Alexandra Siclait selected for the 2025 Women inPower Fellowship

NEW YORK – January 27, 2025 – 92nd Street Y, New York’s Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact has announced the 2025 Class of Women inPower, a fellowship program aimed at advancing women+ to the highest levels of leadership across all sectors. The new cohort consists of Fellows selected from a competitive pool of hundreds of applicants. This year’s Fellows include leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds and professions, including education, government, law, technology, finance, international affairs, philanthropy, nonprofits, arts, business, healthcare, and media.

This program provides women+ leaders with professional development, executive mentorship, and participation in an active community of leaders. The program encourages Fellows to think ambitiously about not only their career path and success, but also creating a healthier and more egalitarian society for all.

As Women inPower celebrates its 10th anniversary, the program marks a decade of empowering women+ leaders across industries to advance to the highest levels of their careers. Since its inception, WiP has supported over 210 Fellows through executive mentorship, professional development workshops, and a thriving peer network.

This year, the program expands its impact with the launch of the Neurodivergent Leaders Cohort, a groundbreaking initiative designed to support neurodivergent women+ leaders in overcoming unique challenges and leveraging their strengths. This new cohort builds on WiP’s proven model while deepening its commitment to inclusivity and innovation in leadership development.

Fellows are mentored by a group of leaders that include: Komal Bajaj, Chief Quality Officer, NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi/NCB; Raoul Bhavnani, Chief Communications Officer, Betterment; Tim Maleeny, Chief Strategy & Integration Officer, Quad; Ursula Wynhoven, Director and Representative to the UN, ITU; Elizabeth Leber, Managing Partner, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects; Kathy Wu Brady, Founder & Principal, KWB Studios, LLC; Jennefer Witter, CEO/Founder, The Boreland Group Inc; Tatyana Kleyman, General Counsel, Brightcore Energy.

“As we celebrate a decade of Women inPower, we are thrilled to welcome the extraordinary class of 2025 Fellows,” said Rebekah Shrestha, Senior Vice President & Executive Director of the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact. “This milestone year reaffirms our commitment to championing women+ leaders who are transforming their industries, creating lasting social impact, and redefining leadership for the next generation. We are especially proud to be launching the first-of-its-kind Neurodivergent Leaders Cohort, which uplifts and celebrates the contributions of women+ leaders who learn and think differently. We are honored to support this year’s Fellows on their journeys to breaking down barriers and achieving unparalleled professional success.”

The 2025 Women inPower Fellows are:

• Jeanie Ahn, Career & Money Coach/Journalist, Pen to Paper Productions

• Vishney Ambalavanar, Senior Investigator, U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration

• Melanie Ash, Deputy Chief, Affirmative Litigation Division, New York City Law Department

• Sasha Bartashnik, Head of Data & AI, Vendelux

• Christina Bogie-Claxton, MPA, Director of Finance, Montefiore Medical Center

• Jennifer Bohn, Assistant Director of RockEDU Science Outreach, The Rockefeller University

• Mary Kate Boughton, Director, Digital Strategy, Carnegie Corporation of New York

• Paris Bradley, Managing Director, Teneo

• Noëlle Byer, Head of Transfer Department, Reel to Reel Haven

• Miguelina Camilo, Counsel to Speaker, New York State Assembly

• Paula Caquias, Strategic Projects Manager, Mayor's Community Affairs Unit

• Maria Chepurina, Programme Officer, United Nations

• Filippa Christofalou, Founder and Lead Educator, Museum Education & Public Engagement, The Drama Science Lab

• Aura Cifuentes, Head, Latin America and the Caribbean, Co-Develop

• Rose Crichton-White, Director of Marketing, Development & Special Events, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music

• Deborah Elson, Managing Director, Argot Partners

• Elizabeth English-Blanco, Vice President of Equity Capital Markets Operations and ECM Team COO, Madison International Realty

• Marry Ferreira, Senior Manager, Communications and Global Accountability, Global Fund for Women

• Sarah Gastelum, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Mayor, Office of the Mayor, City of New York

• Erin Gehant, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Chancellor for Operations and Finance, NYC Public Schools

• Rumsha Hada, Marketing Growth Analyst, Meta

• Pamela Hower, Director of Marketing and Communications, El Museo del Barrio

• Dana Huber, Director, Programs and Strategic Learning at the New York Women's Foundation, The New York Women's Foundation

• Mariya Ilyas, U.S. Foreign Service Officer, U.S. Department of State

• Tobi Jaiyesimi, Vice President, Real Estate, Kasirer

• Justine Jones-Smith, Special Education Teacher/Special Education Department Co-Chair/IEP Coordinator, Harvest Collegiate High School - New York City Department of Education

• Krista Kaszycki, Director of Operations, AlphaRidge

• Kritika Kharbanda, Head of Sustainability, Henning Larsen

• Alexandra Krueger, Director of Museum Administration, The New York Historical Society

• Valerie Leon, Executive Director, Mitchell-Lama Portfolio, NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD)

• Jenni Majumdar, Assistant Professor Assistant Specialty Director, Nurse Anesthesia Adult Gerontology Acute Care DNP Program, Hunter College, City University of New York

