Associate Board

ELISABETH DEWAILLY, CHAIR

Elisabeth is a partner on an all-female, diverse, multi-generational team of financial advisors at Merrill Lynch. She is a CFP®, CSRIC™, CPFA, and a strong proponent of impact investing. Prior to working at Merrill, Elisabeth specialized in STEM. She has worked in four research labs across the US, and spent three years as an analyst and programmer at a hedge fund in DC. Elisabeth is a co-chair of the Black Professional Group and a co-chair of the Long Island BELT Responsible Growth Committee within Bank of America. She is also a member of the Women’s Growth Advisory Board within Merrill. She is an Executive Council member of Ellevate, and a member of Nexus, NABA, and Harvard Alumni in Impact. She is a mentor of several young professionals, and she has been a member of the Junior Board since 2018. She frequently speaks on panels of diverse or women-led nonprofit organizations, including Alpha Kappa Alpha, Harlem Children’s Zone, and Watch her Win NY. She volunteers regularly and mentors diverse high school students in STEM preparing for college. Elisabeth graduated from Harvard University with a BA in HDRB (Biology) and Computer Science. She is a dual-citizen of France and the US and is fluent in French. In her spare time, she likes to bake, run, read, and learn new languages.

OLIVIA BINKE, MARKETING CHAIR

Olivia is a Customer Success Manager at Integral Ad Science, where she helps to provide a range of Fortune 100 clients with data-driven solutions on impact marketing. Outside of work, she is a major cinephile and bibliophile, always keeping up with the latest Oscar buzz and book clubs. She likes to stay active, and whether it's walking around Brooklyn to find the coziest coffee shop or spinning at her nearest neighborhood cycling studio, she is always go-go-go. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a dual degree in English and Political Science. Olivia is ecstatic to serve on the Junior Board for WINGS, as she is passionate about the mission and using her position as a way to advocate for, recognize, and celebrate the accomplishments of women in all facets of science.

MIA NIXON, MEMBER ENGAGEMENT CHAIR

Mia is an Associate at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a business strategy consulting firm. She previously worked at Flowcode, a DTC tech company where she innovated and secured funding for their “FlowGreen” recycling management initiative. Mia graduated from Tufts University with a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering. Deeply committed to supporting female explorers and environmental conservation, she has worked as a scientific researcher on exploration vessels in the Arctic and the western Pacific Ocean’s Coral Triangle, focusing on micro- and nanoplastic research.

SAMMY KALLMAN, ADMINISTRATION CHAIR

Sammy is a Corporate Reputation Analyst at the global market research and consulting firm, Ipsos. She graduated in 2021 from Boston College’s Honors Program with a B.A. in Psychology. Sammy lives in New York City and in her free time enjoys traveling, keeping up with health and wellness trends, and spending quality time with old and new friends. She is passionate about supporting women in leadership and the sciences and joined the WINGS Associate Board in 2022.

KAT MIKUTA

Kat Mikuta is a sales leader with over a decade of experience in media and is known for her revenue generation skills while forging strategic partnerships with many brands and agencies.  Kat is the Vice President of Sales at Wondermind, a mental fitness ecosystem, that aims to democratize and destigmatize mental health under the leadership of co-founder Selena Gomez.

Prior to Wondermind, she was the Senior Director of Venture Partnerships at TIME, where she was instrumental in founding and leading the division to increase new business. Her tenure there was marked by fostering partnerships with brands committed to ESG initiatives and spearheading the execution of multimillion-dollar campaigns across TIME’s multimedia ecosystem. Earlier in her career, at Bloomberg Media, she contributed significantly to the growth of its media platforms as the Director of Corporate Brand Reputation & B2B. 

Kat graduated from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She is an avid scuba diver, relishing the excitement of swimming with sharks in the Bahamas, and enjoys leisurely runs with her dogs, Layla and Bubba. Beyond her adventurous hobbies, Kat is deeply committed to impacting change and spotlighting the achievements of inspirational women through her involvement with WINGS.

FRANKIE DEGRUY

Frankie deGruy is a Product Manager at Rupa Health, a company dedicated to advancing Root Cause Medicine by improving access to in-depth lab testing. With a background as an EMT and Clinical Researcher in New Orleans, Frankie holds a Masters in Public Health, Health Policy from Tulane University. She has experience in Maternal Healthcare in Louisiana and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Frankie is also a passionate scuba diver, and has worked with Shark Conservation and Identification in over 100 dives in Mexico, Honduras, Fiji, the Red Sea, and California. Frankie learned about WINGS in 2023 and is beyond excited to support the Associate Board!

IZZY NIXON

Izzy Nixon is a Venture Capital & Growth Equity Associate at KarpReilly LLC. Previously, she was an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley in the Global Power & Utilities Group. She formerly was a player and draw specialist for the professional women's lacrosse league, the WPLL. She graduated in 2019 from Yale University with a degree in Political Science. She enjoys outdoor adventure, travel, music production and festivals, and her dog, Tasmania. Izzy sees WINGS as an important vehicle for motivating young women leaders in science and entrepreneurship.

