Staff
Pamela Hawley
Founder and CEO
phawley@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Pamela Hawley is founder and CEO of UniversalGiving, a social entrepreneurship
nonprofit organization whose vision is to "create a world where giving and volunteering
is a natural part of everyday life." UniversalGiving is an award-winning, web-based
nonprofit allowing people to give and volunteer with the top performing projects and
volunteer opportunities across the world. UniversalGiving Corporate is a customized
version for companies, which helps launch corporate global philanthropy and volunteer
programs across the world for companies such as Cisco and BEA. UniversalGiving has
been featured in CNNMoney.com,
New York Times, L.A. Times. Ms. Hawley was a co-founder of VolunteerMatch, a
nonprofit which has matched more than two million volunteers with nonprofits. She
launched VolunteerMatch Corporate (VMC), a customized version for corporations and
their employee volunteer programs. More than 20 Fortune 500 companies became clients
under her management (Charles Schwab, Coca-Cola, Dell, Duke Energy, Gap, Levi's,
Merrill Lynch, Microsoft, Nike and Verizon) which contributed to 43% of the organization's sustainability.
Ms. Hawley's community service began at the age of 12, and has extended into the
international realm. She has worked and volunteered in microfinance in remote
villages of India; crisis relief work in the El Salvador earthquake; digital divide
training in the Killing Fields of Cambodia; and sustainable farming in the countryside
of Guatemala. Her studies include a political science degree cum laude at Duke
University and scholarship in international/communications masters at The Annenberg
School of Communications, USC. She is now a guest lecturer at USC School of Business
and has spoken at Business for Social Responsibility, Ethical Corporation, Forbes'
Conference for Women and UCLA and Stanford Business Schools on numerous topics
including Corporate Social Responsibility; International Strategy and Expansion;
Global Philanthropy and Volunteerism; Social Entrepreneurship; and the Web. Ms.
Hawley also loves improv, dancing and her two nephews and niece.
Read Pamela's blog, Living and Giving for thoughts about giving, volunteering, and how to live a meaningful life!
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Why I am involved:
"At the age of 12, I witnessed extreme poverty in Mexico. From this
experience grew a lifelong commitment to service through social entrepreneurship. In 1999, I expanded
my commitment as well as my understanding of the sector through international service trips and
volunteering opportunities with various NGOs."
Tricia Collins
COO
tcollins@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Tricia Collins is UniversalGiving's COO responsible for general operations management, human resources, and team productivity. Ms. Collins determines operational priorities for each business unit, aligning them with UniversalGiving's strategy and goals. She works to ensure a high level of efficiency in each business unit, and effectiveness in working with each team member to help them reach their full potential. She works directly with the CEO to accomplish the objectives of UniversalGiving's Social Return on Investment report, which measures UniversalGiving's results and impact within our worldwide communities.
Ms. Collins possesses a diverse operations background within for-profit and non-profit organization, focusing on the use of technology to reach strategic business objectives. While working for NIKE, she served as the business analyst between key business units and the technology department, facilitating the successful launch of a global product creation intranet tool, the first of its kind for NIKE. While at the non-profit, Friends of the Children, she assisted the national replication of a successful Oregon-based at-risk child mentor program to new sites all over the United States. Along with her 8 years of operations experience, she has 5 years of front-line education experience teaching in impoverished inner-city and international environments. Her interest in social impact originated with teaching in inner-city Los Angeles for Teach For America, leading a study abroad program in Spain, and doing her own service project work in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. She graduated Cum Laude from Duke University with majors in Spanish and Psychology. Her post-graduate studies include a Diploma of Hispanic Studies from the Fundaci?n Ortega y Gasset in Toledo, Spain, and a Professional Clear Credential for education with bilingual emphasis.
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Why I am involved:
"Many people have the desire and intention to donate and volunteer in communities of need. Their primary obstacles are access to quality opportunities, and trust that their aid will be given directly to those who need it. Universal Giving is the perfect remedy to both of these uncertainties, enabling people to move from intention to action. I'm honored to be a part of it."
