Vanessa Chan
Senior Communications Coordinator
Vanessa hails from Malaysia and is currently attending the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in International Political Economy. Outside of The CulturalConnect, Vanessa works at Solem & Associates, a public affairs and public relations firm in San Francisco. She has also interned with the Oakland Small Schools Foundation, a nonprofit that serves to ensure sustainability for schools in Oakland. Currently she tutors immigrant students in elementary school under the Oakland Asian Students Educational Services (OASES) program.
When she’s not chasing her tail, she enjoys the frivolity of eating, singing in the shower and practicing her very halting French. She’s still deciding where in the world she wants to live, so if you have any interesting world experiences, she’ll gladly buy you a drink and hang on your every word. For now, she resides in Berkeley, California.
Candice Vance
Contributor
Candice is a student at the University of California-Riverside where she is pursuing a double major in Mechanical Engineering and Creative Writing. She hopes to land a career as an engineer for an automobile manufacturer or as a sports writer.
Her interests include reading Shakespeare and watching several different sports.
Sharon-Priya Banta
Contributor
Sharon-Priya is a recent graduate from the University of Michigan. She currently works for BusinessWeek Magazine. She has been fortunate to have worked at companies such as UBS Investment Bank, Kraft Foods and The Coca-Cola Co.
Born in New York she recently moved to her birth town. In her free time, she likes to explore the Big Apple and travel to exotic places globe-wide. Sharon also enjoys being a socialite. She one day hopes to meet her icon, Oprah Winfrey.
Sabrin Chowdhury
Contributor
Sabrin, 22, is a recent graduate from the University of Texas-Austin, majoring in Business Honors and Finance with a minor in Economics. She is currently an analyst at Lehman Brothers, an investment bank. She is also active in the non profit sector as part of the Executive Council on Sakhi’s junior board committee, and as a contributing member of Adhunika and Drishtipaat.
Her interests include working to advance women’s rights, watching foreign movies, anything related to Bollywood (guilty pleasure), and getting into ridiculous mischief with her friends. Having lived in three different countries, she hopes to continue country-hopping one day.
She is a Bangladeshi-American currently residing in Manhattan, but before a New Yorker she is a Texan through and through.
