Rachel Cooke ’99 is the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm specializing in workplace activation – building employee experiences that fuel, rather than follow, the “real” and most meaningful work.

A sought-after educator, facilitator and speaker Cooke crafts experiences designed to crack your Activation code. Helping leaders unleash potential, lead through never-ending change and keep burnout at bay – all while delivering outstanding results.

Cooke’s gift for blending her external expertise with a company’s interior wisdom, experience and intuition has won her accolades from a diverse slate of clients, including American Express, Wolters Kluwer, Cisco, Splunk, AMC Networks, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Scholastic and many more.

Named by Inc. Magazine as a Top 100 Leadership Speaker, Cooke’s insights have been featured in such publications as Inc. Magazine, Thrive Global, Bloomberg Quint, Fast Company, Business Insider, HuffPost and more. She is also the host of Macmillan’s Modern Mentor Podcast, a weekly show delivering actionable tips and insights for those striving to define and achieve their version of success.

Cooke holds her master’s degree in organizational psychology from Columbia University and her bachelor’s degree in human development from Cornell University.

Valisha Graves ’85 is an executive director and senior fintech product manager at JP Morgan Chase. Prior to joining JP Morgan Chase, Graves worked at Morgan Stanley for 16 years where she developed product management expertise and launched fintech applications for the wealth management, investment banking, capital markets, equity derivatives and equity research teams. At Morgan Stanley, she co-led the launch EDIT (Enhancing Diversity in Technology), the first Wall Street forum aimed at advancing the careers of Black and Latino technologists.

She is a current Cornell Trustee and also serves on the Brooks School of Public Policy Advisory Board. She is the past chair of PCCW (President’s Council of Cornell Women) and a member of the Cornell University Council, the Arts & Sciences Career Connections Committee, the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN) and the Cornell Black Alumni Association (CBAA). 

Graves is a 92Y Women in Power Fellow. She serves on the NYU Fubon Fintech Advisory Board, was past chair of the CFANY Fintech Thought Leadership Group and is a guest lecturer on fintech at leading business schools. She earned her MBA from Columbia Business School and an AB in Government/International Relations from Cornell. 

See Graves’s LinkedIn profile.

Erin Johnson ’10 currently serves as the director of service operations and infrastructure at Green City Force (GCF). For the past seven years, she has overseen programming for GCF’s Service Corps, as well as the operations of six urban farm sites located within NYC public housing developments. Focused on green jobs training for young adults from low-income housing, GCF AmeriCorps members serve and train at these farm sites learning technical skills, transferable skills and serving local communities.

Johnson’s career interests emerged as a design and environmental analysis major, using sustainable design as a launching pad to explore synergies with urban planning, health, equity and food systems while at Cornell. By graduation, she knew urban agriculture was the sweet spot for her, connecting food and environmental justice at a community scale.

After moving to New York City in 2012, she got involved with a local community garden and started volunteering with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. She went on to formalize her green thumb apprenticing for a season at the urban farm in Battery Park, growing veggies and teaching youth in 2016.

Johnson earned her MA at NYU in 2016, focusing on urban agriculture and sustainable community development, including a summer in Madrid researching the emergence of community gardens in connection to the urban social movement.

See Johnson’s LinkedIn profile.

Vicki Johnson ’01 is the co-organizer of the Cornell Women in Community-Engaged Leadership Symposium. She holds a BA in government from Cornell University. Johnson is founder and director of ProFellow®, the world’s leading online resource for professional and academic fellowships. She is a four-time fellow, public speaker and an award-winning social entrepreneur. Johnson speaks globally at universities and conferences on how to achieve competitive fellowships and funding opportunities for career advancement. She is also the creator of the Fully Funded Course and Mentorship Program, an online course and group coaching program for graduate school applicants that has helped more than 300 students enter top PhD and master’s programs and collectively win more than $30 million in graduate school funding awards. 

