Join our Leadership Roundtable
Please sign me up for the next LR meeting
Leadership Roundtable Registration
About Beth Sawi
After hearing lots of anti-female bullshit like “We don’t hire women as account executives” and “Maybe you could work your way up from secretary?” in the early years of my career, I got myself to the GSB. With a Stanford MBA in my hip pocket, I landed an almost-VP level marketing job at Charles Schwab & Co in San Francisco in 1982.
My career at Schwab spanned 20 years as the company grew to nearly 8,000,000 customer accounts from less than 400,000. I worked my way up to EVP of Marketing, and then became President of the Schwab Mutual Funds. In 1995, the early days of the internet, I led the creation and launch of the Schwab’s online operations which established the company’s presence in the digital financial services sector. My final position at Schwab was as Chief Administrative Officer overseeing Human Resources, Legal, Audit, Compliance, Public Relations, and Facilities.
My husband and I raised two daughters during my Schwab days, a challenge familiar to all working couples. Based on those experiences, I wrote “Coming Up for Air: How to Build a Balanced Life in a Workaholic World” (Hyperion, 2000). It was honored by both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post as one of the best work-life balance books of the year.
I left Schwab in 2002, took a year off to do nothing, and then started investigating the world of non-profits. At one time, I was on four different non-profit boards simultaneously. Working for the Alameda County Community Food Bank, I learned how to raise millions of dollars. In my current board spot with the Oakland Museum of California, I’ve learned how museums can reflect and strengthen the values of diverse communities. When I started joining boards, I thought I’d learn how the non-profit world could be run more efficiently. I haven’t.
Being retired suits me. I travel a lot, having been to Botswana, Cuba, Scotland, Paris, Mexico, Iceland, and Egypt in the last two years. When not traveling, I take twice weekly lessons in yoga, Pilates, and Spanish. Four times a year, I go to Montana to fly-fish. I have family and friends both near and far.
In 2005, I was at the b-school reunion when Project Redwood was first proposed. I have supported them ever since. PRW’s combination of volunteerism and donations, guided by smart classmates, is unique. It’s a way that the privileged–GSB alumni like you and me–can share our good fortune.
About Danae Pauli
Danae recently transitioned from the U.S. Government where she led the White House-led G7 global infrastructure investment initiative in Africa. In this role, she mobilized over $6 billion in public and private financing to develop the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor in 18-months for transport, energy, agribusiness, critical minerals and health infrastructure projects. This included the first U.S. investment in rail on the continent in a generation with a view toward Africa’s first-ever trans-continental open-access rail network. She is currently working with Anzana Electric Group and others to continue momentum on the Corridor and ensure economic prosperity for the millions of citizens it touches.
Originally from Boston, Danae is an experienced operational leader, growing impact-driven companies in the U.S. and emerging markets, with a particular expertise in organizational culture. She began her career working for non-profit international development organizations across East Africa on issues ranging from post-conflict peace building and health system improvement to empowerment of refugee women and youth. Prior to serving in the Biden-Harris administration, she served as a Managing Director for Nova Pioneer, a GSB-co-founded venture-backed pan-African school network and as a Vice President for DaVita, a U.S.-based Fortune 200 healthcare services company.
Danae holds an undergraduate degree in Government from Harvard and earned an MBA along with a Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was recognized as an Arbuckle Leadership Fellow.
In 2013, Danae co-founded the Stanford Graduate School of Business Women’s Circles program, supporting almost one in six alumnae of all ages to thrive personally and professionally, where she continues to serve on the Global Management Board. She serves as Board Chair of Delta Education Collective, a movement to revolutionize rural Uganda public primary schooling, and recently joined the board of the Ubuntu Center for Peace, bringing a community-based social healing model to help individuals overcome trauma and mental health challenges in Rwanda.
In her free time, Danae enjoys running, wine tasting and exploring the museums and historic sites of Washington, D.C.