2009 Summit Speakers
The Honorable John Chiang
California State Controller
Controller John Chiang was elected in November 2006 to serve as California’s Chief Fiscal Officer.
The Controller is the Chair of the Franchise Tax Board, and serves on seventy-six boards and commissions including CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation’s first and second largest public pension funds, and the State Lands Commission.
Controller Chiang has long championed financial literacy, and he is using his position to empower working families. Through seminars and free tax preparation assistance, Chiang educates low and middle-income Californians about taking advantage of tax credits and refunds they have earned.
As Controller, Chiang has moved swiftly to ensure California is on the road to prosperity while meeting its obligations to workers and retirees. Upon assuming office, Chiang immediately hired an independent actuary to determine – ahead of schedule – the costs of post-employment benefits as the first step in crafting California’s long-term plan to meet the State’s accounting and healthcare commitments.
Controller Chiang also understands the frustrations that local governments and school districts face when complying with mandated programs. As a result, he is creating an unprecedented assistance program to provide local officials with the tools, information and guidance they need to protect their funds while complying with State laws and restrictions.
Chiang is committed to safeguarding California’s vast and precious natural resources. Chiang has joined with institutional investors, managing $4 trillion in assets, to call on federal lawmakers to enact a national standard to address global warming. As a member of the State Lands Commission, he is committed to preserving the State’s 1,200 miles of coastline that stretch from Oregon to Mexico, and ensuring the public has access to safe, pristine parks and recreation areas.
The Controller brings extensive experience and fiscal leadership to the State Controller’s Office. Chiang was first elected to the Board of Equalization in 1998, where he served two terms, including three years as Chair. He began his career as a Tax Law Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service and previously served as an Attorney in the State Controller’s Office.
Chiang is the son of immigrant parents, and graduated with honors from the University of South Florida with a Degree in Finance. He received his Law Degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Chiang and his wife, Terry Chi, live in Torrance, California.
The Honorable David Chiu
President, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Supervisor David Chiu was elected in November 2008 to represent San Francisco’s District 3. District 3 is home to many diverse and vibrant neighborhoods, including North Beach, Chinatown, Telegraph Hill, Russian Hill, Polk Street, Nob Hill, Union Square, Financial District, Barbary Coast and Fisherman’s Wharf. In January 2009, David was elected President of the Board of Supervisors.
Before joining the Board, David was a Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Grassroots Enterprise, an online communications technology company. Prior to Grassroots, he worked as a Criminal Prosecutor at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and as a civil rights attorney at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. In the mid-1990s, David served as Democratic Counsel to the U.S. Senate Constitution Subcommittee and as Senator Paul Simon’s aide to the Senate Budget Committee. The eldest child of immigrant parents, David grew up in Boston and received his Undergraduate Degree, Law Degree, and Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Harvard University.
David has lived in District 3 for over a dozen years, in the Russian Hill and Polk Street neighborhoods. Before taking office, David was a hands-on leader in San Francisco and in District 3, as a Small Business Commissioner, Chair of Lower Polk Neighbors, Board President of the Youth Leadership Institute, Board Chair of the Chinatown Community Development Center, Judge-Arbitrator for the Polk Street Community Court, and President of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. David was previously elected to the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee and chaired California’s 13th Assembly District Democratic Committee.
Scott Anthony
Managing Director, Innosight
Scott is the Managing Director of Innosight Ventures, a venture building and investing company with offices in Singapore, Mumbai, and Baltimore. He previously was the President of Innosight's consulting arm, where he advised companies such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Credit Suisse, Time Warner, Kraft, VF Corp, Cisco Systems, and General Electric on topics of growth and innovation.
Scott is a featured speaker on topics of growth and innovation. He is a judge in the Wall Street Journal's 2009 Innovation Awards. He is a faculty member of the Leadership, Innovation, and Growth Program at GE Crotonville. Scott is also a member of the Board of Directors of Media General.