Before founding ProFellow, Johnson worked for 15 years in public policy at the intersection of public health and emergency management. Her first fellowship after her graduation from Cornell was the New York City Urban Fellows Program, where she was placed at the NYC Office of Emergency Management supporting the response and recovery from the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks. She was awarded three other competitive fellowships including the German Chancellor Fellowship, the Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship and the Ian Axford Fellowship in Public Policy (Fulbright New Zealand). At the age of 30, she was appointed policy director of the Obama Administration’s National Commission on Children and Disasters. In addition to her Cornell degree, she holds an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and a PhD from Massey University (New Zealand).

See Johnson’s LinkedIn profile.

Liz Ngonzi MMH ’98 is a transformative speaker, educator and consultant dedicated to empowering purpose-driven individuals and organizations to amplify their impact through digital storytelling, emerging technologies and strategic partnerships. With over 20 years of experience, Ngonzi has been at the forefront of leveraging AI-powered storytelling, teaching these cutting-edge techniques to 1,900 people since June 2023.

As the founder and CEO of The International Social Impact Institute®, an award-winning social enterprise, an award-winning adjunct assistant professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and a consultant to mission-driven organizations, Ngonzi drives global change through the ethical application of AI and emerging technologies. She is a distinguished member of the American Society for AI (ASFAI) and serves on the expert council for the Global Generative AI Awards. Additionally, Ngonzi serves as a Cornell University Council member, a President’s Council of Cornell Women member and a member of the board of the Court of Master Sommeliers, Americas.

Ngonzi’s deep connection to Cornell University includes her former roles as an online course facilitator for the Bank of America Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship, an expert contributor to its foundational course, and an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Cornell Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship. She holds a master of management in hospitality from Cornell and a bachelor of science in information systems from Syracuse University.

Through her NYU courses and thought leadership, Ngonzi equips professionals with essential skills to harness AI-powered storytelling, emerging technology and innovative strategies. At the Women in Community-Engaged Leadership Symposium, she will share insights on how mission-driven organizations and leaders can leverage AI-driven storytelling to amplify their impact.

See Ngonzi’s LinkedIn profile.

As the chief human resources officer of the Legal Aid Society of NYC, Connie Park MILR ’13 leads a team of human resources professionals dedicated to retaining, recruiting and supporting the people who deliver on the mission for justice in every borough.

Prior to joining the Legal Aid Society of NYC, Connie served as the executive director of human resources, chief diversity officer, and Title IX coordinator at SUNY Corning Community College for five years. Her past professional experiences also include 15 years in a variety of roles in human resources at Cornell University, and she has worked within the nonprofit sector in New York City providing direct human services to individuals who experience chronic homelessness.

She holds her masters from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a bachelor’s in political science from the University of Maryland.

Samantha Pedreiro ’12 is the chief operating officer at New American Leaders, an organization that equips New Americans (first and second-generation immigrants and refugees) with the skills and resources they need to run, win and lead in public office. In this role, she overseas operations, finance, communications and development. Pedreiro is passionate about building a pipeline of diverse leaders who are well-trained, supported and ready to serve at all levels of government.

Throughout her career, Pedreiro has maintained a strong commitment to advancing opportunity, equity and justice for historically underrepresented and underserved groups. She has worked in a variety of settings, including government, academia, politics and social justice nonprofit organizations on issues such as gender equity and empowerment, low-income housing, environmental justice and workforce development.

Most recently, Pedreiro was the chief of staff at Run the World, a digital fundraising, direct mail and voter persuasion and mobilization firm. There she led the executive team and operations department, coordinated all human resource matters and served as a cross-team strategist. She helped the firm plan for peak periods in the election cycle to support the success of clients that included Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Representative Lucy McBath, Stacey Abrams and Senator Amy Klobuchar. 

Previously, Pedreiro worked on the state and local campaigns team at EMILY’s List, where she oversaw a portfolio of 300+ diverse women candidates across 27 states, serving as a liaison between internal departments to vet, train, fund, endorse, canvass for and publicize candidates. 

Pedreiro holds a bachelor of arts from Cornell University and a master of public administration from American University.

See Pedreiro’s LinkedIn profile.

Amanda Perez Leder ’99 has conceived and led award-winning health education, capacity-building and organizational development programs for over 20 years. She has authored numerous curricula and manuals and is a sought-after instructional designer and facilitator around conflict-laden topics like workplace culture, racism, trauma and sexuality.

