AWC BERLIN BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2020
PRESIDENT – SHWETA GUPTA
Shweta Gupta, a long-time resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, moved to Berlin in July 2015 with her husband and two children. She has been an active member of the American Women’s Club of Berlin, and most recently serving as the club’s Parliamentarian. She also volunteers as a parent representative to the Parent Council at her children’s school. Prior to moving to Berlin, Shweta practiced law for over 15 years in various capacities, including as a law clerk to a federal judge, as an associate at two international law firms, and as senior counsel at a major financial institution. Though she practiced in a variety of areas in her career, her primary focus ultimately was in the area of employment law. She holds her law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and her undergraduate degree in Political Science from The George Washington University. During her time in Berlin, she also gained experience in teaching during a short stint as lecturer of Business Law to undergraduate students. Shweta loves and appreciates the opportunities and experiences living in Berlin has provided to her and her family.
FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT – DAWNA GRAND
Dawna Grand moved to Berlin in 2018 from Seattle, Washington after an unanimous and enthusiastic family vote on living abroad for a second time. Believing that supporting and serving the community you live in is an essential ingredient in life, Dawna continues to volunteer at her children’s school Berlin Brandenburg International School, Berliner Tafel and Ronald McDonald House. In her professional life, Dawna holds Marketing and Business Administration degrees and has spent nearly 20 years working in the Learning & Development field. She has worked in various sized businesses from a software start-up and research university to a large high-tech corporation. However, it was when she shifted gears to managing Special Programs for a non-profit food and clothing bank in Seattle that she really found her true work-life passion. Dawna continues this work, and her connection to the Pacific Northwest, by building electronic volunteer training programs. Dawna loves cooking, entertaining, learning about culture through food, traveling and supporting local small businesses. Always seeking out personal challenges she hopes to improve her conversational French and her knitting skills, and is training for her first half-marathon.
SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT – SILVIA MALO RASINSKI
Silvia Malo Rasinski was born and raised in Mexico City. She studied Media and Communication at the Universidad Iberoamericana (majoring in Advertising and Filmmaking) and worked as a brand strategist. In 2015, After almost 20 years in the NY/NJ area, Silvia and her German husband Georg decided to move to Berlin with their 2 children, Nicolas and Verena, then 13 and 11, in order to provide an opportunity for the children to experience life in a different country, and where part of their heritage is. Upon landing in Berlin, Silvia deep dove into learning German, earning her C2 level. After 4 years, she is finally fluent -with some mistakes, yes, but happy to be able to communicate with those who do not speak English or Spanish. Silvia is passionate about authentic, well curated Mexican food. She is the queen of Guacamole and loves to cook for friends. A most enjoyable thing for her is a long “sobremesa” with a good mezcal accompanied with sliced oranges and some sal de gusano. Silvia worked as stage manager of the AWC Berlin’s 2018 production of The Vagina Monologues and volunteers in the club’s Programs team.
SECRETARY – KATHY LYON
Kathy Lyon moved to Berlin in May 2018 when her husband accepted a job as Head of Cloud Operations at Zalando. Kathy grew up in Florida and got her master’s in Anthropology at the University of Michigan. Since then she’s lived in Seattle, where she learned to sail; in Vermont, where she did not learn to ski; in Zürich, where she began an enduring love affair with fondue; and in New York City, where she became obsessed with real estate—just like a real New Yorker. Along the way she’s worked as a customer service rep for an Internet startup, a book buyer for an online retailer, and as an editor for a digital-first publisher. She served as managing editor for the AWC of Zürich’s magazine and completed a short stint as a volunteer coordinator for a presidential primary candidate. Now happily back in Europe, she’s fighting the good fight to become a bona fide German speaker. Kathy has volunteered as AWC Berlin’s book club co-coordinator and co-chair for the club’s newcomers orientation program N.O.W.
TREASURER – ANGELA ANDERSEN
Angela Andersen grew up in Sweden, studied economics, business administration, engineering and social sciences at universities mainly in Berlin and Darmstadt. In 1996, Angela moved back to Berlin with her husband, Thomas, a start-up consultant. Since then, she has been working as a business coach, helping individuals to overcome obstacles and reach their career goals. In tandem with her consulting work, she has held positions within several non-profit organizations. One of these roles was an EC-member of the National Council of German Women’s Organizations, an umbrella organization of 60 nation-wide women’s associations covering professional, religious, trade union, political, sport and social objectives. The National Council has special adviser status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, and is a founding member of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL). Angela loves cultural history, science, skeptical questions and early morning swimming. This will be her second term as AWC Berlin treasurer.