Board of Directors

Mina Shokoufandeh

Co-President and Founder (she/her)
Mina is a masters student at Tufts University studying biomedical engineering. Mina is very enthusiastic about fostering an appreciation for STEM and its opportunities among young women and girls and enjoys connecting this passion with her love of the medical, engineering, and biological mindsets. Mina is currently working as a Research Assistant in the Kaplan Intestinal Group Lab at Tufts University. Her work includes cell culturing and silk scaffold experimentation to model the intestinal epithelial lining using multi crypt-villus structure scaffolds. She is also a Mentor for Science Club for Girls in the Medford/Somerville area, an organization that fosters confidence and literacy in STEM for girls and young women from underrepresented communities with free, experiential community-based programs. Mina has also worked as a Volunteer Research Assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Autism Research and an Intern at Drexel University’s Center for Functional Fabrics. She is thrilled to contribute to the organization’s ultimate goal of getting more women involved with STEM from a young age.

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Sydney Gibbard

Co-President and Founder (she/her)
Sydney is graduated from Penn State Schreyer Honors College in biomedical engineering in May 2023. Sydney is incredibly passionate about the intersection of science, medicine, technology, and engineering, which is why she felt inspired to found Girls Code the World with her peer, Mina Shokoufandeh. Sydney has worked at Johnson & Johnson as an intern in Ethicon Medical Devices, Biosurgery Research and Development during Summer 2021, and she consulted for Verity, a robotics and systems engineering venture-back startup based out of Switzerland, in Fall 2023. Sydney now works at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Philadelphia. Sydney served as Penn State’s Student Body President, where she consistently advocated for underrepresented communities to administration. Sydney’s engineering thesis focused on reusable menstrual products and economic solution for refugees in Malawi, Africa. She is incredibly excited and grateful to be a part of Girls Code the Word and to continue pushing their mission forward everyday.

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Katie Galaska, CPA, MBA

Director of Finances and Accounting (she/her)
Katie Galaska is an audit and accounting director with Kreischer Miller, a public accounting firm located in Horsham, Pennsylvania, specializing in not-for-profit organizations and manufacturing companies. As part of her MBA capstone project, she was instrumental in the founding of Kreischer Miller’s RISE (Retain | Invest | Support | Empower), a comprehensive program for women that provides them with opportunities to connect as a team, learn from one another, and grow their careers. Katie is thrilled to be part of the Girls Code the World organization as she is passionate about encouraging girls and women to build their confidence, get excited about their futures and to expand the skills needed in STEM fields including critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication. As the daughter of lifelong learners, she was raised doing math problems at restaurants while other kids were coloring which gave her the faith in herself to pursue any type of career, especially one using math on a daily basis! Katie currently lives in Annapolis, Maryland with her husband and son

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Kristen Aballa

Director of Curriculum (she/her)
Kristen has been an educator for over 18 years. She was a mathematics teacher at the Christina Seix Academy in Trenton, New Jersey for several years. It was through the Christina Seix Academy that Kristen met Sydney and Mina and was given the opportunity to be introduced to Girls Code the World. It was an instant connection and Kristen has been excited and proud to support the program ever since. She has witnessed first hand the impact that Girls Code the World has had on her students who have had the opportunity to participate. Taking on the role of Director of Curriculum is an honor and a privilege and Kristen is delighted to witness the program continue to evolve and positively impact so many young women. Kristen currently lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

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Isabella Webster, BSN RN

Director of Mentorship (she/her)
Isabella Webster is a graduate of The Pennsylvania State University where majored in Security and Risk Analysis- Intelligence Analytics and Modeling. Throughout college, Isabella participated in numerous other programs aimed at providing women and girls with access to science and technical opportunities. After graduation, Isabella worked for IBM as a technology consultant where she is also involved with several organizations supporting women working in male-dominated fields. A year later, Isabella returned to school to get a degree in nursing through George Washington’s accelerated program. Isabella now works as a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Registered Nurse at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Isabella is thrilled to be able to serve as Director of Mentorship for Girls Code the World and, through that position, hopes to provide as many women and girls as possible with both the formal and informal mentorship opportunities needed to aid them along their journey towards success in STEM fields.

