Board of Directors

  

Executive Committee

Kathleen Kelly (President/co-founder)

Kathleen Kelly is a co-founder of Spark.  She is an attorney at Thelen Reid Brown Raysman and Steiner.  Kathleen is dedicated to furthering the cause of international human rights and has done so through her work at the International Human Rights Clinic at Boalt and the Center for Justice and Accountability, where she conducted extensive research on human rights abuses in El Salvador in the 1980s and particularly the murder of Archbishop Romero.

In addition to her work as a commercial litigation associate, Kathleen is committed to representing immigrants who have experienced human rights abuses in their home countries.  She works closely with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco and has successfully represented numerous asylum applicants from countries all over the world including Mexico, Guatemala, Somalia, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya.  She is also on the board of directors of Circulo de Vida, a comprehensive support center in the Mission for Latinos living with cancer.

Kathleen graduated with highest honors from U.C. Berkeley and attended Boalt Hall School of Law at U.C. Berkeley.  In her spare time, she enjoys learning languages.  She has studied Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Catalan, Greek and Japanese.  

Fairuz Taqi-Eddin (Vice President)

Fairuz Taqi-Eddin is a fundraiser for CARE USA, one of the world’s leading international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. She joined CARE in 2002. Before moving into fundraising at CARE, she served as the Sr. Media and Event Coordinator for CARE Western Region.

Fairuz has eight years experience in development work. In 2001, she worked with Department for International Development (DFID) at the British Embassy in Amman, Jordan as a development associate, where she focused on monitoring DFID’s small grant scheme projects, with an emphasis on women income generating projects.

Fairuz holds an MA in International relations, with focus on sustainable development work. She moved to San Francisco in fall of 1998. Born and raised in Amman, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Fairuz has strong passion and commitment for women empowerment work. Fairuz is fluent in Arabic language.   

Monica Soto (Secretary)

Monica Soto graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Psychology and with a Masters in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. She has been working as a Psychiatric Social Worker with San Francisco’s Department of Public Health for the past 3 years, providing psychotherapy and case management services for adults who are severely mentally ill. Previously, she held a position as the Staff Development Coordinator for Community Behavioral Health Services within San Francisco’s Department of Public Health.

Monica volunteers her time as a board member with the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation in Oakland, CA where she is currently the chair of The Aztec Scholarship Program which gave away $12,500 in scholarships to graduating Latino seniors going on to college.  

She became interested in international women’s rights issues after viewing a documentary on the disappearances of women in Juarez. Monica's passion lies with bringing justice to these women and their surviving families.

Jacki Kaczmarek (Treasurer)

Jacki Kaczmarek graduated in June 2005 from Santa Clara University with a Bachelors of Science in Commerce degree with an emphasis in Finance.   She currently works as a tax associate for Wealth and Tax Advisory Services, Inc. which provides high net worth individuals with wealth management and preservation strategies as well as tax consulting and preparation.   During college, Jacki worked as the Director of Baseball Operations for the Santa Clara Broncos Baseball Team and worked closely with Head Coach and donor society.  She assisted in the coordination of numerous fundraising events and managed the organization of recruiting efforts and financial contributions.  Jacki has been an IATAN endorsed travel agent since 2002 and love to travel, cook, decorate and dance.  She currently live in San Francisco and grew up in the East Bay.

 

Other Board Members

Jamie Allison

Jamie Allison is a Program Officer with the S.H. Cowell Foundation in San Francisco; she is responsible for the Youth Development grantmaking area.  She has worked in philanthropy for the last seven years and has also worked in the public and private sectors conducting research and coordinating a variety of programs. She has worked as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) consultant, helping companies align their brands with social missions.  Jamie considers civic engagement a lifestyle choice and has a deep commitment to supporting vulnerable children and families. Her volunteer activities include serving as a founding board member of the Passport Scholars Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides 10th grade girls with international community service and academic enrichment opportunities.  She has also taught English as a second language in West Africa.

Jamie graduated with Highest Honors from the University of Tennessee where she earned Bachelors degrees in Political Science: International Relations, Spanish, Economics, and Humanities. She also holds a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Goldman School at UC Berkeley.

