Board Members

Elizabeth Zirk - Chair

A Peninsula and San Francisco native, Elizabeth is constantly seeking out new ways to keep herself educated and entertained. She has taken part in multiple study abroad programs to Germany in high school and university, as well as interning abroad in Oslo, Norway. Elizabeth has a deep sense of spirit when it comes to volunteerism and has been actively involved in the study abroad organization, Youth For Understanding. As an avid teacher, Elizabeth enjoys the relationship between student and teacher, regarding teaching as an expression of self-education. She has taught at San Francisco State University as a graduate student assistant in the German department. The next journey of learning and teaching Elizabeth embarks on is developing her own non-profit: Upon Return, helping to strengthen the study abroad effort by providing support to study abroad alumni. Her goals for 2010 center around fulfilling herself first, and then allowing that energy to effect her multiple projects. Elizabeth currently works as the IT Trainer for WestEd, a non-profit leading the way in educational research and development.

Lindsey Franklin - VP Partnerships

Lindsey Franklin is inspired by the potential within a sustainable future. She is currently launching ecoVC, a new nonprofit that promotes sustainable business practices within the venture capital and startup communities. She comes to ecoVC from an environmental background, and spent several years in environmental advocacy and organizing. Most recently, she focused on the 2008 Presidential Election, during which she coordinated three different environmental campaigns and ultimately worked for President Barack Obama's Campaign for Change in Michigan. Previously, Lindsey received a fellowship from the Breakthrough Institute, an energy policy think tank based in Oakland. She received her BA from Middlebury College in Environmental Studies and Philosophy.

Ipsheeta Furtado - VP Finance

Ms. Ipsheeta Furtado finished school at UC Berkeley in Engineering Physics, focused on Materials Science research at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. While on the graduate school track, she realized there was more to be done before her terminal degree. Currently, she is the Operations Specialist at Island Trading, a small brokerdealer trading desk in San Francisco's FiDi. Her off-market hours are dedicated to a myriad of things from learning to "Geek Speak" from her partners to volunteering on political campaigns to playing water polo with Master's teams to figuring out what it means to run her very first consulting firm. A short term goal of hers is to open a restaurant or cafe in the Bay Area. She serves in the following organizations: Advisory Board Member @ New Leaders Council, San Francisco VP Finance @ Young Women Social Entrepreneurs, San Francisco Chapter Section Representative to Region and National @ Society of Women Engineers, Golden Gate Professional Section.

Koy Hardy - VP Events

Koy Hardy is interested in the power of the written word to connect people with knowledge, resources and opportunity.  She is a copy writer and web content developer who has written in several formats including public periodicals and literary press releases.  Koy has done most of her living and learning in the gorgeous Golden State.  She currently is an enthusiastic resident of the East Bay and loves it from the high-elevation hiking trails to the downtown nightlife.  She involves herself with activities that uplift and celebrate the community and has volunteered with Rebuilding Together Oakland for several years.  She also explores and supports the arts as a means to pleasure, pride and purpose and recently completed a semester of jazz improvisation performance study.  Koy holds a BA in Law & Society from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Sabeen Ahmad - VP Membership

[Open Position] - VP Marketing  

[Open Position] - VP Communications

[Open Position] - VP Programs

 

Directors

 

 

Deeksha Talwar - Director, Social Media

Deeksha Talwar originally from India is our Social Media Director. She moved to sunny California 2 years ago and is loving it! Along with being an international education nonprofit consultant, she's in the process of starting her own nonprofit organization. In her free time she likes to cook, go hiking and has recently developed an interest in photography. She's excited to join the YWSE leadership team and looks forward to meet everyone soon.

Vanessa Kenyon - Director, Newsletter

Vanessa V. Kenyon has been our newsletter Director since March of 2010. While eager to motivate and empower the next generation of women leaders via her volunteer and community involvement, Vanessa is currently working on numerous projects from completing a dynamic, creative non-fiction book to further developing her nonprofit. She currently works with UC Davis in the Sacramento area to promote healthy lifestyles via Nutrition & Fitness Camps, Vanessa also enjoys the thrill that new motherhood brings. As Vanessa say's "vision is a gift with actualizing," so what are you waiting for?

 

Advisory Board

 

 

Adriana Dakin

Adriana Dakin's expertise is communications strategy for businesses and projects with a social mission. She manages communications projects, sets up social media tools, creates content and documents knowledge, develops plans and sets goals, and creates graphical representations of data and ideas. Adriana has written and published award-winning research papers and presented to conferences on international affairs, conflict resolution strategies, and women in leadership. Since her youth, Adriana has been a potter and photographer and started Horsetail Studio in 2005, now showing her work at the Corner Gallery of Art Center Ukiah. She has a BA in history from Wesleyan University and a Master in Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School, where she concentrated in Negotiation, Leadership, and International Security Policy. She lives on a ranch in Mendocino county with husband Pete, who farms wine grapes and pears, and daughter Gwendolyn.

Angela Diaz

Angela is passionate about women’s financial education and economic empowerment and encouraging women to build and maintain self-esteem through artistic expression. She currently works as a corporate analyst and is working on developing her first big idea for an entrepreneurial venture that will benefit women of color. Angela has a BA in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara and continues to take classes to develop both her business and creative skills. She most recently took an interior design class at California College of the Arts in San Francisco where she enjoyed learning about green and sustainable design. She is happiest when doing anything that involves music, or simply reading a good book. She loves to travel and meet new people, and is a constant student of life. She is sustained by the love of her mother, sister, extended family, and closest friends.

Emily Sadigh

As a sustainability coordinator, Emily's professional focus is institutional transformation for a greener future. Currently working in local government, she promotes broad-based participation in the development and implementation of policies for climate change action and high-performance building operations. While living in Boston, she developed a comprehensive peer-to-peer education program to promote sustainable habits and communication among students and university decision-makers about resource use at Harvard, where she received a Master's in Education and BA in Anthropology. An East Bay native, Emily enjoys urban and wilderness hiking and the wide variety of Bay Area opportunities to learn about environmental solutions. She has enjoyed studying and working in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Israel and can often be found planning her next trip. She serves on the City of Berkeley’s Zero Waste Commission.

Toni Truong

Toni is an engineer working in the field of polymers for a global chemical company. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin. She is passionate about sustainability as well as promoting math and science education for girls. She enjoys volunteering for local environmental organizations and is currently taking a masters course on Strategic Sustainable Development. She likes to think about how engineering can help solve environmental issues and aspires to one day bring her ideas to life. When she's not thinking about the environment, Toni enjoys learning how to play the violin.

Emeritus Board Members

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