Browse experts
Amelia W.
📕 Education tech
When I scroll through Instagram or LinkedIn, it can be easy to fill in the gaps with stories about other people: “Their career has been smooth sailing!”; “Their relationship looks so easy”; “How are all of my friends somehow in Italy right now?!” However, when we create space for authentic and genuine conversations, we quickly uncover that all of us are having imperfect and sometimes frustrating moments in our personal and professional lives; leveraging some combination of skills, luck, and privilege to navigate our careers and personal lives; and simply doing our best to grow and succeed in a challenging world.
When I left Teach for America as a transitioning teacher, I felt unsure how to land a job at a top startup or how to apply my leadership skills in a new industry. Through the support of mentors and networking, I was able to land a great role in Customer Success at a really exciting EdTech start up. After my successful transition into EdTech, I found that many teachers were eager to do the same, and I started offering pro bono mentoring sessions to provide advice on how to navigate the transition and set yourself up for success. After supporting 20+ mentees, I have learned that sometimes the most impactful tool a mentor can offer is to believe in the mentee and just nudge them along the path they are already building for themselves.
I am eager to help early career leaders (especially young women) harness their greatness, see their potential, and take bold steps toward the life they want to create. Mentors have been critical to my personal and professional growth, and I am eager to pay it forward.
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Jackie H.
💻 Startups
Hey! My name is Jackie Y. HU, born and raised in the city of Shanghai and had my first college dropout experience in Shanghai (ask me more!). At the age of 19, I moved to the U.S. with my parents and started college at UC Berkeley.
I wandered quite a bit in college and explored different aspects of college life before committing to taking Economics and East Asian Studies as my majors. I still remember how my college advisor wanted to dissuade me from doing two majors by saying ‘unless the other major is the first thing you want to do waking up Sunday morning’😅.
I still can’t wake up on Sunday mornings, BUT I am so happy that I wasn’t discouraged! Taking the East Asian Studies major and becoming involved in writing and conscious critical thinking really lifted me up spiritually, and that level of motivation made everything fall into places.
I LOVED social science and humanity so much so I decided to attend Oxford University for a master program that focused on contemporary China. The reason why I picked a UK school instead of a U.S. school (which is supposedly the strongest in the field) is that I just … loved a vegetarian buffet place in London so would want to always go back! Sadly by the time I attended Oxford, the restaurant was permanently closed down due to rising rent and I literally cried for 3 days and lost the sense of purpose going there.
At Oxford, I focused my research on a youth community in mainland China and did an interesting virtual ethnographic study about it (ask me more!).
I now work as a Data Science Manager at a dating company, leveraging data to spread love. I feel so loved by having the privilege to working with a group of super authentic, logical, reasonable, and open-minded people. My company has a very unique culture of bringing everyone close together while working and it exemplifies so many American ideals that attracted me to move to this country at the first place. I feel very proud of my work and fulfilled, and I am ready to invest in my mentees and to give back to the community that cultivated me!
At Twenty, being able to give authentic talk excites me! I love being explorative, real, and grounded with my mentees instead of coming to be prescriptive or pedagogical. Being authentic also helps us to learn from EACH OTHER — this would be a great opportunity for me to grow so I am looking forward to our conversations!! 😃
Christal W.
🌈 LGBTQ+
I’m a little bit of everything. From solo backpacking to permaculture farming (during the pandemic) to raising VC $ & running a startup to consulting to social impact… I’m happy to talk about it all. What strings across it all is my values & why I do what I do:
Life is not just about achievement & busy-ness. Life also isn’t about living for other people & their perceptions of you. That’s why I think it’s super important to know what is important to you and build a life that celebrates that. F everyone else 😇
Julia O.
🎨 Design & art
Hi there! I’m Julia, a mid-westerner who has spent my adult life in CA (Stanford for 4 years + 3 years in SF) and Austin, TX (past 2 years). I’m a former innovation consultant at a Management Consulting firm, and recently took 6 months away from the career hamster wheel to travel, read a lot, noodle on ideas, and spend time with family and friends. My next adventure is in the land of startups, where I recently joined a small 12-person team working to help athletes achieve their performance nutrition goals. While my whole career has been in the product space, I’ve jumped around a bit between design, innovation, and Product Management roles.