STEPHANIE BLOCK

Stephanie Block is an award-winning travel writer and Editor-in-Chief of Tango Diva.com, the premier women's online travel magazine. She can toast and gamble in several languages and makes a career out of traveling and telling. Her global shopping secrets have been featured in Marie Claire magazine, and her book editing credits include the fantastic, "Fly Solo: The 50 Best Places on Earth for a Girl to Travel Alone," to which she also contributed several chapters, as well as the seminal essay collection from the first convention born of progressive blogging behemoth Daily Kos, "unConventional," to which contributed an essay.

Stephanie's passport is like first class on a holiday weekend—totally full! Texan by the grace of Diva, Stephanie found her way out to California having visited close to fifty countries and lived in many herself, including France, India, Jamaica, Germany and Japan. A graduate of Vassar College with a major in English, Stephanie is an avid grammarian and former high school English teacher with a Masters in Educational Technology .

Kirsten Green

Kirsten Green is a Founder and Managing Partner of Forerunner Ventures LLC, a San Francisco based investment and advisory firm specializing in building and supporting companies in the branded specialty product and personal care categories. Forerunner provides business development and financial advisory services, with efforts ranging from developing distribution strategies, forging strategic partnerships, to capital planning.  Prior to founding Forerunner Ventures, Kirsten ran an equity hedge fund and was a retail analyst at Banc of America Securities.  She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Business Economics and also holds a CPA license, as well as a CFA certification.

Rohini Gupta (co-founder)

Rohini is a co-founder of Spark. She graduated with honors from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in political science and earned a J.D. with a concentration in international law from the University of California, where she was an executive editor of the Women's Law Journal. Rohini studied in France through Cornell Law School's Institute for International and Comparative Law at the University of Paris (Pantheon-Sorbonne) and has worked for the World Affairs Council of Northern California and a French-American public relations firm. She previously interned at Human Rights Watch and the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration in Washington, D.C.  

Karen Hennessy (co-founder)

Karen Hennessy graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a major degree in Molecular and Cell Biology, Neurology and a minor in American Literature. During her time in Berkeley, Karen did research for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories research facility, and taught chemistry at the Lawrence Hall of Science educational discovery museum.

In 2002, Karen lived abroad in Northern Ireland, from where she traveled throughout Europe. During her time there, Karen taught science in a high school in Belfast, Ireland.\

Karen now manages Premier Support Services for salesforce.com in San Francisco, CA. She continues to spend time working with children and education, as a volunteer for the ‘I’m All Ears’ bilingual literacy program. She helped to found Spark in 2004, and has been a Spark Board member since its inception. In addition to her involvement in Spark and I’m All Ears, Karen serves as a member of the salesforce.com Foundation Steering Committee.

Fiona Hsu (co-founder)

Fiona Hsu is a co-founder of Spark.  She is a strong advocate for working families and has worked to promote greater economic opportunities for them through living wages, good jobs, fair taxation, and decent housing.   She is currently an affordable housing investor.  Fiona previously served on the board of the DC Chapter of the National Asian Pacific Women's Forum. She has also served as a mentor to two young girls through Asian American Leadership Empowerment and Development (AA LEAD) and the Berkeley YMCA.

Fiona is passionate about building strong communities here at home and abroad.  In January 2006, Fiona traveled with Habitat for Humanity to the village of La Union, Veracruz, Mexico to help build a home for the Martinez family.   Fiona received her undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley, where she studied Economics and Sociology.  She recently received her Master's in Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at U.C. Berkeley.

chanda keefe

Chanda Keefe is a Principal in the Global Markets Technology (GMT) department at Banc of America Securities.  In this role she is responsible for managing teams which develop and integrate software applications for the investment banking division within Bank of America.  She is a member of the GMT iVoice committee which is responsible for raising associate satisfaction and resolving issues both within the San Francisco office as well as across the broader Global Markets world.  Additionally, Chanda participates in SF LEAD which is a BofA organization that is responsible for promoting Leadership, Education, Advocacy and Development of female BofA associates.  She is a part of both the Development and Leadership sub-committees which focus on getting high potential women mentoring, training and access to senior level female executives.  Outside of work, Chanda is a member of the Junior League of San Francisco and sits on the Community Programs Development committee.  The Junior League is a nationwide organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.  The San Francisco league's local focus for the upcoming year is on Supporting and Strengthening Families in Need.  Chanda is also a member of SPARK and volunteers her time to various local organizations that help those in need.  Most recently this has included participating in Project Connect events.  Chanda is a native of the San Francisco area and in her spare time enjoys snow skiing, hiking, camping, scuba diving, adventure travel and entertaining.  She earned a Bachelors degree in Business Administration emphasizing Finance with a minor in Political Science from the University of Southern California.

