Social Impact Career Mentoring Program
Mentoring hours offered through the Center for Social Sector Leadership pairs students with experienced professionals in the social impact sector for 30-60 minute sessions. Students interested in working in the social impact sector will benefit from first-hand information on the best ways to enter the constantly evolving industry and to make their way professionally. Mentoring hours will be offered during the Spring and Fall semesters.
For more information on social impact career opportunities:
- Visit our Career Resources page
- Contact an MBA Student Advisor or Career Coach
- Join our LinkedIn group for regular job postings
Past Alumni Mentors:
Cindy Chen, Strategy and Analysis Officer, Skoll Meera Chary, Consultant, The Bridgespan Group Amy Omand, Controller, NewSchools Venture Fund
Megan Ryskamp | Social Impact Team, Google |
Flora Kuo | Director of Product, Schoolzilla |
Nicole Ballin | Co-Founder & COO, UpEnergy |
Chris Grapes | Senior Consultant, FSG |
Rafa de la Guía | Investment Associate, Omidyar Network |
Roxanne Miller | Portfolio Director, REDF |
Abi Ridgway | Senior Consultant, FSG |
Wes Selke | Founding Director, Hub Ventures & Investment Manager, Good Capital |
Delphine Sherman | Director of Finance, Aspire Public Schools |
Elizabeth Singleton | Strategy Officer, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation |
Paul Maa | Private Equity, New Island Capital, Inc. |
Dana Ledyard | Managing Director, Girls Who Code |
Corinna Kester | Consultant, BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) |
Aylin Bell | Associate Director of Program Services, WestEd |
Wendy Walker | Senior Investment Director, Cambridge Associates |

Megan Ryskamp
MBA 09
does business development for Google’s Social Impact team. She forms partnerships with nonprofits, foundations, governments, and companies that build Google products for the common good–from supporting nonprofit effectiveness to enabling greater civic engagement. She previously worked on emerging markets and channel sales strategy for Adobe Systems, and helped expand Cisco’s flagship Corporate Social Responsibility online technology education program to Africa. She received a degree in International Relations and Spanish from Stanford University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.

Flora Kuo
MBA 13
is currently the Director of Product at Schoolzilla, an Oakland-based education technology start up building data tools and products for schools and districts. Prior to Schoolzilla, Flora worked at Deloitte Consulting, Aspire Public Schools, Microsoft, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She is a two time graduate of UC Berkeley, studying Business, Psychology, and Education as an undergraduate and more recently received her MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

Nicole Ballin
MBA 10
is a co-founder and COO of UpEnergy and is responsible for day-to-day operations of the business as well as project implementation of UpEnergy’s flagship carbon cookstove distribution project in Uganda. Nicole came to UpEnergy with five years experience in the financial sector working in operations and business management roles at UBS and Deutsche Bank, respectively. Nicole has spent the past three years involved in the social enterprise field with experience in micro-finance, social investment, and social entrepreneurship. Nicole holds an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in International Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Cindy Chen
MBA 10
as the Strategy and Analysis Officer, helps advance the foundation’s investment decisions through application of contextual intelligence and pattern identification. Cindy and her team identify and assess inflection points across issues and geographies and brings those timely insights to foundation programs working in investments, partnerships, and the Forum. In addition, Cindy manages the Skoll Foundation’s network of academic knowledge partners, including the Skoll Centre-Oxford research agenda. Prior to joining Skoll in 2010, Cindy worked in the private and non-profit sector advising organizations on their strategy and operations.

Meera Chary
MBA 08
is currently a consultant with The Bridgespan Group, a nonprofit organization that advises mission-driven organizations and philanthropists through consulting, leadership, and executive search services. At Bridgespan, her focus is on K-12 education, and she has worked with a variety of direct-service and foundation clients. Prior to joining the Bridgespan Group, she was a consultant at Bain & Company’s San Francisco office, where she worked on engagements across a variety of industries, including retail, media, and higher education. After receiving her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, Meera served two years for the United States Peace Corps in the Mbarara District of Uganda. She received her MBA at the Haas School of Business, where she also served as the co-president of the Leadership in Education Club.

