17 Women Awarded FWSF Scholarships in 2022

Riddhi is a first-year MBA student at the University of San Francisco School of Management, where she is the Team Leader for Malloy Consulting Group. Prior to her MBA, Riddhi worked across Marketing Strategy at The Woolmark Company for India & APAC, where she strategized $1.5M of Marketing campaigns around their financial planning, budgeting, & execution. She started her career by graduating from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, India with a Bachelor in Design, majoring in Apparel &Marketing. Riddhi is passionate to work in Business & Financial Strategy to revolutionize & digitize across the apparel space. As a first-generation woman in her family to have acquired a professional degree, Riddhi has been active with multiple social reform & women upliftment organizations across India.

Makenna Caldwell is a senior at Saint Mary's College of California, finishing up her Bachelor of Science in Accounting degree. Following graduation, she plans to attend the MS in Accounting Program at SMC as part of her path to become a licensed CPA.

Makenna is a Peer Mentor for the School of Economics and Business Administration (SEBA) at Saint Mary's where she guides undergraduate students along their academic journey. As a tutor on campus, she enjoys sharing her passion and enthusiasm for accounting with other students. Makenna will be joining Sensiba San Filippo in September as an Audit Associate. She is looking forward to beginning her career in public accounting while continuing her education at SMC.

Cheryl Campos is a first-year graduate student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and holds a B.A in economics with honors from Harvard University.

Cheryl is passionate about the intersection of finance, technology, and social impact. She is the Head of Venture at Republic, an investment platform where anyone can invest in startups, crypto, and more. Since 2018, she was a driving force that led the startup from seed to unicorn status. In direct investing roles, she is a scout for Lightspeed and an investment partner at The Community Fund. Cheryl is also one of the founders of VCFamilia, a community of 300 Latinx venture investors supporting current & emerging investors.

Previously Cheryl worked as an analyst in PE with an emphasis on minority and women entrepreneurs. She started her career in Investment Banking at Barclays, working in the Financial Institutions Group and Structured Finance.

Shelly is a determined first-generation professional leader who earned her Bachelor of Science in Bio Sciences with Molecular Emphasis from Dominican University of California. Her interests in business sparked before seeking opportunities at the local financial center in her community. After working as a Client Service Representative/Teller during the pandemic, she was recruited to work in Commercial Banking as Sales Support Associate to create sales literature production and liaise proposals. There Shelly gained exposure to many career opportunities which led to her career ambitions. She is pursuing a Master’s in Science in Business Accounting and will be working on passing the CPA exam. Shelly’s goals include partnering with community leaders to educate her community.

Gabriela Forter was born and raised in the Central Valley of California. She earned her undergraduate degree in Global Studies and a minor in entrepreneurship from UCLA. She was in the College Honors program and graduated cum laude. At UCLA, she was the founder of a pro-bono social impact consulting club called Net Impact, and competed in the International Competition of Social Entrepreneurship in St. Petersburg, Russia and won first place.

Following her studies, Gabriela worked in investment banking, consulting and most recently in technology at Meta. She is passionate about creating pipelines for residents of under-resourced communities to pursue degrees and careers in finance and STEM. Gabriela is an incoming MBA student at Stanford and plans to pursue a career in Venture Capital.

Lisa Gonzalez is a graduate student at The Wharton School pursing an Executive MBA. During her studies, she is working full-time as the Director of Program Management at a medtech start-up innovating to improve in vitro fertilization and fertility care globally.

Lisa is passionate about improving healthcare to serve patients and their families. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2014, she spent eight years at Johnson & Johnson contributing in engineering leadership roles within medical devices. With a Wharton EMBA and start-up experience, Lisa aspires to work in venture capital and is particularly interested in investing in companies working to accelerate innovation and equity in healthcare.

Katie is an incoming MBA Candidate at Stanford, and she has a Bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University. As a first-generation college student, Katie saw first-hand how inequitable access to economic opportunity can hinder one’s professional outcomes, and she’s grown passionate about the intersection of economic justice, education, and Technology.

Prior to joining Stanford, Katie worked on Grow with Google, Google's$1 billion initiative to drive economic opportunity for all. There, she led Google’s Economic Impact Report, which quantifies Google's impact on the U.S. economy for all of Congress and 1,000 local and state policymakers. Katie is also Co-Founder of her Nonprofit,B.O.S.S., which provides professional development to underrepresented students in her hometown. Long-term, Katie aspires to create a positive impact on society through Impact Investing.

Elizabeth is a first-year graduate student at Golden Gate University. She earned her undergraduate degree in finance from DePaul University in Chicago. After obtaining her CPA license in the summer of 2021, she decided to pursue a master's degree in taxation.

She began her career in accounts payable and it is then that she found her passion for taxation. Currently, she is the Senior Accountant at University of The Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni Dental School and a tax preparer at Liberty Tax. She is also passionate about helping others achieve their financial and educational goals and hopes to one day mentor students at community college and set up an organization that will focus on assisting low-income students in Latin America.

Samina Hydery is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she is currently Co-President of Women in Management and Co-President of Private Equity Club. She earned her undergraduate degree in Finance and Behavioral Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Prior to Stanford, Samina was on the founding team of Turtle Health, a digital health startup democratizing access to at-home fertility testing and family planning. She identified fertility as a high-impact space early in her career as an investor. She previously invested across healthcare, consumer, and technology at American Securities, SLK Venture Capital, and ICONIQ Capital. Samina's biggest passion is promoting agency in women's lives. After graduation, she plans to continue doing so as an investor and healthcare entrepreneur.

