The Story:

During my Masters in Social Work at the University of Chicago, I researched the wage gap. I noticed that we often talk about this in a macroeconomic sense, regarding how much less women (particularly, women of color) make in comparison to their white male counterparts. But not often enough do we talk about the social, cultural, and societal barriers that people face, and the individual-level actions that folks can take to ensure they’re earning what they’re worth.

Through working in the non-profit and tech sectors, both as an entrepreneur and as an employee, I experienced first hand how challenging it could be to advocate for oneself. One’s gender, race, socio-economic status, and industry are all huge determinants for whether someone is equipped with knowledge on how to negotiate and what to negotiate for. These realizations all played a part in me creating NWS.

My breadth of experience in different organizational settings, combined with my knowledge of social science and pay equity research, are all folded into my workshops and coaching.

 The Experience:

Sophia is a strategic leader in the social sector with partnerships, strategy, programs, and management experience spanning more than a decade. Her focus has been on equity and access to opportunity. From her work at Accion Opportunity Fund, Hello Alice, and Kiva collaborating with governments and corporations to make a more inclusive economy for entrepreneurs, to her work with Center for Intimacy Justice advocating to change tech advertising policies to be inclusive of women's health, Sophia devotes all her energy and expertise to building a more equitable future for everyone.

Sophia is a Licensed Social Worker who graduated Summa Cum Laude with her Master's in Social Work from the University of Chicago. She is an Ariane de Rothschild Fellow at the University of Cambridge, an Accenture Innovate for Good finalist, an #EmpowerHerAccess awardee from Women in Cloud, and a recipient of DePaul University's Women of Spirit and Action student award and the Women of Substance alumni award.

Through each of her ventures, Sophia works to dismantle the systems that disenfranchise communities.