Professional background and skills: Founder and Executive Director of Empowered to Educate, which awards Fellowships to young female innovators in global Education. Together with their individual Mentors, the Fellows receive leadership training and micro-grants to support their grass-roots programs.

A favorite musical experience: I love Carmina Burana and have performed in it several times.

Hobbies/interests: Skiing, reading, singing, mentoring, board memberships.

My idea of happiness: Doing exactly what I am doing now: launching Empowered to Educate, sitting on the Board of BCI, and sneaking a day or two here or there to ski.

Personal motto or guiding inspiration: According to Henry James: “Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”

An interesting or unusual fact about me that people might not know: I once saved a life guard who had drowned.

Why BCI matters to me: Music is a cosmic gift. It offers a spiritual and emotional lifeline to many, and I include myself among them. To be a part of an organization like BCI which recognizes, nurtures, and amplifies this gift is a treasure to me.