave Fanger

Founder & CEO, Swell Investing

As Swell's founder and CEO, Dave sets Swell's strategic vision and leads the impact, portfolio management, development and design teams. He brings with him more than 15 years in financial services. Swell is shaped by Dave's passions for investing, financial literacy, social and environmental progress. Launched in May of 2017, Swell Investing is on mission to ensure that every dollar invested has a positive impact on the world. 

Dave joined Swell Investing's parent company Pacific Life in 2008 as a director in Investment Management and rose to assistant vice president in Corporate Development where he was responsible for merger and acquisition valuations.  Prior to joining Pacific Life, Dave served as a senior associate at Mercer. He was responsible for advising Fortune 500 pension plan sponsors on funding, plan design, asset-liability management and risk management strategies.

Dave holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a bachelor's degree in actuarial science from Ball State University. Dave is a Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder, Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

Deborah La Franchi ('00)

CEO & President, SDS Group

Deborah La Franchi is founder/CEO of SDS (2001), a national leader in impact investing - managing both market-rate and below-market funds. SDS invests in emerging lower-income communities - ranging from urban to rural - in need of economic and community development. Ms. La Franchi has built SDS' platform that supports $825 million of impact assets: National New Markets Fund ($477M); Develop Michigan Real Estate Fund ($60M); American South Real Estate Fund ($55M); and, $358M of third-party impact funds. Ms. La Franchi structures each fund, leads the fundraising, oversees the managers of each fund/division, provides the strategic direction for SDS' platform, and she participates on each fund's Investment Committee. SDS was recently named, for the second consecutive year, as an ImpactAssets 50 manager - a top 50 impact manager in the US.  Ms. La Franchi is also the founder and Board Chair for Sustainable Communities Fund. This unique nonprofit finances innovative and new prototype CDFI programs targeting low-income entrepreneurs in need of small business loans. She co-authored the DBL Handbook (Ford Foundation sponsor) and regularly speaks at investment and impact conferences. Prior, working for Mayor Riordan and serving as his Asst. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (Los Angeles, CA, 1995-1999), she spearheaded the launch and became inaugural CEO of Genesis LA, which launched the Genesis Family of Funds (1999-2001). Ms. La Franchi has a BA in Political Science and History, an MBA from UCLA, an MPP from Georgetown and she has a Series 65.

Lisa Richter

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Avivar Capital

Lisa Richter is a co-founder and managing partner of Avivar Capital, a national consultancy and SEC-registered investment advisor focused exclusively on assisting institutions and families to design and execute impact investing strategies. Lisa brings three decades of fund management and impact investing experience spanning asset classes, return expectations, geographies and issue areas, and frequently incorporating place-based or sector focus to increase equitable access to opportunity. Clients range from small to the nation's largest independent and community foundations, banks, institutional investors and families, with interests ranging from place-based or thematic impact investing outcomes to applying social criteria to traditional asset allocations targeting market-rate expected returns. Lisa authored the Grantmakers In Health Guide Impact Investing and co-authored Equity Advancing Equity (a guide to community foundation impact investing) and a rural community foundation impact investing guide. She co-designed and led the Mission Investors Exchange Impact Investing Institute for over a decade and continues as a lead impact investing trainer with partner organizations nationwide.  Lisa holds a BA and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Zev Wexler

CFO/COO, Core Innovation Capital

Zev Wexler is the CFO/COO of Core Innovation Capital, a leading venture capital fund investing in companies that that democratize prosperity.

Prior to law school, Zev worked at BlackRock in the taxable financial institutions group for two years. After law school, he worked at the law firm of Skadden, Arps in both the tax and the investment management groups for six years. Prior to joining Core, he worked at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins in the M&A group for two years.

Zev earned his BA from Princeton University and his JD from NYU Law. Zev is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a member of the New York State bar, and a member of the Private Equity CFO Association. He previously served on the board of the Microfinance Club of New York. He is based in Los Angeles.

Jennifer Walske

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Jennifer M. Walske is an adjunct assistant professor and interim faculty director of Impact@Anderson. Her published research focuses on emergent firms with an emphasis on how human capital, social capital and strategy aids new firm success.

She has received numerous research and teaching awards, including the best paper award from NYU Stern's Social Entrepreneurship Conference and the Cheit Award for Teaching Excellence at UC Berkeley-Haas, as well as outstanding faculty and research awards at the University of San Francisco. Prior to her career in academia, Walske was a nationally ranked software analyst by Institutional All-American and was a regular guest commentator on both CNN and CNBC. She also spent 10 years in Silicon Valley, where she held various marketing and product marketing positions within the software industry, prior to investment banking.

She is recognized for coaching future leaders of emergent social venture firms, drawing on experience as a board member of various nonprofits and for-profits, including the Fair Trade USA, Net Impact, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, the Max Warburg Courage Curriculum and Better Ventures, where she served on the advisory board. She is co-founder and partner of Myriad Investments LLC, a venture capital firm with investments predominately in software and social startups.

The daughter of academics, she was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, where her father was a professor of genetics, but she is primarily a Californian. She enjoys time with her daughter and dogs, and supports the performing arts. She hits tough ski slopes whenever possible. 

Education

DBA Strategy and Policy with Entrepreneurship Minor, Boston University

MBA Marketing, Santa Clara University

B.A. Communication Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Michael Boehm

Managing Director, Advanced Sustainability Institute

Founder of the Advanced Sustainability Institute, dedicated to thought leadership, demonstration, and entrepreneurship in new energy and cleantech, Mr. Boehm is an entrepreneur, consultant and educator in the sustainability space. He serves as Executive Director for the Advanced Transportation Center, Industry Liaison for UCLA's Smartgrid Energy Research Center, and consultant to its EVSE spin off MOEV, and has assisted AeroVironment, Trexa, LADWP, GenOn, LAANE, SaveMe, Sempra and Toyota in their new energy and Electric Vehicle endeavors. He also served as CEO of Solar Energy Development International - an early developer of solar concentrator technology. Mr. Boehm is the Executive Director of the E4 Advanced Transportation Center, coordinating regional efforts toward developing a cleantech industry sector. Educated at Northwestern University and Stanford Graduate School of Business, Michael has taught sustainability in programs at Darden School of Business, UCLA, and the University of santa Clara. Mr. Boehm serves as board member and chairman of the German American Business Association, Southern California, CleanTech and Sustainability Industry Group, co-chair of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation E4-Mobility Alliance, and is an advisor to LA's Clean Tech incubator.