Sonali Arurkar
Vice President, NGO Services
sarurkar@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Prior to joining UniversalGiving, Ms. Arurkar built and scaled VolunteerMatch's national nonprofit partnership program. As the head of the nonprofit partnership
program, Ms. Arurkar was responsible for creating, executing and managing all aspects of the business unit, including operations, business strategy, partner acquisition and management, and marketing. She acquired 15 national partnerships with national organizations including AARP, American Red Cross, Goodwill Industries International, National CASA, American Humane Association, America's Second Harvest, Save the Children, Hostelling International, and National 4-H Council. At VolunteerMatch,
Ms. Arurkar was also director of community services. In this role her responsibilities included managing all aspects of client service to nonprofits and volunteers.
Ms. Arurkar has significant experience working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector for organizations including UNICEF, Camp Fire USA, Children Now, National
Center for Education and the Economy, and Business for Social Responsibility. Ms. Arurkar has traveled throughout India and is passionate about improving the plight of children in developing countries. She holds a B.S. in Education from Cornell University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Goldman School at U.C. Berkeley.
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Why I am involved:
"During frequent trips to India, I saw the dire living conditions in which much of the world's population lives. I also became acutely aware of the effects of poverty on children while serving on the Board of Directors of UNICEF. Convinced that philanthropy and community involvement can break the cycle of poverty and significantly improve lives, I see UniversalGiving as a vehicle to effect meaningful change around the world."
Claudia Frere
Director of Corporate Services
cfrere@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Claudia Frere leads Corporate Client Service for UniversalGiving's Fortune 500 corporate partners. Ms. Frere manages their international CSR programs through UniversalGiving Corporate services. She focuses on helping companies increase corporate giving and volunteering across the world, while positively affecting corporate brand and their bottom line. Ms. Frere's professional background involves over thirteen years of client relations and product management experience. Starting her career in the
financial services industry, Ms. Frere worked with high-profile corporate accounts for trustee services and held positions at Barclays Global Investors and Merrill Lynch. She transformed her corporate management skills
towards social impact and became VolunteerMatch's Group Director of Client Services where she launched and implemented over forty corporate social responsibility programs, managed a revenue portfolio and extended the
service and product line operations.
Ms. Frere is dedicated to delivering tangible results for social impact and is committed to value creation that changes the world. She graduated Cum Laude in Politics from the University of San Francisco with an emphasis in
Political Development Theory. Ms. Frere has an MBA in Corporate Social Responsibility from Nottingham University Business School ( Nottingham , UK ) where she was awarded a full scholarship by the International Centre for
Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR). During her tenure, she helped launch the business school's Net Impact chapter where she led post-graduate members for environmental engagement programs, speaking events and community
initiatives.
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Why I am involved:
"UniversalGiving provides relationships and connections for global social issues. I love being a part of a vision that is helping to alleviate social issues by taking action now."
Anne Sweeny
Operations Manager
asweeny@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Anne Sweeny plays a central role with UniversalGiving as Operations Manager. Ms. Sweeny is responsible for execution on operational priorities, ensuring UniversalGiving's business units are operating efficiently and effectively toward organizational results. Ms. Sweeny manages project execution and resource coordination against organizational timelines and goals. Ms. Sweeny also executes on operations for UniversalGiving's corporate clientele, focusing on streamlined communications and well-functioning operations that support UniversalGiving's high standard of quality.
Ms. Sweeny offers a wide breadth of knowledge in the areas of executive operations, client service, and technology systems solutions. Ms. Sweeny brings more than six years experience working in the corporate world, as a business consultant, project manager, and web applications developer for high-profile Fortune 100 and SMB corporate clients across the country. Ms. Sweeny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Psychology and Organizational Systems, and completion of a pre-medical curriculum and Biophysics research from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is dedicated to leveraging her diverse experiences to help make the world a better place, and strongly believes that organizations both corporate and nonprofit can help lead the way for individuals.
