Board of Directors
GirlVentures Board of Directors
Lingling Chen, President
Head of Growth and Product Marketing
Uniform Teeth
Lingling leads growth and product marketing at Uniform Teeth, a modern and premium orthodontic care brand. She is responsible for driving the GTM strategy and execution for this challenger brand to drive aggressive customer acquisition & revenue growth goals. Lingling is passionate about giving back to the community. She is a team lead at Full Circle Fund, where she leads a team of volunteers to provide strategic consulting services to Bay Area non-profit organizations. She also started the Aspirational Women initiative to support professional women to dream big and take the career leap.
Ivonne Garcia, Vice President
Senior Director of Community Programs
YMCA of San Francisco, Buchanan
Over the last 15 years, Ivonne has dedicated her professional life to community advocacy and youth development through various non-profit organizations. In her years at the YMCA of Greater San Francisco, she has had the opportunity to connect city youth to nature and the outdoors, supported people of all ages in their health and wellness goals, and provided physical and social wellbeing programs to seniors in the Fillmore and Japantown districts. Ivonne has a Bachelors in Biology and Environmental Science & Policy from Smith College and a Masters in Women & Gender Studies from San Francisco State University. Ivonne is excited to bring her passion and experience to GirlVentures once again - 15 years after she first became a GV Instructor! When she is not working, Ivonne can often be found running trails throughout the Bay Area, spending time with her family in the Mission, and daydreaming about life alongside her cat, bearded dragon, and corn snake.
Lizzie Hoerauf, Treasurer
Financial Analyst
Lizzie’s passion for the outdoors was ignited at 18 during a pre-orientation backpacking trip with Duke University. This experience led her to a career in leading backpacking trips and outdoor education programs across the country, particularly in Yosemite National Park, CA. While she loved being in the field, Lizzie was equally drawn to the behind-the-scenes operations and analytical work that supported these missions. This interest led her to pursue management roles and ultimately earn an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where she specialized in nonprofit finance. Lizzie is thrilled to bring her expertise and enthusiasm to GirlVentures. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, knitting, and reading.
Banke Abioye, Secretary
Entitlement + Community Engagement Associate
Banke was born and raised in the Bay Area, and has been passionate about outdoor recreation since she was a teenager, exploring the trails of the Bay Area and the Sierra Nevada. With a deep commitment to youth development, Banke gained valuable experience as a green workforce and sustainability instructor in Chicago, where she worked with students on projects like bike mechanics and urban garden design. Her connection to GirlVentures runs deep, having previously volunteered on the Youth Advisory Board and in the Girls Climb On program. Now, Banke is excited to return as a Board Member and contribute to the organization's mission of leadership development and empowering women-identifying youth. By day, Banke works in the industrial real estate sector. In her free time, you can find her hiking along the fire trails in Berkeley, sailing in the San Francisco Bay, or deepening her connection to her native culture through her passion project, the Nigerian Supper Club.
Alex Wang, Member
Director of Programs
Climate Breakthrough
Alex grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan and the slopes of the Colorado Rockies. Her time adventuring and building friendships in the outdoors, especially at an all-girls summer camp and the National Outdoor Leadership School, has made her an advocate for the power of nature to build confidence, connection, and a sense of responsibility to the broader world. Alex has spent her career in philanthropy focusing on climate change and human rights. She currently works at Climate Breakthrough, which gives the largest environmental grant for individuals to create and scale transformative climate action. As the Director of Programs, she supports visionary climate leaders around the globe in strategy design, organizational development, executive coaching, and fundraising. Alex has degrees from Middlebury College and Johns Hopkins University, was once a Wilderness EMT. She lives on the ocean in Pacifica with her husband and two little kids, spending as much time adventuring near and far, most happily deep in the backcountry.
Sylvana Tunesi, Governance Chair
Senior Program Manager, Product Education
Sylvana first discovered her love for wild places in the north woods of Minnesota. After serving as a summer camp director, WWOOF-ing around Australia and teaching STEM to elementary-aged children, she moved to San Francisco to gain access to the variety of wilderness that California offers. Her passions for exploring nature and empowering girls led her to GirlVentures and she is honored to serve on the board and contribute to the mission of the organization. At work, Sylvana leverages systems and technology to help individuals build their skills, with a special emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Sylvana holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from McGill University and when she’s not working or adventuring in far away places, she’s exploring Golden Gate Park with her husband, dog and little boy.
Deepika Mulwani, Member
Senior Manager
PwC
Deepika is a Senior Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers helping fortune 500 companies with financial planning, reporting and automation. She has over a decade of experience in financial planning and accounting, and has helped various organizations streamline financial metrics and performance. Prior to PwC she led the finance analytics team at a DNA sequencing company Illumina in reporting financial metrics to S&P, and assisted Investor Relations as a Senior Manager. Having grown up in India, she learned to back pack when she turned 30 with the non-profit Sierra Club and volunteers there since the past 4 years teaching students backpacking basics in San Diego. In her free time she loves to hike, paddleboard and be outdoors.