Catharine Brookes

Program Manager at EVgo

Catharine Brookes leads EVgo's deployment of public fast charging in the State of California, managing commitments to the California Public Utilities Commission and the Energy Commission.  EVgo is the nation's largest public fast charging network with more than 1,100 DC fast chargers, approximately half of which are in California.  In her role, Catharine implements pilot projects which are at the bleeding edge of transportation electrification which inform both policy design and business decisions including: electrifying rideshare and carshare, equitable siting of chargers, the use-case and value of 50 kW vs 350 kW chargers among other projects including a research project with UCLA's Luskin Center for Innovation!

Prior to EVgo, Catharine worked in corporate social responsibility at Johnson Matthey and in energy procurement focused on multifamily housing.   Catharine holds a BA in Economics and Environmental Studies from Connecticut College. 

Juan Matute ('08)

Assistant Professor, UCLA ITS

Juan researches innovation in public transit, parking, and mobility services in response to climate change, congestion, and urban market dynamics. He led UCLA's work on two strategic transit plans for the State of California and long-range climate action plans for Southern California communities.

Juan works to integrate research into practice as Chair of Downtown Santa Monica's Access, Mobility, and Parking Committee, which oversees mobility improvements and programs in the popular seaside business district. As Chair of the Los Angeles Mayor's Parking Reform Working Group, Juan coined the term "code the curb" to describe a digital inventory of street and sidewalk assets and regulations.

Julia Thayne

Manager, Mobility Innovation, LA Mayor's Office

Julia recently joined Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's Office, where she is liaison to the transportation technology community, and drives public-private initiatives focused on mobility innovation. Previously, Julia led Innovation and Technology for Cities at Siemens US, managing a team of designers, engineers, and researchers in consulting, development, and implementation of infrastructure technology projects. Projects were cross-sector, spanning energy, mobility, buildings, and the Internet of Things (IoT) and ranging from planning for electric, autonomous, and shared mobility, to designing use cases for data platforms and advanced analytic applications. Julia has authored more than 20 publications on the topic of technology and cities; has been featured in FastCo, Quartz, Washington Post, and CityLab, among other media outlets; and has been recognized as a subject matter expert and as a young leader by universities and organizations in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, DC. 

She holds a Master's degree in City Design, with Distinction, from the London School of Economics & Political Science and a Bachelor's degree in Economics, Summa Cum Laude, from Emory University in Atlanta. 

Terry Kramer

Adjunct Professor of Decisions, Operations and Technology Management, UCLA Anderson School of Management

A graduate of UCLA (B.A., '82) and Harvard Business School, Terry Kramer has extensive technology and leadership expertise in the domestic and international telecommunications industry. Since beginning his career at Harris Corporation and Booz Allen Hamilton, Kramer has held executive roles in AirTouch, PacTel and Vodafone globally. At Vodafone, he was the group strategy officer, group HR officer and chief of staff. He was also regional president of Vodafone Americas, with responsibilities for oversight of Vodafone's 45% interest in Verizon Wireless and Vodafone's venture capital activities. He also served on the Executive Committee at Vodafone Group Plc.

During his tenure at Vodafone, he and his family moved no fewer than eight times to locations that included London, The Hague, Dallas, Phoenix and San Francisco. The benefit: "Living in so many different places, working in so many fundamentally different environments gave me a new appreciation of contextual leadership - how leaders must be adept at assessing the different context of each leadership role to ensure a dynamic nature to their style, achieving success for that unique environment."

While serving as an entrepreneur in residence at the Harvard Business School between 2011 and 2013, Kramer was appointed by President Obama to serve as Ambassador, Head of U.S. Delegation for the World Conference on International Telecommunications in June 2012. This delegation formulated and communicated the U.S. policy regarding the criticality of a free and open internet as well as an inclusive, multistakeholder governance, the need to proactively address cybersecurity threats and the need for liberalized, open markets that encourage global accelerated broadband access. The conference was covered by CNBC, New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

No stranger to the field of academia (his parents were teachers), Kramer jumped at the opportunity to work at UCLA Anderson, as it provided "a chance to engage with the next generation of leaders." An adjunct professor at UCLA Anderson since 2013, Kramer is a full-time faculty member, teaching the foundational technology management course, covering the impact of disruptive innovation on products, services, markets and competition, and another course on the evolution and innovation in the mobile communications industry and promising areas of innovation. He is also a faculty advisor in the Global Access Program and Strategic Management Research program. Kramer serves on the boards of TeleSign and TangoCard and on the advisory boards of RapidSOS and Textpert, as well as the Harvard Business School California Research Center, UCLA Economics Department board of visitors and Larkin Street Youth Services.

Originally from San Carlos, California, Kramer and his wife, Suzan, currently reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, from which he commutes to Los Angeles regularly. Together they have developed a family foundation focused on education, health and human services, which "reflects our views about the impact of youth and education on our collective future." 

Education

B.A. Economics, cum laude, 1982, UCLA

MBA, 1986, Harvard University

Dan Hopper ('16)

Principal Manager, Climate Strategy, Southern California Edison

Dan Hopper is a Principal Manager of Climate Strategy and Analytics at Southern California Edison. In this role, he leads a team that develops the foundational analyses on grid decarbonization and clean electrification that shape SCE's Clean Power and Electrification corporate strategy. With over a decade of experience, Dan has a diverse background in economic and electric system analysis, customer program planning, and policy development for distributed energy resources, wholesale renewables, and energy storage resources.

Mr. Hopper holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, an MA in Economics from California State University, Fullerton, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Danny Hom

Communications Coordinator, GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles

Danny is a communications lead for projects in three Southern California counties (Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura) with GRID Alternatives, a solar installer and workforce development organization. After graduation from UCLA, he spent the first few years of his career in nonprofit sector programs and communications, as well as similar roles for the public sector agencies. Danny joined the team at America's largest solar energy nonprofit three years ago to ensure that historically-marginalized populations and low-income communities get to play a more active role participating in renewable energy. Today he's proud to be part of GRID, which has served 14,000 households working towards its vision: a transition to clean power that includes everyone.

 As a community advocate and professional, Danny is passionate about actively involving Angelenos in issues that affect their community's long-term health. He currently sits as a representative on the LACMTA Service Council, and during his time with the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education he was first Community Manager for LAUSD, California's largest K-12 school district.

