Our Team
Board of Directors
Tanushree Ghosh Dhall, PhD
Founder and Board Chair, HerRights
Senior Director & Site Leader,
Tempe Medtronic
Dr. Ghosh is a poet, artist, author and social activist. In 2016, she founded HerRights with a vision of building global networks that advance social and economic gender parity. She has a PhD in Material Science and Chemistry from Cornell University, is an alum of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy.
Banoo Parpia, PhD
Retired Director of International Development,
Cornell University
Dr. Parpia is an epidemiologist by training, and Sr Research Associate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. She served as Chief Coordinator on Cornell’s “China Project,” a landmark survey that produced an unsurpassed array of socioeconomic variables and a rich database for analysis.
Colleen Coons
District Rotaract Chair & President Elect,
Rotary Club, Mesa West
Ms. Coons recently retired as Director for the United Parcel Service (UPS) International District, where she held leadership roles with responsibility for topline revenue and cost strategies. She now volunteers her time supporting causes that make the world a better place.
Lori Severson, MA
Leadership Coach, Author and Facilitator
Ms. Severson is a leadership coach, author, and facilitator with more than 20 years of experience in corporate and organizational leadership. She has held leadership roles at Intel, General Electric, Honeywell, McDonnell Douglas Helicopter, and Arizona State University. In 2006, she founded her own leadership coaching and consulting practice focused on developing women leaders.
McKenzie Comfort
Chief Executive Officer and Founder,
Alpha The Agency
Mrs. Comfort is an innovator in the sales-brokerage industry who focuses on small businesses and entrepreneurs on the rise. She develops novel strategies to help ignite next level growth for those who will shape the future of the marketplace, and has a passion for helping women create their own success stories.
Angel Brandwein Aldero, MHI
Executive Director, HerRights
Ex Officio Board Member
Ms. Brandwein Aldero is an innovation strategist and executive leader. With over 20 years of leadership experience in business operations, she combines unique expertise in startup success with a passion for social justice to foster growth and meaningful change. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer for the Institute for Mental Health Research, and received her Master of Health Innovation at Arizona State University.
Jesse Elaine Nichols
Young Professionals Board Member
Regional Director of Operations,
Alpha The Agency
Ms. Nichols oversees operations and strategic sales teams, and in her current role, has fully redesigned auditing, productivity, recruitment, and internal communication processes, driving efficiency and growth for the company.
Junior Board Members
Most boards restrict membership to late-career leaders who bring cachet, wisdom and resources to the organization. While the HerRights Board of Directors does focus recruitment on this demographic, we also intentionally open the door to junior board members, or young professionals who bring diversity and enhanced connectivity to our work. In creating board seats for those in the early stages of their careers, we disrupt traditional systems that often fail to provide mentorship and leadership pathways to young women.
Junior Board Member 1
Junior Director
Community Liaisons & Emeriti
SURAVI CHANGLANI
Suravi works as an advocate for survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault in central Maryland.
KIRTI JAYAKUMAR
Kirthi is a Lawyer from Chennai, India with a keen interest in peace and conflict, public international law, and gender issues. She is the founder of Red Elephant Foundation and an accomplished author.
SHAIKAT CHAKRABORTY THAKUR
Saikat is a physicist by profession, working as a research scientist at the Center for Energy Research at the University of California at San Diego.
SIDDHARTHA SENGUPTA
Sidhartha completed an M. Tech Biotechnology degree from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. He is currently working on the Chikungunya Virus as a junior research fellow in the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine.
RITI SINGH
Riti is an attorney who has long held a passion for helping children and families. She is excited about the impact HerRights will have on the global community by virtue of empowering and advocating for women.
ROSHNI RAY
Roshni is an Applied Artist and an alumni of National Institute of Design, India. She is presently working as a User Experience Consultant in Mumbai.
ROSHNI GHOSH
Roshni works for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as a patent agent. She has a PhD from St. John's University in Developmental Genetics, and is pursuing a JD from Fordham Law school, part time in the evening. She also acts as a volunteer for Lawyer for a Day program in Westchester Supreme Court and International Refugee Assistance Project.
HEATHER MATTISSON
Heather is Chief of Staff at Gusto. She is a leadership Coach with 20+ years experience in Diversity & Inclusion, Product Management, and Information Technology. Previously, she served as Program Manager at Intel where she managed a student mentoring program focused on multi-year partnerships with education partners and nonprofits.
RUIA GUATAM
Ruia is a communications specialist for a nonprofit in Arizona and an emeritus member of the HerRights Board of Directors. She has served as a community organizer in Phoenix, AZ for many years, focusing on issues such as immigration, mass incarceration, economic justice, and voting rights. She previously served as Project Director and Communications Coordinator for OCA Greater Phoenix, the Arizona chapter of one of the oldest national civil rights organizations advocating for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).