Programs

Development and Communications

Administration

The Executive Management Team:
Kavita N. Ramdas President and Chief Executive Officer
Deborah Holmes Vice President, Communications
Dale Needles Chief Operations Officer
Shalini Nataraj Vice President, Programs
Jennifer Weber Vice President, Development

Kavita N. Ramdas (President and CEO) has served as president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women since 1996. She has dedicated herself to empowering women worldwide with the financial resources to increase girls’ access to education, defend women’s right to health and reproductive rights, prevent violence against women and advance women’s political participation, as well as other vital issues. Kavita has served on the boards of the Women’s Funding Network, the Women’s Rights Prize of the Gruber Foundation and the Ethical Globalization Initiative. She is the recipient of numerous philanthropic and leadership awards, including most recently, the Haridas and Bina Chaudhuri Award for Distinguished Service presented by the California Institute of Integrated Studies (CIIS). Kavita recently joined the Global Development Advisory Panel of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Advisory Panel of the Asian University for Women and the board of trustees of Princeton University. Read More

Programs

Shalini Nataraj (Vice President, Programs) comes to the Global Fund from the Reebok Human Rights Program, where she served as Associate Director of the Award Program. Shalini previously worked for the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as the acting director of international programs. Shalini began her social justice work in the US in the context of community development issues in rural Tennessee. She serves on the board of Grassroots International, Grantmakers Without Borders, and is on several other boards and committees. Shalini was part of the Newsweek magazine's 2007 Women and Leadership Advisory Committee. She is a founding member of the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia and the Boston Coalition Against Trafficking and Slavery. She continues to be actively involved with the Burma democracy movement. Shalini earned a Masters in international development at Long Island University, New York and a BS in Madras, India. Shalini, who speaks French, Tamil and Hindi, was born in India.

Angelika Arutyunova (Senior Program Officer for Europe and the Former Soviet States), Angelika Arutyunova (Senior Program Officer for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States) was born and raised in Uzbekistan. After obtaining a Finance Diploma and the Bachelor's of Arts in English and Russian Languages, Angelika came to the United States where she earned a Master's of Science in International Development at Oklahoma State University. Angelika participated in international debating championships including the World Universities Debating Championship in Glasgow in 2001, and presented papers at international conferences on democracy and women’s rights in Central Asia. Her work experience in Uzbekistan includes coaching debate to high school and university students in her hometown of Samarkand, interning with the Commercial Service of the United States Embassy in Uzbekistan, and volunteering with non-governmental local women's organizations to conduct reproductive health seminars. Angelika joined the Global Fund for Women in 2003 as a Program Associate for Europe and CIS, the Middle East and North Africa. In 2004 Angelika planned and co-lead the Global Fund’s first Advisor and grantee Forum in Central Asia bringing together 45 participants from eight countries. In 2006, under Angelika’s leadership Global Fund for Women had first grantee and advisor meetings in the Caucasus bringing together women from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia bridging ethnic and national tensions and misunderstandings. Angelika also planned and organized the first GFW LGBTIQ meeting in the entire ECIS region in 2006. Angelika is also active in the Armenian Diaspora in the United States working on the lobbying for Turkish recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Mehdi Boubiya (Program Associate for the Middle East & North Africa) was born in Casablanca, Morocco. He graduated from Portland State University with a BA in Political Science, and a minor in International Studies. While pursuing his studies at PSU, Mehdi worked as a Counselor Assistant at the school’s International Admissions Office, and as the Coordinator of the Organization of International Students. As part of his senior thesis, Mehdi volunteered at the Portland International Community School, mentoring, and tutoring refugees and immigrants from war-torn areas in the world, and developing projects that aimed to improve their educational experience. Mehdi was also a member of the International Cultural Service Scholarship Program at Portland State University for three years. As part of that program, he worked to promote the understanding of Arab and Berber cultures in the Portland, Oregon area, through public speaking, and events organization. Mehdi joined the Global Fund for Women because he deeply believes in the necessity and the urgency of advancing women’s rights throughout the world, and especially in the Middle East and North Africa region. He speaks Arabic, French, English, and conversational Spanish. 

