Explore. Reflect. Become. Lunch Series with Speaker Barbara Gao Shapiro C'12, W'12
PAACH is back with the Explore. Reflect. Become. Lunch Series for spring 2026! Come join us for a catered lunch and learn from our exciting group of speakers.
Event Information:
-Date/Time: Wednesday, February 18 at 12pm
-Location: ARCH Room 108 (3601 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104)
-Registration: https://bit.ly/PAACHERBLUNCHSERIES
The Explore. Reflect. Become Lunch Series focuses on the deep reflection of our personal experiences and the becoming of ourselves. We will invite individuals from Penn and the Philadelphia community to share their intimate histories and backgrounds and how they've explored, reflected, and become the person that they are.
About the Speaker:
Barbara Gao Shapiro graduated from Penn in 2012 as a dual degree student, concentrating in Finance in Wharton and majoring in Economic History in the College. Together with a Penn GSE alum, she founded Blueprint to Great Schools, a strategic consulting firm advising K-12 education leaders to rapidly achieve their institutional goals. Prior to starting her own company, she led a charter school network’s college access and persistence program from serving 26 students to over 1,000 students, while maintaining 100% acceptance to 4 year colleges for a student body of mostly first-gen students of color. Barbara started her career on Wall Street as a hedge fund analyst and investment banker. At Penn, she was a Vice-Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee, an RA in Ware, and a founding sister of Zeta Tau Alpha. She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants, and grew up in Arizona. Today, she lives with her husband (also a Penn alum), son, cat, and dog on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She serves on the Penn Alumni Board of Directors. You can often find her performing in community theater and choir, or appearing on a game show.