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Why I am involved:
"I have a passion for recognizing gaps and doing whatever I can to bridge divides, whether between Science and Art, Nature and Nurture, Brain and Heart, the cultures of Korea and America, or the worlds of Corporate and Nonprofit. This curiosity and drive to create common ground among all living beings has led me to UniversalGiving. The vision of UniversalGiving, to create a world where giving and volunteering are a natural part of everyday life, is in perfect alignment with my hope for a unified world in our lifetime."
Alex Stillo
Lead System Administrator
(full bio)
Alex Stillo leads System Administration for UniversalGiving, addressing numerous areas in UniversalGiving's entrepreneurial environment. Mr. Stillo over 12 years experience working in Information Technology with a career reflecting strong leadership coupled with "hands-on" Systems and networking expertise in all areas related to Information Technology. This includes his proven ability to translate business needs into technology requirements that support the company?s business objectives and to successfully manage all phases of IT projects from needs analysis and requirements definition to vendor selection, implementation, and training. He is passionate about technology and likes to stay on top of the latest trends so he can better understand where it's heading and to find ways to implement these technologies in a time and cost savings working environment.
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Why I am involved:
"I have witnessed the hardships of others and have made efforts in my life to help out in my local community where I can and wanted to expand my reach to others around the world. UniversalGiving has given me this opportunity to be part of an organization that helps others around the world less fortunate and where I can use my technical background to keep their systems running efficiently within this wonderful organization."
Mark Johnson
Engineer Consultant
(full bio)
Mark Johnson has been engineering server-side Java/database applications for over 10 years, working for large businesses, startups, non-profits, and open source projects. Most recently Mr. Johnson comes from the Internet Archive where he was the technical lead of the Books Group. During his stay 100,000 public domain books were digitized and uploaded to the Archive for free distribution over the Internet.
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Why I am involved:
"I am excited by the potential of information technology
and the global network to change the nature of philanthropy, and to ameliorate the suffering in the less advantaged parts of the world."
Kevin Yeung
Engineering Consultant
(full bio)
Kevin Yeung has over 13 years of IT experience in software engineering from developing standalone desktop applications to complex, enterprise level web applications used to manage data and contents used by millions of online users. His diverse software experience includes working for large corporations, software start-ups, non-profits and educational institutions and spanning the telecommunication, software, banking, legal and marketing industries.
Mr. Yeung has a strong technical educational background with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and Master's degrees in Business Administration and Engineering. He is currently completing his thesis for his third master's degree in Quality Assurance. In his free time, Mr. Yeung enjoys studying European and East Asian art, literature and history; watching BBC and PBS Classic drama and first-rate foreign films released by Criterion and Janus Films; and enjoying long nature hikes.
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Why I am involved:
"UniversalGiving provides me with a very unique opportunity to leverage my technical skills in web technologies to match enthusiastic and passionate donors and volunteers from across the globe with world-class non-profit organizations and their very worthy and altruistic causes."
Mariela Cedeno
NGO Services Coordinator
mcedeno@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Mariela is the NGO Services Coordinator at UniversalGiving. On a daily basis she works to provide excellent client service to both UniversalGiving's NGO Partners and Corporate Clients. Mariela is also responsible for revising and implementing UniversalGiving's Quality Model to ensure that UniversalGiving donors and volunteers are matched with top-performing projects around the world.
Having been born and raised in Venezuela, Mariela has always been driven by a want to give back to our global community. In all realms of her academic, professional, and personal journey she has sought to expand her understanding and commitment to changing the pervasive global inequalities that force people to endure living in abject poverty.
Mariela attended the University of California, Davis where she attained a B.A. in Economics with honors, and a B.A. in International Relations with honors. She later went on to pursue a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies with an emphasis in Development at Vanderbilt University. She has worked in various Non-Profit organizations focusing in the fields of international economic development and human rights.
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Why I am involved:
"Because the world is a much smaller place than we think. We are part of a global community where every human being deserves to live a life of dignity in which they are healthy, have access to education and food, live peacefully, feel economically secure, and live and thrive in a clean environment. I have a passion for international giving, volunteering, and social change, and UniversalGiving is a great vehicle to foster my deep commitment to this cause."
