Cindy is a seasoned fundraiser and connector who coordinates engagement activities and strategic conversations with colleagues in the Bay Area and all over the world. She has deep familiarity with Brazil, its business culture and language and a keen interest in promoting social enterprise work globally. Cindy serves on the Board of Action for India, Sustainable Conservation’s Advisory Board, and has been an Advisor to Embrace, a global enterprise that delivers low-cost solutions to improve health outcomes in developing countries. She is a Mentor at the Miller Center Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) and serves as a member of its Unconscious Bias Working Group. Cindy also has strong philanthropic ties to Stanford University and is currently on the Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRiSS’s) Advisory Board and its Center on Poverty and Inequality. She has been part of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars selection team since its inauguration in 2017. Cindy received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in French and English Literatures and her MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, where she is now a Mentor in Residence. She uses her skills to create socially and environmentally responsible infrastructures and is a Certified Professional Diversity and Life Coach. Cindy is passionate about travel, romance languages and playing friendly tennis.

Grace Mah has served on the Santa Clara County Board of Education since 2007. Her previous committee work includes the Head Start Policy Council, Joint Legislative Advisory Committee (JLAC), Budget Study Committee, and Policy Development Subcommittee. She also serves as Board President of Stevenson House, a low-income senior housing program in Palo Alto. Grace is co-founder of the Strong Start Coalition of Santa Clara County, dedicated to increasing access to early learning opportunities for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers in Santa Clara County. In addition, Grace has been a board member of the Palo Alto Family YMCA, a parent volunteer at Palo Alto public schools, and the initiator for a Mandarin immersion program in the Palo Alto Unified School District. Grace has 18 years of experience in the high-tech industry, including project management and sales experience. She has a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science from the California Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley, and is currently pursuing a Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School. Grace, her husband and their two sons live in Palo Alto.

Jennifer Min has served as a mathematics and economics teacher and a school administrator for over 20 years, most recently at The Nueva School where she helped to found Nueva’s Upper School. She led the development and implementation of academic programs and policies, and led the efforts to recruit, hire, and mentor teaching faculty. She also developed and taught math and economics courses. Prior to Nueva, Jennifer worked at San Francisco University High School, where she served as academic dean and chair of the mathematics department. Before beginning her career in education, Jennifer worked in finance at Morgan Stanley and strategy consulting at Bain & Company. She earned a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jennifer volunteers as a tutor for students in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park and serves as a mentor to new and beginning teachers. She enjoys playing board games with her husband and two sons, spending time outdoors, and experimenting with new recipes.

Rekha Pai Kamath is an angel investor and managing director at Kamath Family Foundation. Prior to this, she led New Business Incubation at Juniper Networks. She has 20+ years in various product management, marketing, and product development positions at companies such as Symantec Corp, Applied Materials, Sun Microsystems, and ProcketNetworks (acquired by Cisco). Rekha also serves on the board of Fast Forward, an Accelerator for Tech Non-profits based in San Francisco and Intelehealth, a tech nonprofit building Intelligent tech for Last mile health. Rekha also currently serves on the Alumni Council for Techwomen and has been a Foreign speaker for the US Department of State to several countries. She is also an investor, mentor, and advisor to several start-ups at Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs (SA&E) and previously at StartX. She holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

As the daughter of immigrants who left México to give their children a better life, Linda grew up working in the agricultural fields of the central San Joaquin Valley in California, but her heart was in the classroom. In second grade, her teacher was the first person she ever heard say the word “college.” Until that point in her life, she didn’t know anyone who had more than a sixth-grade level education. But like her parents, she too believed that education could break the cycle of poverty. A belief in education drove Linda to earn a Bachelor’s degree in sociology from Stanford, a Master’s degree in education from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in education from UT Austin. She began her work in the nonprofit sector as vice-president of programs at ALearn, a Santa Clara-based math and college readiness program for underserved students. Linda now serves as Executive Director of Upward Scholars, whose mission is to provide adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through education and career development support. In addition to this leadership role, she is raising her son to be just as excited about learning and service as she has always been.

Kelly Pope is a social entrepreneur and strategic advisor focused on creating opportunities for the youngest (0-5yrs) learners and their families. She consults with and advises young edtech start-up companies on business models, design thinking, and technology implementation. Prior to her social sector work, Kelly spent 25 years in the software industry as a software technology executive, managing diverse high tech organizations. She built and led cross-functional teams to deliver robust and engaging end-user products ranging from medical diagnostic software to consumer video games to web-based interactive curriculum for students and teachers. Kelly serves as Vice Chair on the New Teacher Center board and is also on the board of Growing Up New Mexico, working to bring structural change to early childhood care and education in New Mexico. Kelly holds a B.S. in electrical engineering/signal processing from U.C. Davis, and she was one of the first women to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Clara Roa is passionate about building the capacity of nonprofits to facilitate the change we want to see in the world. Since 2018, she has been achieving that goal as the Chief Development Officer for the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley. Clara has over 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and fundraising in the Bay Area. She has worked for several local nonprofits including Life Moves, Vascular Cures and the Pacific Stroke Association. She also serves on the Development Advisory Committee for Planned Parenthood Mar Monte and on the Advisory Board for the Family Engagement Institute. Clara received a Master’s in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Policy at New York University and a BA in Modern Languages from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Originally from Colombia, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, and her two rescue pets.

Zelica has nearly 20 years of experience in the non-profit field as a community organizer, advocate and community builder.  Her prowess is in research and analysis, strategy development and program impact. Zelica currently serves as Director of Santa Clara County’s Office of Immigrant Relations. Previously, she served on the leadership team at SOMOS Mayfair for 8 years, first as Director of Programs and then as Associate Director. While at SOMOS, Zelica launched the “In Our Hands” initiative, spanning 13 programs, all focused on dismantling inequity and addressing the multi-generational crisis in Mayfair. She also led the development of a collective impact model across five local organizations (the Si Se Puede Collective) which has built a robust eco-system supporting families in the Eastside. She also led the creation of an immigrant women worker-owned cooperative that has gained visibility across the county as experts in sustainable community engagement. Before joining SOMOS, Zelica served as the Director of Policy & Organizing for SIREN, where she developed and won advocacy campaigns to increase equity, access, resources and rights for immigrant families. She also led SIREN’s robust civic engagement strategy that resulted in a multi-language civic campaign to increase awareness of voter rights and responsibilities amongst the immigrant community. Born in El Salvador, Zelica came to this country as a child.  She earned her Master’s in Political Science from San Francisco State University in 2007.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Latin American and Latino studies from University of California, Santa Cruz. She is married to Dewayne Deams, proud BART Train operator, and has two daughters, Mikaela and Lina. 

Paul Work is the Chief Business Officer of Siris Medical, an early stage, venture backed company using AI to improve the radiation oncology treatment planning process. Other past experience includes being an Angel Investor at Tech Coast Angels and ACE Funds in Southern California, general management of several healthcare technology ventures, and business development at McKesson. Paul also worked in vertical industry sales at Ariba, Product Management at Oracle and Calico and was a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins.  In addition to his extensive business experience, Paul was on the Board of Fresh Lifelines for Youth, an SV2 Alumni Grantee, where he chaired the finance and audit committees. He has also served as a Board member for AchieveMission. Paul graduated from Dartmouth College and has both JD and MBA degrees from Stanford University.