Emily Losavio

Emily LoSavio is the National Director of Development at Girls for a Change, a national non profit that empowers girls to create social change. She previously served as the Director of Development at Springboard Schools and, before that, served as the Development Manager at b.a.y. fund for education. Emily has been mentoring a b.a.y. fund student for four years now and can’t wait to see her mentee graduate next Spring and head off to become the first college graduate in her family. In 2004, Emily completed the Coro Community Fellows Program for civic leadership and still remains active in Coro's work. Emily graduated with honors from UC Davis with majors in Law & Society and Communications. During her time at Davis she became involved in Youth Development and Community Rehabilitation projects that ignited her desire to work to improve opportunities for women. Prior to her philanthropic career, Emily spent a few years as both an underwriter and licensed broker for the Corporate Insurance Industry.rogram for civic leadership in fall 

Mona Motwani (co-founder)

Mona Motwani is a co-founder of Spark.  She is an attorney working in the area of disability rights law for children at the Child Care Law Center.  She graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco in 2005, and received her B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan.  She left her home state of Michigan to live in Breckenridge, Colorado for three years, and then moved to San Francisco.  

At UC Hastings College of the Law, Motwani was a Board member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Public Interest Foundation and Hastings Democratic Caucus.  She was a volunteer and Student Advisory Board member for General Advocacy Assistance Project (GAAP), a legal services agency that serves homeless clients in the Tenderloin.  Ms. Motwani also volunteered as a tutor for middle school children at the KIPPS Program at Ben Franklin Middle School.   Throughout law school, Motwani worked at a variety of organizations, including the ACLU where she worked on voting rights, and the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies where she worked on asylum cases for victims of gender persecution.   Motwani worked on international human rights issues, with a focus on human trafficking, at the United Nations in Sarajevo. She also worked on international human rights litigation under at the Center for Justice and Accountability, a non-profit that brings civil prosecutions against human rights abusers living in the United States. 

 

In her free time, she enjoys surfing, mountain biking, snowboarding, traveling, cooking, and hiking. v

Akshata Murty

Akshata Murty is originally from Bangalore, India but describes herself as a global citizen. Akshata recently graduated from stanford business school and is currently working at Lexicon Branding. Her passion lies in exposing women world over to the opportunities that become available to them when they are empowered.   Akshata received her undergrad degree at Claremont McKenna, and her MBA from Stanford Business School in 2006.

Mariya pamnani

Mariya Pamnani is a senior associate in the Economic and Statistical Consulting practice at Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. Mariya’s strong interest in international economic issues has previously led her to internships at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, and at an international microfinance institution in Paris, France. Mariya has been an active member of the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, serving for two years as an officer on its Young Professional Steering Committee. At the World Affairs Council, she co-chaired and organized a three-part series on economic development and international entrepreneurship with Muhammad Yunus (founder of the Grameen Bank and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner) as the keynote speaker. Mariya is very excited to now be a part of Spark and its efforts to support and promote international women’s issues.  Mariya graduated from Stanford University in 2001 with a B.A. in Economics. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and French.

Sara Pasquinelli

Sara Pasquinelli is an attorney in the General Litigation and Appellate Departments at Meyers Nave, whose clients include public agencies and municipalities. She received her Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law in May 2004.

During law school, Ms. Pasquinelli worked at the Golden Gate University Environmental Law & Justice Clinic and the United States Department of Justice, Environmental & Natural Resources Division. She also worked for Magistrate Judge James Larson, at the United States District Court of the Northern District of California. She was a member of the Environmental Law Society and Public Interest Law Foundation.

Prior to law school, Ms. Pasquinelli worked for a non-profit environmental consulting firm in Santa Cruz. She was an administrative assistant and co-manager of the sustainable transportation project group. She also participated in oil recycling outreach programs in the predominantly Latino communities of Santa Cruz County.

During her undergraduate studies, Ms. Pasquinelli studied and worked abroad in Mexico, both in Mexico City and Merida. She also spent a semester in Barcelona, Spain. These experiences helped Ms. Pasquinelli achieve fluency in Spanish.

