11 Women Awarded FWSF Scholarships in 2020

Tanu is the youngest, first-generation MBA student, specializing in finance, at the University of San Francisco. She was a commerce major during her undergraduate degree in India and graduated with a perfect GPA in May, 2019. She was the President of her college's Debating Club, the Treasurer for the Theatre Society, and was awarded a Roll of Honor for her extra-curricular contributions. She is now on the board for USF’s Challenge for Charity chapter, devotes her time to the Malloy Consulting Group, and is running for President of  the Graduate Student Board at USF. She wants to pursue a career in FP&A and ultimately sees herself establishing a Financial Consultancy for SMEs in India to harness their entrepreneurial capabilities and impart financial wellness.

Catherine Berner is a graduate student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), and earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley. She is studying renewable energy infrastructure and plans to start her own energy company. Catherine has spent four years working in Naivasha, Kenya for an award-winning waste-to-energy startup. She built the Product Development team from the ground up and played a key role in management as the company grew from 3 to 90 employees. Through her work, Catherine won the UC Berkeley Big Ideas competition, ASME iShow, and US Patent for Humanity Award. Catherine believes that when done right - infrastructure benefits individuals, nations, and the planet. Upon graduation, Catherine wants to continue to find ways to invest in sustainable infrastructure in emerging markets.

Tulika is pursuing a Wharton Executive MBA with focus on finance and venture capital. Tulika completed her undergraduate degree in Physics and earned a Masters in Computer Science from University of Delhi. Tulika was the first female in a family of approximately 50 to obtain a Masters degree. Currently, she is a Senior Manager at Adobe in San Jose, leading a multi-million dollar enterprise product, and responsible for product pricing, market sizing and development roadmap. As a next step, she wants to lead a business as a GM leading P&L, marketing, sales and operations. She wants to leverage the learnings from this next step to achieve her long-term career objective of starting a social enterprise, aimed at helping women around the world achieve better lives through financial independence.

Cheyun Lee is an MBA student concentrating in Finance at Santa Clara University, where she has taken on numerous leadership roles. Cheyun founded the Unicorn Venture Capital club in 2020 and has led the Entrepreneurs Connection club as a co-President since 2019. She has also served on the Ciocca Center Student Advisory Board. 

Prior to attending Santa Clara University, she founded a design product brand, Tables and Figures. Cheyun, a first-generation immigrant from South Korea, is dedicated to representing and advocating for domestic violence victims to community leaders and policymakers in the San Francisco Bay Area. She aspires to help the victims overcome financial difficulties through advanced technology.

Nicole Ly is pursuing her MSFA at the University of San Francisco. and earned a Bachelor of Business Information Systems from RMIT University. She is a CMA and CPIM professional and was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society. Before moving to the Bay Area, Nicole worked in an international coffee trading company in Vietnam, where she developed an interest in commodity trading and international finance. She led multiple projects at Amyris and Peet's Coffee to streamline workflows and communications, significantly improving business efficiency. She is currently a Finance Manager – Manufacturing and Quality at BioMarin. Nicole volunteers as a Board Treasurer for a non-profit library in Palo Alto. Nicole’s dream is to build a financial services company catering to the Vietnamese community.

Kaajal Narayan will be attending Saint Mary’s College of California in the Fall of 2020, where she will be pursuing a Master’s of Science in Accounting. She earned her BA in accounting from San Francisco State. While at San Francisco State she interned with UpNest, Esurance, Mission Bio and RSM LLP, developing immersive industry and public accounting experience.

Kaajal is passionate about community involvement, volunteering with the San Bruno Chamber of Commerce, The Salvation Army and San Mateo County Libraries. Kaajal was also Treasurer of INC^3, an organization that supports student innovation. Kaajal’s goal during graduate school is to complete her CPA certification and join one of the Big Four accounting firms to focus on larger technological and social change.

Halle Sullivan is a Senior, completing her Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree at Saint Mary's College of California (SMC). She will be continuing her education at SMC where she plans to pursue her masters in accounting. In pursuit of her CPA license, she has been awarded a scholarship from CalCPA, East Bay Chapter. She is a Division I softball player for Saint Mary's and also a softball coach, helping young women pursue a higher education. In August she plans to start as an Audit Associate for Sensiba San Filippo LLP. Her ultimate goal is to give public seminars on innovations in accounting and be a voice for women. She would love to learn how to empower other women, teaching them how to speak confidently about their fields of study.

Wenshan earned her bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China. She began her career as a Product Engineer at China Resource, and eventually transitioned into Corporate Strategy and Finance at Dräxlmaier and Tesla. She then found her passion for blending technology with finance and began to find solutions aimed at developing autonomous vehicles with financial sustainability. Currently, she is a Finance and Business Operation lead of R&D at Tesla. Wenshan is pursuing a Wharton Executive MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship, finance, and strategy. She is also passionate about women’s empowerment and upliftment and aims to set up an organization that will focus on increasing employability for women in AI, Robotics, and Autonomous Driving.

Alana is an undergraduate student at Santa Clara University studying Accounting and Information Systems. After graduation, Alana hopes to work in Public Accounting in the Tax service line offering. Alana is involved in the professional business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, at Santa Clara, where she has been a member for three years, and has worked as the chair of the Fundraising Committee and as a secretary. Additionally, Alana has been a Resident Assistant (called Community Facilitators at SCU) for two years in the Sanfilippo Residence Hall, where she serves as a role model to the first year and sophomore residents of the building. Alana specifically enjoys serving as a mentor to other women of color pursuing leadership roles in their communities.

Mariela Rodriguez-Morales is an undergraduate at University of San Francisco, double majoring in Accounting & International Business. At MILPA, a non-profit focused on cultivating changemakers by advocating for public policy, she was able to lobby for Senate Bill 1391, which was eventually signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. She performs outreach for community events across Monterey County. Mariela demonstrated leadership by carrying full responsibility for 50% of the operations of the family trucking business. She has accepted an offer as an intern at Deloitte this upcoming summer. She hopes to build upon these experiences while pursuing other meaningful learning opportunities.

Collett Simonian is an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley, studying Business Administration and Economics, with a minor in Data Science. On campus, she consults with Healthcare Companies through a student-run group, and serves as VP of Corporate Relations for Berkeley Women in Business, where she fosters dialogue on gender equity. While VP of Finance in the Armenian Students’ Association, she launched a mentorship program with over 80 participants to provide career guidance to students from immigrant families. Outside of school, Collett volunteers at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center. To develop her interest in finance, Collett is interning in Investment Banking at Citi this summer. After graduation, her goal is to launch a venture capital fund dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in modernizing healthcare institutions globally.