Jess Celentano (Program Associate for Africa) holds a BA from Bates College in Anthropology with a concentration in Gender Studies and West African Economics and a minor in French. She was introduced to the Global Fund for Women while conducting thesis research on microfinance with women-led NGOs in Senegal. Jess began her non-profit career teaching at a literacy rights program in Oakland and interning for a fair-trade wholesaler in San Francisco and Guatemala.  Born and raised in New Hampshire, she is an active volunteer at the International Development Exchange (IDEX) and is an enthusiastic supporter of the Bay Area Slow Food Movement.  She speaks conversational French.

Erika Guevara-Rosas (Senior Program Officer for the Americas) earned both a Master's degree in Women's Studies and a graduate diploma in Migration and Refugee Studies from York University, and holds a Law Degree from Universidad de Londres. Since 1999, she has been developing a comprehensive international experience in the field of human rights in different countries in the Americas, including Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Venezuela. Erika comes to the Global Fund with significant experience with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, where she served as a Protection/Legal Officer for seven years in different countries, working mainly in border areas with war-affected populations. She has also worked for non-profit organizations in Mexico (Sin Fronteras) and Canada (SAVIS), coordinating projects to promote and protect the rights of refugee and migrant women. She has written several articles on refugee and gender issues.  At the Global Fund for Women, as the head of the Americas Program, Erika is responsible of leading the development of a long-term vision and action plan to achieve a high-impact regional grant-making program to promote women’s human rights and, to influence transformative social change and women’s abilities to achieve economic independence, political participation and social action. Erika was born and raised in Mexico. She is fluent in Spanish and English and conversational in Portuguese.

Betsy Hoody (Program Associate for Europe and the Former Soviet States) graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Political Science and Russian Civilization.  Prior to joining the Global Fund, she worked in Russia with a Global Fund grantee that provides advocacy and support services to domestic violence survivors.  She is deeply committed to advocacy against gender-based violence and is a certified medical advocate for sexual assault survivors.  She speaks Russian and English. 

Elaine Sihoatani Howard (Program Associate for Asia and Oceania) earned her MA (Hons) in International Development Studies from the University of Auckland (New Zealand), and her BA in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to joining the Global Fund, she was Director of the Tonga National Youth Congress, the umbrella organization for youth groups in the Kingdom of Tonga. She also served as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth of Nations’ Regional Youth Caucus (South Pacific), a body of young leaders from 14 countries who advocate on behalf of youth inclusion in public policy. In this position, she was also the only woman to serve on the Executive Committee of Pan-Commonwealth Youth Caucus, an advocacy body of young leaders from 53 countries. Elaine has traveled extensively throughout the Pacific Islands, and is the first Pacific Islander to ever work at the Global Fund.  

Alice Yelbert-Obeng (Program Associate for Africa) earned her MA in international policy studies with an emphasis on international norms, human rights and justice from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and a BA in French and Spanish from Luther College. Prior to the Global Fund, she interned with UNICEF in Ghana. She also worked with Project Spera to integrate global issues into curriculum for a network of Bay Area educators. Alice consulted to Global Education Partnership developing innovative programs in Africa and between African and American students. She studied in Guatemala and France, where she taught English. Alice was born and raised in Ghana. She is fluent in French, Spanish and Ghanaian languages (Twi, Fante and Ga).