Nancy Reyes

“I believe Poverty - AIDS - Discrimination - Women’s Rights are profoundly interrelated, and the first step to solving these issues is through education.” – Nancy Reyes

Nancy is an Economics graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz. She currently works as a Strategic Marketing Associate with Parnassus Investments, an investment firm “serving the growing community of investors who believe their assets should be chosen with a conscience as well as financial savvy.” Her internship at the Santa Cruz Community Credit Union sparked her interest in finding ways to increase social, economic, and environmental justice by promoting socially responsible businesses. Their More Than Just Commerce program, “seeks to nurture an economically viable local economy and strengthen the community by promoting locally owned and independent businesses.”

In her youth she served as an officer for the California Scholarship Federation and Youth For Earth, member of Key Club, sat on the Red Bluff Union High School (RBUHS) Board of Trustees and was an American Legion Auxiliary Girls State Representative. Nancy has been actively involved with the St. Vincent De Paul Society in Santa Cruz, CA and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation of San Francisco, CA.

She enjoys the culinary arts and when time allows volunteers as a chef’s assistant at Sur La Table in the Bay Area; she is a charter member of COPIA in the Napa Valley. Nancy takes pleasure in playing tennis, practicing yoga, scuba diving, hiking and learning about modern art, jazz, Greek mythology and increasing her environmental awareness through literature, film and hands-on activities.

rana turk

Rana Turk currently works as Vice President in Technology within the Investment Banking arm of Bank of America.  She serves as a conduit between the business and technical teams to identify inefficiencies and new development needs and offer technical solutions to complex business problems revolving around Trading.    She serves on the iVoice and SF Women that Lead Committees at Bank of America.  She is also a small business owner of two retail furniture/interior design stores in California serving as the General Manger were her primary role is high level guidance, marketing, and accounting management.  She has been involved in volunteer efforts with Hands on Bay Area, Adopt-a-Family and Food Bank Collection efforts.

Rana graduated from UC Davis with a degree in International Relations and World Trade.  She went on to receive her Masters in Business Administration from Santa Clara University emphasizing Information Systems Design and Management as well as Innovation. During her time at UC Davis she spent a summer in three West African countries as an intern with UNICEF working with various programs benefiting women and children such as Safe Motherhood, Immunization Programs, Primary Education, and AIDS prevention.  Further college volunteer work included Pediatric Emergency Care, as a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), as well as Senior Citizen care.  Rana takes special interest in raising awareness of conflicts in the Middle East, and is semi-proficient in Arabic and French languages. 

Michelle watts

Michelle R. Watts is an attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP with a practice focusing on trademark law.  Michelle has been active in community service and non-profit work since her grade school years.  She attended college at Stanford University, where she was selected to be part of the Public Service Scholars Program and as a Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellowship recipient.  In past years, she has been active as a leader in several different Pilipino American community organizations.  She has worked as a program coordinator at the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and as a research assistant at Mason Tillman Associates, a public policy firm, both in Oakland, California.  Michelle subsequently attended the U.C. Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law, where she worked on projects in furtherance of privacy and First Amendment rights on the Internet while participating in the Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic.  She also co-founded the Pilipino American Law Society at Boalt Hall.  In her spare time, Michelle participates in fitness, bodybuilding, and powerlifting competitions.  She has also ran and completed the Vancouver Marathon and Golden Gate Half Marathon.

 

Special Advisor

Maya Garcia (founding president/Co-founder)

Maya Garcia is the former President and co-founder of Spark. Before moving to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, she was the Regional Advocacy Coordinator at United Way of the Bay Area and United Way Silicon Valley managing the development of advocacy and a public policy agenda to identify and address the Bay Area’s most critical health and human services needs. This year, Maya focused her efforts on advocating for the expansion of health coverage for children in California.

Prior to her public policy work, Maya was a Political Campaign Consultant in San Francisco for five years. Some of her previous clients include Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Barbara Boxer and State Controller Steve Westly. She also served as the Northern California Deputy Finance Director of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for the 2000 presidential election.

Maya is dedicated to furthering the rights and empowerment of women in the global community. In addition to being the President of Spark, Maya is the Co-Founder of Women Leading Change, a network of Silicon Valley women dedicated to empowering single mothers by addressing poverty issues and increasing self-sufficiency through financial education and matched IDAs.  Maya holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley.