9. Founders

Molly Aeck

Molly is a sophomore minoring in Studio Art and majoring in International relations. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, she came to California to see a different part of the country and enjoys getting outdoors in her new beautiful surroundings as much as possible. Her main interest in International Relations, comes from a desire to study sustainable development after working for a conservation NGO in Ecuador. She is passionate about using art to express the dis/connection between people and communities, our ecosystem and our homes, and the very nature of interaction on a micro and macro scale. In the same way that her art allows her to see and express the interconnection between systems and organisms, she has found that studying International Relations is a discipline in which she can look at both the micro and macrocosm. In her free time she is a docent at Stanford's Biological Preserve, and enjoys gardening and music (especially Pearl Jam).

Jasmine Anderson

Jasmine is a sophomore majoring in Management Science and Engineering. As a high school student, Jasmine began her involvement in community service as a mentor on the HIV/AIDS Awareness Team for Martin Luther King Jr. County Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Jasmine helped administer HIV counseling to the residents of the surrounding low-income communities. Recognizing her passion for mentorship, Jasmine went on to become a founder and fundraiser for Project R.A.I.S.E in Inglewood, California. Project R.A.I.S.E tutors and mentors elementary and junior high school students of disadvantaged families. Jasmine's leadership experience includes initiating a recycling program for the community in the Inglewood area, which later helped her receive the Waste Management of Inglewood California Scholarship. As a Stanford student, she is an East Palo Alto Stanford Academy mentor and tutor for a seventh grader at The School of Wisdom and Knowledge in East Palo Alto. Jasmine is also a volunteer for the AIDS Annual Walk-A-Thon and a summer volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.

Cara Bertron

A sophomore hailing from Texas, Cara is definitely "pro-affordable housing." Although she is only now beginning to appreciate the difficulty of providing safe, environmentally friendly shelter for all, her interest in housing began early in childhood with marvelous constructions of wooden blocks. Later, after some years of drawing comprehensive floor plans on sketch pads and working on a stunning smile, Cara obtained an internship with an architecture firm in Austin. There, during a long walk with the firm's friendly Labrador retriever, she came to the shocking conclusion that she did not want to be an architect at all, but rather a bicycle mechanic in Oregon. At Stanford, these two dreams have merged nicely into an Urban Studies major, Planning track. When Cara is not working diligently on solving the problem of affordable housing, she might be found at the Veteran's Hospital listening to stories, salvaging food for Urban Ministries, schmoozing with interesting people at any campus co-op house, working on handwritten letters to friends, or sleeping at the library.

Graham Brown

Graham, our only Mainer, is a sophomore majoring in Product Design. As such, his "business" experience runs the gamut from vegetable farmer and part-time tutor to lobster fisherman and computer science TA. He also served as an Associate Director on the Laird Norton Endowment Foundation, which provides funding to sustainable forestry projects in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Stanford he sings with Young at Heart, a student group that performs songs from the 1920s-1950s in local senior care centers. As a Baha'i, Graham enjoys volunteering at soup kitchens, Habitat for Humanity, and anywhere he can work for equality. His career goals are peace on earth and goodwill to men; barring that, he would settle for a nice hot pastrami on rye and a smile.

Helen Brown

Helen is a Sophomore from Washington, D.C., majoring in the Architecture track of Urban Studies and minoring in Civil Engineering. With internships in high school held at institutions including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Fine Arts Society in London, and Bowie-Gridley Architects in Washington, D.C., she has focused on continuing her interest in architecture and arts administration here at Stanford. Last summer she received the Peter Kreuger Award to intern at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, and throughout the school year has been interning at Stanford's own Cantor Arts Center in the Exhibitions Department. With each class she has taken that focuses on urban housing issues and design theory, she has become more interested in developing efficient and well-designed urban spaces to cure problems that plague American cities. Though she loves Stanford, Helen is quick to express her unwavering East Coast pride and loyal readership of "The New Yorker."

Stephen Chan

Stephen is a sophomore double majoring in Management Science and Engineering and Public Policy. Born and raised in San Diego, California, Stephen thinks of service as a way of life. Throughout middle school and high school, he decided to channel the negative energy he was the object of into positive action by mentoring and tutoring younger students, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, and helping out at public libraries, nursing homes, soup kitchens, and hospitals in the community. At Stanford he has continued his commitment to service through Project AIYME, a group that mentors at-risk Asian eighth graders, and Young at Heart, a service singing group that performs at local nursing homes. Stephen is happy now to be a Public Service Advising Fellow at Stanford's Haas Center for Public Service, helping fellow students connect with service opportunities on and off campus and coordinating the newly-formed Youth and Education Network. He is also excited to be exploring the world of local, regional policy through an internship at the district office of Assemblyman Joe Simitian, as part of the Stanford in Silicon Valley program. In the future, he hopes to pursue whatever it is that will create the most positive change in the world.

Andrea Chen

Andrea is a sophomore double majoring in Anthropological Sciences and the joint Philosophy/Religious Studies major. She believes that loving life and the world is the greatest thing she can do. She hopes that whatever she does in the future will be because of her love and understanding of people, whether that takes the form of a high school teacher, an evolutionary biologist, or an anthropologist researching out in the field. Andrea loves traveling to different locations in the world and getting to know different people from different cultures in order to see their different perspectives on life. In her spare time, Andrea dances and figure skates. She also enjoys hiking, mountaineering, skiing, and being outside.

