SES Team

Annie is a freshman thinking of majoring in Biology, Psychology, or Product Design. She attended Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas, focusing on community service activities. She volunteered at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center for three years. In her sophomore year, she was vice president of United Way Kids' Way, and served as president her junior year. As president, she started a new fundraiser, which raised $3000 each year, six times more than previous years. In addition, she was on the youth advisory committee of the United Way Kids' Way Texas Gulf Coast Chapter. After her junior year of high school, Annie attended a program Leadership in the Business World at the Wharton School of Business. There, she and her team of students competed against five other teams in a business plan competition with a panel of venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs. Her team for ClearSky Industries won. After graduating from Bellaire, Annie spent a summer at Beirne, Maynard, and Parsons L.L.P., a corporate law firm based in Houston and San Francisco. Now at Stanford, Annie has taken an interest in business. As for her career goals, she hopes to work with her family in the biotechnology world.

Vivian Chang

Vivian is a sophomore majoring in Mathematical and Computational Science as well as minoring in Economics. She attended high school in a small suburban town known as Holmdel, New Jersey. She was involved in community service all throughout high school, working as a teacher assistant at the kindergarten she attended as a child. She developed many of her leadership skills as associate editor-in-chief of her school yearbook as well co-captain of her high school lacrosse team. She started tutoring students as a sophomore in high school and has continued to tutor even through college because of her passion for teaching others. At Stanford, she is currently the co-head coordinator for Project AIYME, a mentoring program for "at-risk" Asian American 8th graders around the San Jose area and Chief Financial Officer for Stanford Student Biodesign. Last summer, she participated in Summer Research College, analyzing data from microarrays in attempts to find links between cancer cells and the immune system. She hopes to work as either an investment banker or a consultant in the future while still giving back to the community in some way. Somewhere in the later future, her goal is to open her own restaurant because of her desire to run her own business and her passion for cooking.

Janine Chen

Janine Chen is a sophomore from the sunny city of San Diego, California. She is pursuing a major in Urban Studies with a concentration in Community Organization. During high school, she was involved in such community service clubs as Key Club, Leo Club, California Scholarship Federation, and National Honors Society. Her dedication to her church led her to participate in missions trips to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and South Central Los Angeles. It was on these trips that she developed a heart for the urban poor and decided she wanted to explore a life of area of public service. Her leadership and teamwork experience comes from coordinating retreats, programs, and events for her youth group as well as producing a two-disc CD. She was also on the award winning yearbook staff of Rancho Bernardo High School as a photographer. This past summer she worked at Solar Solutions, a small company that manufactures and distributes solar water pasteurizers to developing countries. While at Stanford, she has become increasingly involved with Campus Crusade for Christ as well as The Stanford Fund for Undergraduate Education. She also engaged in a service learning course last Winter Quarter where she held an internship with Community Homeless Alliance Ministry located in San Jose. Janine loves the world of film and loves talking about quality movies. She has also played piano for twelve years and has a passion for dabbling in the art of photography.

Ben Fohner

Ben Fohner is a sophomore majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in Economics. Growing up in Gilroy, CA and attending high school in San Jose, CA, Ben became involved in speech, debate, a creative problem-solving competition called Odyssey of the Mind, and volunteer projects. While in high school, he served as the inaugural chairman of a city commission and won first place at the Intel International Science Fair. Ben has spent two summers volunteering for the Amigos de las Americas program in rural Paraguay and Honduras, where he served as a heath worker and project supervisor. While in Honduras last summer, he was awarded a Center for Latin American Studies fellowship to design and implement a Honduran Youth Leadership project in conjunction with Save the Children. At Stanford, he is the chief financial officer of the Stanford Scientific Review, a student magazine examining the intersection of science, policy and ethics. Outside of school, Ben has gained professional experience at a law firm, working on five specific cases, and plans to serve as an intern this summer in the science policy division of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. In the future, Ben hopes to utilize social entrepreneurship and business tactics to bring biological and medical technologies to citizens of impoverished countries. In his free time, Ben enjoys hiking, biking, running, swimming and SCUBA diving.