Jason Rondou

Manager of Strategic Development & Programs, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power

Jason Rondou is oversees LADWP's Strategic Development & Programs section, and in that capacity is responsible for LADWP's entry into the California Independent System Operator's Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) as well as its Distributed Energy Resource programs, including demand response, local solar development, and community solar programs. Jason previously worked at the Los Angeles Department of Transportation on light rail development and bus rapid transit. Jason graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and has a Master of Public Administration from USC and an MBA from UCLA. Jason is a licensed Electrical Engineer and Transportation Engineer in California and is the former Chair of the Los Angeles IEEE Power & Energy Society.​

Julia Pyper

Senior Editor, Greentech Media

Julia Pyper is the Senior Editor at Greentech Media, where she writes and guides coverage on the global energy transition. She's also the host of "Political Climate," a bipartisan podcast on energy and environmental issues in America. Julia previously covered climate science and climate policy for E&E News, reporting from Capitol Hill to the Maldives. Her writing has also been published in Scientific American and The New York Times.

Gayle Northrop ('96)

Lecturer and Senior Faculty Advisor Impact@Anderson, UCLA Anderson

Gayle Northrop ('96) is a consultant, coach and educator, and president of Northrop Nonprofit Consulting, a firm specializing in strategic planning, organizational development and leadership development for nonprofits, social enterprises and non-governmental organizations worldwide. With broad international experience, particularly in African countries, she has dedicated her career to helping organizations drive positive social change through strengthened systems, improved service delivery and more effective measurement and communication of impact.

Northrop chose to pursue her MBA at UCLA Anderson because of its partnership with Johnson & Johnson and a shared commitment to apply solid management practices and business skills to mission-driven organizations. Over the last 20 years, she has helped design, teach in, evaluate and expand a suite of UCLA/Johnson & Johnson management development programs, which include the Head Start Management Fellows Program, Health Care Executive Program and Management Development Institute for African Health Care Leaders.

Northrop is now senior faculty advisor for Impact@Anderson and teaches social entrepreneurship, governance, impact measurement and strategy for social impact organizations. She leads a UCLA Anderson global immersion course on social entrepreneurship and innovation, most recently in South Africa. "The course attracts business-savvy students who in most cases know little or nothing about the concept of social entrepreneurship," she says. "MBA candidates visit foreign countries to see, in part, what it's like to do business there. So when you have the opportunity to introduce them to a variety of businesses that are all doing social good, it changes the way students think about the value of their MBA to society. It's exciting to see how global immersion courses can dramatically shift mindsets." 

Students returned from the experience in South Africa with the sense that no matter what sector or industry they entered, their work could result in some form of positive social impact. Northrop carries these transferable learnings into the general UCLA Anderson curriculum. "I teach students that there is an ever-growing list of business practices that prioritize people and planet, that can cost less and generate revenue," says Northrop. "I teach them that entrepreneurs, and not just social entrepreneurs, must adopt a socially responsible business model early on - they need to bake it into the DNA of a company."  

Prior to starting her consulting business, Northrop was a strategy and organizational effectiveness consultant with the Warner Group (now part of Gartner Group). She then joined ViewSonic Corporation, a billion-dollar technology company, where she was responsible for global strategic planning, corporate development, executive recruiting and human resources/organizational development.

In addition to serving on the faculty of the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Northrop is adjunct faculty at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. She is currently working with the University of Cape Town's Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship on an initiative to identify and scale social innovations in health in the global south. She is the co-founder and former associate director of Spark Health, a program assisting governments in Africa to strengthen their health systems and improve health outcomes, including the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. 

Education

MBA, 1996, UCLA Anderson School of Management

B.A. Communications and American Studies, 1989, Stanford University

Neetal Parekh

Founder, Innov8social

Neetal Parekh is the founder of Innov8social.  She is a licensed attorney, with expertise in digital strategy, storytelling, and communications, focused on ecosystem-building in the social impact sector.

She is the author of book "51 Questions on Social Entrepreneurship," host of The Impact Podcast by Innov8social, convener of Impactathon®, and a speaker, facilitator, and instructor on topics including social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, and ways entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and consumers can engage in social impact.

Neetal has been a speaker at SXSW, Net Impact, Stanford Law School, Santa Clara University Law School, General Assembly, WeWork, Sustainatopia, SF+Acumen, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and has been featured in SSIR, GOOD, Horyou, TriplePundit Women 3.0, Social Entrepreneur Podcast, among other media.
Neetal holds a B.A. in International Political Science from UCLA, where she interned at the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India. She pursued her interest in international work through volunteering in rural India and studying public human rights law in Geneva and Strasbourg. Her past experience includes strategy roles at FindLaw, Calvert Foundation, Net Impact, and a handful of early-stage startups. She also served as Chief of Product and Impact at an education company (and public benefit corporation) where she designed and delivered entrepreneurship and business education.

Neetal has participated as a fellow in StartingBloc, Hive, and New Leaders Council, where she also served on the Advisory Board. She also engaged with the Executive team of VLAB, the MIT Enterprise Forum Bay Area Chapter at Stanford University, as Outreach Chair. Innov8social has hosted 10 Impactathon events across the US, for over 250 participants, with the focus of bringing together social entrepreneurs for an interactive, day-long workshop featuring social impact talks and hackathon-style collaboration.

A passionate advocate for social entrepreneurship and impact innovation, Neetal believes that this field empowers us to creatively re-imagine how businesses and individuals can create meaningful impact and lasting value

Bhavna Sivanand ('14)

Executive Director, UCLA Anderson Impact@Anderson

Bhavna Sivanand is the founding Executive Director of Impact@Anderson, UCLA Anderson's strategic initiative to launch a Center for Social Impact. In this role she is responsible for establishing the vision and strategy for the Center, garnering financial resources, creating innovative programs and engaging with students, alumni, faculty and impact professionals. The goal: to shift mindsets across the MBA cohort about the role of business in social impact by integrating impact across the core curriculum, while providing immersive experiences for our most committed change agents.

