Dagmara Avanindra (President)Stanford degrees: B.S. and M.S. Electrical Engineering, 2000. Dagmara works as a Senior Substrate Design Lead at Nvidia, where she is involved in the development of visual computing technologies and delivering high-performance graphics processors which generate breathtaking, interactive graphics on workstations, personal computers, game consoles and mobile devices. She rediscovered her passion for dance after attending an SPW dance-themed event in 2001 and since then has performed in various dance forms such as Jazz, Modern, Lyrical and Bollywood. Dagmara teaches Bollywood dance to students of all ages and is particularly fond of the dance program for senior citizens, which she leads at the Indian Community Center. She enjoys travelling and hiking with her husband.
Mary Bobel (Treasurer)Stanford degrees: A.B. Biology, 1970; M.A. Education, 1971; M.B.A., 1979. Mary is the director of finance and administration for Stanford School of Medicine's Radiology Department and has previously served as the chief financial officer of several technology and education companies. Mary is a member of the Stanford Parents' Committee and both her children are Stanford grads. Her son, 2007, is now the Director of Basketball Operations at LSU and her daughter, 2003, is the Executive Director of Teach for America for Bay Area. Mary is an enthusiastic Stanford sports fan, and a mentor for the Leukemia Society's Team in Training, which trains cyclists for century bike rides. She was recently elected to Stanford Associates, an honorary organization of 1500 Stanford alumni who have demonstrated significant and long-standing volunteer service to the University.
Jeanne Gobalet (Membership & Directory Chair)Stanford degrees: A.B. Sociology and History and minor in Geography, with Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa, 1966; M.A. Education, 1967; M.A. Sociology, 1976; Ph.D. Sociology, Specialties: Demography and Social Stratification, 1982. Jeanne taught social sciences for many years at a community college and then became co-owner of a Bay Area demographic research firm (www.Demographers.com). It serves a variety of public-sector clients, including many school districts and Girl Scouts of the USA. Jeanne lives in Saratoga with her husband and son and has traveled to all 50 states and all seven continents, including Antarctica. She enjoys art, travel, reading, yoga, and growing veggies in (what used to be) her swimming pool.
Connie Lin (Communications Chair)Stanford degrees: B.S. Biological Sciences (2002) and M.S. Biological Sciences (2003). After graduating from Stanford, Connie worked in healthcare consulting for many years at The Zitter Group, last serving as a senior manager overseeing TZG's portfolio of custom market research engagements with biotech and pharmaceutical clients. Leveraging her strategic skills and research experience, Connie now develops consumer insights for the consumer packaged goods industry at Clorox. In addition to her involvement with SPW, Connie has served in various leadership roles supporting Future Women Leaders and Asian Americans for Community Outreach. She and her husband live in San Francisco, enjoying a life as foodies in a city full of bon vivants.
Marcia Mathog (Program Chair)Stanford degree: M.A. Secondary Education, 1964. Marcia graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis in 1961 with Honors in Science and completed her M.A. while concurrently working on a Ph.D. in chemistry at U.C. Berkeley. She lived on a kibbutz in Israel from 1965-70, managing the Agricultural Testing Station in the Western Galilee. Upon returning to California, she spent the remainder of her career teaching high school and community college physics and chemistry and spent the last forteen years as principal of Mission San Jose High in Fremont. She retired in 1999 and devotes her time to painting water color minatures, volunteer work, and family.
Lorraine Fox (Director)Stanford degree: A.B. Philosophy, 1979. After Stanford, Lorraine received her MBA from the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago (1983). In 2010, she opened the Palo Alto office for ClearRock Capital, LLC, an investment management firm, where she is a portfolio manager. Prior to ClearRock, she worked in such areas of finance as venture capital (General Partner, Crescendo Ventures) and equity research (Credit-Suisse). She began her career with leading technology companies such as Sun Microsystems and Oracle, where she was a marketing executive. She is passionate about all things Stanford. She also is a committed Stanford Alumni Mentor and has volunteered for this program since its inception.
