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.

Kelly spent 25 years as a software executive developing interactive media and educational technology products for teachers and students. Since transitioning into the non-profit sector, Kelly’s focus has been in education, with specific interest on early learning, out of school time, and personalized learning. At SV2, Kelly has participated as a Grant Round Leader and Partner Champion, and is primarily focused on education and impact investing. Outside of SV2, Kelly serves on several education focused non-profit boards and advises numerous early ed-tech start-ups.

Earlier this year, Tanja left a 30+ year career in Biotech / Life Sciences where she led small and large teams and initiatives designed to transform organizations. Tanja’s diverse experiences included sales, marketing, account and product management. She loved the complexity of the business and the U.S. healthcare system, and being a part of the collaborative teams creating strategy to ensure patient access. The opportunities that excited her the most throughout all of her experiences were working with individuals and teams to support them in identifying and maximizing  their own inherent strengths so they could achieve both their personal and professional goals. The importance of honoring an individual’s whole self and well-being in the workplace is essential. With all of this in mind, Tanja is embarking on a year of redesigning her career with a few experiments, including pursuing her executive coaching certification, serving on a non-profit board, becoming an Encore Fellow and intern with LifeMoves. Helping to lead the Fall 2023 Mental Health & Wellbeing Grant Round allows Tanja to tap into her passion and interest in healthcare and wellbeing, while learning more about social venture space. Tanja joined SV2 last fall and is very much enjoying the experience!

Polly is an organization development and leadership development professional who is hyper-
focused on helping people implement real change in themselves, their teams and their
organizations. Her work experience spans many industries, having worked at Cisco Systems,
ProMedica Healthcare System in the Midwest, and in the Ohio State Juvenile Justice System.
Her particular expertise is strategy formulation, change management, organization design,
emotional intelligence and executive presence, and high-performance teams. She has tracked countless hours facilitating leadership offsites and strategy sessions, building high-performing teams and coaching people for leadership growth. Polly has also managed large global teams with executive level accountability.

After her formal corporate career, Polly established a consulting practice and discovered that
she was drawn to non-profits. She has found joy in helping several organizations develop their
business strategies, coaching EDs and other leaders, and facilitating team development. It was
when supporting a certain non-profit that Polly came across SV2 – now that organization
sounded right up her alley! Polly joined SV2 in February 2020 and rolled up her sleeves right
away with active involvement. It seemed natural to step in and support One Life Counseling, an
organization whose mission is to help people.

Polly has an M.A. in Organization Development from Bowling Green State University and a B.A. in Psychology from Kenyon College.

Aarthi enjoyed a career in the technology sector for 15+ years across various Engineering and business functions, successfully launching industry-first products and programs. In recent years, she has transitioned to consulting, offering her skills and knowledge to early-stage tech startups. Beyond her professional endeavors, Aarthi is deeply engaged in her local community. She plays an active role on school site councils and contributes to initiatives within her children’s school district. Additionally, she collaborates with UC Berkeley as an industry specialist, sharing her insights and experiences with the next generation of leaders. Aarthi resides in Sunnyvale with her husband and their two sons.

Having been a SV2 partner for four years, Aarthi has participated in various grant rounds and is currently co-leading the Technology for Good grant round, leveraging her expertise to make a meaningful impact.

Clara is originally from Bogota, Colombia. In 2002, Clara moved to the U.S. to pursue her Master’s degree at NYU. Clara has dedicated her career to the nonprofit sector and has worked at organizations addressing issues ranging from medical research to human services. At the personal level, Clara is a firm believer in the importance of giving back and is actively involved in her daughter’s school and several other projects. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, and german shepherd dog.

After a 20+ year career in Silicon Valley managing and advising in high growth situations, Tony Stayner is now actively involved in the social sector. He has participated in The Philanthropy Workshop, currently sits on the boards at the Pacific Institute and Water.org, and is a member of TONIIC and a Venture Partner at Draper Richards Kaplan. Tony graduated with an A.B. in Economics and Mathematics from UC Davis, and later received his MBA from Stanford and JD from UC Berkeley. He lives in San Mateo with his wife, Beth, and three children when home from college. Tony joined SV2 in 2013 and serves as Co-Lead of SV2’s Impact Investment Round.

Paul’s investments and non-profit work focus on projects that improve food and water security for the communities most vulnerable to the climate crisis. In addition to Shockwave, he serves on the board of The Pacific Institute, is a partner at Silicon Valley Social Ventures (SV2), a member of The Philanthropy Workshop, and a mentor at the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship.

Paul has a thirty-year background creating technology to bring people together and make access to information freely available. He developed software and systems to allow the Internet to scale and operate today. He helped start and build Juniper Networks, where he held pivotol roles in Engineering and Corporate Development. Prior to his work at Juniper, Paul was an early employee, leading engineer and software architect at Cisco Systems.

Mark’s career in finance and law included 7 years in Silicon Valley venture-backed computer companies and 22 years in venture capital. He holds a law degree from Stanford and an engineering degree from UC Berkeley. Mark was a co-leader for the Education grant rounds in 2014-15 and 2015-16, participated in two international grant rounds, and served as a Partner Champion to SV2 Grantee Somos Mayfair. His major Philanthropy interest is in education equity and particularly the leadership potential of SV2 for Silicon Valley organizations engaged with our underserved populations.