Senior Leadership Team

Guided by the values of integrity and fairness, Deidra Freeman is a servant leader who has spent her career advocating for individuals to achieve their fullest potential. She currently serves as Senior Director of Programs for AnitaB.org, an organization working to shape public opinion about issues of critical importance to women technologists in academia, industry, and government. In that role, Deidra oversees the Programs Department responsible for facilitating Pathways, Wogrammer, Individual Women Services, and Awards & Scholarships. She also leads production of global events, including Hopperx1 events. Modeled after the AnitaB.org Grace Hopper Celebration, which is the largest annual gathering of women in tech worldwide, these local gatherings provide opportunities to empower women technologists, from undergraduates to CEOs, along with members from industry leading companies, academia, and research, to build relationships, find new ideas and inspiration, learn new skills, and advance their careers in technology. Deidra transitioned to that role after serving as Director of Pathways. Prior to her time at AnitaB.org, she spent 15 years as an educator and administrator for Chicago Public Schools, where she built special education programs that transitioned students into adulthood. Her technology foundation began as an Engineering Project Manager for Motorola.

Prior to working at AnitaB.org, Stephanie served as the Director of STEM Policy at the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit supporting afterschool and summer learning across the nation. An immunologist by training, Stephanie found her way to STEM education policy and advocacy through years of STEM-related community outreach, and service as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation. While at NSF, she worked on efforts to broaden participation in computer science and other STEM fields. Stephanie completed her doctoral degree in immunology at Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied the T-cell development process and devised innovative strategies to observe this phenomenon in live animals, in real time, using advanced microscopy techniques. She received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Stanford University, with a focus on microbes and immunity. Having personally benefited from the generosity and attention of amazing STEM mentors, and still benefiting from those relationships, she values the opportunity to support young STEM enthusiasts and the systems that encourage them.

Kamala Srinivasan is the Managing Director, Global Affairs at AnitaB.org. She supports the organization’s global expansion strategy from the U.S. She has been associated with AnitaB.org for the past 10+ years. Kamala is a senior executive and coach with more than 20 years of experience in both nonprofit organizations and technology industries. Her broad areas of expertise include global technology product delivery, go-to-market strategy, digital transformation, and SAAS in Fintech, retail (fashion, apparel, beauty, and home), legal, and media. She has been instrumental in building large scale technology centers (Centers of Excellence & Global In-House Centers) in emerging market countries for multinational organizations. She is passionate about community advocacy and civic leadership, and is a champion for issues impacting women in technology. She is a speaker at “Women in Technology” forums, and an influencer for STEM communities across India. She has been awarded the prestigious “Digital Women Leadership Award” in 2018 for her contribution in women in STEM in India. She likes to read books, practice yoga, explore new places, and spend time with her family and pets.

Lucia Hicks-Williams brings more than 30 years of strategic leadership and expertise in the technology industry across operations, marketing, distribution, product development, data services, consumer experiences, and organizational transformation. She is a tenacious and creative problem solver with the keen ability to leverage both data analytics and collaboration across functional areas to drive innovation and excellence. She currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at AnitaB.org, overseeing Operations, Data, Evidence & Influence, People & Culture, IT, Community and Membership Programs. Her distinguished career includes founding Get UP! Business Development Services, Inc, a San Francisco Bay Area consultancy, executive positions at San Francisco Consulting Group (SFCG), General Magic, Inc., Splunk, Sybase, Inc., Sun Microsystems and 3Com Corporation where she built her reputation as an inspirational, yet humble leader. Her passion and commitment to social growth drew her to work for many nonprofits including the Haight-Ashbury Medical Clinic, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Youth Speaks, and Intersection for the Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

Maggie has been an entrepreneur and intrapreneur with a solid technology background. She has worked across different lines of business such as product vision and strategy, customer implementations, operations, technology management, business development, P&L, and marketing. She is the Interim Managing Director for AnitaB.org India and is also the Co-founder of a media-based nonprofit.

With a unique synthesis of skills and attributes to drive sales, marketing and distribution solutions across the globe, Robert has been in the Global Content and Media industry for more than 20 years. He most recently served as Senior Vice President, International Marketing, at Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, where he managed a 60-person team of marketers in Los Angeles and across the globe. Under Robert’s leadership, UPHE International enjoyed two of it’s most profitable years ever. Robert holds a bachelor’s degree from the prestigious UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, and an MBA in Marketing from USC’s Marshall School of Business. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his partner, Michael, and their beloved pooch, Finley.

Ylonda is a customer-focused global events expert with more than 20 years of success delivering strategic event management, customer marketing, end-user relations, partner marketing, and vendor management. She has experience working with Fortune 200 companies, including Apple, Intel, Symantec, VMware, and Marketo, and with managing marquee customer events, including ServiceNow Knowledge, Symantec Vision, and VMware VMworld. She is an exceptional leader who can manage strategic planning and flawless execution of world-class events, and who can blend strategic communication, company identity, and experiential marketing to create unique relationships for employees, customers, and partners. In 2015, Ylonda, along with two other industry professionals, created a marketing consultant agency called Alloy which provides public relations, marketing strategy, and event management to high tech companies. She is a native San Franciscan, born, raised and educated in the Bay Area.