Faces of YWSE: Lauren Travis

Name: Lauren Travis
Age: 28
Title and organization: Founder and Director of Women of the World Exchange; MBA candidate at USF; Intern at Wells Fargo
Connection to YWSE: Former board member
Hobbies: Exploring the beautiful Bay Area, searching for the best wine and cheese pairing, knitting, and of course, traveling!

Where did you grow up? What’s your history?
I lived in Hong Kong for 5 years when I was little, spent the rest of my youth in Minneapolis, came to California in 1997 to go to Stanford University, and then moved to San Francisco. After graduating, I worked at the World Affairs Council and International Diplomacy Council, where I worked in membership, development, fundraising and marketing for each. Later I worked in for-profit marketing at McCann World Group, and then was a coach with Inside Track for 2 years.

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Interview on June 20 and updated July 8, 2007 by Adriana Dakin and Tania Hurter, Board Members, YWSE-SF

Faces of YWSE: Niko Everett

Name: Niko Everett
Age: 31
Title and organization: Co-Chief Executive Officer, Girls for a Change
Connection to YWSE: Co-founded YWSE in 1999
Associations/memberships: Democratic National Committee, Planned Parenthood, NARAL: Pro-Choice America
Awards/honors: Draper Richards Foundation fellowship for social entrepreneurs in 2007, one of the “40 Under 40” up and comers in the Silicon Valley by The Silicon Valley Business Journal, KQED Local Hero (Women’s History Month)
Hobbies: Outdoors, sailing, triathlons and marathons

This is the first profile we’re writing for Faces of YWSE. While talking about successes, we also want to share the challenges and frustrations you’ve experienced.
I highly value sharing career challenges with aspiring women. At a panel I attended recently, I felt overwhelmed by the successes of the $20 to 50 million companies. I wanted to hear the challenging moments — what happened when they couldn’t pay the bills, when the staff staged a coup. But these people seemed so perfect, when in fact everyone has issues and failures.

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Interview on March 12, 2007, 2:30 pm by Adriana Dakin and Tania Hurter, Board Members, YWSE-SF