Outside of work, I stay busy with my 2-year old dog, Hazel, lots of outdoor adventures, racket sports, and exploring the live music and taco scene in Austin.
Why am I here? Mentoring is something that gives me a ton of energy, and I am where I am today because of my “village” of career mentors, close friends, family, and therapists helping me navigate my 20s. “The Defining Decade” is an accurate name for your 20’s - it’s when we start to build our careers, figure out our passions, and cultivate meaningful relationships. I believe each person needs that village of support to help them navigate this tricky decade and I would be honored to be part of someone’s circle of mentorship.
Kevin V.
💍 Getting married
I have a strong interest in driving value for visionary leaders and ambitious, mission driven organizations seeking to make a meaningful impact. Given the various industries and companies I’ve been a part of, I like to think I have a diverse and grounded perspective. At my core is the unwavering belief in servant leadership - placing the needs and well-being of others at the forefront of my actions.
I started my career in investment banking, both on the equity research and M&A side. Then I spent some time doing venture capital and private equity. Currently, exploring the “operator” side of me at a beverage company called Guayaki Yerba Mate and have done a few stints at startups (with Chief of Staff and finance-related responsibilities). On a personal note, I moved to Los Angeles from Texas (grew up in Austin, TX, went to college at Texas A&M, and lived in Houston for a few years) at the beginning of 2019. I am currently engaged and have a puppy Golden Retriever named Goose. When I’m not going on long walks and exploring new places with my fiancee, Tara, and Goose, you’ll catch me playing pickleball or golfing. On his lazier days, Kevin loves to watch any sports events on TV (and sometimes catches himself watching reality TV shows with Tara).
Shivani M.
🎉 Entrepreneurship
I'm a design strategist and management consultant with a background in sociology. I started my career as an entrepreneur and switched to corporate consulting. I’m now on track to start my own consultancy! I’m action-oriented and a big picture thinker. I love learning from real situations and hence, I’m an opportunist. I actively seek out ways to help others and grow myself at the same time!
Rajeev P.
📈 Marketing, sales, & business
Ask me/Talk to me about:
Katy H.
🌎 Social impact
After 5 years in digital advertising program management & production, I pivoted to become a classroom educator. As a teacher I've mentored new teachers and led instruction for groups of students from K-12 learners to adults in the business world. I recently made another transition to re-envision my work life, and currently work as a consultant developing curriculum (ie. online courses and learning experiences) for organizations like The Life Brief and Rewiring America.
Also, as is common for many people, some of my most important learning and personal growth has happened outside the classroom and the office. After studying World Arts and Cultures (Dance) and geography in college, I moved to Spain for a year to teach English. Traveling and immersing myself in different cultures through language and the arts has continued to be a big part of my life, inspiring trips to Mexico, India, Japan, Korea, and around Europe. Some other jobs and side projects that have shaped my perspective are leading interactive art tours in New York City, planting trees in LA, serving drinks on a cruise ship in the Bay—and during the pandemic, starting an interview-based podcast about learning styles & stories called Still Learning. I’m also a nonfiction & aspiring fiction writer, and believe in the power of telling our own stories in order to see and know ourselves more clearly.
I’m excited to be a mentor with Twenty because connecting with mentors has provided such comfort and inspiration for me in both my personal and professional life. Conversations I had with former teachers, managers and wise, slightly older friends helped me to name and eventually pursue both major career shifts as well as smaller, also meaningful, adjustments to how work fits into my life. Finally, as someone passionate about being a lifelong learner, embracing a growth mindset, emotional intelligence and seeing the career journey as a learning process—all of which I'd be eager to discuss—are all topics near and dear to my heart!
Eduardo L.
I was born and raised in Mexico City. I studied Finance in one of Mexico´s top schools. Professionally, I jumped from corporate finance at a global consumer company, to investment banking at a leading global bank, to private equity and venture capital at the World bank before I figured out what I love. I currently work for an e- logistics startup were I have found the intelectual challenge of building the Strategic Finance department from the ground up. I am aiming to finish the year with 10 people in my team, up from just myself 4 months ago.
