The YAA Board of Governors serves as ambassadors between the alumni body and the University. Within the Board is the Executive Committee, which leads the governance and strategic oversight of the Board's work and advises the Chair and the YAA Executive Director. Meet your 2026-2027 Executive Committee Officers and learn why serving the alumni community is important to them.
Vishal Agrawal ’96, ’96 MS, ’02 MD (Vice-Chair)
Past Yale volunteer roles: Yale Alumni Schools Committee; Yale Graduate School Alumni Association; Friends of Yale from Industry
Where I live: Falls Church, VA
Favorite Yale memory? Traveling to Youngstown, OH, with fellow YAA BOG member (Ali Mohamadi) and alums to watch Yale Football overcome a 28-point deficit in the 3rd quarter to win its first NCAA post-season football game!
Why serving on the board is important to me: YAA Board service helps me reconnect and learn from the breadth of Yale alumni experiences. I look forward to helping shape how YAA can drive even greater alumni engagement.
Yoshiko Inoue ’00 (Chair)
Past Yale volunteer roles: Yale Club of NYC (volunteer since 2000): Current Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. Past roles include President, Vice President, Chair of the House, Finance, and Audit Committees, and member of various committees and task forces. I also serve as Vice President of The Fifty Vanderbilt Foundation.
Where I live: New York City
Favorite Yale memory: The everyday magic of campus life: spontaneous debates, shared meals, and the sense that I was always one conversation away from a new idea or friend.
Why serving on the board is important to me: Yale is a lifelong experience, not limited to time spent on campus. The alumni community thrives when we nurture it, and contributing to that collective effort is deeply meaningful to me.
Darlene Kaplan ’78 (Executive Officer)
Past Yale Volunteer Roles: ASC Director, Alumni Fund Volunteer, Reunion Co-Chair, Yale Club of LA Delegate, Vice-Chair YaleWomen
Where I live: New York City
Favorite Yale Memory: Walking through campus during the twilight hour when the carillon was playing. Whatever pressure I was feeling would melt away for a few moments as I was enveloped by the sound and beauty.
Why serving on the board is important to me: It took me a while after graduation to reconnect with Yale, but once I did, I realized that the Yale experience extends far beyond the years spent as a student. I have been enriched by all the alumni and staff I have met as a volunteer. I want to help more alumni reconnect and realize that Yale offers so much more than just the years spent on campus. I want to let current students know they have a community once they graduate. The lyrics of Bright College Years talk about “the shortest, gladdest years of life.” I would argue that, as a Yale alum, the best years are yet to come.
Jennifer Ebisemiju Madar ’88 (Immediate Past Chair)
Past Yale volunteer roles: ASC interviewer; YaleBoston - Board member, secretary, vice president, president; YaleWomen - Governing Council member, vice chair, chair; YAA Board of Governors - Board member, executive officer, vice chair, chair
Where I live: Boston, MA
Favorite Yale memory: I truly enjoyed my year as a FroCo, supporting new students as both a friend and mentor while they explored the myriad opportunities Yale offers, learned more about themselves, and gained confidence in their own abilities.
Why serving on the board is important to me: I would like all alumni to feel welcome and supported by the Yale community, especially those who are disengaged or struggling in some way.
Ali Mohamadi ’98 (Executive Officer)
Past Yale volunteer roles: Member, YAA Board of Governors (2022-2026); Class Secretary and Reunion Chair, Yale College Class of 1998; Yale Alumni Fund Class Agent; Yale Alumni Schools Committee Admissions Interviewer, Montgomery County, MD
Where I live: Chevy Chase, MD
Favorite Yale memory: What's stuck with me most are all those moments chatting away with my roommates and closest friends in our common rooms, usually about the most random and trivial things. What makes Yale special to me is the people I've met as a student and beyond, and these friends, more than any, are the ones who helped make it home for me.
Why serving on the board is important to me: Yale played a defining role in shaping who I am by challenging me, supporting me, and pushing me to think beyond myself. That feeling has only deepened as I've built even more relationships as an alum. I feel a strong responsibility to give back, help strengthen alumni connections, and ensure others can experience the same sense of belonging and opportunity Yale gave and continues to give me.
Kim Perlak ’01 MusM (Executive Officer)
Past Yale volunteer roles: Member, Yale School of Music Alumni Advisory Council; Assembly Delegate, School of Music; BOG, Member; Guest Artist, School of Music
Where I live: Brookline, MA
Favorite Yale memory: I worked in the Fred Plaut Recording Studio as a student and for a brief time on the staff. Often, we'd be in Sprague Hall after a concert or recording session late at night or early in the morning. One time, very late at night, I was alone in the hall and sat on the stage floor. I have a distinct memory of feeling the energy still in the air of the performances from that evening, and the sense of possibility from those to come. This became one of my favorite things to do, to feel the spirit of Yale. This past year, I was fortunate to meet a current student on the stage crew and the current recording engineer, who both welcomed me back home in this way when I'm on campus.
Why serving on the board is important to me: It energizes me, through community and service. It has been a great honor to learn from my fellow Board members, the staff, and leadership at Yale, and to actively work on behalf of fellow alumni. I'm grateful for the friendships I'm making, and for renewing my relationship with the university and my home school of Music.