Cheryl Mahoney
Marketing Associate
cmahoney@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Cheryl Mahoney works primarily in marketing with UniversalGiving. She researches online opportunities for marketing and outreach, looking into blogs and other websites for ways to spread awareness of UniversalGiving as a resource for everyone interested in making giving and/or volunteering a part of their life. She also works on marketing partnership opportunities and leads UniversalGiving's SEO efforts. Ms. Mahoney manages and writes for PhilanthroPost, UniversalGiving's blog, which shares resources for giving and volunteering.
Ms. Mahoney views both writing and volunteering as integral parts of her own life, and is glad to be able to combine them for UniversalGiving. She has made volunteering a priority, working regularly with the San Francisco Haight Ashbury Food Program and the Salvation Army's Tenderloin Community Center. She has always found volunteering to be as enriching for the volunteer as for the people being served.
Ms. Mahoney is a graduate of the University of San Francisco, where she was an English major with an emphasis on writing. She grew up in Sacramento, CA.
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Why I am involved:
"One of the most frustrating things about wanting to change the world is not knowing how to do it, or even where to begin. UniversalGiving makes it possible for individuals to make an impact on the causes that have touched them, without needing to undertake an extensive research campaign. I am in favor of any good work people want to do, and I am impressed by the way UniversalGiving makes that good work easier to accomplish. I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute my talents towards doing my own good work with UG."
Sarah Keyston
Marketing Ambassador
skeyston@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Sarah Keyston is a Marketing Ambassador for UniversalGiving. She outreaches to the media and organizations in addition to engaging in social media via Facebook, Twitter, and UniversalGiving's blog. Ms. Keyston also handles a select number of marketing partnerships, works on award and grant proposals for UniversalGiving, and designs and writes the UniversalGiving Newsletter. Within the UniversalGiving office, she helps acquaint new team members with office practices and marketing operations.
Ms. Keyston's academic interests involve International Development Studies. She loves traveling and has goals of venturing to Europe, Australia, and Central or South America. In her free time, she enjoys running, tennis, baking, and Bikram yoga. Ms. Keyston grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been an avid Giants baseball fan all her life.
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Why I am involved:
"The UniversalGiving vision aligns with my interests in sustainability, global change, and philanthropy--interests that, when shared by coworkers, promote an inspiring work environment. It is incredibly easy to be passionate about an organization as innovative and important as UniversalGiving. I love knowing that my daily work can actually help others
and make a difference!"
Anis Salvesen
Marketing Ambassador
asalvesen@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Anis is part of UniversalGiving?s marketing team. Along with her great team members, she works on everything from blog posts to key partnerships. She also enjoys attending events and learning more about the great work being done by others in the community and how UniversalGiving can participate.
Ms. Salvesen graduated from Brown University, where she was enrolled in their Program in Liberal Medical Education. She speaks four languages and is currently working on her fifth and sixth. She has always had a passion for the international and holds an MBA with a focus on entrepreneurship and finance from the Fisher School at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Her previous work experience includes analyzing loans for a small business lender, managing a medical practice catering to the uninsured, assisting a high-level executive at Nasdaq and working with the marketing team of an asset management group at the headquarters of an international investment bank. Volunteering has always been very important to her, and she is very happy to be part of the UniversalGiving team.
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Why I am involved:
"Because everything that happens in other parts of the world affects me directly. Extreme poverty and the fallout of extreme poverty--destruction of the environment, food shortages, violence and civil unrest--affect my life in a very direct way. These are not issues that can be contained within a specific country. The fact that I can help UniversalGiving empower thousands of volunteers and donors to become effectively engaged in these issues is why I am involved."
Natasha Indi
Marketing Ambassador
nindi@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Natasha works primarily in marketing with UniversalGiving. She probes online opportunities for marketing and outreach, looking into blogs and other websites for ways to spread the word about UniversalGiving. She works on marketing partnerships as well as advertising opportunities. She also helps lead corporate social responsibility outreach.
