OUR PEOPLE

BOARD

Megan Cayler is the Senior Development Officer for Individual Giving at the Exploratorium where she leads a thriving major gifts program that sustains their ongoing program offerings. Previously as the Development Manager for the Women’s Funding Network, Megan honed her skills in raising major gifts while working on their successful Women Moving Millions campaign and in helping to build their Individual Giving program. A fine arts painter herself, Megan is deeply committed to enriching and expanding museum audiences and encouraging creativity and self-discovery through the arts and sciences. Megan attended Sarah Lawrence College and University of San Francisco, where she received her BA in Art History/Arts Management. She has been a Spark board member since 2009. Follow Megan @meg_cali.
Shruti Challa started her career at Founders Fund in 2008. She launched her first company at the age of 21 in 2009, Tribal Atmosphere (Pinchd) – which connects people through interesting local activities. Later, she joined the core team of Campfire Laps (a group messaging platform) that recently sold to Groupon. Shurti was voted Miss Congeniality at the 2005 Miss India USA competition where she represented Kansas. In addition, she is an avid Indian Classical dancer. She has a BS in Economics from Stanford University. She has been a Spark board member since 2010. Follow Shruti @shrutichalla.
Robin Devaux is Managing Director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. The Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to women’s advancement and to improving work-life balance for all – men as well as women. Prior to joining the Center, Robin practiced employment and class action litigation with the San Francisco office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and then spent one year traveling and writing about the world with her husband, Pierre. She received her BA in Psychology and Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley, and her JD from Cornell Law School. An avid runner and Bay Area native, Robin is fluent in Spanish and is working on her French. She has been a board member since 2013.
Fiona Hsu is an affordable housing investor with Union Bank. Fiona previously served on the board of the DC Chapter of the National Asian Pacific Women’s Forum. She is a founding member of Habitat San Francisco’s Young Leadership Circle. With Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program, she traveled to Bangalore, India and Veracruz, Mexico to build homes for young mothers. She has also served as a mentor in Asian American Leadership Empowerment and Development (AA LEAD) and the Berkeley YMCA. Fiona has a BA in Economics and Sociology and a MA in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley. She has been a board member since 2005.
Lisa Jacobs is an attorney with the Litigation Department of San Francisco’s Shartsis Friese LLP. Her complex commercial litigation practice focuses on contracts and business torts, unfair competition, and intellectual property litigation. Lisa started her career by serving as a law clerk to the Honorable David W. Hagen (Ret.) of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Lisa has been appointed by the California Bar’s Board of Governors to its standing committee for the California Young Lawyers’ Association. Lisa was born in Hong Kong, raised in San Francisco, and speaks fluent German. She received BA in Comparative Literature and JD UC Berkeley. She has been a board member since 2008.
Sheena Jain is a lawyer with the San Francisco office of Wilson Elser LLP. Her legal practice focuses on ERISA litigation, complex commercial litigation, and professional liability matters. Sheena is passionate about working to empower girls and women worldwide and addressing the socioeconomic barriers that limit access to higher education in the United States. She presently serves as a pro bono attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Sheena spent eight years in Saudi Arabia and speaks fluent Hindi. She received her BA from UC Berkeley and her law degree from Villanova University. She has been on the board since August 2012.
Rebecca Lipon is a Senior Account Manager of Functional Verification for Cadence Design Systems, where her primary focus is helping companies verify the functionality of their integrated chip designs. Rebecca is a co-organizerd for Women 2.0, an organization trying to increase the number of female founders in technology startups. Rebecca also volunteers by performing, mentoring, and teaching with Save the Music, Junior Achievement, Tech Time Science Club for Girls, Oasis for Girls and other educational enrichment programs. She is the lead singer of the band Sinister Dexter, and performs and choreographs with local theater groups. Rebecca has a BS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT. She has been a board member since 2012. Follow Rebecca @rebeccalipon.
Heather McAndrew is a Senior Recruiter. She has worked in both the financial and healthcare Sectors. Heather previously worked in the banking for 10 years before switching to recruitment. Heather traveled to New Delhi, India in 2010 to live and work at an orphanage for girls. Additionally, she served as a San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate working with Foster Youth. Heather attended New Jersey City University. She has been a board member since August 2012. Follow Heather @ladyscot.
Alexis Meredith is a project manager at Solution Set, an emerging provider of integrated digital marketing solutions. Alexis focuses in building leading-edge websites and applications that support business objectives and a positive user experience. Prior to Solution Set, Alexis worked at Brilliant Earth, a leading online provider of conflict free diamonds and eco-friendly gold. Alexis graduated from Stanford in 2010 with a B.A. in International Relations and an M.A. in Organizational Theory. She loves opera and blogging. She has been on the board since 2012.
Adrienne Moon is the Senior Special Events Officer at the Exploratorium where she manages the institution’s major fundraising events, including Science of Cocktails and their annual Gala. She has also overseen the creation of the institution’s first young professionals group, The Exploratorium Lab. Previously, Adrienne was Artistic Director of Night Kichen at Dobama Theatre, a non-profit theatre company. Adrienne received her M.A. in Theatre from Emerson College. She has been on the board since 2011. Follow Adrienne @adriennemoon.
Mona Motwani is a human rights attorney and author. Most recently, Mona litigated in the area of housing discrimination and predatory lending at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. She has also worked at the United Nations in post-war Sarajevo and the Center for Justice and Accountability, a nonprofit that brings civil prosecutions against human rights abusers. Mona has also worked at the voting rights at the ACLU, immigration cases for victims of gender persecution, and advocated for children with disabilities. Mona graduated from University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2005, and received her B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan. She has been a Board Member since 2005.
Mariya Pamnani is a marketing analytics manager in the Client Insight and Loyalty Group at Charles Schwab & Co. Previously, Mariya worked in the economic consulting industry for 10 years, most recently at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group (AACG) and Deloitte Financial Advisory Services. Mariya has a BA in Economics from Stanford University. She speaks Mandarin Chinese and French. She has been a board member since 2006.
Krista Perez started her career at Morgan Stanley, and has held a variety of roles throughout Business Analytics, Investment Products, and Private Banking. She is currently an associate, working in Strategic Lead Management, where she aims to identify and realize synergies that exist across the firm’s wealth management, investment banking, and asset management arms. Krista was an Economics major at Fordham University, and has spent time studying agricultural and economic development in Guatemala, emerging markets at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and Spanish at the Academia Latinoamericana de Español in Peru. Krista has chaired SparkNYC’s Investment Committee since 2012, and has been a board member since 2013.
Jenn Wilcox is an associate at Summit Rock Advisors, an investment management firm that works with foundations, endowments and philanthropic families. Previously, Jenn worked for Goldman Sachs as an investment banking analyst in their Public Sector and Infrastructure group where she worked with municipal entities. Originally from Minnesota, Jenn graduated from Pomona College in 2008 where she majored in Economics. She currently serves on Pomona’s Board of Trustees. She has been a board member since 2009.
Kenneth Wun works in acquisition and asset management for TLP. Most recently, Ken was the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the California Democratic Party, John Burton. Previously, he held positions in private equity and real estate. He earned his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and his M.S. from Columbia University. He is a Fellow with the Truman National Security Project and a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He has been a board member since 2013.
Gayle Karen Young is the Chief Culture and Talent Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation. Gayle has a rich organizational consulting background with corporate and nonprofit clients. Her skills include leadership development, change management, instructional design, strategic communications, team building, and personal and organizational transformation. Born in the Philippines to Chinese parents and raised in the US, Gayle has a multicultural perspective, an adventurous spirit, and a deep commitment to expanding human freedom. She has been a board member since 2008. Follow Gayle @missgayle
 