Scott has written three books on innovation: Seeing What’s Next with Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen (Harvard Business Press, 2004), The Innovator’s Guide to Growth with Mark Johnson, Joe Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman (Harvard Business Press, 2008), and The Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times(Harvard Business Press, June 2009). He has written articles in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Sloan Management Review, Advertising Age, Marketing Management and Chief Executive, is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Online and serves as the editorial director of Strategy & Innovation.
Prior to joining Innosight, Scott was a senior researcher with Clayton Christensen, managing a group that worked to further Christensen’s research on innovation. Previously, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Co., a strategic planner for Aspen Technology ,and a product manager for WorldSpace Corporation. While at McKinsey, he co-authored a publicly released report on the United Kingdom's economic prospects.
Scott received a BA in economics summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and an MBA with high distinction from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Lane Auten
Managing Partner, Impact Capital Partners
Lane Auten is the Managing Partner of Impact Capital Partners, a global impact investing placement agency. ICP is currently assisting placement mandates in Indian affordable housing, impact investing private equity fund-of-funds, and clean technology venture capital. Previous impact sector experience includes working with Unitus Investment Group, the World Bank, and Price Waterhouse International Privatization Group. Previous traditional private equity and investment banking experience includes HRJ Capital, UBS, and Banco Santander. Lane holds a Masters in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Ricardo Bayon
Partner and Co-Founder, EKO Asset Management Partners
Ricardo Bayon is a Partner and Co-Founder of EKO Asset Management Partners. Previously, he helped found and served as the Managing Director of the "Ecosystem Marketplace," a web site and information/analysis service covering these emerging environmental markets. In that capacity he co-authored a number of publications on voluntary carbon markets, including "The State of Voluntary Carbon Markets 2007: Picking up Steam" and "Voluntary Carbon Markets: An International Business Guide to What They Are and How They Work." His most recent publication on markets for biodiversity, entitled "Conservation and Biodiversity Banking: A Guide to Setting Up and Running Biodiversity Credit Trading Systems" has just been published by Earthscan in London. For over a decade he has specialized on issues related to finance, banking, and the environment. He has done consulting work for a number of organizations, including Insight Investments, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank, IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, Domini Social Investments, among others. His articles have appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, and the International Herald Tribune. He has also written numerous publications and chapters on mitigation banking, biodiversity markets, markets for water quality, and other environmental markets. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and is currently based in San Francisco.
Aaron Bernstein
Senior Research Associate, Labor and Worklife Program, Harvard Law School
Aaron Bernstein a Senior Research Fellow at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and the editor of Global Proxy Watch, a corporate governance newsletter for institutional investors. He left BusinessWeek magazine in 2006 after a 23-year career as an editor and senior writer covering workplace and social issues. Before joining BusinessWeek, he worked at Forbes and for United Press in London. He received a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and did graduate work for two years in Political and Legal Theory at Oxford University. He is the author of a book entitled Grounded: Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines, and is the co-author of In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options.
Roger Berry
Partner, C Change Investments
Roger Berry is a Partner with C Change Investments, and is responsible for the development of the company’s investment funds, managing partnerships with investors and sourcing new transaction opportunities.
Roger was formerly the Head of Group Funds and Investor Relations for Climate Change Capital, a fund manager that had over $1.6 billion of assets under management. From 2000 to 2006, Roger was a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Liberty Global Partners, an advisory and placement firm focused exclusively on emerging markets private equity. Liberty Global Partners helped to raise significant commitments from institutional investors and played a lead role in the creation of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. For over eighteen years, Roger has been immersed in the opportunities and challenges of transitional markets. He brings skills in negotiation, facilitation, and marketing, and has advised companies, investors, or governments in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Roger is a graduate of Harvard University (1990).
Amit Bouri
Director of Strategy & Development, Global Impact Investing Network
Amit Bouri is the Director of Strategy & Development for the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). He focuses on strategic planning, program development, and external relations. His work in impact investing began when he was a Strategy Consultant with the Monitor Institute. At Monitor, he was part of the team that produced Investing for Social and Environmental Impact: A Design for Catalyzing an Emerging Industry and supported the business planning for the GIIN and several of its initiatives.
