Meet the Fellows

2011-2012 Ford Fellows

Gea Kang ’11 (History)

• fellowship placement:  Asia Foundation (San Francisco)
• fellowship mentor:  Gordon Hein, Vice President, Programs
• Hometown: Palo Alto, CA
• service interests: sustainable global development; international relations and security; poverty alleviation; social entrepreneurship; women’s issues; and the media’s role in social change
• Stanford experience: Co-President of Korean Students Association; Students for Engagement & Activism in Microfinance; Stanford in Government Fellow with UNDP/GEF Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project (Ansan, Korea); “After Dark Series” Mental Health Resources Coordinator for Asian American Activities Center; participant in Alternative Spring Break (“Asian American Issues: From Identity to Action”); Habla La Noche; The Stanford Daily; and Newsweek Korea
• other service experience: SEE College Prep summer tutor; Korean-English translation of North Korea-related policy papers
• fellowship goal: to gain a more nuanced understanding of comparative approaches to international development: how philanthropy and public policy intersect to drive change (“top-down”) versus how social entrepreneurship innovation impacts the landscape (“bottom-up”)
• post fellowship plans: pursue a legal education; work in international development policy

“Social change can seem amorphous and daunting to tackle. But it begins with just a simple question challenging the status quo: “why?” The global community is intimately intertwined, and we can leverage our wealth of perspectives to turn the “why” questions into “how to move forward” conversations. I am very excited to be part of that movement.”

Liesl Spitz  ’11 (Drama and Human Biology)

• fellowship placement: Surdna Foundation (New York)
• fellowship mentor: Lynn Stern, Program Officer, Thriving Cultures
• hometown: San Francisco, CA
• service interests: Art as tool for social change, global development, womens' health, and cultural equity
• Stanford Experience: Artistic Director, Stanford Theater Activist Mobilization Project (STAMP); Co-Director, Bent, The Exonerated, and Out of Sight Out of Mind (STAMP); Stage Manager, Rent, and Performer, Beyond My Circle (Drama Department); Producer, Original Winter One Acts 2009 (Ram's Head); Freshman RA, Larkin; Overseas Seminar in Uganda; and Bing Overseas Studies in Cape Town, South Africa
• other service experience: Mural, Music and Arts Project in East Palo Alto; Magnet Theater in Cape Town, South Africa; Easter Seals Camp Harmon, Boulder Creek
• fellowship goal: To explore the intersections of art and activism, to research theory and practice cultural organizing, and to understand the role of philanthropy in social change.
• post fellowship plans: open

“My hope is to live a life of humility and compassion –to understand my weaknesses, and to serve in spite of them.”

John Thomas ’11 (Human Biology; MS Earth Systems)

• fellowship placement: Rockefeller Foundation (New York)
• fellowship mentor:  Cristina Rumbaitis del Rio, Associate Director
• hometown: Princeton, NJ
• service interest: water, sanitation, and public health; global development;  environmental conservation, women’s health, and microfinance
• Stanford experience: Haas Summer Fellow at Partners In Health, FACE AIDS, Patient Advocacy, Stanford Triathlon Team, Alternative Spring Break, and Tutoring for Community
• other service experience: Research with World Wildlife Fund in Namibia, Bing Overseas Studies Program in Cape Town, South Africa
• fellowship goal: Learn about innovative, market-based solutions to global poverty, with a particular focus on water and sanitation in developing countries
• post fellowship plans: Pursue a career in strategy and management of social ventures through an MBA or get a PhD in environmental health or development economics to change the structure of global poverty

“ Study in your course of life to do the greatest possible amount of good. These words have inspired me to use the privilege of a Stanford education to engage with the notion of doing good, and how to make it the greatest possible amount. For me, that is the meaning of service.”

2010-2011 Ford Fellows

Angie McPhaul '10 (Urban Studies)

• fellowship placement: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore
• fellowship mentors: Donna Stark, Vice President, Talent Management/Leadership Development; Mike Laracy, Director of Policy Reform and Advocacy
• hometown: Redwood City, CA
• service Interests: urban inequality, education, anti-genocide
• Stanford experience: coordinator, Stanford STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition; recipient of the Urban Studies Summer Fellowship working at Peninsula Bridge Program; participant in ASB “Changemakers” and “New Orleans”; Public Service Leadership Fellow; Camp Kesem counselor; participant in Bing Overseas Studies Program in Santiago, Chile
• other service experience: volunteer with Nuestra Casa
• fellowship goal: learn how to identify and support effective change mechanisms; understand philanthropy’s involvement in urban issues; gain a better understanding of what skills and knowledge can help one more effectively work on social justice issues
• post-fellowship plan: teach elementary school with Teach for America in Washington, DC

"I am committed to strengthening our cities. I recognize that education, creating sustainable environments, and community and economic development are just some of many pieces of the puzzles that need to be addressed in our urban centers"

Taylor Ray '10 (Psychology)

• fellowship placement: Acumen Fund, New York
• fellowship mentors: Brian Trelstad, Chief Investment Officer; Sasha Dichter, Director of Business Development
• hometown: Los Angeles
• service interests: global health, HIV/AIDS, microfinance, poverty alleviation, social innovation and entrepreneurship
• Stanford experience: honors research on charitable giving (supported by the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society), Haas Center undergraduate fellowships participant and program assistant, Camp Kesem counselor, Sigma Nu community service chair
• other service experience: involved with Support for International Change, working to alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS in rural Tanzania
• fellowship goal: to gain critical insight into the intersection of global health and microfinance or related models
• post fellowship plans: to pursue work in global development both domestically and abroad, and complete a graduate degree in business, law and/or public administration

"Philanthropy embodies the intersection of two things that have always been crucial to my life: public service and innovation. I have found that philanthropy does not have the barriers and bureaucracy inherent in policy, and therefore it can be unstinted and pioneering in the use of resources to bring together solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Philanthropy is a sector that needs passionate individuals who do not need to be given roadmaps to solutions, but rather those who are excited to immerse themselves and find comprehensive and creative ways to create positive change. I am ready for this challenge.”

Joy Zhang '10 (Human Biology)

• fellowship placement: Skoll Foundation, Palo Alto
• fellowship mentor: Ben Binswanger, Vice President, Program and Impact
• hometown: Augusta, GA
• service interests: strategic philanthropy and social entrepreneurship, poverty, education, health
• Stanford experience: co-president of Project Dosti, president and founding member of Team HBV, Stanford in Government Fellow with the Office of Liz Kniss, participant in Bing Overseas Studies Program in Beijing
• other service experience: volunteer at Aarti Home orphanage in India, outreach intern at Asian Liver Center, partnerships director for SEE College Prep, Clinton Global Initiative University conference, San Francisco Hep B Free Speakers Bureau
• fellowship goal: to better understand effective social change and impact measurement strategies in philanthropy.
• Post Fellowship plans: pursue graduate studies