Bhavna's interest in business as a force for social change grew out of her background in public health and her experience establishing public-private partnerships to address chronic diseases and lofty issues such as the social determinants of health.  She spent over 10 years in the field of public health, starting her career in Ghana, and continuing to on to work across all three tiers of the Canadian government. During that time, Bhavna was exposed to the concept of health-in-all-policies and a data-driven, systems approach to population health. She launched several new programs and implemented policies that served marginalized segments of the population to prevent chronic disease and conducted content analysis of provincial policies to identify areas where the health impacts of public sector initiatives could be measured. She also developed awareness-raising campaigns, built multi-sector partnerships, and engaged high-profile stakeholders to further the obesity prevention agenda. Bhavna holds an MPH from the University of Michigan, an MBA from UCLA, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto.

Nick Green

Co-Founder & CEO, Thrive Market

Nick is the Co-Founder and CEO of Thrive Market, a membership-based market that makes high-quality, healthy, and sustainable products available for every budget, lifestyle, and geography. For $60/year, members unlock wholesale prices on top natural and organic products, and Thrive Market matches every paid membership with a free one for a family or individual in need. A serial social impact entrepreneur, Nick began in the education space with his first business, Ivy Insiders, a college test prep and mentorship program that made tutoring more affordable and helped over 20,000 students get into better colleges. Outside of work, Nick loves traveling, investing, reading biographies, and spending time with his wife and 1-year old daughter. He originally hails from Minneapolis, MN and earned his B.A. in Economics from Harvard.

Grady Lee ('01)

Co-Founder/CEO, Give2Get
Co-Founder, Impact2030

Grady is the Co-Founder and CEO of Give2Get, a social impact company connecting brands and people to communities and causes. Give2Get puts purpose in motion for Fortune 500 companies on both consumer and employee facing strategies, events and programs.  Prior to Give2Get, Grady was Co-Founder/COO of RockCorps where he used live events to mobilize hundreds of thousands to give time volunteering in local communities in 10 countries throughout the world.  There, he built pro-social activation campaigns for companies including Coca-Cola (South Africa), Boost Mobile (US), Orange (UK, France, Israel), Optus (Australia), Diageo (Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela) among others. Grady is also a Co-Founder of IMPACT 2030, the only private sector-led initiative in partnership with the United Nations to align human capital investments to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.  IMPACT 2030 has a current membership of nearly 60 companies with more than 5,000,000 employees in 220 countries. He has degrees from Princeton University and The Anderson School at UCLA.

Natalie Byrne

Head of Brand Purpose, Unilever

Natalie works at the intersection of business, culture and social impact. Recognized by Mogul "for changing the way business approaches impact," Natalie recently launched Blank Space, an agency that specializes in purpose-driven brand development, transformational leadership and sustainable business growth.

The future focused co-lab works with the best in class to break old systems and evolve the status quo. We are shifting culture, not doing more of the same. Partnering across the globe with captains of industry, the unique model weaves this network of pioneers to access ground-breaking ideas, solutions and expertise. The work includes strategic advising across brand positioning, marketing, narrative development, public relations, thought leadership and impact investments for CEOS, Founders and High Impact Individuals as well as Fortune 500 Corporations, Global Brands, Foundations and Endowments. Natalie's clients include some of the world's largest brands and noteworthy influencers, all with a focus on authentic, creative, sustainable leadership. Over the past decade, her experience includes leading brand purpose strategy for Unilever's Prestige division, a portfolio of six high-end beauty and wellness brands, as well as creating a thought leadership platform for Unilever's Founder-led brands post acquisition. She developed and spearheaded Dermalogica's FITE (Financial Independence through Entrepreneurship) initiative for the past six years to empower women entrepreneurs, reaching over 100,000 women worldwide. Byrne's expertise is frequently sought out by media, you may have seen her work featured on Bloomberg, MSNBC, Town & Country, The Guardian, New York Times, Entrepreneur magazine, Irish Tatler, Harvard University's Kennedy Report, People magazine, and NPR. She was named one of MOGUL's 35 Under 35 and selected as AOL's and Levo League's 13 Millennials Changing the World. Byrne serves on Board of Directors for MAKERS@, Oath's feminist media brand under Verizon Communications, and joined the board of Land Core for the advancement of regenerative soil. She works closely with the United Nations Executive Directors on innovative leadership as well as is an advisor to 100years and Tembo group. She was honored to be a White House delegate under President Obama traveling with him to Kenya for the Global Entrepreneurs Summit as a featured speaker. Beginning her career as a journalist and then working in film and television, Natalie believes in the power of storytelling and inspiring narrative to reach audiences, shift culture and create long-term social change. Rather than focusing on a "one-off cause marketing campaign," the future relies on embedded impact and sustainable growth that invests in a future where business, culture and humanity are aligned.  

Mandy Garner Laux

Head of Social Impact Marketing & Music, State Farm

As State Farm Marketing's head of Social Impact, Mandy leads the brand's cause marketing efforts, known as Neighborhood of Good. Under her leadership, State Farm aims to be a role model and a catalyst that inspires and empowers people to give back to their community. As a part of her team's social impact efforts, Mandy has established State Farm as an elite brand in music, by leveraging the power of music and music artists to drive local community action and impact.

The debut Neighborhood of Good commercial spot, "The Following", won a Cannes Lion (Bronze). The second commercial film, "Don't You", won in two separate Clios Adapted Music categories. The brand's relationships with both the music industry and consumers have been recognized as a leader that is "evolved" and "forward-thinking" (Fast Company). And their social impact efforts have been recognized by Forbes as a brand that is standing out in the space, "State Farm successfully breaks through the noise by showing its motto isn't just a line at the end of its commercials, but rather a mindset that holds true throughout its employees, customers, and communities."

Previously, Mandy led all State Farm Sponsorship/Experiential efforts across Sports (NBA/NFL/MLB), Music, Entertainment, and Multicultural/LGBTQ/Women. These award-winning, innovative efforts have been highlighted in various articles such as Billboard, Essence, Fast Company, Yahoo! Sports, AdAge/Adweek, Event Marketer, Chief Marketer and ANA. Prior to that, Mandy has held various Marketing and Finance roles in her 11+ years at State Farm. 

Wendy Savage

Director, Social Responsibility & Traceability, Patagonia

Wendy Savage is a multifaceted Supply Chain Sustainability and Labor Expert with over 17 years of experience. Having traveled to over 40 countries her expertise ranges from program development and implementation, training and education, capacity-building, field auditing, stakeholder engagement, supply chain mapping and traceability.

