EGAL announces six new Advisory Council members in 2022
The Center for Equity, Gender & Leadership (EGAL) welcomed six new members to their Advisory Council in 2022. This brings the number of Advisory Council members to 26.
Melissa Berg, Director of Inclusion, Culture, and Engagement, Dome Construction
Melissa Berg is a shareholder and the Director of Inclusion, Culture, and Engagement at Dome Construction. Melissa has been in the construction industry for 20 years, working on the construction of healthcare facilities for most of her career before her transition to her new role in 2020. Melissa served for (5) years on the founding board for the Northern California chapter of Women in Construction Operations (WiOPS), which is a non-profit that serves over 450 members in the Bay Area whose primary focus is to educate and mentor women in construction. Most recently she has joined the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Steering Committee for the Associated General Contractors of CA to continue working on her passion to help create a more inclusive and inviting culture in the construction industry that she loves.
Laura Clayton McDonnell, Senior Vice President, Sales, ServiceNow
Laura Clayton McDonnell is the Senior Vice President, Sales — East, Canada, and Latin America, ServiceNow, focused on driving positive results, growing market share, developing high performance teams, and transforming customers and culture. She has extensive sales management and legal experience and has held executive-level positions at leading companies in the high technology industry: Vice President, New York Region at Microsoft; Senior Vice President, North America Sales at Aspect Software; Vice President, Strategic Services, IBM; Vice President, Business Development, Rational Software; various senior sales and legal roles at Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Apple; and was in private corporate and securities law practice. Laura received a Bachelor of Science degree “with distinction” from San Jose State University, and a JD-MBA joint degree, from the University of California, at Berkeley.
Stuart Kaplan, General Partner, Change and Transformation, Edward Jones
Stuart is an expert at the intersection of strategy and people. He has over two and half decades of experience in strategy consulting, organization development, and leadership effectiveness. Stuart is a partner at Edward Jones Financial where he leads business transformation across the enterprise. Prior to that, Stuart worked at Google where he led Google Cloud’s global culture transformation program, covering nearly one-third of Google’s workforce. Earlier at Google, Stuart led strategic programs in the Office of the CEO, where he supported businesses including Search, Maps, and YouTube. He started his Google career as head of business recruiting. Stuart received his MBA from the Haas School at the University of California, Berkeley and holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Davis. Stuart is a certified executive coach.
Smita Pillai, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, Regeneron
Smita Pillai is a globally acclaimed and multiple award winning leader in the space of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion with an accomplished career spanning LifeSciences, Technology, Financial Services and Media. She is the Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for Regeneron, one the world’s most innovative biotechnology companies, based out of New York. In her role Smita is responsible for a comprehensive DEI strategy and implementation at the company, ensuring that equity is at the heart of the company’s mission: Science to Medicine. Originally from India, Smita has a Masters in International Business from India, and a Wharton Executive Education on Strategic Management. She is a Certified Diversity Professional and considers herself a true global citizen, having worked across the globe, based out of Mumbai, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, Florida, San Francisco and New York.
Yamini Rangan, Chief Executive Officer, HubSpot
Yamini Rangan is Chief Executive Officer at HubSpot. Prior to becoming CEO, Yamini served as HubSpot’s first-ever Chief Customer Officer, overseeing the marketing, sales, and services teams. A tech industry veteran, Yamini has more than 24 years of experience ranging from product marketing, sales, and strategy. Yamini previously served as Chief Customer Officer at Dropbox, where she was responsible for embedding customer focus across the organization. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering, a Master’s in Computer Engineering, and an MBA from Berkeley. In 2019, Yamini was recognized as one of the Most Influential Women in Business by San Francisco Business Times.
Brit Rocourt, Director of Women’s Empowerment, Gap Inc.
Brit Elise Rocourt is an international development professional with more than fifteen years of experience building partnerships between the public, private, and non-profit sectors to support social impact programs worldwide. Brit is the Director of Women’s Empowerment at Gap Inc., where she is managing the design, execution and resource mobilization of Athleta’s signature women’s empowerment program in the US. Previously, she served as VP, Philanthropy & Partnerships at Plan International USA, where she helped mobilize nearly $50 million from corporations, foundations, and individuals to ensure that all children, especially girls & young women, have the right to learn, lead, decide and thrive. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Brit is a Fulbright Scholar, Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow and has a masters in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University. She is an avid dancer, traveler and “foodie”, with a soft spot in her heart for Brazil, Haiti and California.
The Advisory Council is a critical force for EGAL advising on various aspects of the Center’s strategies and operations, as well as serving on various working groups that support the Center’s content. For more information about EGAL’s work visit https://haas.berkeley.edu/equity.
