Oakland, CA–April 28, 2009. Mills College will present its 121st Commencement on Saturday, May 16, 2009 with an address given by Kavita Ramdas from the Global Fund for Women. The ceremony will begin at 9:45 am on Toyon Meadow with a graduating class that includes 270 undergraduate women and 237 graduate women and men, as well as students receiving certificates and credentials in a variety of fields.

As president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco-based Global Fund for Women, Ramdas oversees the largest grantmaking foundation in the world focused exclusively on supporting international women's human rights. The nonprofit organization was founded on the belief that women's full equality and participation in society is one of the most effective ways to build a just, peaceful, and sustainable world and offers grants to women-led organizations that promote the economic security, health, safety, education, and leadership of women and girls.

A longtime friend of Mills College, Ramdas's organization is also the co-sponsor of the Mills College Transnational Feminist Studies Project.

A native of India, Ramdas earned a bachelor's degree in political science and international relations from Mount Holyoke College and a master's degree in international development and public policy from Princeton University. She now serves on the Board of Trustees for both institutions.

Ramdas has received numerous awards in recognition of her work, including: Haridas and Bina Chaudhari Award for Distinguished Service, 2009; Social Capitalist Award, Fast Company, 2007; Juliette Gordon Low Award, Girl Scouts of America, 2005; Woman of the Year for the Public Sector, Financial Women's Association, 2004; and the Women Who Could Be President Award, League of Women Voters, 2003.

The commencement will also include special guest Ryan D. Limaye, a partner at Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking and securities firm.

Goldman Sachs has selected Mills College as one of the first U.S. based educational partner of its 10,000 Women initiative, a five-year global philanthropic program designed to increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education.

At Goldman Sachs, Limaye heads the investment banking division in the global company's San Francisco office. He specializes in financing and strategic assignments for leading communications and technology companies.

Limaye holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in economics and a BAS in applied science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering a dynamic progressive education that fosters leadership, social responsibility, and creativity to approximately 950 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Since 2000, applications to Mills College have more than doubled. The College is named one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report, one of the Best 368 Colleges by the Princeton Review, and ranks 75th among America's best colleges by Forbes.com. Visit us at www.mills.edu.

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