Laura Finnigan-Heil’s interest in social equity dates back to college – in Washington DC, she observed the privilege that extreme wealth can bring while at Georgetown University. Through volunteering at Title 1 schools and at women’s shelters, she saw how many live in extreme poverty without any social power. After college, she devoted her time to growing her own career and establishing herself in the Tech sphere. After a very fortuitous return on investment, she decided to leave her career in tech to pursue more philanthropic interests (she completed a Master’s in Education) and spend more time with her young kiddos.

Celeste Ford is Board Chair and Founder of Stellar Solutions, Inc., a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award-winning aerospace engineering company with the vision to satisfy customers’ critical needs while realizing employees’ dream jobs. She is General Partner at Stellar Ventures.

Ford founded Stellar Solutions in 1995 and served as CEO until 2018 with the mission to deliver high-impact performance for defense, intelligence, commercial, civil and international clients. She established Stellar Solutions Foundation in 1998, QuakeFinder humanitarian R&D program in 2001, and expanded Stellar’s global presence with companies in the United Kingdom and France in 2003 and 2017, respectively. She launched Stellar Ventures in 2022 to invest in the next generation of space technology companies. 

Ford’s numerous honors include Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Baldrige Foundation and the National Association of Women Business Owners, Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame, Entrepreneur of the Year from Ernest & Young, and Small Business Executive of the Year from National Defense Industry Association. Under her leadership, Stellar Solutions has been named a Fortune Magazine Great Place to Work® since 2014. 

Ford is a member of numerous public, private and nonprofit Boards, including the Board of Trustees at the University of Notre Dame and the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Science from Stanford University, both in Aerospace Engineering. She and her husband Kevin have three grown children.

Werner joined SV2 as a Partner in 2018 with an interest in impact investing. Since then, he has participated in the evaluation of several startup companies targeting e.g., renewable energy generation or social impact in sub-Saharan Africa. Werner is currently one of the Partner Leaders for the SV2 Impact Investing Working Group.

Werner had a 25+ year career in Silicon Valley companies in engineering and senior management roles. His work contributed to the development of technology and products underlying light emitting diodes which revolutionized lighting.  Werner is now heading his own consultancy firm, Goetz Technology Consulting. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Erlangen in Germany and lives with his family in Palo Alto.

An SV2 Partner since 2021, Nancy has a commitment to mitigating climate change with justice and equity. During her first year as an SV2 Partner she participated in the Economic Inclusion Grant Round, engaged deeply with the JEDI process and her New Partner cohort, and has dabbled in impact investing workshops.

Upon retirement from healthcare management a decade ago, Nancy worked on behalf of climate action and climate science through nonprofit board roles, including two years as board chair at Palo Alto-based Acterra, and through her faith community, where she co-led a project to implement a carbon tracker, with immediate aggregation of results across families, churches, and regions, throughout her denomination nationally.

Currently she co-leads the SV2 Climate Justice Grant Round, leads a sustainability initiative at her senior community, The Forum at Rancho San Antonio, and teaches gardening, with other Master Gardeners, to the incarcerated women at Elmwood Correctional Center. Nancy has an M.D. from UCLA and an M.B.A. from Stanford. She is a pathologist who focused her professional efforts on clinical lab direction, health services improvement, and organizational change management.

Nancy Heinen is a member of SV2’s Board of Directors and previously served as Board Chair from 2012-2015. She currently serves as Partner Champion to Village Enterprise and co-led the 2016-17 Housing Lightning Grant Round.

Nancy is an experienced corporate lawyer and senior executive in both small and multinational corporations. Most recently, Nancy was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Apple, Inc. Following 25 years of corporate and law firm experience, Nancy now focuses on philanthropy and matters of social justice. She is particularly interested in access to quality education and the creation of economic opportunities for disadvantaged women.

Nancy currently serves on several advisory boards including the Advisory Board of the University of California Berkeley Center for Law, Business, and the Economy. She also consults with individuals, start-ups and nonprofit institutions looking to develop their organizational capacity for growth.

Byron joined SV2 as a Partner in 2023 with the goal of giving back and improving our community in a sustainable way.

Byron is an experienced technology business leader with a proven track record of driving growth and transforming organizations. Most recently, he was the Chief Technology Officer for Sensors at TE Connectivity. And he is an Executive Mentor at the Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University and an advisory board member for the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati. He currently advises and mentors startups and for-profit companies on leveraging technology to accomplish their goals.

Lisa is a partner and former board member at SV2 and has been active in Impact Investing as a co-leader as well as serving as lead partner for Nepris and OpenInvest, two of the investees. She also has co-led grant rounds in Performing Arts. She is a Senior Fellow in the American Leadership Forum (ALF) and also serves on the Stanford Live Advisory Council.

Past experience includes being part of a team which founded an education start-up focused on underserved Native American students and owning a business which was an early facilitator of reuse and recycling of technology for the benefit of underfunded school districts. Her background also includes senior management positions in Silicon Valley and management consulting experience at Bain & Company.

Lisa has an MBA from Stanford, and an MS and BS from MIT. She and her husband, Marc, have two children.

Cynthia joined SV2 in 2018. She currently serves as Partner Champion to Puente de la Costa Sur.

Lang is a seasoned fundraiser and connector who coordinates engagement activities and strategic conversations with colleagues in the Bay Area and all over the world. She has deep familiarity with Brazil, its business culture and language and a keen interest in promoting social enterprise work globally.

Lang serves on the Board of Action for India, Sustainable Conservation’s Advisory Board, and has been an Advisor to Embrace, a global enterprise that delivers low-cost solutions to improve health outcomes in developing countries. Cindy is a Mentor at the Miller Center Global Social Benefit Incubator (GSBI) and serves as a member of its Unconscious Bias Working Group.

Lang also has strong philanthropic ties to Stanford University and is currently on the Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRiSS’s) Advisory Board and its Center on Poverty and Inequality. She has been part of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars selection team since its inauguration in 2017.

Lang received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University in French and English Literatures and her MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School. She uses her skills to create socially and environmentally responsible infrastructures and is a Certified Professional Diversity and Life Coach. Lang is passionate about travel, romance languages and playing friendly tennis.

Joining SV2 in 2012, Kwok participates in the Education and the Pathways to Opportunity SV2 communities. She was a Partner Champion to Early Education grantee SOMOS Mayfair (2015-2018).

Kwok has developed a specific interest in community engagement and working with local underserved communities. She is on the board of SOMOS Mayfair with the goal to uplift community voice and agency by leadership development of its residents. She retired from Apple, where she held vice president positions in manufacturing operations and software engineering.

Kwok immigrated to the US from Hong Kong with her family at the age of 7. She found her pathway to opportunities with strong family support and access to a good education.

Kwok holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from General Motors Institute. Kwok and her husband live in Portola Valley and have two grown children. She enjoys active travel, which is best when hiking or biking.