FOUNDER

Leigh Pasqual
Leigh starting working on the idea for Good for Girls in 2012 right around the time her first daughter was born. She was privileged to have an excellent education, and believes her daughters will too – and it is this that drives her passion to help provide educational opportunities to girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. She believes that education is not only a human right but the key to real progress for women and girls. Every girl, no matter her background, should be able to exercise that right and be able to develop her mind and abilities to reach her full potential as a human being.

Leigh has spent more than fifteen years working on women’s rights issues, as a communications strategist, gender advocate and writer. She has worked with the United Nations and with nonprofit organisations in the United States and other countries on issues such as CEDAW, violence against women, gender and HIV/AIDS, and effective communication in the development field. Leigh holds a degree in European Studies from the National University of Singapore and a Masters degree in European History from St. Antony’s College, Oxford University.

A native of Singapore, Leigh now lives in New York City with her husband, 2 daughters and chocolate lab Otis.

COMMUNICATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS ASSOCIATE

Elaine Teng
Elaine has a decade of professional experience in research, project management, and public communications. She has a keen interest in civic engagement, education policy and development. She believes that empowering young people, especially girls, is key to effective change in the world.

Her prior work includes managing research and social media initiatives at Boston University’s Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future; policy and education research at Harvard; consulting for Teach for America; and the co-ordination of research and public programs for a leading think tank in Asia.

Elaine has a B.A. in English from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in International Education Policy from Harvard University. She currently lives in Southern California with her husband and two children.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mijin Cha
Mijin Cha is an Assistant Professor at Occidental College in the Urban and Environmental Policy Department.  Prior to her position at Oxy, she worked for many years for public policy organizations and think tanks in NYC including Demos, PolicyLink and the Progressive States Network. Mijin has published extensively, and is also an independent researcher and analyst specializing in policy report production, public policy research and development, and content creation for advocacy campaigns.

She holds a JD, LLM and PhD and is a member of the California Bar. Mijin is also a Fellow at Cornell University’s Worker Institute.

Sha-Mayn Teh
Sha-Mayn has over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. Most recently, she was a Director of Engineering at Teachers Pay Teachers, an educational marketplace used by 2/3 of the teachers in the US to share and sell original teaching resources. She was at Google for 12 years as a software engineer and manager, where she launched Google Translate, cofounded Google’s Beijing office and founded a data analytics team in Google AdWords. Sha-Mayn is passionate about improving diversity in the tech industry, and is particularly active in initiatives to support women in technical roles.

Sha-Mayn attended Duke University, majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. She is a self-confessed foodie and dog-lover based in New York City.

Diana Yeo
Diana is an art director at a Pharma agency in New York City. She has been in the graphic design industry for two decades working in Singapore, London and New York. Di has done significant pro-bono design work for non-profits over the years, including for Good For Girls. She likes to say “I hope to (always) do good design and design to do good.”

Di grew up in Singapore, left in her early 20s to explore the world, and currently resides in Brooklyn with her son, Dylan.

Joanne Derwin
Joanne is the Founder and Executive Director of One World Project, a bilingual early childhood educational program focused on nurturing tomorrow’s global citizens and stewards of the environment. Joanne is a mother of two bilingual children and an experienced nonprofit manager, educator, and social justice advocate. Before initiating One World Project, Joanne worked at the Alliance for a Greater New York and Urban Agenda, organizations aimed at building a thriving, green, and just New York.  Prior to that, she was at the Ford Foundation where she helped manage three grant-making initiatives with a combined annual budget of $12 million. Joanne has also done research for Partners of the Americas and the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership in Washington D.C. and spent two years working as an English teacher in Alicante and Barcelona, Spain.

Joanne is a graduate in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder and holds a Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University. She is a consummate connector, and a tireless social justice advocate who is not afraid to use her voice and platform to help others. Joanne lives in Windsor Terrace with her husband, two children, and new puppy.

Mary Ng-Zuffante
Mary has spent almost a decade honing her financial chops in various industries. She currently serves as the Senior Manager for Finance and Business Development at 100 Resilient Cities, a non-profit pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation.  Prior to 100RC, Mary worked at Teach for America where she was the Director of Planning and Analysis and prior to that, at Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and AIG.

Mary holds a Bachelor of Science from Binghamton University’s School of Management. She is a native New Yorker, loves dogs, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband Danny.