Nodelyn Lago Smith

VP-Education

Nodelyn’s engagement with Neighbor’s Abroad began when she participated in a delegation to our Sister City, Palo, in the province Leyte in the Philippines. She was inspired by the decades-long work of Neighbors Abroad and its positive impact on the children and community of Palo, Leyte.  

Nodelyn was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States in 1963. She graduated in 1983 from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Applied Mathematics. Her career spanned 20 years in Silicon Valley. She worked at IBM as a systems programmer on satellite command and control software installations at the former Onizuka Air Force Station, and she worked at Oracle as a technical specialist on Real Application Cluster (RAC) database technology, helping clients with mission-critical applications.

While at UC Berkeley, she was a member of the Filipino-American Alliance, a student-run organization that promotes Philippine culture and diversity throughout the campus. Nodelyn and her husband Doug, also a UC Berkeley alum, have demonstrated their commitment to the value of education by supporting UC Berkeley’s colleges of Engineering and Letters and Science as well as Cal Athletics.

Nodelyn raised three children in Palo Alto schools and is a member of the Woman’s Club of Palo Alto. She also enjoys traveling, hiking, attending Cal football games and writing short stories based on immigrant experiences.

You can contact Nodelyn at [email protected].