TINASHE MAWOYO

Tinashe is a Solutions Engineer at Atsign, which is a Silicon Valley technology startup working towards a future where privacy is a fundamental right and everyone owns their data. Outside of work she enjoys scuba diving with her husband, archery and exploring the beautiful island of Bermuda, which she has called home since 2017. Tinashe holds a BSc In Multimedia Computing and an MSc in Software Systems, which were attained at Aston University and The University of Bath in the UK. She is passionate about mentorship and providing educational support to young people, as well as closing the gender gap in STEM. She joined the Associate Board in 2022 with the goal of supporting WINGS’ mission to elevate, recognize and celebrate extraordinary women in Science and Exploration.

WEN XIE

Wen is an intellectual property attorney and partner at Global IP Counselors, LLP, a full-service IP firm in Washington, DC. Wen represents clients across the United States, Europe, and Asia in seeking and asserting their IP rights around the world. Wen’s opinions on the impact of IP rights on the innovation economy is frequently published as legal scholarship. She is a member of the Forbes Business Council and a leader in the Intellectual Property Owners Association, chairing the subcommittee in charge of the Diversity in Innovation Toolkit so that diverse inventors can be thoroughly recognized for their contribution to the innovative ecosphere. Wen hosts the IP Practice Vlogs by Global IP Counselors™, an original series of practice videos for the US IP practitioner. The series is co-published and syndicated by IPWatchdog, the largest intellectual property publication in the world. In her free time, she enjoys creative writing and painting.

LILY PAYTON

Lily is a curious spirit, an endless adventurer, and a lover of all things related to the Arctic. In her professional life, she leads local government innovation work at the Centre for Public Impact (CPI), working with cities across the world to harness technology in order to improve the resident experience. Outside of work, she is fascinated with the emerging field of regenerative aquaculture, the Arctic and its stewards, and the intersection of indigenous wisdom and Western knowledge. These interests even led her on an expedition to Newfoundland & Labrador and on a design thinking sprint in Nuuk, Greenland. Originally from Maryland, Lily graduated from McGill University in Montréal, Canada with a double major in International Development and Political Science. Lily sees WINGS as a vehicle for engaging women in research and exploration without compromise. She hopes her involvement with the organization helps create a new generation of female explorers that uncover new paradigms about our ever-evolving world.

CAROLINE WILLIAMS

Caroline Williams is an archivist, researcher, and environmentalist with experience working at the intersection of history and science since 2017. She is driven by helping cultural institutions make historical documentation accessible to the public, and she aims to use data and education to help fight climate change. In 2023, Caroline was awarded the Ellen Brenner Fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and in 2024, she was accepted into the Climatebase Fellowship. In addition to CSHL, Caroline has worked on archival projects for the Maryland State Medical Society (MedChi), New York Preservation Archive Project (NYPAP), and Brownsville Heritage House (BHH).

Caroline's work as an environmentalist began when she was a field observer for Sea Otter Savvy. She was a member of the Citizen Science Team that collects field observation to be analyzed, published, and used in informing agencies tasked with protecting sea otters in California. Since then, Caroline has worked as a water quality volunteer for Blue Water Baltimore, helping restore the quality of Baltimore’s rivers, streams, and harbor. She also interned at Natural Resource Results, a lobbying and governmental affairs consulting company solving complex natural resource issues. Caroline is the Co-Chair of the Young Professionals Board at Christodora, an environmental and educational nonprofit serving NYC youth.  

Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo and is a getting a MS in Library and Information Science at the Pratt School of Information where she’s concentrating on Research & Data and is getting an advanced certificate in Spatial Analysis and Design. In her spare time, you can find Caroline at an art gallery, a climate documentary, a talk at the Explorers Club, or playing a racquet sport.

SEFRA ALEXANDRA, ASSOCIATE BOARD EXPLORER IN RESIDENCE

Sefra Alexandra - The Seed Huntress - is an ethnobotanist on perennial expedition to preserve global seed biodiversity to rewild our landscapes. As a fellow of the Crop Trust, Sefra highlighted the vital role played by the global seed banking system - the Genebank Platform - in safeguarding the diversity of crop wild relatives. The fieldwork she conducted in the South Pacific focused on their version of the Irish Potato Famine with the ‘prestige’ staple food crop taro ( Colocasia esculenta ). Her ethnobotanical research - "The Tale of Taro Leaf Blight" - was published in the Journal of Food Security.

Sefra runs a disaster response and expeditionary entrepreneurial outfit - Tactivate - with her twin brother, deploying to island nations after natural disasters as featured in Forbes. Together with local agrarian leaders, they fortify community seed banks to promote bioregional seed sovereignty as the greatest tool of regenerative resilience. In the USA, she has seed hunted for the Seeds of Success program in the remote backcountry of Idaho for endangered species to be safeguarded at the Millennium Seed Bank | Kew and revived the allium heirloom Southport Globe Onion in her hometown of Connecticut.

Sefra is currently leading The Ecotype Project to amplify the amount of truly local native seed available for ecological restoration, by creating the first ecoregional seed supply chain in the Northeast, USA. In 2020 she began BOATanical.org, where she guides expeditions that are “paddlin’ for the pollinators,” planting native plants by boat along riparian corridors.

Sefra holds her M.A.T. in agroecological education from Cornell University, is a WINGS WorldQuest expedition Flag Carrier and member of the Explorers Club and runs a wilderness skills school- The Readiness Collective.