Chris Grapes
MBA 11
is a Senior Consultant at FSG, a mission-driven consulting firm supporting leaders in creating large-scale, lasting social change. During her time at FSG, Chris has helped form a corporate road safety coalition, evaluated the effectiveness of a common core nonprofit provider, and developed frameworks to integrate shared value in brands.Prior to joining FSG, Chris worked as a manager at Deloitte Consulting, managing project teams for public, corporate, and nonprofit clients in the areas of change management, organization design, and leadership. Prior to Deloitte, Chris worked at Unilever for five years managing brands and product innovations on Dove, AXE, and Degree, with responsibilities in P&L management, consumer insight, and brand strategy.

Rafa de la Guía
MBA 12
is an Investment Associate at Omidyar Network where he helps structure and manage investments in for-profit and nonprofit organizations across the Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion and Mobile Technology initiatives. He focuses on Latin America and other emerging markets. He began his career at UBS Investment Bank as an analyst in the global healthcare group based in London. He later served as an investment associate at MezzVest, a leading European mezzanine debt fund manager. Rafa has also worked for WRI – New Ventures, a sustainable business accelerator in Mexico, and Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund based in New York. Rafa received an MBA from the Haas School of Business where he was a C.J. White Grant recipient and Mutua Madrileña Fellow.

Roxanne Miller
MBA 09
is a Portfolio Director at REDF. She works with social enterprise organizations to help them meet their goals through hands-on business assistance projects, such as market research and financial analysis, as well as business mentoring. Additionally, she supports REDF’s portfolio due diligence, social enterprise consultant pool, Farber Program, and field advancement. Prior to joining REDF, Roxanne was an MBA Enterprise Corps member managing a business assistance program in Tanzania and Bolivia for the Grassroots Business Fund. Over the course of her career, Roxanne was an Associate with the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a Marketing Manager for the small business divisions of American Express and Yahoo! and an Analyst for Oliver Wyman (formerly Mercer Management Consulting). Roxanne holds a BA in Communication from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from U.C. Berkeley.

Abi Ridgway
MBA 11
is currently a consultant with FSG, a non-profit social impact consulting firm. Her work there is focused on harnessing the power of corporations to solve social problems at a large scale, helping organizations work collectively for greater impact, and by guiding effective philanthropy. Prior to joining FSG, Abi worked in a variety of consultative and analytical roles across public and private sectors. She has worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company, as a health policy analyst at Harvard’s School of Public Health, a quality and operations improvement associate at Kaiser Permanente, and a macroeconomic analyst at the Federal Reserve Board. As a Fulbright Scholar, Abi evaluated and promoted the work of leading social entrepreneurs in Mexico and Central America for Ashoka. Abi has an MBA and MPH from UC Berkeley, and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth.

Wes Selke
MBA 07
is Founding Director of Hub Ventures, a startup accelerator for entrepreneurs leveraging the power of technology to build a better world. Hub Ventures, which is part of the Global Accelerator Network championed by TechStars, helps world-changing entrepreneurs build their startups better and faster with seed funding, mentorship, peer collaboration, workshops, and investor connections. Wes is also the Investment Manager for Good Capital’s Social Enterprise Expansion Fund, where he leads deal sourcing, due diligence, transaction execution, and portfolio management. He is actively engaged with the portfolio as Chairman of the Board for Alter Eco Americas and as Board Observer for Better World Books and Adina for Life. Wes has ten years of investment management and transaction experience in the financial services industry and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. Prior to Good Capital, he spent two years as an Equity Research Associate at William Blair & Company covering the Digital Media Sector, and four years with Ernst & Young Corporate Finance where he advised privately held companies on mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring transactions. Wes earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a BBA from the University of Michigan with an emphasis in Finance and Accounting. Wes is passionate about economic justice and has worked with a variety of organizations that are seeking to alleviate global poverty. He is also an active member of Christ Church East Bay, where he serves on the Financial Advisory Board.

