Darshan Khalsa has served on Third Wave’s board since October 2009. She currently serves on the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee. Darshan’s passion for social justice, organizational development and finance have led her to a career in managing nonprofits across a variety of issues. She is the former Deputy Director of Choice USA, a national organization that engages young people in creating and leading the way to reproductive justice for all. Prior to Choice USA, Darshan was the Deputy Director at the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the first national organization addressing the housing and community development needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In 2004, Darshan founded the Racial Justice Campaign, a program of Progressive Majority that works to support and elect progressive candidates of color to state and local political offices and to increase the collective political power of all communities of color. Darshan is a graduate of California State University, Sacramento and New York University School of Law.

Born in the Bay Area, Diana has served as a social justice advocate for over 7 years. She began working in community organizing as an AmeriCorps member working with youth in low-income neighborhoods of Boston. Back in San Francisco, she became a social justice grantmaker and project manager at Tides, a nonprofit that provides infrastructure and grantmaking services to more than 200 social justice organizations and more than 400 philanthropists and institutions across the globe. Diana recently returned from a year in Nicaragua advocating for women’s reproductive rights while partnering with Central American Women’s Fund (Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres), and is very excited to join the Board of Third Wave to continue this focus at home. She brings a desire to strengthen underserved communities and to support the fields of health and justice for women and girls.

Sara Joseph joined the Board of Third Wave in the spring of 2012. She is originally from the Boston area and is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Michigan.

Sara brings to the Board years of marketing and development experience with grassroots organizations reforming media policy, documenting the effects of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, and campaigning for investment in public water infrastructure. She recently returned to the United States after two years in Central America.

Sara holds a B.A. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a Robertson Scholar, Sara completed coursework at Duke University and interned with the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta. She also led cancer screening workshops in northern Argentina and organized safer sex information sessions for students in western Kenya. As an instructor with the Women’s Health Education Consultants, she taught medical students best practices in gynecological healthcare.

Sara has volunteered with a sea turtle conservation project in Costa Rica, organized a day camp for Jewish youth in Ukraine, and bicycled across the United States as a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. In her spare time she enjoys hiking with her dog, Dino.

A native of Oakland, California, Dana Michael King currently lives in Washington DC, where she works as a Project Specialist for the Inter-American Development Bank. Since joining the Bank in 2008, she has focused on the design and implementation of projects to improve governance and public sector capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Prior to joining the Bank, Ms. King was an Associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York City.

Her professional experience also includes work around environmental justice, microfinance, and community economic development with community-based organizations in Mexico, Cameroon, and the United States.

Dana holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in Pan-African Studies. She speaks English, Spanish, and French.

Sonya Shields was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Great Neck, Long Island.  She is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, DC, where she received a degree in Public Relations.  Sonya is a long-time social justice activist and seasoned development and marketing professional who has raised over $25 million to support various progressive nonprofit organizations. She is currently working as the Chief Officer for External Relations and Advancement with Brooklyn Community Services.  Sonya has also worked as the Director of Development for National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Keep A Child Alive, Astraea Foundation, New York City Anti-violence Project and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.  She has also provided consulting services for the National Black Justice Coalition, Freedom to Marry, Queers for Economic Justice, Afropop Worldwide, African Refuge and many other organizations.  Sonya is a founder of the National Black Justice Coalition; and served on the board of the organization.  She has served on the Board of Directors of the Astraea Foundation, Mautner Project, National Black Leadership Forum, Dance Institute of Washington, DC, and the HIV/AIDS Council for the Mayor’s Office of Washington, DC.  When Sonya is not working for various charities, she enjoys writing, photography, and DJing.  

External Relations Chair

Andrea Flynn was born and raised in a small-town, middle-class community in Massachusetts. Andrea is committed to the political, economic, and social equity and advancement of young women and has spent the last ten years working with organizations committed to these goals. She is currently pursuing a joint master’s degree in public health and public administration at Columbia University, where she is focusing on reproductive and sexual health and international development. Andrea has worked as a consultant for a number of women’s foundations and organizations, most recently for the Namibia Women’s Health Network, where she helped to raise awareness of the forced and coerced sterilization of Namibian women living with HIV. Prior to beginning her master’s program, Andrea managed the Women Moving Millions campaign, an initiative that raised $190M for women’s foundations globally.