Zeina Zaatari (Senior Program Officer for Middle East and North Africa) earned her PhD in Cultural Anthropology with an emphasis in Feminist Theory from the University of California at Davis. She earned an MA in Anthropology at Iowa State University and a BA in Sociology at the American University of Beirut. Zeina conducted fieldwork with women’s groups and women activists in South Lebanon detailing their life histories and the ways they negotiated their work in civil society of a post-war country. Prior to joining the Global Fund for Women, she had been teaching courses on women of the Arab and Muslim worlds, on gender and sexuality as well as religion and society at the University of California at Davis. She has delivered lectures and presentations on women and war, Arab women’s movements, scholarly activism, and Arab American feminists. Zeina published a Report on Women’ s Freedom in Lebanon (Freedom House) and recently authored a report on Advancing Women’s Rights in Conflict Zones in the Arab World (in Arabic) published by the UNESCWA. Zeina is a founding member of the Radical Arab Women’s Activist Network, the National Council of Arab Americans, and Sunbula: Arab Feminists for Change in the Bay Area, California. She served on the board of Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action (2006- 2007) and is one of the producers of the radio show, Voices of the Middle East and North Africa, on KPFA 94.1. Zeina was born and raised in South Lebanon. She speaks Arabic, French and English.

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Development & Communications

Deborah Holmes (Vice President, Communications) has a BA in Journalism from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln.  Deborah has more than 30 years experience in media, healthcare, executive relations, internal/external communications, special events, and not-for-profit.  As Senior Vice President at Fleishman Hillard International Communications, Deborah served a variety of clients the retail, healthcare, pharmaceutical, public health and technology sectors. In addition to serving as Global Co-Chair of the Multicultural Practice group, Deborah was also member of the firm’s Global Healthcare and Sustainability practice groups where she helped guide award winning programs and initiatives.

Prior to Fleishman-Hillard she served as Director of Public Relations and Marketing for Truman Medical Centers, an academic health system in Kansas City, Missouri. An accomplished television news reporter and analyst for more than 30 years, Deborah has worked for local and international news organizations. She has received numerous awards for investigative reporting and documentaries.  Deborah is conversant in French.

Jennifer Weber (Vice President, Development) comes to the Global Fund with over 12 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including healthcare, higher education and secondary education.  Jennifer was instrumental in the recent success of a six-year $300 million comprehensive campaign at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, WA, where she served as Senior Director of Development for Major Gifts. Prior to her time at Children’s Hospital, Jennifer worked at the University of Washington in Seattle and at Menlo School in Atherton, CA.  Jennifer holds a BA in English Literature from Occidental College and an MA in Educational Administration from San Jose State University.

Jennifer’s involvement in the women’s movement goes back many years. Her decision to join the Global Fund is fueled by her deep desire to advance equality for women and girls around the world. Jennifer looks forward to increasing the money available to women’s human rights organization – both by increasing the assets the Global Fund for Women uses for grantmaking and by influencing other foundations to increase funding to women and girls worldwide.

Caitlin Reyes Brune (Development Officer) joins the Global Fund for Women following five years of grantmaking to grassroots organizations addressing the needs & rights of African children and families affected by HIV/AIDS with the Firelight Foundation. Previously, she served as the Special Assistant to the VP of Conservation Programs at World Wildlife Fund’s U.S. headquarters, where she also endured a crash course in nonprofit accounting as the Executive Assistant to the Controller & Chief Financial Officer. Caitlin graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in Psychology and English Literature. Further educational pursuits took her to Balliol College, Oxford University and Froebel Institute in London. After five years at WWF-US and a jaunt working her way around the world, Caitlin returned to secure her Master in Public Health at University of California-Berkeley. To cure stiffness from all those years spent at desks and in libraries, Caitlin now practices and teaches yoga regularly and enjoys swimming year-round in her adopted home state of California.

Sarah Costa (Director of Special Projects and New York Representative) For the past twelve years, she has worked as a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, managing programs on sexuality and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS and women's rights. She created Ford's first reproductive health program in Brazil, which supported many groundbreaking research, public education and policy initiatives. Prior to joining Ford, she was a Professor at Brazil's largest medical foundation where she taught and conducted research on women's health policy and social development. She served on the Board of the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights. She was also a member of the Advisory Committee to the National Council on Women's Rights in Brazil, served on the boards of several women's NGOs and was a Technical Advisor to the state government of Rio de Janeiro. Sarah was born and raised in England where she earned a Master's Degree in Demography from London University and a Ph.D. in Social Medicine from Oxford University. She has published numerous papers and articles on women's health and reproductive rights in both English and Portuguese. 