Natasha received her MS in Communications in India and has previously worked as a PR consultant and credit analyst. She was involved with India Japan Initiative, a non-profit in Bangalore that fosters bridging the gap between the two nations on both a business and cultural level. Natasha loves reading, traveling, photography, art and has a passion for business. She would like to have her own restaurant one day (you are invited!)
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Why I am involved:
"UniversalGiving has provided me the perfect opportunity to harness my marketing skills into alleviating those in less fortunate conditions. Not only does it enrich my life by adding meaning, but it also helps explore different paradigms. To be able to effectively juxtapose business models with a philanthropic approach is inspiring and exciting. I come from India and have seen a certain degree of impoverishment canvassed across the nation. If I could help in any consequential way, that would make my day."
Laurina Wong
Development and Operations Intern
lwong@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Laurina is part of UniversalGiving's development and operations team. She assists in the daily operations of UniversalGiving and in cultivating key donor relationships. She enjoys learning about the great work done by other non-profit organizations as well as learning how UniversalGiving can help others.
Ms. Wong graduated from the University of California in Davis, where she majored in International Relations. Born and raised in Singapore and the United States, she enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures around the world. She has also lived abroad in China as part of a studying abroad program in University. Her previous work experience includes translating from English to Chinese in Beijing, and ensuring the timely arrival of computers from China to South America. She has always believed in making a positive influence on society, and is very happy to be a part of the UniversalGiving team.
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Why I am involved:
"I've always been interested in the different cultures of our world and knew that I wanted to do something positive for society. Being at UniversalGiving helps me combine these two passions. Poverty spills across many different aspects of our society--the destruction of our environment, neglect of children, crime, violence...and so forth. I'm happy to be at UniversalGiving where my teammates and I share the common goal of working to alleviate global poverty, and helping to build a better world one step at a time."
Susie Saxten
Executive Assistant
ssaxten@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Susie Saxten is the Executive Assistant to Pamela Hawley and does many special projects in the office. Through managing the phones, email, and postal mail, she acts as the front line for the UniversalGiving office. She works to increase visibility of UniversalGiving abroad by outreaching to international media outlets. She also manages communication with funders and UniversalGiving's Board of Directors and Board of Advisors.
Ms. Saxten recently graduated with honors from Stanford University with a BA in International Relations. Through her studies, she became fascinated with International Organizations and in particular, those that work on issues surrounding women's health and education in the developing world. Ms. Saxten is excited to gain experience in the non profit sector at UniversalGiving and enjoys learning every day from her teammates. She hopes to attend business school in the next couple of years.
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Why I am involved:
"Through a class called Critical Issues in International Women's Health taught by the founder of the Global Fund for Women, Anne Firth-Murray, I became passionate about fighting gender inequality around the world. Working at UniversalGiving allows me to help hundreds of inspiring organizations while exploring my interests in small business practices, international relations, women's health, and education."
Sofia Ramirez
Operations Consultant
sramirez@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Sofia Ramirez joined the UniversalGiving team as a volunteer, working primarily with Salesforce.com and other customer relationship efforts. Sofia now provides support with important operational tasks, including reporting, organizing customer information for marketing purposes, and maintenance of Salesforce relationships.
Sofia graduated from UC Berkeley in 2008 with a degree in Economics and Communications. Her interest in social responsibility and community action grew through her involvement with an undergraduate student organization Students for Responsible Business (SRB). As a consultant, Sofia worked with several Bay Area clients to help improve their sustainability efforts by creating business solutions that would benefit local and global communities. Focused on developing her personal and professional life, Sofia hopes to learn more about Social Entrepreneurship through her work with UniversalGiving.
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Why I am involved:
"Over the years, I have developed a passion for business, research, and problem solving. I hope to utilize my passion and skills in a place that supports and fosters forward thinking solutions towards mobilizing community service efforts. My desire to incorporate philanthropy in my growth and development has drawn me to UniversalGiving."