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Christine McKeever Vanzandbergen, MPH, MS PA-C

Director of Partnerships (she/her)
Christine began her professional career in healthcare over 20 years ago as a physician assistant with a passion for improving the lives of people. As she grew in her field, Christine realized that she could make a BIG impact by coupling her clinical background with her interest in technology. As a leader in healthcare technology with over 15 years of experience in leveraging technology to transform care and mom of 12 year old twin daughters, Christine is passionate about advancing female leaders. Christine can't wait to advance the mission of GCTW.
Erin Boas

Director of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations (she/her)
Erin Boas is an executive search analyst in the Education and Social Impact practice at Spencer Stuart. In this role, she engages with emerging leaders in academia, industry, and the nonprofit sectors. She is a recent graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, where she majored in International Relations and served as the University Park Student Body President. Throughout her collegiate career, she worked alongside students, faculty, administrators, and Board members to enact policies and initiatives centered around access and affordability, women's empowerment, and educational equity. She is inspired by the mission of Girls Code the World, and could not be more excited and grateful to a part of this community as we collectively work to empower the next generation of STEM leaders.

Interested in learning more about us, curious how to get involved, or have additional questions?

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Interns

Marie Ancil (she/her)
Subscription Program Launch Intern

Ameisha Hoossain (she/her)
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Intern