Personally, I recently got married after dealing with a long distance relationship. There were tough times, but I can say that it has worked out and I could not be happier.
As for Twenty, I loved the idea of mentoring for Twenty because it is a resource that I would have love to have when I first started my personal and professional journey as a young professional.
I am passionate about chess, soccer and Formula 1. Fluent in Spanish and English.
Ishaan P.
I spent my twenties living in the constant flux of trying to find a direction that felt like it was truly "mine", while also doing my best to be intentional about accelerating my growth. I saw tremendous personal and professional growth during this time. I'm really happy that I spent my time exploring multiple domains - I worked in academia as a researcher, I tried starting a company (and learned a lot when it didn't work out), I switched careers, and finally landed on a path that I fell in love with. In my personal life, I ended a 7-year relationship, juggled old and new friends constantly moving cities, found my person, got married and moved between multiple cities. I'm lucky to have had a lot of help from incredible mentors along the way, and I would love to help in whatever way that I can.
Becca R.
I’m a nomad (I’ve lived in 3 countries and 4 states), career transitioner (former neuroscientist now working in tech), and lifelong learner (3 degrees and counting). For the last 5 years I’ve been working in educational technology, and I've spent my free time doing community outreach related to career transitions, largely focused on early career researchers—my former cohort.
This program excites me because it's something that I wish I'd had in my 20s. My experience as a twenty-something was nothing like my parents—my dad was a solider in Vietnam and my mom got married at 21—they both worked in stable office jobs that they each held for 20+ years. I, on the other hand, went to college to study science, which led to a pretty unstable, nomadic lifestyle. I didn't have any adults in my life growing up who had an experience even close to this, so I received very little (or relevant) guidance from anyone. This has led me to take the "long-way" round (several times) only to find out later that there was a better way.
While making mistakes and learning from failure is a staple of life, I would like to use my learning experiences to help younger individuals know about as many of the choices available to them as possible. I recently heard the phrase "lift as you climb", and I think that being a mentor at Twenty will help me lift others—even if only one step at a time.
Outside of work and mentoring, I’m going to school (again!) for an executive MBA to shore up my business skills. My free time is mostly spent hanging out with my two cats (Mick and Oscar), enjoying the performing arts (I love theater and standup), and learning to be a better artist (I’m taking a linocut class soon that I’m really excited about).
Sonya S.
I’m a first-generation Indian American with a mashup of Southern manners (born and partially raised in Tennessee) and West coast values (moved to the Bay Area, CA for middle and high school). After high school, I went to Boston for undergrad and stayed for a couple years after before coming back to the Bay. And soon, I’ll be moving Seattle!
Like many undergrads, I started college wanting to be a doctor. I stuck with it all the way through taking the MCAT, nose to the grindstone, before realizing that I wasn’t actually interested in 7+ more years of training. After some reflection, I landed in management consulting for biotech, where I worked for a few years before transitioning to my current role in public health. The thread of science/healthcare has remained throughout my career, but I’ve had the privilege of being exposed to many different roles by working as or working with VC, hedge funds, research/academia, pharma and biotech, and private and public industry.
When I’m not working, I…
I always found that some of the best advice I received was from people who were my peers or only a few years ahead of me. It felt like a low-stakes way to get advice and ask "dumb" questions of people who understood where I was coming from. I’ve sought advice from all avenues—colleagues, family members, friends, strangers on the internet, and even DMs to cool people on LinkedIn. It’s time for me to pass on some of what I’ve learned 🙂
Jenny M.
The adventure keeps going.
I’m excited to help you find your voice, your platform for beliefs and self-confidence in a shifting and challenging world.
Ari G.
Hannah S.
I’m originally from Tampa, Florida, where I grew up surrounded by family (I have an identical twin and two other siblings). I went to school at UNC Chapel Hill, which I absolutely loved, where I majored in Business and minored in Journalism. The desire to explore the intersection of business, creativity and technology led me to a career in marketing. I also love photography as a creative outlet, so you can check out my work here: https://www.hannah-smith-photography.com/
Georgina C.