Lillian Cincone (Special Projects Assistant) has a BA in psychology and an MA in the social sciences with an emphasis on women's studies. Her Master's thesis on sex tourism to Thailand has been published. She works with the International Women's Studies Institute, an organization that provides summer overseas travel/study programs for women to Greece, Israel, Kenya, Turkey, Australia, the Baltics and Spain. She served as a board member and PAC member of the California State National Organization for Women.

Rachel Humphrey (Director of Philanthropic Partnerships) has over 12 years experience in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining the Global Fund for Women in 2003, Rachel worked at Yosemite National Institutes, Wu Yee Children's Services and the American Himalayan Foundation. She earned a Master of Nonprofit Administration degree from the University of San Francisco, where she completed a thesis on barriers to international giving by US-based foundations. Rachel graduated Magna cum Laude from Bowdoin College with a BA in Anthropology and Asian Studies and a minor in Women's Studies. In addition to her management, facilitation and fund-raising skills, Rachel is a certified leadership coach and yoga instructor. Rachel has traveled throughout the Himalaya and has advised and volunteered for numerous Tibetan support groups. She used to speak a little Spanish, Nepali and Tibetan.

Heather Masaki (Administrative Associate to the Vice President of Development) was born and raised on the island of O’ahu. She graduated with highest honors with a BA in Women’s Studies and a minor in Religious Studies.  While at university, she led an active feminist organization on campus and traveled twice to India and once to Turkey as part of a feminist travel study group focused on the international women’s movement and women-led NGOs. Prior to joining the Global Fund, Heather worked with the National Radio Project in Oakland, where she currently serves as a member of the Executive Board, and she has also interned for NARAL Pro-Choice California. 

Kelly McVicker (Development Officer) graduated from Duke University with a degree in Comparative Area Studies and a certificate in Film and Video. While at Duke, Kelly served as music editor for the university's arts and entertainment magazine and wrote for the Raleigh-based newspaper The News and Observer. Kelly began her non-profit career at the Pacific Institute for Women's Health in Los Angeles, where she managed their award-winning media campaign, "Emergency Contraception: Because $#*! Happens." Born and raised in Kansas, Kelly has studied in Spain and traveled throughout Latin America and Europe. She speaks fluent Spanish and conversational Italian.

Erin Oglesby (Development Associate for Individual Giving) earned her BA in political science with a minor in international relations from San Francisco State University. Before joining the Global Fund, Erin worked as the Volunteer and Donations Coordinator at the International Rescue Committee in San Francisco where she was committed to assisting and empowering refugees resettling in the Bay Area. Erin also interned with the Department of State at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York and at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Erin grew up in Arizona, Hawaii and California  and has traveled throughout Mexico and Europe.

Dharna Obermaier (Annual Giving Manager) holds a BA in Psychology from Dominican University. Prior to joining the Global Fund’s development team in 2008, Dharna managed annual fund development, direct marketing and online fundraising at Seva Foundation in Berkeley. Her non-profit experience also includes grant writing at Hospice By The Bay and program evaluation and development for Marin County’s Division of Aging. Dharna’s commitment to women’s human rights dates back to serving as a book buyer for a women’s bookstore collective in northern Europe.  She has been a practitioner of yoga and other meditation in movement forms for many years. Born and raised in Germany, she has lived in Andorra, UK and India and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia.

Sande Smith (Director of Public Education) has ten years experience in communications and public relations for non-profit organizations and corporations. As a public relations professional, she has gained coverage for her clients in local and national publications such as the Contra Costa Times, Forbes and USA Today. She has worked as a writer with organizations such as Marin Abused Women's Services, the Nationwide Women's Program of American Friends Service Committee and the Free Library of Philadelphia. Sande has authored books about Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X, and co-authored a book profiling women of the 20th century. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Portuguese and Brazilian studies from Brown University.

