Meet the Staff
Office of the Dean
Caroline Simard
Regional Dean, Silicon Valley Campus
Caroline Simard is the Regional Dean of Northeastern University Silicon Valley. In this role, she is responsible for the design and execution the campus strategic plan, including the expansion academic programs and design of new initiatives, building partnerships with companies, and overseeing campus operations.
Caroline is passionate about the role of higher education in advancing social impact, and is dedicated to expanding career pathways for students across backgrounds in Silicon Valley. Before joining Northeastern, she was the Managing Director of the VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab at Stanford University, a social impact initiative to bridge the gap between research and practice to advance diversity in organizations from K-12 to the c-suite. In this role, she led the implementation of the research agenda, engaged industry partners, and oversaw operations. Previously, she served as the Senior Director of Research at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research, designing and implementing academic-industry research collaborations for impact, and as Director of Faculty Development and Diversity at the Stanford School of Medicine. Prior to Stanford, she served as the Vice President of Research and Executive Programs at AnitaB.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of women in computing and host of the Grace Hopper Celebration. Caroline has a PhD from Stanford University and Masters from Rutgers University.
Caroline is a board member of the Center for Institutional Courage, a nonprofit organization dedicated to transformative research and education for impact. A 25-year Silicon Valley resident, Caroline is originally from Montreal, Canada. She enjoys connecting with friends and colleagues, hiking, and traveling.
Dawn Girardelli
Associate Dean, Silicon Valley Campus
Dr. Dawn Girardelli is the Interim Regional Dean and CEO of Northeastern University, San Francisco & Silicon Valley. In this role she is responsible defining and executing the campus strategic plan, which includes expanding academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, providing innovative and beneficial co-curricular programming, overseeing campus operations and expansion activities, and building experiential learning partnerships with companies and community organizations.
Girardelli is a seasoned higher education administrator and a visionary leader with a keen sense for strategy, innovation and building coalitions. Focused on student equity and success, she possesses over 20+ years of experience in higher education. This includes leading, designing and implementing workforce, higher education programs and strategic initiatives in collaboration with corporate, government and non-profits. Girardelli was the founder of Diversity-In-Tech Initiative [2014-2018] which brought together K-12, community colleges, universities, non-profits, business/industry & government partners to develop pathways (colleges to career) for women and underrepresented populations in the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) fields throughout the SF Bay Area.
Girardelli holds an Ed.D in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University, a MS degree in Higher Education Administration from California State University-East Bay and a BA degree in Psychology from California State University-East Bay.
Girardelli is particularly interested in the intersection of academic innovations, workforce development and community impact.
In addition to her role at Northeastern, Girardelli currently serves on several community boards centered on workforce and regional economic development, community development and is a volunteer counselor with local youth group.
Girardelli is married to Mike Girardelli and has 3 children. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, relaxing at the beach, watching old movies, and reading historical fiction and suspense novels.
Valerie Cruz
Administrative Coordinator
Ashna Agarwal
Administrative Assistant to the Dean's Office
Ask me about:
• Connecting with the Dean and Regional CEO
• Finding the best contact for your inquiry
Strategic Partnerships
Alan Eng
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Ask me about:
• Exploring career paths in Silicon Valley
• Working in startups and leading high tech companies
• Identifying and connecting with prospective employers
Hannah Kang
Experiential Learning Specialist
Ask me about:
• Internal and external opportunities to apply course learnings
• Ways to elevate your professional brand
Career Development and Experiential Learning
Book an appointment for career counseling
Natasha Odama
Associate Director of Career Development and Experiential Learning
Ask me about:
• Career development resources and personalized support that are available to help navigate the Silicon Valley job market.