Amit’s other projects at the Monitor Institute included strategic planning and organizational development work for nonprofit organizations and foundations. Amit previously worked in the private sector as a Strategy Consultant with Bain & Company. He left Bain to work in global health at the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. He also worked in the corporate philanthropy units of Gap Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. Amit holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, an MPA Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College.
Cynthia Bryant
Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, State of California
Cynthia Bryant serves as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She was recently named by Governor Schwarzenegger to head the California Recovery Task Force, which is charged with overseeing the estimated $85 billion in federal economic stimulus California expects over the next two years. Cynthia oversees the activities of the Task Force, composed of representatives from each of the nine main program areas, and serves as the liaison to the federal government.
As Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), she oversees the State Clearinghouse, the OPR Legislative and Policy and Research units, the Office of the Small Business Advocate and the Advisor for Military Affairs (AMA). In statute, OPR is the one state agency responsible for developing state land use policies, coordinating planning of all state agencies, and assisting and monitoring local and regional planning. She also advises the Governor on infrastructure, redistricting, political reform and gambling.
Cynthia is a member of the Commission on State Mandates, which determines reimbursements and adjudicates claims regarding state-mandated programs for local entities. She is also a nonvoting member of the Housing Finance Agency Board, which works to create affordable rental housing and assist first-time homebuyers in achieving the dream of homeownership. Cynthia sits on the Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council, the Environmental Justice Inter-Agency Working Group, and is chair of the Strategic Growth Council.
She previously served the Governor as Chief Deputy Legislative Affairs Secretary. In that role, she was responsible for moving the Governor’s legislative agenda, advising the Governor on all pending legislation and working with over 70 agencies and departments on legislative matters. She was one of the lead negotiators for the Governor on his landmark Workers Compensation reform.
Prior to joining the administration, Cynthia was the Policy Director for the Senate Republican Caucus. She managed the Senate Republican Policy staff, advised Republican senators on pending legislation and was Republican consultant for the Senate Elections and Reapportionment Committee. Prior to joining the Senate, Cynthia was legal counsel to the Assembly Republican Caucus, advising staff and Members on a wide-range of issues including employment, use of state resources and particularly the Political Reform Act.
Cynthia was legal counsel to the Assembly Rules Committee when Republicans held the Assembly majority in 1996.
Cynthia received her Juris Doctor from University of California Hastings College of the Law and her BA from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
Antony Bugg-Levine
Managing Director, Rockefeller Foundation
Antony Bugg-Levine joined the Rockefeller Foundation in New York in January 2007.
Among other responsibilities, he leads the Foundation’s Initiative on Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing that seeks to help catalyze an efficient industry that can deploy investment capital to complement philanthropy in solving social challenges at scale.
Prior to joining Rockefeller, he served as the Country Director of the international NGO TechnoServe in Nairobi, Kenya where he helped to design and implement business solutions to rural poverty focused on smallholder farmer economic integration and consulting to medium-scale enterprises.
In Kenya he also worked with various capital providers –including micro-finance institutions, commercial banks and private equity managers — to develop profitable mechanisms to extend lending to rural businesses and smallholder farmers.
Earlier in his career, as a consultant with McKinsey, he focused in financial services and healthcare, managed the team that undertook a strategic review for the United Nations' Global Compact and helped to develop new frameworks to incorporate social dynamics into corporate strategy.
A native of South Africa, he served in the late 1990s as the Communications Director at the South African Human Rights Commission and as a speechwriter and media strategist for the African National Congress's 1999 election campaign.
He is an associate adjunct professor at the Columbia Business School where he teaches ‘Business Innovations in International Development.’
Antony is a graduate of Yale College and earned an MPA focused on Economic Development from Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School.
Derek Casteel
Senior Vice President, Community Capital Management
Derek Casteel serves as Senior Vice President for Community Capital Management, Inc ("CCM"), a privately-held investment adviser specializing in the management of government-related bond portfolios emphasizing "non-index" securities (i.e., those representing subsectors typically excluded from widely used benchmark indices of U.S. bonds).
