My Story

(The whole scoop that isn’t on my résumé/LinkedIn)

It was always about “saving lives”

I grew up in Northridge, California, a small town in Southern California and moved to the other side of the country to attend college at the University of Pennsylvania, where I was recruited to play golf on the women’s team.

During my time at Penn, I studied vigorously to pursue my childhood dream: to save lives and make a difference. My answer at the time was to do so through medicine (since that was how the concept of saving lives was always advertised in media); however, I came to realize that there's more than one remedy to “save lives” beyond what I learned from biology or chemistry classes.

Feeling lost, I decided to do some exploring. I studied Sociology and ended up really enjoying it because I felt that it answered the important real-world questions I cared about, ranging from why poverty exists, to why people are dying from curable diseases in certain parts of the world, to why gender inequality exists, and so much more. Sociology was something that provided me with explanations for why things are the way that they are, which I found comforting and very motivating in understanding ways that people can become keen problem-solvers.

Why social entrepreneurship?

While I was thoroughly enthralled by sociology and learning about the key issues of our time, there was a lingering part of me that wanted to do something about them. Then, I learned about social entrepreneurship—essentially, businesses that create a positive impact on humanity or the planet.

This concept suddenly made SO much sense to me. I became increasingly captivated by social entrepreneurship and began engaging with organizations like the Hult Prize Foundation. I ended up working with them for 2 years and created an initiative that engaged 1000+ students across the Ivy League in creating business ideas that would solve the world’s most pressing social challenges.

Through this, I found myself becoming very passionate about social entrepreneurship. In retrospect, I realize it because of the following 2 reasons (which I also mention in my 2020 TED Talk):

1. Anyone can make an impact. Through my experience of engaging with social entrepreneurs across the world, I learned that anyone is capable of making a difference. All it takes is 1 person with 1 idea to make an impact on the world, and of course, the courage to take the first step!

2. Impact comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. I realized from there that “saving lives” was not the only way to make an impact and the world needs different forces of impact from sectors across the spectrum.

3. Impact is perceived to be hard to achieve but we’re all more than capable because the people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions. I admit I owe a lot to my sociology degree for helping me realize this. Through my courses, I learned about countless well-intentioned interventions for under-resourced communities that completely backfired due to lack of socio-cultural understanding of the issues that the communities served was facing. Further, during my time working with the Hult Prize, I saw a lot of students pitching ideas for communities in “developing countries” that they have never been to. It made me realize that people tend to overthink the idea of what it means to make an impact.

From there, I realized I wanted to start something to inspire youth to see the impact they can make on their communities and show them that impact begins with them. Through my time studying sociology, I knew this has to begin with making an impact in the education sector.

I then applied for an M.S. in Nonprofit Leadership at Penn's School of Social Policy & Practice (Class 2019) with the hope of creating something of my own to make a difference in the world by empowering youth to create impact. In March 2017, I was accepted.

INVESTING, TECH, & MORE

In 2020, I earned a fellowship with Venture For America, which is a nonprofit that creates economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs. I joined the fellowship with the goal of meeting more young changemakers and entrepreneurs while also grow my own skillsets. I have been fortunate to work at Red & Blue Ventures, which is a privately owned and operated, seed and early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies from the University of Pennsylvania ecosystem. In my role, I have had the opportunity to meet many students and alumni from my alma mater who have ideas they are very passionate about, which has been very rewarding.

This experience has inspired me to co-found We Are Gen Z VC, which cultivates and funds the next generation of changemakers and entrepreneurs.

I have a huge passion for the realm of organizational dynamics and management, particularly at the intersection of social impact.

Division 1-Ivy League Golf Team Captain

I was recruited to play golf for the University of Pennsylvania, allowing me to receive admission to play golf in the Ivy League. Serving as one of Penn's top five scorers, a few highlights of my college golf career include competing in the Ivy League Championship in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and serving as Team Captain my senior year.

I began playing golf at the age of 8. I was JGS and Polo Ranked TOP 30 internationally in my recruit year (2014). With a full academic schedule taking Honors and AP courses exclusively, I made time to practice golf at least 3 hours daily. I was a junior golfer aspiring to become a collegiate student-athlete at an institution that would value me as a team member and scholar while providing an environment that fosters my development as an athlete, intellectual, and individual—definitely very glad I found Penn to be a place to call home for five years of my life. 

Some of my highlights include being the first female in the city of Los Angeles have a three-peat win (2012, 2013, 2014) for the Los Angeles City Section Final. Each year, I've broken the record, breaking my own record my second two wins. More highlights can be viewed HERE.

FORMER STAGE MAGICIAN

At an early age, I was very shy so my grandfather taught me magic at age 4 to get me out of my shell. I've continued to pursue this art alongside him since then. I am a member of the fraternal world-class Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, home to renowned magicians like Houdini and even others like Neil Patrick Harris. I've been a member since I was 13 years old. I've had the fortunate opportunity to perform there as well as regional events, also being invited to perform at America's Got Talent at age 12.

Also a Yogi!

I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training certification under Yogi Maha Bodhi (from Travis Eliot’s and Lauren Ekstrom’s lineage) and I am a proud registered yoga teacher (RYT) under the Yoga Alliance.