Student Services
Karen Chang Pryor
Director of Student Services
Ask me about:
• Involvement opportunities to enrich your campus experience
• Navigating university resources
Elly Lim
Assistant Director of Student Affairs
Brigid Hart-Molloy
Deputy Title IX & Equal Opportunity Coordinator
Ask me about:
• Experiences of or concerns about discrimination or harassment
• Northeastern policies about discrimination and harassment
Samantha Aldana
Wellness Program Specialist
Ask me about:
• 1:1 wellness support
• Resources available to support your full health
Global Learner Support
Visit the Global Learner Support Page
Office of Global Services
Giscard Dimanche
Associate Director of International Student Services, U.S. Global Campus Network
Ask me about:
• The international student experience
• Change of Visa Status questions for international students
Please contact Giscard through this portal
Juan Guiano Taitague
International Student and Scholar Advisor
Ask me about:
• Immigration-related matters for international students
Please contact Juan through this portal
College of Engineering
Kimberly Wright
College of Engineering, Multidisciplinary Engineering, MSIS and MSIS Bridge Academic Advisor and Program Manager
Ask me about:
• MSIS and MSIS Bridge courses, program requirements, and resources
• Academics, registration, graduation, and record holds
Erica Hatzievgenakis
Associate Co-op Coordinator, College of Engineering
Ask me about:
• Anything related to co-op, resumé/cover letter, and interview preparation
• Upcoming COE events and projects
College of Professional Studies
EunHae Lawlor
Academic Advisor
Ask me about:
• M.P.S. Analytics course registration and mapping
• M.S. Project Management course registration and mapping
Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Alvaro Monge
Visiting Professor, Director of Khoury Programs, San Francisco Bay Area
Sweeny Youkhane
Assistant Director, Graduate Student Services, Khoury College
Tori Bowser
Graduate Student Services Coordinator, Khoury College
Vivian Guerrero
Graduate Student Services Coordinator, Khoury College
Ask me about:
• Course planning and your academic goals
• Resources to support your academic success
Pamela Allen
Regional Director of Graduate Recruitment, California
Ask me about:
• How you can Break into Tech with our Align MSCS program
• Upcoming events
• Visiting our campus
• Applying to a Khoury graduate program
Operations
Seblewongel Ayalew
Associate Director of Operations
Ask me about:
• Campus operations
• NU Silicon Valley campus access, health & safety
Enrollment Management
Yichen Shao
Assistant Director of Recruitment and Enrollment
Ask me about:
• Supporting prospective students to find their best fit for a graduate program
• Anything related to admissions, recruitment, and enrollment at the Silicon Valley campus
Meredith Hutcheson
Associate Director of Marketing, Bay Area
Meredith Hutcheson joined the Bay Area Global Campus Marketing team in October 2020 as a marketing consultant before stepping into the role full-time in September of 2021. In her current position, Meredith works to promote Northeastern's graduate programs at both the Silicon Valley and Oakland campuses through a local lens. Prior to joining Northeastern, she worked as a marketing, communications, and branding consultant with a portfolio of clients including startups, non-profits, and SMBs. In this time, her primary interest was building a targeted and maintainable digital media stack for small, mission-driven clients. Prior to this, she built the communications and marketing department of a sharing economy travel platform called Couchsurfing.com as one of the first employees. The experience allowed her to develop skills across the fields of communications, user experience, community management, and media relations as the organization grew from a bootstrap non-profit to a venture-backed B Corporation.
Meredith's joy is exploring the world and trying new things, so amongst her other pursuits she has also been an EFL teacher in Chile, an apple-picker in New Zealand, a Turkish language student in Istanbul, and a gallery assistant in Paris. She grew up in Massachusetts and now lives in Oakland, CA.
Student Ambassadors
Meet the current Student Ambassador team
Student Ambassadors
Meet our current Student Ambassador Team
Student Ambassadors are student leaders and vital members of the Student Services team at the Silicon Valley and San Francisco campuses. The role of Student Ambassadors is to build community and serve as a voice for all students in the region. Student Ambassadors assist with and lead co-curricular educational programs, personal and professional development opportunities, and cultural and diversity experiences on and off campus. They also assist in connecting students to regional campus resources as well as Northeastern University resources across the network.