2020-2021

Officers and Project Managers

Secretary Katie Otsuka

Grad 2021 - Civil Engineering

Katie is from San Diego. She joined EWB with a few of her friends sophomore year to learn more about development work and try to make a difference using the things she learned in class. One of her favorite memories is going on the annual yurt trip with the Nicaragua team. Katie’ other passions include baking, hiking, mountain biking, and watching movies with my friends.

Treasurer Lucia Gomes

Grad 2021 - Economics

Lucia is from Morgan Hill, CA. She joined EWB because she loves how the club incorporates helping people, forming cultural and community connections, as well as problem-solving. She has a passion for learning, and being part of EWB teaches her new things every day. Her favorite memory of EWB is planning the Agua for Nicaragua concert as an events lead during her first year. Outside of EWB, you can find Lucia working for ASI as an accounting student assistant, singing, eating, or waiting in line for coffee.

Public Relations Coordinator Brigid O’Neill

Grad 2023 - Civil Engineering

Brigid is from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She joined EWB her freshman year because she wants to help communities all over the world gain access to clean water. Her favorite EWB memory is the Nicaragua team dinner at the end of winter quarter 2020. Outside of EWB, she is also very active in Society of Civil Engineers on campus. She also enjoys playing soccer and volleyball, hiking and waterskiing.

Membership Coordinator Sarah Navias

Grad 2021 - Architectural Engineering

Sarah is from Colorado and has been an active member of EWB since her second year at Cal Poly. For the past two years she has been a part of the Kenya team and last year was the Cultural Education Lead. Sarah joined EWB to learn about development work and the role that engineering can play within development, and she has been lucky to learn more than she ever imagined over these past two years from fellow members. Her favorite EWB memory is volunteering at Growing Grounds each year with her project team and getting to know everyone outside of club meetings. Outside of EWB you can find Sarah watching movies with a cup of tea in hand, cooking lots of food, or spending time outside.

Lead Fundraising Coordinator & CGE Liaison Geneva Newell

Grad 2023 - Civil Engineering

Geneva is from Poulsbo, WA and joined EWB after learning about the club while attending Cal Poly EPIC in high school. She also is involved with Critical Global Engagement Club where she is able to think deeper about the actions we take in EWB. Also, she collects and sends posts cards, with over 200 coating her bedroom walls. In her free time she loves to volunteer, play tennis and pet dogs.

Fundraising Coordinator Joeli Pence

Grad 2022 - Civil Engineering

Joeli joined EWB to get practice with real-world engineering projects while in school and she appreciates the club's intentional efforts to listen to and truly help the communities it works with. She is from Redmond, WA ("Seattle") and loves it there but does admittedly appreciate the year-round cycling-appropriate weather in SLO. Outside of EWB, she joined the Cal Poly triathlon team last fall and enjoys spending long periods of time on a bike. She also enjoys trying to improve her Spanish by talking to people from Argentina on the internet in her spare time.

Fundraising Coordinator Alex Petrov

Grad 2021 - Computer Engineering

Alex is from Phoenix, Arizona. He started going to EWB meetings on a whim but immediately fell in love with the work and his project team. His favorite memory is attending the end of the year banquet with everyone. Outside of school and EWB, he enjoys mountain biking and exploring SLO.

Media Coordinator Molly Klausen

Grad 2022 - Environmental Engineering

Molly is an environmental engineer from San Diego, California. She joined Engineers Without Borders because she wanted to do something with engineering, and she was attracted to the sustainable and ethical development objectives of the club. Her favorite memories of EWB include going to the socials and seeing the different personalities of everyone during the project meetings. Outside of EWB, she loves to go camping and play card games.

Social Chair Sydney Sitton

Grad 2022 - Construction Management

Coming from Huntington Beach, CA, Sydney is a third year Construction Management major and a member of Team Fiji. She joined EWB to understand the impact of construction in developing communities, and gain perspective into the world of international development. She loves the community aspect of EWB, and how many amazing individuals she's met across all majors at Cal Poly. When she's not doing EWB work, you can find her practicing yoga, perfecting her coffee craft, surfing in Morro Bay, or trying to find live music in San Luis Obispo.

Technology Coordinator Hannah Berenjfoorosh

Grad 2021 - Civil Engineering

Hannah is a fourth year Civil Engineering major from San Jose, CA. She joined Engineers Without Borders to gain hands on engineering experience and to learn about development work. Her favorite EWB memory is playing trivia with Team Kenya and getting to work on the maize mill in the machine shop. In her free time she enjoys hanging out with friends, crafting, and attempting to bake.

IMPACT Coordinator Kennedy Skinner

Grad 2021 - Anthropology & Geography

Kennedy Skinner from the Lake Tahoe area!! She joined EWB because she wanted to gain connections and friends outside of her field of study!! Her personal favorite memories are the debates an discussion that are so respectful and new it gives you a whole new perspective; and laughing so hard that everyone was gasping for air. Outside of EWB she personally loves to hike, workout, volunteer, try new eateries (she's a foodie), cook, and most importantly people watch.