In her current role as Director of Supply Chain Social Responsibility & Traceability at Patagonia, Wendy is responsible for the company's global supply chain compliance and commitment to upholding Patagonia's Workplace Code of Conduct and Fair Labor Association (FLA) obligations.  She leads the company's Regenerative Organic Certification initiative, Fair Trade program and its work to eradicate Human Trafficking in the supply chain through Patagonia's Migrant Workers Program.  In the area of Traceability Ms. Savage also spearheaded the research, development, and implementation of leading standards such as Global Traceable Down and the Patagonia Wool Standard. Throughout her career, Wendy has advised a wide variety of industries from Apparel to Food, Agriculture and Extractives.  She has worked on programs based on certifications and initiatives such as FLA (Fair Labor Association), RJC (Responsible Jewelry Council), BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative), SA8000 (Social Accountability 8000), Sustainable Apparel Coalition's HIGG Index and others. Originally from Lima, Peru, Wendy completed her studies in Sociology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).  She was then awarded with a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to represent the United States in France, where she completed a Master's in Business Management at SKEMA Business School (Formerly CERAM).  She is fluent in Spanish, English and French.

Muhammad Shahzad

Chief Financial Officer, The Honest Company

Muhammad Shahzad is the Chief Financial Officer of The Honest Company, which was launched in 2012 with a mission to inspire and empower people to live a happy and healthy life.

Muhammad began on the Finance team at The Honest Company in 2014. He currently serves on the Honest Leadership Team overseeing all of Honest's financial affairs. Prior to The Honest Company, Muhammad spent 5 years in the Technology, Media & Telecom Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he covered a broad array of mid cap to large cap clients in the consumer technology sector such as Apple, eBay and Netflix and in the Media & Entertainment sector such as The Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks, and Lions Gate. Previously Muhammad founded his own company and also worked at Accenture and Deutsche Bank. Since 2009, he has served on the Board of Directors for Developments in Literacy, a nonprofit organization focused on education in South Asia, and since 2015 served as Chair of the Board of Directors. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BSc in Economics cum laude from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.    

The Honest Company provides 100+ safe and effective products across a wide range of consumer categories, including baby, personal care, beauty, home care, and vitamins & supplements, to a passionate community of consumers united by values and style. Honest products are available across the U.S. via honest.com and honestbeauty.com, and at a wide range of retailers across North America such as Target, Costco, Nordstrom, CVS and Whole Foods. The Honest Company is privately held and headquartered in Los Angeles, California.    Since its inception, the mission-driven Company has donated over nineteen million products and over 17,000 employee participation hours through its Honest to Goodness program.  Honest has been honored with a wide range of recognitions and awards, including Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year - Los Angeles Region, the ACG Award for Social Responsibility, PC Magazine's Seal of Consumer Approval in Tech, five Allure Best of Beauty Awards, four Good Housekeeping Seals, EPA's Safer Choice Partner of the Year Award, as well as the Pioneer in Sustainability Award by the Sustainable Business Council of Los Angeles. Under Nick's leadership, The Honest Company has also been recognized by Reader's Digest as one of the "18 Companies with the Best Bosses in America" and he has been honored by Glossy as part of their 2018 New Guard list, a list featuring industry insiders responsible for driving important shifts in the beauty industry.  

Muhammad began on the Finance team at The Honest Company in 2014. He currently serves on the Honest Leadership Team overseeing all of Honest's financial affairs. Prior to The Honest Company, Muhammad spent 5 years in the Technology, Media & Telecom Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he covered a broad array of mid cap to large cap clients in the consumer technology sector such as Apple, eBay and Netflix and in the Media & Entertainment sector such as The Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks, and Lions Gate. Previously Muhammad founded his own company and also worked at Accenture and Deutsche Bank. Since 2009, he has served on the Board of Directors for Developments in Literacy, a nonprofit organization focused on education in South Asia, and since 2015 served as Chair of the Board of Directors. He holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BSc in Economics cum laude from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.      

Sarah Jessup

Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, FlyawayHomes
Board Chair, The People Concern

Sarah is the Chief Investment Officer of FlyawayHomes, an organization created to solve homelessness in Los Angeles by rapidly increasing the supply of Permanent Supportive Housing, using a new way of building quality housing faster and cheaper.  Their model is funded using social impact equity, targeting a 5% return.  Together with its non-profit strategic partner, The People Concern, their goal is to build over 400 developments in Los Angeles County over the next 9 years, to house over 20,000 of our neighbors experiencing homelessness.  

The People Concern (formerly OPCC), is a 56 year-old non-profit organization that serves homeless individuals, victims of domestic violence, at-risk youth and people with severe physical and/or mental illness. Sarah has been on the Board since 2005, and currently serves as Board Chair.

Sarah has enjoyed a career of over 25 years in executive and financial management, and currently operates as an independent consultant for organizations that need help with infrastructure and business process improvement. In the past, she has held various executive positions in privately held companies in the high tech and health care industries.  She began her career at Price Waterhouse, where she was certified as a Public Accountant.  

Randall Kuhn, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Randall Kuhn (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1999) is a demographer and sociologist who employs a wide array of research methods and data to study the social determinants of health, health program evaluation, and the health-development nexus. He has conducted seminal research on the impacts of migration on health. In Bangladesh, he leads a 35-year evaluation of the effects of randomized child and reproductive health interventions on health and socioeconomic change across generations. His cross-national research and forecasts explore the effectiveness of global health policies and the role of improvements in health as a driver of social and political change. Kuhn's methodological expertise includes longitudinal data analysis, experimental and quasi-experimental research design, forecasting, and novel uses of administrative data.

As Director of the Global Health Affairs Program at the University of Denver, Kuhn developed an innovative curriculum for applied decision-making and program design in global health. He tripled enrollments, placed graduates at leading global health agencies, and built a programmatic emphasis on the health and human rights of disabled, LGBTQ, indigenous, and migrant populations as an essential component of achieving global health justice and equity for all. Kuhn founded the Goal 18 campaign for inclusive UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Center(s):  California Center for Population Research

Education: 
PhD, Demography and Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, 1999
MA, Demography, University of Pennsylvania, 1994
AB, Statistics, University of California - Berkeley, 1993

Allison Riley

Managing Director, Real Estate Development

As Managing Director, Allison oversees the real estate development activities of PATH Ventures. She joined the organization with 14 years of experience in affordable housing, most recently as Senior Housing Finance Consultant at the California Housing Partnership Corporation (CHPC) where she provided financial consulting services and training to nonprofit affordable housing developers throughout California. Prior to CHPC, Allison was Senior Project Manager at LINC Housing Corporation where she spent over five years financing and developing a wide range of affordable housing developments including homes for families, seniors, and special needs populations. Her previous five years were focused on financing in project management roles at WNC and Associates, Inc. and HUD's Multifamily Development Department in Denver. She earned her master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado.