STAFF

Shannon Farley is Spark’s founding Executive Director. Shannon has worked extensively in securing health, justice and human rights for women and girls around the world. Prior to joining Spark, Shannon helped start the W. Haywood Burns Institute, a juvenile justice organization which focuses on ethnic, racial and gender disparity reduction. Shannon has been awarded the New Leader’s Council “2009 Top 40 under 40 Award”, The Aspen Institute’s 2010 Ideas Scholar Fellowship and The Women’s Funding Network’s 2012 Changing the Face of Philanthropy Award. Under her leadership, Spark won the 2010 Outstanding Foundation Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals and served in the Inaugural Congressional Conference on Philanthropy and Innovation. Shannon holds a BA in American Studies from Georgetown University and a MSc in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics. Follow Shannon @Shannon_Farley.
Amanda Brock brings extensive experience from the advertising industry where she worked in various account management roles, helping clients from non-profit to health care, for over six years. Amanda recently went to Peru to improve her Spanish-language skills at non-profit called FairServices-Peru. It was their inspiring mission, to provide training and employment for impoverished mothers, which drew Amanda to the program. With a desire to increase her social impact on society, Amanda also helped start an after-school program for low-income children while in Peru. Amanda’s involvement with Spark’s Fundraising & Events Planning Committee this year has further motivated her to continue building awareness and fundraising for organizations that help women around the world. Amanda holds a BA with Honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she studied Communication and History of Art and Architecture. Follow Amanda @mandooo2.
 

ADVISORS

  • Chad Bolick, Director of Impact and Innovation, Tides
  • Elizabeth Colton, Founding President, International Museum of Women
  • Anne Firth Murray, Founder of the Global Fund for Women
  • Laurel Fletcher, Professor of International Human Rights Law, U.C. Berkeley School of Law
  • Maya Garcia Lahham, Co-Founder of Spark
  • Kirsten Green, Partner and Founder of Forerunner Ventures
  • Rohini Gupta, Co-Founder of Spark and Former Co-Chair of Spark’s Investment Committee
  • Rita Henley-Jensen, Editor-in-Chief, Women’s eNews
  • Kathleen Kelly Janus, Co-Founder of Spark and Clinical Lecturer at Stanford Law School
  • Dana King, KPIX News Anchor
  • Angela Mason, Special Advocate for Women and Children, World Vision
  • Carole Migden, California State Senator
  • Sara Pasquinelli, Attorney at Fitzgerald, Abbott & Beardsley, LLP
  • Kavita Ramdas, Representative in New Delhi, Ford Foundation
  • Fairuz Taqi-Eddin, Director of Gulf State Development for CARE Middle East