Ken Gerold

Ken, originally from Stony Brook, New York, is a sophomore majoring in Political Science and Economics. In high school he developed leadership and business skills through time spent as a martial arts instructor and his management of a peer-tutoring program. Ken has worked in Congress, has spent countless hours drafting letters and making photocopies at a law firm, and currently conducts research in the areas of political elections and international security. His other academic interests include political theory, Arabic, and race relations in America. He enjoys road trips, and recently completed a trip across the country. Ken is a fixture at the Ford Center basketball courts, as he, like many other Stanford students, finds himself in the category of "I played in high school but would have a better chance of winning the lottery than making the team here." Upon graduation, he hopes to attend law school and manage a start-up with a group of friends.

Alex Jacquet

Alex is a sophomore majoring in Public Policy. In high school, Alex and a friend started a web-based importation company that specializes in delivering wholesale Playstation® accessories from Hong Kong to Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Alex was captain of his high school tennis team and was ranked #42 in the nation in squash. When not playing on the junior squash circuit, Alex was an instructor for SquashBusters, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that teaches inner-city youth the game of squash combined with academic tutoring programs. In the summer and autumn of 2003, Alex worked for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's Press Office, where he began an interest in public service, also working at the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans. At Stanford, Alex is a member of the Men's hockey team and a member of the Alpha Omega Chapter of Sigma Chi. Alex is excited to be a part of this fascinating social entrepreneurship opportunity.

Melanie Kannokada

Melanie is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Economics. Growing up in the suburb of Buffalo Grove, IL, she took up the martial art of karate which soon became a passion of hers. By high school, she had won several national competitions and during her sophomore and junior years placed in international competitions. Earning her way to a 2nd degree black belt she also worked as an assistant karate intstructor. Building on this leadership experience she actively became involved in several organizations at her high school from math team to student government. She also served as two-year varsity captain of the Coed Cheerleading squad which won both the state and national competitions her junior year. Her business experience began with her first lemonade stand at the age of 6, progressed into running a concession stand at a local park, and furthered as she held summer jobs in her karate club office and a law firm. At Stanford, she served as president of her freshman dorm and is currently a member of the TaeKwondo, Cheerleading, and Hindi Film Dance teams. She serves as Alumnae Relations Chair for the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and will be the Residential Computer Consultant there next year. Her interests in international development and community service led her to spend last summer in rural India teaching English and math to elementary students while learning about watershed development. Next year, she will continue her leadership and service endeavors as President of the Junior Class. Outside of school, she enjoys playing the piano, dancing, and acting. She loves organizing and improving things. Her roommate at Stanford is baffled at the fact that she has rearranged her room at least 15 times this year! After graduation, Melanie plans to work as a consultant or create a start-up with her peers.

Patricia Leung

Pat is a sophomore from beautiful San Diego, California, and will probably be majoring in Biology. Up until coming to Stanford, she has worked primarily with Alzheimer's and health recovery patients, and even befriended the court reporter for the Manson trial during her 3 years volunteering. Last year at Stanford, she played in a seven man reggae band. She currently volunteers for the Arbor Free Clinic held at the VA hospital every Sunday at Menlo Park, helping to provide medical services to the underserved. At Arbor, she also serves as both a committee member as well as the Physician Staffing and Recruitment Chair. In the past, Pat has worked extensively in research labs including the Scripps Research Institute, UCSD Cellular and Molecular Biology Department, and the Burnham Institute. Her most interesting research involves finding ways to target proliferating cells such as the blood vessels of tumors in order to program their cell death and kill the tumor indirectly. Despite her science background, she is also very interested in human rights and immigration issues, especially with the ethnic conflict in Bujumbura. Outside of school, Pat has a passion for rowing and Rachmaninoff. Though her passion for rowing and Rachmaninoff have nothing to do with Japan, she plans on living there eventually.

Lora Oehlberg

Lora is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering. While in high school in Los Altos, California, she volunteered for four years as a docent with the Los Altos History Museum and worked as a freelance writer at the Los Altos Town Crier for two years. Last summer she worked on an independent design project called "iX" at the Stanford Center for Design Research. Working in a self-directed team of four undergrads, the iX team developed a working prototype of an interactive table in 3 months. Lora is currently an active member in the Society of Women Engineers, serving as Webmistress for the Stanford Student Section and as the Region A Newsletter Editor for student and professional sections in Northern California, Nevada, and Hawaii. She has played violin and piano for 15 years, and still pursues violin lessons in her spare time through Stanford's music department. This summer she will be working as a summer intern at Xerox PARC. In the future, she hopes to pursue a graduate degree in ME and go into product design and development.