Rupa Bose
Financial Consultant
(full bio)
Rupa Bose handles UniversalGiving's budgets and projections. Ms. Bose is an economist and consultant on international business. She has worked at Bank of America, Business International (now part of the Economist), Merrill Lynch and Banque Paribas in the areas of finance, applied economics, and equity research focused on Asia, particularly India. Ms. Bose has worked in India, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.S. She has published extensively and has presented
in TV and radio programs. Ms. Bose holds an honors degree in Economics from Delhi University, and MBA degrees from the Indian Insitute of Management Ahmedabad as well as UCLA's Anderson School. She is currently based in San Francisco.
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Why I am involved:
"I appreciate the opportunity to work with Universal Giving, which is doing such good work. It's really a privilege."
Sovannary Chea
Client Relations Data Specialist
nchea@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Sovannary Chea is the client relations data specialist at UniversalGiving and is perfectly suited for this responsibility given her extensive background in philanthropy and social entrepreneurship. She worked from 2001 to 2005 as the Operations Manager for Digital Divide Data, a Social Enterprise in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. At this organization, the country's largest IT service business, she supervised a staff of nearly 150 operators who were recruited from marginalized populations including the physically disabled, the orphaned, rural migrants, and sex-trafficked women. Fittingly, Ms. Chea was also an active member of the Disability Action Counsel that creates training and job opportunities in Cambodia, and an advisory member of the Community Service Learning program at Pannasastra University in Cambodia.
On the U.S. front, Ms. chea joined the 2003 Washington DC Development Market Place Event where she won a grant for Digital Divide Data's expansion to new sites in Battambang province, Cambodia and Vientiane, Laos. Additionally, she joined Workshop Grassroots Business Organization (GBO) in Washington, DC in 2005. Ms. Chea was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1971 and is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge period. At the age of four, her farther was killed by the Pol Pot regime, after which she and her siblings were forced to work like adults in a labor camp. But despite
this adversity, in 2001 she earned her BA in English Literature at Delhi University in India and also received a computer certificate from NIIT in New Delhi, India. Her commitment to education is clear as she later earned certificates in Business Management, Comprehensive Writing Skills, and Communication Service Skills.
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Why I am involved:
"Due to the poverty in Cambodia, I faced many painful experiences. These unforgettable incidents inspired me to work with vulnerable people. UniversalGiving gives me the opportunity to make a difference in the world."
Max McCormick
Max McCormick is the founding engineer of UniversalGiving. Max met Pamela in 2001 and worked pro-bono for several weeks to help brainstorm about the website, create the data model, and build the service. While involved in a host of other creative engineering and musical projects, Mr. McCormick continues to stay involved and support UniversalGiving.
Volunteers and Special Contributors
Oumung Mehrotra
Engineering
(full bio)
Oumung Mehrotra develops UniversalGiving's internet-based applications. He
brings 10 years of software development and social entrepreneurship experience
to the team. Mr. Mehrotra worked with Volunteer Solutions from its inception in
1998, providing internet based technology to manage the daily operations of a
volunteer center or corporate volunteer program. Volunteer Solutions won the
1998 MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition and was acquired by the United Way
of America in 2001. Mr. Mehrotra developed enterprise-grade web applications
and an open source web application framework for 4 years at ArsDigita until
it was acquired by Red Hat in 2002. Prior to joining UniversalGiving, he worked
with the United Way of America to expand the Volunteer Solutions service.
Mr. Mehrotra holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University.
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Why I am involved:
I'm with Mr. Thoreau: 'Things do not change. We change.'
I couldn't pass up an opportunity to build software for everyone to work together and
change together. For me, that's what UniversalGiving is about.
Mark Lieberwitz
SEO Marketing
mlieberwitz@universalgiving.org
(full bio)
Mark Lieberwitz joined the UniversalGiving team in July of 2006 as a marketing
intern. In his SEO marketing position, he manages marketing strategy relating to
online marketing campaigns and online search marketing.
Mr. Lieberwitz is a recent graduate of Tulane University with a BSM in
Business Management from the A.B. Freeman School of Business and a BA
in Music. His prior experience includes a database management and
marketing strategy internship at Integral Talent Systems, and a street team
position with Hi-Frequency Marketing promoting music and movie projects.