Delphine Sherman
MBA 06
is the Director of Finance at Aspire Public Schools, a non-profit organization that builds and operates high quality public charter schools to prepare urban students for college. Prior to joining Aspire, Delphine was the VP of Client Services at EdTec, working with dozens of charter schools across the state in a financial and operational capacity. Before joining the education finance field, Delphine was a Senior Consulting Associate at Cambridge Associates, consulting to foundations and endowments on their investment strategy and manager selection. Delphine is a graduate of Dartmouth College and has an MBA from UC Berkeley. She has also served on several non-profit boards in the Bay Area, as well as currently serving as a Finance Committee member of Bullis Charter School.

Elizabeth Singleton
MBA 08

Paul Maa
MBA 13
is an Associate at New Island Capital, Inc., focused on private equity investments in the areas of alternative energy and the environment. Prior to joining New Island, he worked at
Room to Read, a social venture with infrastructure and education operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Previously, Paul was a private equity professional at Gryphon Investors, where he was responsible for investments in consumer and industrial sectors, and an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, where he focused on M&A, debt, and equity offerings for industrial companies. Paul has also served as Co-Chair of the Global Social Venture Competition and currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund. Paul holds a BA in Mathematical Methods from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Dana Ledyard
MBA 12
with ten years of experience spanning technology, youth development, and international philanthropy, is passionate about building organizations and programs to effectively drive social impact. In her current role as Managing Director of Girls Who Code, Dana is leading the organization’s expansion to bring computer science education to girls across the country, including building the organization’s staff, developing curriculum, overseeing impact assessment, and managing partnerships with technology companies including Twitter, Intel, eBay, and more.
Dana completed an MBA at the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley) where she focused on corporate social responsibility and nonprofit leadership and worked at organizations including Google.org and the Salesforce Foundation. Prior to Haas, Dana held roles with the International Youth Foundation and GlobalGiving, helping both organizations scale their reach and impact through building partnerships and developing organizational infrastructure to support growth. Dana holds a BA in Economics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she studied as a Morehead Scholar.

Corinna Kester
MBA 12
combines a strong technical background with expertise in facilitation and change management, and works with companies in the information and communications technology, consumer products, and food, beverage, and agriculture sectors. Corinna’s areas of expertise include environmental strategy, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable procurement. Prior to joining BSR, Corinna worked as a sustainability consultant at KEMA, where she advised companies on sustainable real estate and facility management. She also served as the first sustainability coordinator of the University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest single-campus universities in the country. Corinna has an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds an M.Phil. in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.

Aylin Bell
MBA 05
serves as Associate Director of Program Services at WestEd. Bell develops and implements strategies that complement WestEd’s mission, pursues new business partnerships, and supports strategic proposals. Focused primarily on supporting WestEd’s direct services to schools and districts, Bell provides business planning and marketing assistance to programs across WestEd.

Amy Omand
MBA 07
brings her love of accounting and financial savvy to Tipping Point Community because she wants to use these skills to make an impact in the Bay Area. She previously was the Controller at Revolution Foods, a company with the mission of bringing healthy school lunches to all school children. She also held finance and accounting roles at Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, and the public accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Amy studied Accounting at Georgetown, received her MBA from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and is a CPA in California and a Certified Nonprofit Accountant.

Wendy Walker
MBA 11
is a Senior Investment Director at Cambridge Associates in Menlo Park. She works with a number of museum, university, hospital and other nonprofit institutions with assets from $90 million to $900 million on investment issues such as asset allocation strategy, manager selection and investment program evaluation. Prior to joining Cambridge Associates, Wendy was a securities analyst at Argus Research, where she co-managed four model portfolios and published equity research on media and business service companies. She also worked as an MBA intern on the investment teams at Imprint Capital Advisors, focusing on socially responsible and environmental-themed investment managers, and at Parnassus Investments, incorporating environmental, social and governance analysis into industry and company-specific research. Wendy is a former vice chair of the Sustainable Investing Committee of the New York Society of Security Analysts.
Mentoring sessions with Wendy have been filled. Please look for additional opportunities to meet with mentors during October, November, February, March and April.