Lauren Gellman (Director)Stanford degree: A.B. Economics and Political Science, 2000, 4 year varsity letter winner (softball), NCAA Division I Scholar/Honor Roll Athlete, Cap & Gown Women’s Honor Society, Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. After working in the legal field for two years, Lauren accepted a role at Google as a member of the Online Sales and Operations department. During her 7 years with the company, she worked in a variety of positions in several different offices, including Dublin, Ireland, and Hyderabad, India, most recently managing a sales team and running the office's community outreach program in Boston. Lauren is currently pursuing her MBA at the Haas School of Business in Berkeley, where she was recently elected VP of Admissions for Haas Student Government. When not at work, Lauren is usually outdoors doing something active. She also enjoys photography and cooking.
Aleathia Hoster (Director)
Stanford degree: A.B. Political Science, 1998. While at Stanford, Aleathia joined PaineWebber Real Estate Investment Banking Division as an Analyst and continued to work for them after graduation. After PaineWebber/UBS, she joined a NYSE listed industrial REIT in NYC. After ten years in real estate investment, she is now working in Palo Alto for MAP Royalty, Inc. and focused on wind investments. She has volunteered as a member of the Junior League for over eight years and volunteered for Girls, Inc. She has been a fundraiser and reunion organizer for Class of 1998. She enjoys being outdoors, fly- fishing and running and has run five marathons.
Anna Khan (Director)Stanford degrees: B.A. English and Political Science with honors, 2010. At Stanford, Anna was President of Stanford Women in Business and a member of the Cap & Gown Academic Women's Honor Society. Anna's business experience includes Investment Management at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, Strategy Consulting at the Albright Stonebridge Group, and Venture Capital at City Light Capital. Anna is currently Business Associate to the CEO at 4INFO, a mobile media company, where she focuses on product marketing and executive strategy. She is also part of the founding team at Palindrome Advisors, a nonprofit advisory firm that helps match industry leaders to the boards of nonprofits. In her free time, Anna writes for the International Herald Tribune as a freelance columnist.
Mae Tai O'Malley (Director)Stanford degree: A.B. Political Science with honors, 1994. After Stanford, Mae received her J.D. from Berkeley's School of Law in 1998. She is the founder and managing attorney of Paragon Legal, an alterative model legal services firm that provides senior attorneys on a project basis to leading bay area companies. Prior to starting Paragon, Mae worked at Morrison & Foerster, as well as in-house for several technology companies including symantec and google. She is the mother of three rambunctious young boys and currently can't remember what her hobbies are. Mae is a member of Stanford Associates, an honorary organization of 1500 Stanford alumni who have demonstrated significant and long-standing volunteer service to the University.
Beatrice Pang (Director)Stanford degree: M.B.A., 2010. Beatrice is the Co-Founder and CEO of ModeWalk.com, a luxury shopping destination focused on providing an immersive discovery experience and presenting exclusive designer items. With a passion for travel, art and technology, Beatrice co-founded ModeWalk with her housemate and classmate Henri Deshays whom she became friends with at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Previously, she spent several years acquiring technology companies at Merrill Lynch and Microsoft's Corporate Development Group. She also worked in business development during the early days of Microsoft Health Solutions Group. While attending business school at Stanford, Beatrice worked at Nokia Growth Partner and as a Lightspeed Venture Fellow. In her spare time, Beatrice enjoys travel, oil painting, theatre, and outdoor activities. She also provides volunteer support to various social ventures and non-profit organizations.
Buffy Poon (Advisor)Stanford degree: A.B. Phi Beta Kappa, Human Biology, 1994. Since graduating, Buffy has had stints in investment banking, strategy consulting, database application programming, and marketing. She joined eBay in 1998 as a product manager and held various positions there before leaving in 2002 after the birth of her first child. Buffy has recently worked as a part-time reader for Stanford's undergraduate admissions and has tried her hand at entrepreneurship as well. She and husband Alex have three young children. Alex is a fellow Stanford graduate (B.S., 1991 and PhD, 1996). Buffy is a member of Stanford Associates, an honorary organization of 1500 Stanford alumni who have demonstrated significant and long-standing volunteer service to the University.
Past Presidents
Nita Singh Kaushal
B.S. Electrical Engineering, 2003
Janis Ahmadjian-Baer
A.M. 1975, Ph.D. Education Research, 1980 [B.A. 1973, UMass, Amherst]
Nancy Chapman
B.S. 1966, M.S. 1967 Statistics
Marcia Mathog
A.M. Education, Stanford, 1964 [B.A. 1961, St. John's College, Annapolis]
Laura Torres
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1988