Mike Scotto

Mike is a sophomore majoring in Economics and International Relations. His work experience includes an assistant at a law firm for two years and a sports editor at the Stanford Daily. In addition, he is currently a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity and spins a weekly show as a disc jockey on KZSU Stanford. Further, he has worked in the past at community service organizations such as the Childcare Coordinating Council and East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring (EPATT). Mike's career goals include are not clearly defined but may include law and its application to non-profit organizations.

Jesus Javier Tellez

J.J. is a sophomore majoring in International Relations and Political Science. Hailing from Ensenada, Mexico, J.J. became very involved with non-profit work in high school. His experience includes volunteering as General Coordinator for two years for a nationwide NGO called SELIDER (Be a leader), which seeks to empower underprivileged middle school students and encourage them to go to college. He also worked for two summers as an interpreter and volunteer for a transnational NGO called Genesis Expeditions/Diez A.C. which seeks to improve life experiences for Mexican orphan kids in the Baja California state in cooperation with American volunteers. Other volunteer positions include work with CUNA A.C. (Native Cultures of Baja California) seeking the care and preservation of Mexican indigenous groups. Most recently, at Stanford, he organized a two-week program for Japanese students from Tokyo University as a Treat Fellow with Volunteers in Asia; as part of the Fellowship, he will be participating in study trip to Japan and Thailand in September. J.J. enjoys the performing arts, the outdoors through rock climbing, amateur photography, and kayaking. He is an active member of the Stanford Canoe and Kayak Team, the 2003 USACK's Collegiate Champions. He seeks to fuse his outdoor and public service interests with his leadership skills, management, and logistics experiences in a professional career most probably in the civil society sector.

Chris Turitzin

Chris is a sophomore at pursuing a degree in Product Design with a minor in Psychology. His design interests are focused around sustainable development. He is interested in the influential effect of the designer on the environment, and would like to help our civilization move gracefully and sustainably into the future. His first business startup was the Internet-based business, ThinkTee, with hopefully more to come in the future. While not working Chris likes to go biking (anywhere from 5-500 miles), and exploring random cities.

Corina Yen

Corina is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Her family lives in Lexington, MA (previously residing in Avon, CT and Santa Monica, CA). She attended Phillips Exeter Academy for high school. Her experience in design comes from a project she completed with two other undergraduates at the Center of Design Research last summer. The team designed and built a prototype of an interactive table that displays Web sites of international newspapers linked, through a tangible object that selects location, to countries on a large scale map. The Map News Table is intended to increase international awareness of current events and encourage social consciousness and interaction. Journalism is one of her major interests. Reporting is exciting for her because she gets to learn about people and what they do and facilitate increasing people's social awareness. She is a staff writer and was a news editor for The Stanford Daily. She also wrote and was an editor for her high school's weekly newspaper and was a feature reporter for her local newspaper. She hopes to have a career in design. In her free time, she enjoys social dance and crossword puzzles.

Graduate Team Members

Ashanthi Mathai

Ashanthi grew up in Sri Lanka and has worked as a management consultant in the healthcare and technology industries. Most recently, she was a Senior Consultant at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC, a best practices research and consulting firm serving 2,000 hospitals and health systems in the US. She has a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Studies from Princeton University and a Master's in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. She is currently obtaining her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with certificates in global management, public management, and innovative manufacturing and operations. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the Stanford Episcopal Church and is outgoing CFO of the business school's Healthcare and Biotech Club.

Heidi Natkin

Heidi is a second-year MBA student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to returning to school, Heidi worked for a short time as a Legislative Correspondent on Capitol Hill and spent three years working in international development. She spent two of those years working on-site in Bolivia on a sustainable agriculture program. At Stanford, she has served as the Co-curricular Committee Chair for the Public Management Program and led a GSB-sponsored trip to Peru to study the opportunities and barriers to economic development in that country. Heidi has a holds a BA in Political Economy from Williams College and an MA in Government from the University of Texas at Austin.

Steve Walsh

Steve is currently in his first-year of the MBA program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is particularly interested in international development, and spent the summer prior to business school working with a non-profit in rural Ghana on implementing a new micro-finance program. Prior to starting at Stanford, Steve was a Senior Associate Consultant at The Bridgespan Group, a consulting firm dedicated to working with non-profit organizations. Steve worked at Bridgespan in San Francisco, where his work focused on assisting foundations and direct service organizations design and implement new strategies. Steve joined Bridgespan after spending three years at the management consulting firm Bain & Company, in Toronto and Sydney.