Caitlin Stanton (Senior Development Officer) has worked with the development team at the Global Fund for five years and traveled on behalf of the Global Fund in Ethiopia, Kenya and Mozambique. Previously, she worked with the Mills College CARES (Community Action, Reciprocal Education, and Service) Center, implementing community service and service-learning programs. She has interned at the East Bay Institute for Urban Arts and in the Oakland Public Schools. She has studied in Okinawa, Japan and Cape Town, South Africa where she researched the impact of the arts in social change movements. Caitlin holds a BA in dramatic arts from Mills College in California.

Jenifer Wanous (Events Officer) brings a passion for event planning with over six years of experience. She helped coordinated the first ever "International Sex Worker's Seminar" in Bangkok, Thailand, the annual "UNtraining Public Event" as well as numerous events in the entertainment industry and Thanksgiving dinner every year for her family and friends. She is actively on the pursuit of examining her white supremacist conditioning with the support of "The UNtraining", an antiracist group, which she has been apart of for over two years. She received her BA in Community Studies from the University of California Santa Cruz.  

Annie Wilkinson (Development Associate for Philanthropic Partnerships) received her BA in human biology in 2006 from Stanford University with a concentration on women's health and human rights and a minor in African Studies. For her thesis research, she worked with a Global Fund grantee group of women lawyers to examine the political context surrounding women's rights legislation in Uganda, for which she received an award from the Feminist Studies Department at Stanford. Before joining the Global Fund, she interned with Pact in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Annie grew up in Montana and has also lived and studied in Sweden, Uganda, and Tanzania. She speaks conversational Swedish, Spanish, and some Swahili.

Kate Zondervan (Development Assistant, New York) earned her BA in art history from Oberlin College.  After graduating, she spent a few years in the high art world of auction houses in Cleveland and San Francisco. Upon moving to New York, Kate discovered that her true calling was in helping women find empowerment through their reproductive health choices. Prior to joining the Global Fund, Kate worked at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She is a birth doula and is pursing a Masters degree in midwifery.

 

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Administration

Dale Needles (Chief Operations Officer) earned a BA in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA in Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco. With 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Dale has been the CFO for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and the Center for Citizen Initiatives. Dale is also the co-founder of the Fund for International Nonprofit Development, an international nonprofit organization, which provides small grants and management assistance to Russian non-governmental organizations. Dale is from the US and is conversant in Russian and Spanish.

Annalisa Synnestvedt (Finance Officer) did her graduate research in Women’s Studies at UCLA, as well as her undergraduate work in Women’s Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia.   At UCLA, she focused her research on the effects of US funding policies on sexual minorities worldwide, and examined the myriad strategies that non-governmental organizations employ to counter these regressive policies.  She has over ten years of non- and for-profit accounting experience, and provides pro bono accounting consulting services to non-profit organizations in the Bay Area.  She speaks conversational Spanish.

Sarah Chester (Grants Administrator) holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from San Francisco State University. After studying in Zimbabwe, she completed a cross-cultural comparative analysis on the AIDS pandemic in San Francisco, California and Harare, Zimbabwe. Before joining the Global Fund, Sarah interned at the California Association of Human Relations Organization where she researched human rights violations throughout California, and worked on monitoring hate crime groups on the internet.

Sheila Corwin (Administrative Officer) holds a teaching credential from Mills College in Oakland, California, and earned her BA in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. Prior to joining the Global Fund, she worked as an Oakland public school teacher. Sheila brings nearly a decade of management experience, including five years as Director of the South American Explorers, a non-profit foundation in Quito, Ecuador. She is proficient in Spanish.  

Diana Di Battista (Grants Administration Associate) received her BA degree from UC Berkeley in international development studies where she focused on the intersection of human rights law and environmental policy. Diana studied human rights law, Chilean politics and culture, and Latin American colonial history at the University of Chile. Fluent in Italian and Spanish, she also speaks conversational Portuguese and French.