• Maia Molina-Schaefer, Leadership Fellow, Amplify Her

• Katy Nelson, Deputy Director of Development, The Century Foundation

• Megan O'Toole, Deputy Director of Research, Everytown for Gun Safety

• Kyndall Osibodu, Director, Organizational Health, Operations, + Learning, Grantmakers for Girls of Color

• Tracy Powell-Rudy, Vice President Corporate Engagement, Integrate Advisors

• Rona Ramjas, Storyteller, Artist

• Jilliene Rodriguez, Managing Member & Associate Dean for Diversity and Community Engagement, Abintus LLC & School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

• Edda Santiago, SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Covenant House International

• Molly Schaeffer, Director, Mayors Office of Asylum Seeker Operations, City of New York

• Rebecca Scott, Director of Programs, FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics)

• Alexandra Siclait, Director of Fiscal Sponsorship, Proteus Fund

• Millie Symns, Data Strategy and Analytics Consultant, Illoominus

• Alethia Wong, Social enterprise consultant and advisor, Independent

For more information, visit www.WomeninPower.org.

About 92nd Street Y, New York

92NY is a center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. Founded in 1874, it seeks to create, provide, and disseminate programs of distinction that foster the physical and mental growth of people throughout their lives. 92Y offers thousands of programs from its New York headquarters and creates a community far beyond its four walls, bringing people from all over the world together through innovations like the award-winning GivingTuesday and the Social Good Summit. It’s transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92Y’s programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.

Press Release linked here.

What is Large-Scale Change?

Written by Alexandra Siclait for the Leadership Programs at the Bush Foundation

If you have looked at the Bush Fellowship application questions, you may have seen the words large-scale change. But what do those words mean in terms of the Bush Fellowship?

The Bush Fellowship invests in your leadership development based on your leadership track record and vision for transformational change in your community. If you become a Fellow, we are investing in you because you think of making vast changes in your community and have partnered with people to identify problems. You are considering extensive shifts in systems, processes, or patterns of outcomes.

When it comes to the application questions about large-scale change, many applicants identify the need for change, talk about raising awareness of an issue or focus on a single solution to a problem. Yet, large-scale change requires you to think bigger, beyond the existing situation. The large-scale change consists of transformational actions to bring about more desirable outcomes in your community.

It is the difference between:

• Working within the system -or- working to remodel the system.

• Relying on known patterns to solve challenges -or- reimagining new frameworks.

• Simply tweaking current structures and mental models -or- redesigning ways of thinking and behavior patterns.

We are looking for aspiring Bush Fellows who continuously push their vision to have a huge impact; whose large-scale vision includes building inclusive, anti-racist systems regardless of the issue; and who are thinking big about how their vision will actively engage and activate their community to make change happen. Applied well, this can sustainably change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.

As you think about your vision for large-scale change, ask yourself:

• Does your vision affect a whole or a portion of a system?

• Does your vision create a mental, behavioral or paradigm shift in you or others?

• Does your vision impact many people or just a few?

• Does your vision inclusively reflect your community’s needs and wants?

• Does your vision include multiple stakeholders across systems and commitments from community members to act?

As you reflect on these questions, your potential, and your vision of change for yourself and your community, think about how you will need to grow to influence the large-scale change you hope to make. Then, develop your Fellowship plan to help you build the leadership skills, experiences, and connections you need to build your vision with the community. I hope you consider applying for the Bush Fellowship!

What is a Strong Track Record?

Written by Alexandra Siclait for the Leadership Programs at the Bush Foundation

I will never forget it. Looking me square in the eyes, visionary artist and choreographer Liz Lerman said to me,

"Resist the urge to give counsel because multiple truths exist. Questions are the product — investigative inquiry."

Her simple yet powerful words moved me. Liz is right. Questions do open the mind to think bigger and differently.

As a Bush Fellow, you must be grounded in why you show up to lead and get comfortable interrogating your values, identity, culture, and experiences, all of which profoundly and perpetually shape your vision. Bush Fellows ask questions to spark curiosity, which in turn sparks ideas, which then spark innovation. Without deep introspection, they risk relying on old, broken patterns to solve problems, risk working within broken systems instead of working to change them, and potentially miss the opportunity to maximize their leadership capacity. 

In my role leading the Bush Fellowship applicant experience, I am often asked: What is a strong track record? When it comes to track record, many applicants talk about their record of success in terms of the positions, titles, or awards they have earned. Yet, a strong track record is not just a list of degrees and accolades. 

Rather, we are looking for aspiring Bush Fellows who continuously push themselves to broaden their perspectives and increase their effectiveness inside and outside their paid work. We are looking for applicants who demonstrate commitment to building the skills to bridge cultural differences and work inclusively with people of different backgrounds. And we are looking for Bush Fellows who are thinking big about how their leadership could influence change in others, with the potential for ripple effects and impact across their communities and the whole region. This can be challenging, so we ask applicants to illustrate their resilience and ability to learn in adversity. 

As you think about applying, ask yourself:

• How do your culture and experiences impact your vision and the way you do your work? 

• What does leading inclusively mean to you? 

• How could your leadership growth impact your community, state, or region? 

• And how do you take care of yourself to ensure you can persevere through setbacks and challenges? 

If these questions ignite your curiosity, and you are interested in growing as a leader to solve problems in our region more creatively, I hope you will consider applying for the Bush Fellowship!