Zia MacWilliams is a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, working towards her MBA in the evenings and on weekends. Zia obtained an MA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in International Policy Studies and a BS and BA from Louisiana State University in Psychology and Political Science.

Zia is a Forté Fellow for Women in Business, a Knight Foundation Emerging City Champion, and a Stanford Community Fellow. At Haas, Zia led as VP of the Women in Leadership Club and is a member of the Finance and Entrepreneurship Clubs. Zia has a decade of non-profit work experience, including work with people experiencing homelessness, sexual and gender-based violence, and food insecurity. Zia will be joining Goldman Sachs, Private Wealth Management after graduation.

Monique is a first-year MBA Candidate at Stanford GSB from London, UK. Monique started her career in finance in PwC’s Deals team where she qualified as an accountant. She then became the Global Program Manager for PwC’s “New world. New skills.” upskilling initiative, fuelling her desire to combine her experience in finance and upskilling to venture into EdTech investing. Monique is now an Investment Fellow at Owl Ventures and an investor on Stanford Impact Fund’s EdTech team. Additionally, Monique is passionate about women’s empowerment and supporting underrepresented groups which can be seen through her role in leading gender equality workshops for 600+ employees from Associate to Partner level. Last year, Monique was listed as a Top 5 Future Leader by Yahoo Finance.

Hannah Schlacter earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Gies College of Business in 2017 with high honors. As a Petullo Scholar and part of the Business Honors Program, she double-majored in marketing and entrepreneurship. She began her career at Accenture in management consulting, where she served big tech clients in the Bay Area. In 2019, she joined Uprising, an impact-focused venture capital firm, leading strategy and financial operations as well as advising startups and supporting investors. Outside of work, Hannah has served on various non-profit Boards (San Francisco-based and global) in governance and diplomacy roles. Hannah will begin her full-time MBA at Berkeley Haas while also building a financial technology company with her co-founder.

Tabitha earned her undergraduate degree in Business Management from Moi University, Mombasa, Kenya, and majored in Finance and Banking.

She began her career as an accountant and assisted clients with accounting issues. She held several positions at the Aga Khan Academy as a Resource Development Officer for Africa. Tabitha built and managed funding programs and delivered results ranging from donor relations to corporate relationship management. Currently, Tabitha is a Global Development Intern at Climate Spheres, supporting global climate initiatives. Tabitha has had several other professional affiliations including Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, Atlas Corps, and Clinton Global Initiative University Fellow.

Tabitha is pursuing an MBA at Holy Names University majoring in STEM. As a CPA, she aims to accelerate impact investing to support communities to access funding opportunities.

Liya K. Gezae is a first-generation undergraduate student at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting. Liya grew up in Eritrea, a country located in East Africa.

As a student assistant at Berkeley City College, Liya helped new college students through the registration process and navigating their educational pathway. She volunteered for the IRS VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program providing free tax preparation to people who generally make low income, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers who need assistance.Recently Liya was awarded the Sankofa Scholars academic excellence award 2022 at CSUEB. She is on the Dean’s List, a Lifetime member of Beta Gamma Sigma and a member of Honor Society in recognition of her academic achievements. Liya also received an Academic award in 2013 fromSMAP Institute of Training, Education and Consultancy in Eritrea.

Liya is passionate about encouraging and involving people with low income from her community in entrepreneurship, launching small businesses from scratch and helping them stand and grow into other businesses. She also has a passion to continue helping her community by preparing income tax returns and volunteering for the IRS. Liya is in the feasibility study to open a transportation business, business consultant and personal tax preparation.

Morgan Jacobsen is an undergraduate at the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business. She is studying Business Administration through the Berkeley Haas Global Management Program, and minoring in history.

She has participated in the Berkeley Charter of Professional Accountancy Program, was awarded a certificate of completion, and plans to be CPA eligible by 2023. As a part of the Global Management Program, she founded the student board and was elected the Director of External Affairs. She served as a Volunteer Coach with San Diego Canoe and Kayak, empowering young women in the sport of Sprint Canoe. She represented Team USA in Sprint Canoe at the Olympic Hopes Regatta in Poznan, Poland. Following graduation, she plans to work in Investment Banking.

Amina Mamayeva is an undergraduate at San Jose State University, majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. She received a credit analyst certificate from Heritage Bank and participated in the CFA research challenge. She is an international student from Kazakhstan.

On Campus, Amina is a VP of Communication for the Bank and Investments Association. Also, she is a chief analyst and board member of the Spartan student-managed fund, and she is a board member of the Silicon Valley Aggressive Fund. Amina plans to graduate from the university with honors through the one-year Sbona Honors program, and she is currently applying for internships. In her last semester, she plans to do an SIE examination and pursue a CFA charter after her graduation.

Jia Yi Tan is a first-generation undergraduate student at University of San Francisco, majoring in Accounting and minoring in Asian Studies. Jia Yi was born in China and raised in San Francisco. On campus, Jia Yi is a Facilities Management student assistant and Peer Tutor, where she supports her peers to regulate lifelong learning. She also dedicates her time in Beta Alpha Psi, Women in Business, TransferNation, and the Accounting and Finance Association. In her free time, she volunteers at the Community Tech Network, where she advocates digital literacy and equity to elderly’s. Jia Yi will be an upcoming State & Local Tax Intern at KPMG. Post graduation, Jia Yi plans to pursue her CPA license and a career in public accounting.