Marie Farneth (Administrative Assistant) brings a wealth of experience with international non-profits, community health and education work, and project administration to share with the GFW. She worked most recently as a Programs Assistant at the University of San Francisco's Modern and Classical Languages Department. Prior to that, she was an Assistant Program Coordinator for MESA (Multinational Exchange for Community Agriculture), and the Project Manager for Ecovida, an Ecuador-based NGO working to improve the quality of life for Ecuador's indigenous population. Marie is fluent in Spanish, and received her B.A. in Sociology and Spanish from Bates College.

Mykkah Herner (Human Resources Associate) has an MA in Organizational Psychology from the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle. He strives to sustain and develop internal operations that, mirroring the external, are passionate, thoughtful, and lead to social change.  He received a BA in Psychology and Spanish from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.  He comes to the Global Fund from Babeland, a feminist adult toy company. After growing up outside of New York City, he’s spent most of his adult life narrowing in on the Bay Area from Seattle and San Diego.

Fennis Ho (Director of Finance and Human Resources) earned her MA in women's studies from San Francisco State University. Her award-winning thesis concentrated on the complex landscape of women's identity using various theories on nationalism, sexuality and ethnicity. She received her BA from the University of California at San Diego with a major in communications and minors in Asia studies and sociology. She was born in Taiwan and speaks English and Taiwanese.

Karen Ishimaru (Information Management Officer) earned her undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies at UC Berkeley and has a Masters in Public Policy from UCLA. She spent a year in Japan studying at the International Christian University and later coordinated an exchange program bringing together nonprofit professionals in the U.S. and Japan. She has worked with various nonprofits in the Bay Area that focus on youth and financial literacy. Prior to joining Global Fund, she worked as a research associate with a consulting firm providing evaluation and information-based services.   

Eryn Mathewson (Administrative Assistant) was born in Colorado and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended Howard University in Washington, DC, which she often describes as “one of the best decisions I have ever made.”  After earning a BA in anthropology and Spanish at Howard, Eryn interned at an NGO in Peru working on reproductive rights issues with communities in Lima.  Eryn is deeply interested in focusing on the connections between the education and juvenile justice system as a crucial issue of racial justice in the US. She comes to the Global Fund out of her interest in working to improve US foreign relations as a way to promote women’s human rights globally.

Melissa Nunan-Lew (Executive Assistant to the President and CEO) holds a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University. Prior to Global Fund for Women, Melissa worked for an International Venture Capital firm bringing over ten years of experience in office management and executive assistance. Melissa is a native of San Francisco.

Annalisa Synnestvedt (Finance Officer) earned her BA in Women’s Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia and is currently finishing her Master’s degree in Women’s Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.  At UCLA, she focused her research on the effects of US funding policies on sexual minorities worldwide, and examined the myriad strategies that non-governmental organizations employ to counter these regressive policies.  She speaks conversational Spanish.

Randy Trigg (Senior Information Management Officer) received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in computer science. He lived and taught in Denmark for three years where he learned the practice of participatory design from its Scandinavian founders. Randy has also lived in Vietnam and Brazil. He was born in the US and speaks English and Danish.

Talia Walsmith (Administrative Associate to the Chief Operations Officer) comes to the Global Fund with a background in women’s health and reproductive justice.  She holds a Master’s degree in Women’s Spirituality and received her BA in Women’s Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she coordinated the Sexual Health Peer Education Program.  Talia served as an AmeriCorps member and Associate Clinic Manager at the Women’s Community Clinic, a free sexual and reproductive healthcare clinic for uninsured women in San Francisco.  She has volunteered as a Health Educator for homeless and marginally-housed women living in San Francisco's Mission District and most recently served as a volunteer counselor, board member, and finally, Operations Coordinator at Exhale, the nation's first multilingual, nonjudgmental, after-abortion counseling talkline.  Talia trained as a Life Coach through the Coaches Training Institute and has studied woodcarving in Kerala, India.