Candidates for 2021 Board Election

The Internet Society engages in a wide range of Internet issues, including policy, governance, technology, and development, and has over 132 Chapters around the world. The San Francisco Bay Area Internet Society Chapter focuses on Internet access issues, diversity, and digital inclusion in California.

As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity, the SF Bay Area ISOC Chapter’s work is funded entirely by donations, sponsorships and grants and we rely on volunteers to carry out our day-to-day activities.

Our mission is simple: The Internet is for Everyone.

Candidates

The Nominations Committee (NomCom) is pleased to announce the following candidates have been selected to serve on Chapter Board. The Chapter membership will be asked to confirm that they agree with this selection by way of a simple email confirmation. The vote confirmation period will open on February 1 and end on February 10. Please look out for this email and double check your spam folder.

• Delia Sabau: Linkedin profile

  • Bio: Delia Sabau is an experienced financial professional with a proven track record of delivering top tier investment performances. With a combination of strong financial and accounting expertise, and industry knowledge she has successfully led and managed equity investments through tremendous growth in both start-up and mature environments. As a global citizen, she brings a broad and versatile skill set through more than 20 years of experience working globally in financial services.
  • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: As a returning member of SF ISOC Chapter, I would like to continue my work as a Treasurer focusing on keeping the bank account and the books up to date. In addition, I would be interested in expanding my responsibilities by engaging with local members and promoting a free and open Internet across the Chapter.

• Ellen Lovelidge: LinkedIn profile

  • Bio: Inspired by my own experience from off the grid to immersed in global culture, a passion for a collaboratively built, accessible Internet reflects my career path. Growing up on a farm at the edge of Pennsylvania in the 90s, the Internet remained a commodity into my college years. Finite resources then morphed into endless learning, entertainment, socialization, inspiration, and creation. The Internet allowed me to go from analogue small town beginnings to now designing products with a worldwide reach and impact.From science data management, to hardware marketing, public health visual journalism, and software product design – I have a wide range of experience developing user-centered tools. This instills a responsibility to recognize the ways in which underserved communities have been disproportionately excluded, and work together to build an inclusive, empowering Internet. A holistic approach, co-creating what users need will lead to better and more innovative outcomes for all.
  • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: 2020 saw the acceleration of online communities and communication, while 2021 represents an exciting time to harness this engagement and build together. As Communications Chair of the ISOC Bay Area, I will create space to share perspectives, collaboratively participate, and further evangelize our results as we support the organization’s work ensuring an Internet for everyone.

• Fatema Kothari: LinkedIn profile

  • Bio: Fatema Kothari is the Senior Program Manager for Microsoft’s Airband Initiative within the Technology & Corporate Responsibility organization. With 10+ years in large-scale program execution, strategic management, and engineering, Fatema leads Airband’s global operations to expand internet connectivity to unserved rural communities in over 20 countries. As an advisor on digital empowerment, Fatema has also contributed her expertise to the Federal Communications Commission.Fatema is an avid advocate for gender parity in technology. She served on the board for the global non-profit Girls in Tech SF for three years and currently, is an advisor to leading women entrepreneurs from Africa through the TechWomen program run by the U.S. Department of State.

    An engineer by education, Fatema holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications from the University of Maryland, College Park.

  • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: Fatema has a keen interest in policy and is an avid advocate for expanding affordable internet access to everyone. As part of the SF Bay Area ISOC board, she volunteered her time as President/Vice President for three years and built future Board leadership to ensure sustainability of the nonprofit. Over the course of her board terms, she laid the foundation for board documentation and processes, member communications and outreach, and initiated new programs like the working groups.Fatema hopes to continue contributing to the Chapter through her subject matter expertise around digital inclusion and literacy and by providing strategic advice to maintain the longevity of the organization. A long term stretch goal would also be to evaluate the feasibility of setting up a sister chapter for SF Bay ISOC in Seattle.

• Joel Valencia: LinkedIn profile

  • Bio: I grew up in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park and hold a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Princeton University. I’m a first-generation Mexican-American with family from the southwestern Mexican states, Michoacán and Guerrero.My professional background includes extensive program work at various nonprofits in the Bay Area that benefit low-income communities in Menlo Park and East Palo Alto. I’m passionate about ensuring that all people are presented with the opportunities and guidance they need to be successful. I have worked on a range of issues including: foreclosure and homelessness prevention, anti-predatory lending, small business development and financial literacy, and youth mentorship, most recently as the Director of Development for StreetCode Academy, a free tech education nonprofit that serves the communities in which I grew up.
  • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: As a member of SF Bay Area ISOC, I would bring a combination of professional and personal lived experiences that I believe would add to your ability to contribute to internet-related projects in underserved communities of color. That is the area I would also like to focus on as I have spent over 10 years serving Bay Area communities in various nonprofit programmatic and fundraising capacities. Many of the lessons I’ve learned about how best to design community-relevant solutions that effectively meet the needs of the people for whom they’re meant can be applied to similar communities in many different contexts. I hope I can contribute my understanding of diverse communities, and my expertise in program design and implementation to this role.
    

• Shauna Turner: LinkedIn profile

  • Bio: Interest in Internet access as a means of economic growth was sparked early in Shauna’s career leading global initiatives for F500 technology and telecommunications firms and working with Bay Area tech startups. Shauna has 15+ years of enterprise strategy and innovation experience, her recent roles have included Chief Innovation Officer and EVP Research, CEO of a VC tech and infrastructure fund with Silicon Valley investments. Shauna’s governance experience includes 10 years of Board Directorship for Banking, Research, and Social Impact Organizations and in Finance as VC Limited Partner. In addition to public speaking on innovation, digital transformation, and ‘future of tech’ topics, Shauna has authored public policy white papers and contributes to regulatory roundtables for gov’t, investors, NGOs. Shauna is an enthusiastic volunteer as an Innovation Advisor in healthcare and provides mentorship to young entrepreneurs and women led startups as well as emerging STEM leaders.

• • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: My approach to a working board is collaborative and I would hope to have the opportunity to support the work of others in addition to serving in one of the focus areas.My primary strengths, which draw on my experience with academic and industry partnerships and my relationships in Silicon Valley may best fit with the role of “Establish(ing) relations / collaboration, secure sponsorships, corporate memberships and establish multiyear partnerships with local academic institutions and corporations”.

    I am comfortable working across the ISOC / ICANN ecosystem to engage and encourage new members and raise the profile of the Bay Area ISOC Chapter with other organizations.

    Generally, I’m happy to make contributions in communications and marketing, stakeholder relations, governance, strategy and public policy as these are all core career and board leadership areas for me.

    
    

• Tessa Eng: LinkedIn profile

  • Bio: I am a software engineer at Google with 10+ years experiences in the tech industries. I graduated Carnegie Mellon University in Computer Science with a focus in Computer Network. I have a strong passion in STEM educations and equal opportunities for all. I was the lead of STEM education outreach at Google Pittsburgh office for 6 years (2010 – 2016) and since I moved to the bay areas in 2016, I focused on mentoring underrepresented students who are interested in STEM careers.

• • Proposed Focus and Contribution to the Chapter Board: I am super excited of the mission of internet access for all and I would like to be part of the team! I am highly organized and I am very strong in project management and executions.

Find out more about the Election Process here.