In 2013, Perez Leder founded CHAT (Communicating about Health and Tough Topics), in response to the significant need from organizations to create effective and equity-driven education and training programs. She supports c-level executives and boards with meeting and retreat facilitation, and building and sustaining cultures that allow whole teams to contribute and thrive.

Perez Leder served as a senior advisor at Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 2014 to 2022. She was recruited to collaborate with national leaders to conceptualize, launch and socialize Planned Parenthood’s organizational values and patient experience standards. She led the development of the “In This Together” curriculum and program. Through a series of large-scale training of trainers sessions, the award-winning program has been implemented and woven into the institutional fabric of the global organization.

In partnership with the Perception Institute, Perez Leder developed a training and learning program that harnesses mind science research and evidence-based practices to dismantle implicit bias, racial anxiety and stereotype threat across workplaces and health centers. As an extension of this commitment, Perez Leder has developed an expertise in trauma-informed practice.

Earlier in her career, Perez Leder designed and led sex education and capacity-building training programs in New York City and Latin America for 13 years. She has also worked with organizations to promote maternal, child and adolescent health in Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela.

For seven years, Perez Leder served on the board of directors at Planned Parenthood of Nassau County — where she began her career as an intern counseling patients on their healthcare options and rights.

Perez Leder earned a B.S. in human development from Cornell University and a master’s in public health from George Washington University. She is completing her mediator apprenticeship at the Long Island Dispute Resolution Center, while also pursuing a professional certification in conflict resolution and mediation from Columbia University.

See Perez Leder’s LinkedIn profile.

Ariella Weintraub ’12 is a nine-time Emmy Award winner with over ten years of experience in media, having worked at ABC News for “Good Morning America,” “20/20” and “What Would You Do?”. Currently, she is a supervising senior producer for the broadcast news magazine program “On Stage” covering Broadway, Off-Broadway and the Theater scene in New York City, airing on Spectrum News NY1. She graduated cum laude from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a bachelor of science degree in communication.

Weintraub is a New York native, having grown up in Manhattan. A passion project of hers is fundraising for Memorial Sloan Kettering. Every year she participates in their Cycle for Survival event where she has raised more than $23,000 over the last four years to support rare cancer research. She has also completed two half marathons in support of this fundraising. In her free time she loves attending trivia and is planning her upcoming wedding!

See Weintraub’s LinkedIn profile.

Jane Zelenko currently serves as an assistant principal at Success Academy Washington Heights, a charter school network dedicated to providing children in New York City with free, public, world-class education that prepares them for college and beyond regardless of their socio-economic background. She leads teacher development and is passionate about leveraging teacher mindsets to get lasting, sustainable outcomes for her teams and the families they serve.

Prior to joining SA, Zelenko worked in hospitality and finance, but motivated by a strong pull towards work that aligned more closely with her personal values and a desire to make a meaningful impact on society, she made a strategic career shift to the education sector.

Zelenko earned her master’s from Columbia University Teachers College in Social-Organization Psychology and her bachelor’s from The Hotel School at Cornell University.

See Zelenko’s LinkedIn profile.

Ashley Zwick is currently the executive director of the Tuck Initiative on Workplace Inclusion at Dartmouth and a course facilitator at eCornell in the Women in Leadership certificate program. As a strategist, educator and connector, Zwick has spent her career working to build inclusive teams and people-centered organizations to create a more just world.

Prior to joining Tuck, Zwick was the managing director of fellowships for the OpEd Project, a social venture with a mission to increase the public impact of our nation’s top and most diverse thinkers. Prior to her work at the OpEd Project, Zwick spent a decade directing academic centers at both the University of Michigan and Columbia Business School, focused on helping students and alumni lead and build organizations that matter in the world. Zwick has taught courses on social innovation, entrepreneurship and women and leadership, most recently as an adjunct professor at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Zwick is a Chicago native who currently lives in Connecticut with her husband and two boys. She spends a lot of time on the sidelines of soccer games and track meets, cheering quietly (but fiercely).

See Zwick’s LinkedIn profile.