Noyan Uras

Chief Development Officer, FlyawayHomes

Noyan is the Chief Development Officer of FlyawayHomes. His focus is to streamline the acquisition, design, construction and delivery processes to a scalable level and help FlyawayHomes achieve its goal to house over 20,000 of our neighbors experiencing homelessness in the next 9 years.

Noyan has 20 years of development, construction and design-build experience and currently leads the Southern California office of West Builders Inc. Having managed over half a billion dollars' worth of construction projects in the Los Angeles area, his prime focus has been in residential multi-family and mixed-use projects. Prior to joining West Builders, Noyan was working as a structural engineer at ARUP.

Noyan holds a BA in Civil Engineering and an MA in Construction Management from University of Southern California. In addition, he is a green enthusiast and a LEED Accredited Professional with focus on Building Design and Construction (LEED AP BD+C). 

Eric Sussman

Adjunct Professor of Accounting and Real Estate, UCLA Anderson School of Management 

Accepting an offer to teach as a means of earning some additional income may have been one of Eric Sussman's more auspicious decisions. Currently an Adjunct Professor in accounting and real estate at UCLA Anderson, Sussman first taught a certified public accountant exam review course after graduating from Stanford's Graduate School of Business and accepting a position with a small real estate investment firm. It was a role he thoroughly enjoyed. So, when he was first offered a lecturer's position at Anderson by his mentor and former teacher, David Ravetch, he jumped at the opportunity.

Since 1995, he has been teaching courses in the areas of cost/managerial accounting, financial accounting, financial statement analysis, equity valuation, corporate financial reporting and real estate investment and finance to undergraduate, graduate and Executive Education students. In addition, he has advised numerous MBA and Fully Employed MBA field study teams and led student travel groups to Brazil, China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi. He has also served as a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley, George Washington University and the Helsinki School of Economics, and created a series on accounting and finance for the Great Courses (the Teaching Company).

Throughout his teaching career, Sussman has remained active in the real estate industry. He is president of Amber Capital Inc., manager of Fountain Management LLC and Clear Capital LLC, and managing partner of  the Pacific Value Opportunities and Clear Opportunity Fund, which have acquired, rehabilitated, developed and managed more than two million square feet of residential and commercial real estate in the past 20 years. The firms' portfolio at present consists of industrial, multifamily and single-family residential, and retail properties.

He is also audit committee chairman and former chair (2012-2018) of the Board of Trustees of Causeway Capital's group of funds (International Value, Emerging Markets, Global Value, Global Absolute Return Funds, International Opportunities,  and International Small Cap), which collectively have more than $15 billion in assets. He sits on the board of Pacific Charter School Development Inc. and was former chairman of the Presidio Fund and former audit committee chair of Atlantic Inertial Systems Inc., a producer and manufacturer of electromagnetic sensors.

As an aside, he created Insight FSA^TM, an analytical software tool that automatically and critically measures, evaluates and reports upon the financial accounting and corporate reporting risk for public companies via EDGAR Online.

With his wide range of expertise, Sussman has consulted for large and small firms, nationally and globally, and is a frequent lecturer on varied financial, accounting and corporate reporting topics. He has served as an expert witness and consultant for commercial litigation, involving matters of corporate financial reporting and disclosure, audit effectiveness, valuation, real estate due diligence and related practices, and overall damage analyses. He is a licensed CPA in the State of California.

Sussman relies on his real-world experiences to make his classes relatable and exciting, aspects that are not lost on the students as well as faculty. He is an eight-time winner of the MBA Teaching Excellence Award, a seven-time winner of the FEMBA Teaching Excellence Award and recipient of numerous other teaching awards and national recognitions. A little known fact: this native Californian is a third-generation UCLA graduate. 

Education

MBA 1993, Stanford University (Arjay Miller Scholar)
B.A. Business and Economics, Summa Cum Laude, 1987, UCLA

Kenny Berlin ('11)

CEO and Co-Founder, 12Twenty

Kenny Berlin is the CEO and Co-Founder of 12Twenty and the visionary behind its product and platform strategy. He is passionate about using modern software to improve the experience for students, staff, and employers. Kenny has been in the tech space for over 15 years with experience in entrepreneurial environments as well as at top tech companies including Amazon.com. He has a BS in engineering from Tufts University, an MS in engineering from the University of Texas, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. The day the Phillies won the 2008 World Series was the fourth best day of his life (according to his wife Sandra).

David Franco

Senior Director of Strategy, Age of Learning

David Franco is Senior Director of Strategy at Age of Learning, a global leader in digital education for children and the company behind ABCmouse, the leading and most comprehensive digital learning resource for children ages 2-8. In this role, David leads a broad range of activities including corporate and product strategy development, business intelligence, and strategic growth initiatives. Prior to his current role, David has held team leadership positions at The Wonderful Company, Boston Consulting Group, and Sandia National Laboratories. David holds a MBA from The Wharton School, M. Eng. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, and BS in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Michael Lombardo

Founder & CEO, BookNook

Michael Lombardo is the Founder & CEO of BookNook, an award-winning social enterprise that uses artificial intelligence and other adaptive technologies to support reading skill growth at school, at home, and in the community. Previously, he served as CEO of Reading Partners, building it into one of the largest children's literacy nonprofits in America and publishing seminal research on volunteer-based reading programs that was accepted into the What Works Clearinghouse at the US Department of Education. A frequent author on subjects of education policy, social entrepreneurship, and nonprofit governance, Michael also serves as a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University and is a founding Advisory Council member of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance, President Obama's signature initiative focused on supporting boys and young men of color.

Tyler Shaddix

Chief Product Officer, GoGuardian

Tyler is the Chief Product Officer of GoGuardian, an education technology startup focusing on turning the internet into the ultimate learning platform for K-12 students. GoGuardian creates tools for internet safety, classroom management, learning analytics, and suicide prevention by providing deep insight into the student learning experience via digital behavior and cutting-edge AI technologies. GoGuardian serves over 6 million students and was named the fastest growing education company ever by Inc Magazine.

