BRITTANY PACKNETT
Brittany Packnett is an unapologetic educator, organizer, activist, writer, speaker, and national leader in social justice. Known as @MsPackyetti on social media, Brittany has become a sought after voice in the work of social change and empowerment.
Brittany serves as Teach For America’s Vice President of National Community Alliances, where she leads partnerships with communities of color and with them, is crafting the organization’s first civil rights and equity agenda. Brittany was a Ferguson protestor and continues in activism as, co-founder of Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence. Recently, Brittany launched Love + Power, a hub created to inspire, empower, and organize everyday people to seismically shift society.
In 2015, Brittany was appointed to the Ferguson Commission and President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Today, she continues to advocate for urgent systemic change at critical decision making tables and through national and international media.
Brittany has travelled extensively to impart lessons of movement building, effective social impact, liberatory leadership, and empowerment for women and girls-especially those of color. Her popular TEDx talk, “It’s about time to value Women of Color in Leadership” exemplifies the passionate and personal storytelling she shares with audiences.
Brittany is an alum of Washington University in St. Louis, American University in Washington, and Is a current Aspen Institute Education fellow.
MOOGEGA COOPER
Dr. Moogega Cooper Stricker received her B.A. in Physics from Hampton University in 2006. She then enrolled in Drexel University where she received her Masters and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in thermal fluid sciences.
Her dissertation studies involved non-equilibrium plasma sterilization of spacecraft materials so it was a logical transition to work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Planetary Protection Group.
Her current projects include the Mars 2020 Mission where she is the Lead of Planetary Protection and developing sterilization capabilities for future mission use. Moo was profiled by LA Weekly in its 2014 People Issue as one of the city's most fascinating Angelenos.
According to the LA Weekly, she was “named rainbow or 'moo-jee-gae' by her Korean mother and raised by her African-American World War II veteran father.” Moogega graduated from high school at 16, and at 24 earned her Ph.D. Apart from her work at JPL, she trains for triathlons and enjoys giving outreach presentations.
Panelists
Claudia Pouani
Claudia Pouani was born and raised in Cameroon; a small but emerging, former French and British colony without a great deal of cultural exchange with the United States. In high school she developed a keen interest for languages, where she learned French, English and German. Once in college, she opted for a major that allowed her to grasp knowledge of various disciplines completing her Bachelor’s degree in International Political Economy from the University of Washington Seattle. She currently serves as the Northern California Director of Outreach for College Prep Programs, where she gets to develop and maintain partnerships with High School students and their faculties in order to keep The Princeton Review the #1 Go-To test prep company. All women motivate Claudia; the achievement of women in the face of adversity, especially the ones who are considered a double minority. Resilient, powerful, fearless, bold and bright women encourage her to be the best she can be, every day. Ambitious like her mother, diligent like her sister, energetic like her daughter; an accomplished leader like Michelle (Obama), a creative pioneer like Maya (Angelou) and a charismatic entrepreneur like Mellody (Hobson) are just a few of the magnificent beings she looks up to.
SHEFALI RAZDAN DUGGAL
Shefali Razdan Duggal is a member of the Democratic National Committee’s National Finance Committee and is a Co-Chair for the DNC Women’s Leadership Forum. She is a Presidential Appointee (President Barack Obama) to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C.. She most recently served on the Rules Committee for the 2016 Democratic National Convention and was also was on the National Finance Committee for Hillary for America. Shefali is on the National Board of Directors for Emily’s List (an organization dedicated to electing pro-choice Democratic women to all levels of government). She is a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Hope Institute Board (a network of supporters willing to serve as mentors to Hope Fellows as they explore careers in politics). Shefali is also on the National Advisory Board of Beyond Bollywood (Smithsonian Museum), the National Advisory Board of Inside Washington (Miami University), Senior Advisor for South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA) & an Advisor to viiv.tv. Shefali is involved within various U.S. Senate and Congressional campaigns throughout the country
GaBi Diaz
Gabriela Diaz is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BS in Molecular Cell Biology with a Minor in Education) and the School of Nursing at Columbia University (BSN). Currently, she serves as a Registered Nurse for the Pediatric Cardiac ICU at UCSF Children's Hospital in Mission Bay. Prior to nursing school, Gaby worked as a health coordinator for AmeriCorps' Community Health Corps at Lifelong Medical in Berkeley. Since high school, Gaby has been passionate about helping grow the quantity of young people of color in various health fields. She was one of the founding members of the first multicultural student group at Columbia's School of Nursing, MUNA. Gaby is originally from Los Angeles and has lived in the Bay Area since 2006.
JORDAN TSE
Jordan Tse is a San Francisco Native and graduate of SF University High School. After graduating high school, she attended USC for both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering. She now works on the Sustainability team at Facebook.
Lily Zheng
Lily Zheng is a writer, trans activist and consultant on organizational diversity and inclusion. She works closely with organizations in the Bay Area to develop policies and practices that support underrepresented groups in the workplace including women, people of color and LGBTQ+ people, and has spoken at Stanford University, Alphabet's X labs, Adobe Systems and Yahoo. She is currently preparing a book on transgender discrimination in the workplace for publication.