TWO WOMEN LEADERS DRIVING CHANGE HERE AND ACROSS THE WORLD

For this salon, I was honored to be in conversation with two fabulous female leaders and dearest friends who are driving positive change at the community and global level and took the roads less traveled to get there.

Nicole Taylor, CEO of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, will talk about her path to leadership and her approach to community change today. Uzra Zeya, CEO and President of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, the world’s leading global network for organizations working to end violent conflict and sustain peace, will talk about her journey from the hallowed halls of diplomacy to grassroots advocacy for a more peaceful world.

Both Nicole and Uzra are firm believers in collective action for good and innovation to counter rising polarization, inequality, and injustice. They look forward to engaging with you on the role we all can play in building more just, prosperous, and inclusive societies, at home and abroad.

About Our Speakers:

Nicole Taylor is president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation. She brings together a rich background in Bay Area philanthropy, nonprofit administration and fundraising with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors.

In joining SVCF in December 2018, Nicole returns to the Bay Area from Arizona, where she served as vice president of the ASU Foundation. She also previously served as deputy vice president and dean of students at Arizona State University. Prior to her time at ASU, Nicole was the associate vice provost of student affairs and dean of community engagement and diversity at Stanford University, after serving as president and CEO of Thrive Foundation for Youth in Silicon Valley.

Nicole also spent more than 15 years with the East Bay Community Foundation, eventually serving as its president and CEO for six years. Nicole received both her M.A. in Education and A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University, and she began her career as an educator in Oakland public schools. She served on the board of the Federal Reserve of San Francisco for six years and is currently a board member for Common Sense Media.

Uzra Zeya is CEO of Alliance for Peacebuilding, the leading global network for organizations working to end conflict and build sustainable peace. A Senior Non-Resident Fellow and Board of Advisors Member at the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Ms. Zeya has over two decades of diplomatic leadership experience in Near East, South Asian, European, human rights, and multilateral affairs. As Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Paris from 2014 to 2017, she oversaw 50 offices and agencies working to take U.S.-French cooperation to unprecedented levels on climate change, counterterrorism, and Russia.

Ms. Zeya served previously as Acting Assistant Secretary in the State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, where she oversaw $400 million in U.S. assistance worldwide and led human rights dialogues with China and Egypt. Ms. Zeya also served as Political Minister-Counselor at U.S. Embassy New Delhi, and at U.S. embassies in Muscat, Damascus, Cairo, and Kingston. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of State, she helped shape the U.S. response to the Arab Spring and deepened U.S. engagement with emerging powers. She also served as Deputy Executive Secretary to Secretaries Rice and Clinton. She is the recipient of the French Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian award.

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