Meet the New Additions to our Board of Directors and Board of Advisors
This month illuminAid added new board members to both our Board of Directors and Board of Advisors. We are looking forward to the contributions they will make for our team! Here is a little bit about each of our new board members
Board of Directors
Vinona Bhatia: Vinona Bhatia’s background as a global health professional as well as medical oncologist will be an asset to our team here at illuminAid. She has worked in the developing world on capacity building for healthcare and has been especially dedicated to working in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Joel Zimbelman: Joel has dedicated the past 35 years working in higher education as a teacher, administrator, and researcher. Joel has expertise at applied and professional ethics in medicine, nursing, and public health as well as strengths in institutional reorganization and administrative oversight.
Claire Pelley: Claire is a passionate and strategic leader with years of experience in developing and delivering highly successful local, regional, and international programs. Claire is also skilled in building internal and external networks that generate participation, enthusiasm, and revenue working in settings with diverse audiences.
Natalie Norton: Natalie has spent the past five years as a development officer for Rise Against Hunger, an international hunger-relief nonprofit that is dedicated to empowering communities, nourishing lives, and responding to emergencies. She has served as a consultant to assist nonprofits in the creation of representative volunteer programs. Recently, Natalie was selected to join the virtual 2020 Young Nonprofit Leaders Series at Loyola University.
Cherie Hurwitz: Cherie has over 20 years of experience as a digital product management and innovation executive and has led teams for Yahoo, Sony Pictures, and Maker Studios. Cherie is originally from South Africa and graduated form the University of Cape Town with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She has taught product strategy at UCLA Extension to the next generation of product management leaders. She currently works at The Walt Disney Company where she manages media and entertainment distribution systems
Board of Advisors
Jennifer Wilking: Dr. Wilking is the Department Associate Chair and coordinator for the International Relations Program at California State University, Chico. Dr. Wilking teaches in the field of Comparative Politics and was a recipient of the 2020-2021 CSU Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award.
Ed Lee: Ed is a co-founder of Rise Above Research, LLC, an independent market intelligence and strategic consulting firm that covers the consumer and professional digital photography and imaging markets. He has spent over 20 years as an industry analyst and market researcher providing thought, leadership, and actionable insights to industry vendors, service providers, and retailers
Wendy Woods-Williams: Wendy is a strategic communications specialist with more than 20 years of experience in healthcare public relations. Wendy has specific expertise in strategic counsel and execution of global communications initiatives. She leads cross-geography teams across the globe from London, Chicago, New York City, Switzerland, and California. Wendy also specializes in global brand communications, strategic communications planning, issues management, executive communications, staff development, and consensus building in a highly-matrixed environment.
Gulzar Akbar: Gulzar is a Development Consultant with more than 30 years of experience in social and corporate sectors. He has expertise in digital extension services, knowledge management, and capacity building and has worked in telecom and computer peripherals R&D during the formative stage of his career. Gulzar has a life philosophy of ‘Learn and Extend’