Cayleigh Haag (she/her)
Head Intern

Allison Lucuski (she/her)
Special Projects Intern

Head Intern
Cayleigh Haag is a student at Stanford University studying Physics and Mathematics. She began working with Girls Code the World in 2019 and was promoted to Head Intern in 2020. She works to facilitate Girls Code the World's educational programming and directs other interns for this purpose. Cayleigh is passionate about creating an environment in which women feel that they have a space to exist and thrive within the STEM fields. Outside of Girls Code the World, Cayleigh enjoys running cross country.
Subscription Program Launch Intern
Marie Ancil is a student at The Pennington School. She joined GCTW because she wants to make STEM available to all girls, as well as make it more approachable to those who are interested and don't know where to start.
Special Projects Intern
Aryana Patel wants to study business in college and hopefully go into business law or business management as a career. One of her greatest goals in life is to create something that can make an impact on the world. She joined GCTW because she thought it would be the perfect internship to gain skills that will be necessary to pursue my goals in the future. She has been interested in STEM since she was younger, but now her interests are migrating more towards business, however her interests in STEM still remain. She would love to combine both careers and is even interested in managing a biomedical company as well!
Curriculum Intern
Shinyi Li is currently a first-year computer science and economics student at the University of Chicago, but she is from NJ. She joined GCTW the summer after her sophomore year in high school, so she has been part of GCTW for almost 3 years! She mainly joined because she liked teaching and was also interested in pursuing computer science. Throughout her time here, she has gotten to run summer programs in both Philadelphia and Trenton, and she worked as a technology intern last spring. She just started working as a research assistant at the Language Processing Lab, so she’s learning a lot about how gender stereotypes can potentially affect language comprehension!
Special Projects Intern
Allison Lucuski is a 17 year old and she joined GCTW because she is very interested in STEM for her future. Her dad works in environmental engineering which is very interesting to her. She wants to learn more about how we can help make the earth a better place to live. While doing this, she wants to educate others so they can also help.
Marketing, Communcations and Public Relations Intern
Ameisha Hoosain is currently a senior in high school, hoping to pursue Pharmacy as a career. Her love for Pharmacy and Chemistry first started her sophomore year when she took my first Chemistry class. It was a very enjoyable class and the fact that a lot of the medical field is male dominant, made her want to pursue a career in it. She believes that GCTW will help lead towards a positive future for women in STEM which is why she joined.
Chief of Staff, Marketing, Communications and Public Relations Intern
Emily Parker is from Quakertown, Pennsylvania. She plans on pursuing a B.S. in biomedical engineering in the fall. Additionally, she will be following the pre-med track, with plans of attending medical school. She adores the community that Girls Code the World fosters, and is so grateful to be a part of it!
Chief of Staff, Marketing, Senior Grant Writing Intern
Ella Ruffels is a senior at Lansdale Catholic High School, and she serves as Senior Grant Writing Intern and Deputy Chief of Staff at Girls Code the World. Having worked with GCTW for the past four years, she has also had opportunities to take on roles in several different departments, such as MCPR, subscription program launch, and summer programing. She plans on attending college for chemistry and political science before going to law school to study pharmaceutical patent law. She initially joined GCTW because her values align with the mission to make STEM more accessible to young girls. Throughout her time here, GCTW has exceeded all initial expectations, connecting her with a network of motivated peers and offering her a chance to lead change for a cause she’s passionate about.
Chief of Staff, Grant Writing Intern
Devika Amuth is junior who has been at GCTW for almost a year, previously a DEI Intern focusing on building relationships with other organizations, Senior Intern within Partnerships, and now COS Intern. She is excited to continue her work here and see how she can make an impact within STEM education.
Curriculum Intern
Suhani Khare is a senior at John P. Stevens High School, and she is passionate about STEM as well as advocating for STEM inclusivity. She joined Girls Code the World to be part of the bigger mission of making STEM-based opportunities more accessible, especially for young middle school and high school girls. As a curriculum intern, I hope to make the best of this opportunity to learn and grow, and do my best to spread this message!
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Intern
Maria Kesisoglou is a senior at New-Hope Solebury High School. After starting a study group for computer science students at her school, she discovered a passion for helping her peers learn science, and joined GCTW to pursue this passion. She also hopes to be a role model for young girls like her, a.k.a. science nerds. In college, she intends to double major in molecular biology and computer science, and pursue a career in computational biology.
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Intern
Jayla Etheridge is a senior at Lincoln University, graduating in May 2025 with a degree in sociology. She has always had a strong interest in STEM, particularly in understanding how science and technology impact society and human behavior. Since Fall 2021, She has also been an active member of Ziana Fashion Club, where she discovered a passion for fashion and modeling. Although she had no prior experience, Ziana helped her build confidence and express myself through style. Over the years, she has held several leadership roles, including Queen of Hansberry, Junior Fashion Consultant, Heel Runway Director, and currently, President of the organization. One of her greatest accomplishments has been the opportunity to walk in New York Fashion Week through her involvement with Ziana. These experiences have fueled her curiosity about both fashion and STEM, shaping her into a confident and forward-thinking leader.
Curriculum Intern
Alexis Danh is a freshman computer science student at Temple University interested in the intersection of technology and the arts. Previously, she worked as a design intern for an arts organization and as a research assistant for a project on machine learning algorithms. She decided to join GCTW as an intern, as she aligned with their message to uplift girls in STEM and wanted to contribute to their cause. She started learning how to program for fun in middle school, but lacked the guidance and mentorship to shape my path forward. Through finding supportive STEM communities, she gained insight into the various opportunities she could pursue. Thus, she hopes to also support other girls in helping them to develop their own path in STEM through GCTW.
Senior Curriculum Intern
She is currently a senior at Delran High School. With a focus on engineering, she developed a deep love for STEM. Her desire to make a meaningful impact in these fields is what inspired her to join GCTW. As a senior intern, she is excited to lead her peers and collaborate on projects that encourage exploration and growth in STEM. Outside of school, she enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family. She is looking forward to continuing to learn, grow, and inspire others as she moves forward in life.
Grant Writing Intern
Anisha Mulinti is a Junior at Montville Township High School in New Jersey. She loved STEM ever since she joined robotics, where she developed her interests in coding and problem-solving. Now, as the captain of her robotics team, she focuses on programming their robot, which has developed her passions even further. She joined Girls Code the World because she wants to help more girls feel confident in STEM. She’s one of the Grant Writing interns, and she hopes to help secure funding to support Girls Code the World’s mission. She is excited to help make a difference by providing more girls with opportunities in STEM!
Chief of Staff
Rachel Varghese is currently a junior at Lansdale Catholic High School and was always attracted to STEM related subjects and concepts. She joined GCTW with strong support of the values that it upholds. She was previously a DEI Intern and exchanged partnerships with nearby organizations that shared a similar message with GCTW. With the growth of the STEM field, she believed it was important to welcome those with interest with open arms and empower them in the right direction. Through the previous DEI/Partnerships unit, she was able to step out of her usual comfort zone and form a connection with her like-minded group and collaborate.
Grant Writing Intern
Shivani Shreedhar is a passionate computer science student and a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania with a strong background in STEM, mathematics, and engineering. She previously served as the President of Women in STEM and Vice President of Mu Alpha Theta, where she led engineering workshops that introduced coding to underprivileged communities. At Penn, she is a coding instructor for elementary school students, a member of the Society of Women Engineers' Community Development Committee, and serves on the Advocacy Group for Women in Computer Science. With her dedication to technology, education, and innovation, she strives to make a lasting impact in the fields of artificial intelligence and computing.
Grant Writing Intern
Kayla Patel is currently a senior at the University of Pennsylvania studying bioengineering. She is interested in healthcare, innovation, and entrepreneurship for the greater good. At Penn, she is a part of Advancing Women in Engineering, and she has always been passionate about increasing opportunities for women in STEM fields. She joined GCTW to continue that work and to develop more skills that will allow her to help others.
Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations Intern
Isabella Chen is a high school student at Carver High School of Engineering and Science with a strong passion for business, technology, and data science. As a first-generation student from an immigrant family, she is driven to explore opportunities in STEM and business to create innovative solutions. She joined GCTW to connect with like-minded individuals, develop her leadership skills, and contribute to initiatives that promote accessibility in stem.