Manik Chhabra

As a result of being born and raised in Minnesota, Manik developed his character through enduring the hardships of eternal winter, and gaining life perspectives from radio moralist Garrison Keillor. Manik is currently a sophomore at Stanford University majoring in biomechanical engineering. One of his most memorable experiences was joining residents at a home for the mentally ill in song and dance to Glen Cambell's, "Rhinestone Cowboy." He hopes to live life in such a way that it will demonstrate the need for people to open their minds and hearts to those around them.

Jennifer Chiu

Unbeknownst to most of her CEE 45Q classmates, Jennifer is an undeclared freshman. Although lacking a clear direction in her life or studies, she has a strong desire to serve her local and international community. She's considering majoring in International Relations, especially after an eye-opening Alternative Spring Break experience where she studied U.S.-Mexico border issues and witnessed the poverty of Mexican colonias. Attending high school in Mission Viejo, California, Jennifer was engaged in a constant war against apathy as she tried to promote service as a Regional Chair of the Volunteer Center of Orange County's Youth Leadership Council. Additionally, she was very involved in her local Amnesty International chapter and tried to spread her enthusiasm for promoting human rights in her high school. Currently, she volunteers with Circle K and SPOON and is going to be teaching ESL soon. This summer she is going to work at the Peninsula Community Foundation in order to learn more about the nonprofit world. She hopes to continue to improve her social entrepreneurship skills so that one day she can use them in projects that will help people in developing nations.

Felicia Estrada

Like most of her CEE 45Q classmates, Felicia is sophomore. Unlike most of her classmates, she is majoring in Public Policy and minoring in Middle Eastern Languages. Her interest in Public Policy began in 8th grade when she lobbied her city's school board to create educational equity by providing Algebra I courses to ALL city middle schools. While attending Pittsburg High School Felicia gained leadership experience as an appointed member of The Contra Costa Countywide Youth Commission and as student liaison to The Children and Families Policy Forum. There she was introduced to issues concerning families in transition from welfare to work including job training, transportation, child care, and coincidentally... affordable housing. When she's not studying, Felicia enjoys teaching a Kindergarten Bible Class at her church and hosting dinner parties for friends. She hopes that the best aspects of blending of innovative solutions to social needs and business practices will remain a part of her future career plans.

Zach Levine

Zach is a sophomore majoring in International Relations and minoring in Economics. At his high school in Danville, California, he became actively involved in two community service organizations, Interact and National Honor Society, and he was elected Vice-President of each group. Outside of these groups, he served as a student representative to a grant allocating council and led web development teams, winning freelance contracts, awards, and scholarships. Complementing his local service, he also took part in a one-month facility renovation project in Costa Rica. At Stanford, Zach has been Communications Director of the ASSU, which involves facilitating meetings and leading a team towards a communications strategy. Additionally, he has been the financial officer of SAT Success, a dorm Community Service Representative, and a participant in the Haas Stanford Leaders for Public Service year-long seminar, which develops leadership skills and provokes reflection on what it means to be a leader. Zach's career interests include social entrepreneurship, finance, and policymaking. To foster his interest in social entrepreneurship, he attended a lecture series and joined Fusion, a social entrepreneurship student group. Over the past summer, he explored the intersection of government and Internet technology while interning at Governor Gray Davis' eGovernment Department.

Jennifer McDonald

Jennifer is a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering, though she would also major in Earth Systems and Urban Studies if Stanford University did not frown on undergraduate students staying seven years. Her active interest in community planning and local government began in high school, when she spent two years working with community leaders on a community planning/visioning project for the Santa Ynez Valley. Visual and verbal communication are a large part of Jennifer's life: she was a peer mediator at her high school, was on the board of a regional mediation institute, facilitates teambuilding, and is a visual artist. At Stanford, Jennifer rides for the Equestrian Team and is a Vice-President of Alpha Phi Omega, a coed community service fraternity. In the future, she hopes to create engineering-based solutions for sustainable agriculture and development (it must be possible!).

Molly Meyer

Molly is a sophomore and intends to major in Earth Systems. In high school, she helped mentally-handicapped students in their physical education class. At Stanford she has tutored a Spanish-speaking university employee in English. She throws the discus for Stanford's track and field team and uses vacation time to go hiking. Future goals include starting a nonprofit to help improve Latin Americans' living conditions in healthy, environmentally friendly, and economically sustainable ways.

Jessica Oliva

Jessica (Jess) is a sophomore majoring in history, with a concentration in women's studies. In keeping with this interest, she has created an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) trip at Stanford focusing on Gender Issues in the Bay Area, and will be co-coordinating ASB at Stanford next year. She is also passionate about education, and has tutored at the Star Learning Center in New York City and at Escondido Elementary in Palo Alto. As Jess originates from New York City, her goal for affordable housing in California includes convincing Silicon Valley residents and developers of the merits of apartment buildings and skyscrapers. In the meantime she hopes that social innovation in all areas of community development will be embraced as part of a greater understanding of local and global community.