With a decade of software development and product management experience, Tyler founded two SaaS analytics companies prior to joining GoGuardian. He is an acclaimed thought leader, open-source contributor and public speaker on topics including leadership,  UX, high-growth product development, and education technology.

Vereaux Reynolds 

Senior Operations & Finance Manager, Green Dot Public Schools 

Vereaux Reynolds is an Entrepreneur and Operations & Budget Management professional currently working as a Senior Area Operations & Finance Manager at Green Dot Public Schools. Vereaux earned an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership through a two-year full-time residency program with the Broad Center and an MBA from Emory University's Goizueta Business School where she enhanced management skills initially developed through her career in commercial construction project management.

As Senior Operations & Finance Manager at Green Dot Public Schools in Los Angeles, CA, Vereaux coaches and leads professional development for school-based Operations staff, builds and strategically manages several multi-million dollar budgets, and develops strategies, systems, and tools to push her schools toward operational excellence. She is passionate about education and believes that with exposure, preparation, and access to resources, young people can discover their passions and achieve immense levels of success.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Vereaux studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. She enjoys travel, live music, contemporary art, and enjoying the outdoors.

James Citron

CEO, Pledgeling

James Citron is a serial mobile and social entrepreneur committed to harnessing the power of exponential technology to create a more connected, healthy and sustainable planet.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Pledgeling, James leads the strategic vision and organizational growth of the company, which today is one of the most widely used corporate giving and social impact platforms in the United States powering corporate social responsibility, employee giving and cause marketing programs for over 3,500 companies and benefiting over 1 million nonprofits globally.

Prior to Pledgeling, James built and ran three of the largest mobile messaging companies in the world, which engaged 1 of 2 Americans on mobile and reached over 500 million people. It was during this time that James discovered the disruptive power of exponential technology to change lives as his platform delivered billions of text messages, ranging from the messaging sent by multiple heads of states and governements, to Fortune 500 corporations, to nonprofits using the power of mobile to save lives. James led two of those companies to exits to Silver Lake and Blackstone private equity-owned companies, and the third continues as one of the leading companies in its industry.

An evangelist for the power of mobile, social entrepreneurship and capitalism as catalysts for positive change, James is a sought-after speaker and has spoken at over 100 conferences and events around the world, ranging from the Milken Global Conference to Mobile World Congress. Companies under his leadership have won numerous awards, including top awards for growth (Top 50 Startups, Best of CES), innovation (Shopify's Best Design App, Direct Marketing Association's Campaign of the Year) and social impact (Gold and Silver Awards for Best Animal Conservation Campaign and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising). A graduate of Princeton University, James is personally passionate about helping to eradicate illiteracy, homelessness and hunger and empowering female entrepreneurship.

Justin Jarman

Director of Business Development, Everytable

Justin is the Head of Growth for Everytable's SmartFridge business, which focuses on providing fresh, healthy, affordable meals direct to consumer in office workplaces, through it's tech enabled SmartFridge.

Justin has been a career long entrepreneur, which has spanned various industries ranging from financial software in the hedge fund space, document/data and digital signing software, online gaming, as well as taking a consumer product goods company public within the toy industry.   Justin has worked closely with a private family office since 2010, which focuses on opportunistic venture capital and private equity. In this role, he has led numerous capital raises for startups through Series B, as well as M & A for venture backed companies, with the most recent being an acquisition by Snap, Inc in 2017.   Justin has served in various board and advisor roles including as a former founding Board of Director for Dollar Beard Club, Tidy.com (advisor), Kinvolved (advisor), and also served as NYU Poly's Entrepreneur in Residence (Varick Incubator).  

Laura Hertz

Co-Founder & CEO, Pledgeling

Millennial entrepreneur, Laura Hertz, is the co-founder and CEO of Gifts for Good: an innovative, millennial-driven, and socially conscious startup whose mission is to disrupt the world of business gifting. As an agent of change for both large corporations and smaller companies alike, Gifts for Good's digital platform is the only resource in the corporate gifting space that curates premium, posh, and purposeful gifts that give back. She is responsible for overseeing the complete operation of Gifts for Good, including leading sales, marketing, and business development; as well as the creation, communication and implementation of the organization's vision, mission, and overall strategy on a day-to-day basis. Prior to co-founding Gifts for Good, Laura served as the Creative Director for Cultural Outreach Solutions and as an Audit Senior Associate at Deloitte.

Before launching her professional career, Laura dedicated a year of her life to national community service work with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC)- a team-based federal service program that has been deemed the Domestic Peace Corps. She is the recipient of the Bronze Congressional Service Medal-the highest award for young adults given by any U.S. legislative body-which recognizes "initiative, service and achievement" in young Americans.

Laura studied Business Administration at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and later earned her Master's in Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

Though originally from New York, she has been fortunate enough to live in a diverse slew of countries, including China, Spain, and South Africa, and to have traveled through 22 countries and 49 states.

 

Amy Bernal

Chief Experience Officer, Aira.io

Amy is the Chief Experience Officer at Aira.io, a San Diego startup that is changing lives of individuals who are Blind or Visually Impaired through the interaction of smart wearable devices, AI, and real, remote people, called Aira Agents.   Prior to Aira, Amy served various business & technology operations roles at Intuit. Before moving into tech, Amy managed a portfolio for the Gary and Mary West Foundation, partnering with organizations to reduce the cost of health care for older adults through technology or preventative care. She holds an Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies from the UC San Diego Rady School of Management. In her personal time, Amy promotes women in technology through her involvement with Athena, Women Give San Diego, and the UCSD Rady School of Management Alumni Board.

Amy Sommerlatt ('16)

Manager for Global Operations and Shared Services, Tala

Amy Sommerlatt is Manager for Global Operations and Shared Services at Tala, which provides a mobile platform expanding financial access and choice for the underbanked in emerging markets. Before Tala, Amy worked in Nairobi as consultant helping social enterprise startups launch new products. She also previously worked at Google and YouTube on elections and digital media strategy. Amy earned an MBA from UCLA Anderson in 2016.

Neama Dadkhahnikoo ('14)

Technical Lead, XPRIZE

Neama Dadkhahnikoo comes to the XPRIZE Foundation with 12 years of experience in entrepreneurship and technology management. He leverages his expertise in artificial intelligence and startup development as Technical Lead on the IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence XPRIZE.