Prior to that, Mr. Lieberwitz held a marketing and public relations
internship position for the Annual Cultural Jewish Street Fair with the
Palo Alto JCC in which he solicited and secured sponsorships, developed
and distributed marketing materials, and managed a team of festival
planning volunteers.
As a New Orleans resident for the past four years, Mr. Lieberwitz has
volunteered towards the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina. He
currently plays in a Bay Area funk/blues/rock band and is extremely
passionate about marketing and web development.
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Why I am involved:
"At the end of the day, working towards 'making giving
and volunteering a natural part of everyday life' gives me a satisfaction that no
other job previously has. UniversalGiving gave me the opportunity to expand, and
put to use, my online marketing skills for a meaningful and worthwhile cause."
Emily Stehr
Princeton University Representative
(full bio)
Emily Stehr is the UniversalGiving Representative for Princeton University. She
helps spread the word about UniversalGiving to campus groups and helps create
partnerships. Ms. Stehr has a strong background in nonprofit management, having
learned about NGOs and non-profit work from her experience with Engineers Without
Borders (EWB). During the summer of 2006, Ms. Stehr traveled to Southern Ethiopia
with her University's chapter of EWB. During the two months she spent there, her
team worked on installing an irrigation system for the community gardens so as to
relieve the women of the village of their physically-demanding daily task of carrying
water and to improve community health by expanding the size and production volume
of the gardens. Ms. Stehr became the acting Project Manager for the EWB Ethiopia
project for the 2006-2007 academic year and returned to the village in March 2007
to successfully finish the irrigation line. The experience of managing such a project
inspired her to join an organization that helps streamline the often daunting work
of fundraising, cutting through red tape, and recruiting volunteers that NGOs and
non-profits must go through before their REAL work begins.
Ms. Stehr is currently entering her senior year at Princeton University in New Jersey
where she studies Intellectual History, Neuroscience, French Culture and Literature,
and Swahili Language. She was born and raised in Piedmont, California.
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Why I am involved:
"I am excited about UniversalGiving's capacity to reach
a large population with the message that individual citizens can make a difference
in the colossal human rights crises they read about in the newspaper or hear on TV
news broadcasts each day. Timely topics such as refugee plight and the injustice
of human trafficking are the focus of some of the top-quality NGOs with which UniversalGiving
partners and thus makes it easy for everyone with internet access to aid. I am so
thrilled to be with UniversalGiving because I think it helps to make everyone's
altruistic visions quickly and efficiently become a reality."
Austin Smith
(full bio)
Austin Smith's undergraduate years at Princeton introduced him to a rich diversity
of ideas that opened the floodgates to his intellectual curiosity. His love for
exploring questions and issues continues to inform his worldview.
Before starting medical school at Virginia Commonwealth University, Mr. Smith
interned at UniversalGiving and began work on a project to raise awareness of the
UN's Millennium Development Goals. Currently, he helps craft the language on both
the UniversalGiving Web site and newsletter.
In his spare time, he enjoys chasing the euphoria that occasionally rewards long
distance runners after a good hard effort. And, in spite of his long distance runner
physique, he sports a twice-broken, Owen Wilson-like beak that the ladies find
inexplicably enchanting.
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In Memory
Pawel Modelewski
Pawel Modelewski first joined UniversalGiving in the Summer of 2005 while on a
student exchange program from Poland. He was quickly promoted to Special
Projects Advisor for the CEO at UniversalGiving due to his sincere desire to
serve both the organization and our worldwide communities.
Pawel's unique role included relationship management, database customization,
and specific projects for the CEO. Perhaps more than the excellent quality of
his work, it was the cheerful and dedicated way in which Pawel approached his
daily tasks that has most impacted UniversalGiving. Pawel's enthusiasm, love
of learning, and zest for life touched all of us on the UniversalGiving Team.
A cherished colleague and friend, Pawel is missed. His contribution to
UniversalGiving's vision and culture are irreplaceable; his gentle, kind spirit
continues to inspire us in our daily efforts to serve others.
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