Bethlehem "Betty" Aynalem

After serving as the Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion Initiatives and the Director of the Stanford Summer Engineering Academy (SSEA) in Stanford's School of Engineering for more than two years. Betty helped transform the student experience in the school of engineering while also combating the systems that perpetuate inequities. Betty has now joined VPUE as the Director of the Leland Scholars Program (LSP) and the Stanford Summer Fellows Program (SSFP) and supports the Stanford First Generation and/or Low Income (FLI) student population through university initiatives and programming.

Before coming to Stanford, Betty served as the Director of the Washington D.C. Women’s Business Center where she focused on building sustainable initiatives to create pathways and pipelines for minoritized folx to greater economic opportunity. Betty has been a part of and has led teams focused on creating more just, equitable, and inclusive institutions on five different college campuses. Having formerly spearheaded programs for the NAACP and ACLU, Betty is deeply passionate about community-centered outreach, organizing, and impact-driven progress. Betty comes from a large family and aspires to bring forth the same sense of commitment, dedication, and care she was raised with to the students and ecosystem in LSP and SSFP.