Prior to joining XPRIZE, Mr. Dadkhahnikoo was most recently the CTO of CaregiversDirect (AI startup for home care), co-founder and COO of Textpert (AI startup for mental health), and a startup consultant. He started his career as a Software Developer for The Boeing Company.   Mr. Dadkhahnikoo holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson; an MS in Project Management from Stevens Institute of Technology; and a BA in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, with a minor in Physics, from UC Berkeley.

Warren Riley

Founder and President, NPO Solutions

Warren has served as a strategic planning expert for more than three decades, and his book - The Resource Development System - has transformed hundreds of nonprofit organizations across the country. As a leader and entrepreneur, Warren works with visionary executive directors and boards of directors seeking to build capacity within their organizations to advance their missions. He is inspired by the dedicated professionals that lead this robust sector, and the positive impact they are making in the world every day. In another life, Warren directed a national sales team for a Fortune 100 consumer products company and led KPMG Peat Marwick's nonprofit practice, where he provided consulting services to a variety of social service agencies, arts and advocacy organizations, associations, and universities.

  The Firm he founded, NPO Solutions, serves clients dedicated to many types of causes, including behavioral health, public education, youth development, homeless services, and the arts. The Firm's areas of focus include strategic planning, program and organizational evaluation, partnerships and organizational change, development and capital campaign planning, board development, business and social enterprise planning, communications and social media, and providing leadership convenings and workshops. Warren received his Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University, and holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Dartmouth College.

Aviva Altmann ('13)

Manager, The Bridgespan Group

Aviva Altmann is a manager in Bridgespan's San Francisco office. Since joining in 2014, Aviva has worked in Bridgespan's Education and Global Development Practices. She advises nonprofit and foundation clients on strategy development, organizational design, and talent development. She is one of the co-authors of a joint analysis on talent development between Bridgespan and EdFuel, entitled "Hidden in Plain Sight: Tomorrow's Education Leaders Already Work for You."

Aviva led recent research on what it takes to equip teachers and administrators to support students' socio-emotional development, as well as on best practices to support low-income students and students of color to persist in and graduate from college. She has advised a number of philanthropic and nonprofit clients, including the Heising-Simons Foundation, Girl Effect, World Vision International, Education Outside, and the Margaret Cargill Philanthropies. Before joining Bridgespan, Aviva was a strategic advisor in Johnson & Johnson's Corporate Philanthropy team. Prior to her experience at J&J, she founded and ran the after school programs for Green Dot Public Schools, one of the largest charter school management organizations in California. Aviva received a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and an MBA from the Anderson School of Management at UCLA.

Devon Dickau ('15)

Manager, Human Capital Consulting, and Deputy Lead, Diversity & Inclusion Center of Excellence, Deloitte Consulting

Samantha Shahani

Head of Org Change Strategy, City of Hope

Ms. Shahani is an transformation change and strategy executive with over 20 years of experience in delivering large-scale, multi-year transformations with a focus on organization strategy and operating model design, strategic change, integration strategy & management. Prior to joining City of Hope, Ms. Shahani was founder and principal of her own consulting firm, which focused on aligning business strategy with people and operational elements to drive value, improve performance, and deliver on strategic priorities for corporate, not-for-profit and public sector organizations. Ms. Shahani has deep expertise in building operating models, and developing transformation and change strategy methodologies and capabilities from her time at Deloitte Consulting. Ms. Shahani obtained a Master of Public Policy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chris Weber ('09)

Director, Career Advising and Corporate Outreach, UCLA Anderson Parker Career Management Center

Chris joined the Parker CMC in November 2013 as an Associate Director and was promoted in September 2015 to his current position. In addition to serving as a career advisor to students interested in consulting, retail, and social impact roles, Chris leads the advising channel for the office as well as advises employers in the above industries on how to connect with current UCLA Anderson MBAs. Prior to joining UCLA Anderson, Chris was a Manager in the Human Capital practice at Deloitte Consulting where he specialized in organizational design, and developing and implementing change management, training, communications and leadership alignment strategies. Chris previously served as the Vice President of Corporate and Revenue Development at United Way Silicon Valley, the Director of Development and Communications for the DeFrank Community Center, and as both a Corps Member and a Recruitment Director for Teach For America. Chris received a BA degree from Boston University and a MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. An active Anderson alumnus, Chris served as the President of the Gay and Lesbian Business Alumni Association from 2009 to 2012.

Meika Hollender

Co-Founder and CEO, Sustain Natural

Meika Hollender is the Co-Founder and CEO at Sustain Natural, a leading brand of all natural, vagina-friendly products. She is also the creator of GetOnTop, a national campaign aimed at getting women to take control of their sexual health. Meika received her MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business, where she was the President of the Social Enterprise Association. Through Sustain's 10%4Women initiative, she is proud to work closely with Planned Parenthood and Women's Voices for the Earth. Meika has been listed on Forbes 30 under 30, Fast Company's Most Creative People and Inc. 30 under 30, and her second book Get On Top was just released in March 2018 by Touchstone. Meika also joined the board of the organization Net Impact in 2017.

Meika Hollender has appeared on MSNBC, Fox & Friends, CNN's Great Big Story, and been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Meika's video feature on Now This went viral in 2017 earning over 12 million views.  

About Get On Top: Women--especially in the eighteen to thirty age range-- are suffering from misinformation, fear, and intimidation. They're worried about the side effects of birth control, confused about consent, sexuality, and cheating, and don't know when or even where to seek medical attention. Women need answers from someone they trust, from a partner. Unselfconscious, straightforward, real, and enlightening, GET ON TOP is that partner.  

Through smart, actionable guidance, GET ON TOP will teach women everything they need to know about their bodies and change the way they think about sexual health. Christy Turlington Burns called Get On Top "Sex Ed for the #Girlboss generation."

T.K. Pillan ('96)

Partner, Powerplant Ventures
Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Veggie Grill

Pillan co-founded Veggie Grill, the largest 100% plant-based restaurant company in the United States.  With locations up and down the West Coast and expanding eastward, Veggie Grill was previously named one of the "25 Most Innovative Consumer Brands" by Forbes.  Pillan also co-founded Powerplant Ventures, an investment fund that supports visionary entrepreneurs who are leveraging the power of plants to deliver better nutrition in more sustainable and ethical ways.  Prior to entering the food arena, Pillan earned an engineering degree from MIT, an MBA from UCLA, and co-founded one of L.A.'s first e-commerce development firms.