IMPACT Coordinator Karina Camp

Grad 2021 - Industrial Engineering

Karina is from San Diego, CA and joined EWB freshman year because of the impact she wanted to have not only on communities worldwide but also her own. She also loves the people and culture of EWB. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, surfing, golfing and hiking.

  Conference Coordinator Olivia Weinbaum

Grad 2021 - Civil Engineering

Olivia is from Las Cruces, New Mexico and she joined EWB because she wants to help those in the Global South with infrastructure. Her favorite memory of EWB is spending time with her best friends working on the project team and going on EWB's quarterly camping trips. She loves dancing and is a part of Urban Movement. She also loves working out, camping, and riding motorcycles.

Cuesta College Liaison Callie Charleton

Grad 2021 - Environmental Engineering

Callie grew up in Windsor, CA and became interested in engineering while in her high school's STEM program. She went to Cuesta for her second year of college with the goal of transferring to Cal Poly. At Cuesta she was a part of the team that worked to change the EWBUSA chapter requirements to allow community colleges. She transferred to Cal Poly in 2019. She is passionate about sustainable farming and likes to go paddle boring on the weekends.

California State Representative Sheel Patel

Grad 2021 - Software Engineering

Sheel is from Bristol, Wisconsin, and joined EWB to to utilize his engineering skills to help others and meet friends who are also passionate in engineering to make an impactful difference. He is a member of team Fiji, working often with the fundraising and solar teams. His favorite memories of EWB are the social events, such as the campouts, bonfires, or BBQs. Some of his hobbies include running, dancing, and photography & videography.

Team Fiji Project Manager - Alex Cushing

Grad 2022 - Materials Engineering

Alex is from Los Altos, California. He joined EWB because of the warming and welcoming environment he felt when first arriving at the club. Despite being a materials engineer, he felt there was still lots of applicable work to be done and this incentivized him to become a Project Manager for this upcoming year. Alex's favorite EWB memories are volunteering with the team at Las Brisas and the quarterly bonfires. During his personal time, Alex loves to practice bread making and going on trail runs.

Team Fiji Project Manager - Austin Marshall

Grad 2021 - Mechanical Engineering

Austin is from Novato, CA (Just north of San Francisco). He joined Engineers Without Boarders because he has a passion for both helping people, whether it's in our community or around the world, and working to find new solutions to technical problems. Some of his favorite memories with EWB include the Fiji team fundraisers and club social events like the camping trip. Outside of EWB, Austin enjoys photography, rock climbing, hiking, line dancing, and exploring new places.

Team Nicaragua Project Manager - Andrea Leal

Grad 2021 - Civil Engineering

Andrea is from San Diego, CA. She joined EWB- Cal Poly so she could share the resources and opportunities she received by attending a University, with people who do not have access to even the most basic of needs. Andrea’s favorite part of EWB has been meeting and learning from people with critical perspectives on global development. She also enjoy watching movies and learning new things!

Team Nicaragua Project Manager - Julia Cannon

Grad 2021 - Civil Engineering

Julia joined EWB during her freshman year as a way of learning about and further expanding her understanding of global development work. As the Well & Pump Lead for the Nicaragua Team, she worked closely with the other leads to advance the remote implementation of a water distribution system and now is one of the team's PMs. She's also been a part of the training team for the 900+ orientation leaders for Cal Poly's Week of Welcome. When Julia is not at school, taking pictures, or at Trader Joe's, you can find her grabbing coffee with friends or strolling outside.

Team Kenya Project Manager Quynh Sample

Grad 2021 - Anthropology & Geography

Quynh is from Saratoga, CA. She has joined Engineers Without Borders at Cal Poly at the suggestion of one of the previous Kenya project managers and had never left. She has a strong interest in ethical and sustainable international development and loves that EWB-Cal Poly shares those same goals. Her favorite memories are always of spending time with the team and talking about useless nonsense. In her free time, she loves sleeping, watching nerdy videos on YouTube, and drinking tea.

Team Kenya Project Manager Joshua Schipper

Grad 2022 - Environmental Engineering

Joshua joined EWB Malawi team (now Kenya team) because he wanted to learn more about global development and was particularly interested in the sub-saharan African region. His favorite EWB memory was learning how to thread a hole using a tap in the workshop freshman year. Outside of EWB Joshua enjoys smoothies and salads.

Local Team Project Manager Jenisa Nguyen

Grad 2022 - Computer Science

Jenisa Nguyen is from Oxnard, Ca, but grew up in the Washington, D.C. area. She first joined EWB because of her passion and enthusiasm for helping the community and engineering alike. Her favorite memory of EWB are the board dinners and the end-of-the-year celebrations. On her spare time, she likes to code, work on escape room puzzles, and play video games. She also really loves boba tea!

Local Team Project Manager Laila Schnebelt

Grad 2021 - Industrial Engineering

Originally from Napa, California, Laila Schnebelt joined EWB because it largely consists of two of her favorite things: philanthropy and engineering. She wanted to find a way to combine her passion for serving others and technical skills learned at Cal Poly, and found the perfect fit in EWB. Her favorite memory in EWB is the Fall Crash Course Reveal, when Local Projects gets to meet all of their new members! Outside of EWB, Laila can be found hiking around SLO, napping at odd hours of the day, or trying new coffee spots with friends.