Brett Anderson (Palo Alto High School class of 1997) was a member of the BAA Schools Group in 1995 and ’96, participating in many projects including YEA!, where she was one of several high school students teaching 5th graders lessons on topics such as forests and urban agriculture.

She wrote an article about nonviolence for the Schools Group newsletter, Shedding Light, in the Winter 1996-’97 edition. She volunteered for the Feast for the Forest Decadent Dinner in April 1997, and worked in the East Palo Alto Community Garden.

Brett was also lead singer of The Donnas, a rock band that started with her friends when they were teens.

Post BAA

Brett started at University of California, Berkeley in 1997 but left her studies in 1998 as The Donnas had been gaining significant attention. Over the years the band released seven albums and toured the world playing with acts like The Hives, Kisschasy, Pat Benatar, and Blondie, performed at major festivals including Lollapalooza, and appeared on national TV shows such as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Brett continued a career in the entertainment industry for many years before returning to academia.

Brett completed a degree in psychology at Stanford University in 2019, earned a Master’s of social work at UCLA in 2021, and a Master’s degree in gerontology at the University of Southern California in 2022.