Derek is primarily involved in marketing this "non-traditional" approach to core fixed income management to tax-exempt institutions, with a specific emphasis on foundations and their consultants. Most recently, his efforts have focused on the evolving demand for Mission Related Investment strategies within the U.S. foundation community. Derek frequently serves as a panelist at industry conferences on the topic of market-rate community development bonds supportive of green building design features and environmentally sustainable activities.
Derek was most recently the Director of Marketing for Shay Asset Management. Prior to that, he was employed as an analyst dedicated to fixed income manager research for Chicago-based investment consulting firm Stratford Advisory Group. Derek is a graduate of Florida State University and holds the CFA designation. He is an active member of the CFA Society of Chicago.
Michael J. Christ
CIO, Asset Consulting Group
Michael has over 15 years of consulting experience with Asset Consulting Group. As Chief Investment Officer, Michael oversees ACG's research efforts and coordinates all research related activities. His responsibilities focus on both the quantitative and qualitative sides of research such as asset allocation optimization, insurance modeling, tax optimization and risk analysis. Mike has performed extensive research in alternative investments and has broad experience in modeling, designing and implementing traditional and non-traditional portfolios. As a Managing Director, he is one of the three members of ACG's Executive Committee, which sets the course and direction of the firm. Mike is a member of Asset Consulting Group's Investment Committee, which establishes the framework for the firm's investment philosophy and oversees the internal processes used to ultimately make investment recommendations to clients. He received degrees in Engineering Management and Applied Mathematics from Southern Methodist University, is a member of the St. Louis Society of Financial Analysts and a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Katherine Collins
Founder and CEO, Honeybee Capital
Katherine Collins is Founder and CEO of Honeybee Capital, an investment research and management firm focused on sustainable investment issues. Previously, she had a long career at Fidelity Management and Research Company, where she served in numerous capacities: as Head of US Equity Research, she led one of the largest buy-side research operations in the world. As Portfolio Manager, she was solely responsible for investment decisions for the multi-billion dollar Fidelity America funds while based in London, and for the entire range of Fidelity Mid-Cap Funds while based in Boston. Every fund that Katherine managed at Fidelity outperformed its relevant benchmark index during her tenure. As Analyst, she managed several different industry-specific funds and researched over a dozen different industries. Katherine also spent two years at the Fidelity Foundations, acting as Program Officer for these large philanthropic organizations.
She has traveled the world as an active volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, and has held numerous volunteer positions with Wellesley College and its Business Leadership Council. Katherine serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Common Impact, a nonprofit that facilitates collaborations between global companies and local nonprofits, and as a member of the Board of Overseers of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is an alumna of Wellesley College, holds a CFA designation, and is currently pursuing graduate studies at the Harvard Divinity School.
Dan Crisafulli
Director, Ecosystem Investments and Partnerships, The Skoll Foundation
Daniel Crisafulli is the Director of Ecosystem Investments and Partnerships at the Skoll Foundation, which advances systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.
Prior to joining the Skoll Foundation, Dan co-managed the Development Marketplace (DM), the World Bank’s Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, beginning in 2004. The DM’s model of support for small-scale solutions to social and economic challenges was designated a “best practice” in corporate innovation by the Harvard Business Review.
He previously served as an Investment Officer and Co-Founder of the Technology Venture Capital Group at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), investing in technology companies with social impact where he led the South Asia practice.
Dan’s earlier work at the World Bank focused on technology, finance and small business development. He began his career with the London-based consultancy L|E|K Partnership, an advisory firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions.
Dan earned a Bachelor’s Degree summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a Kennedy Scholar.
Stephen DeBerry
Chief Investment Officer, Kapor Enterprises, Inc.
Stephen DeBerry makes angel and venture capital investments in companies that align strong financial returns with positive social impact. He is the Chief Investment Officer at Kapor Enterprises and the Founder of Bronze Investments. His fiduciary responsibilities exceed $4 billion.
Previously, Stephen was Investment Director at Omidyar Network, the mission-based investment firm started by eBay Founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam. Before that Stephen was a Senior Manager of Business Development at Interval Research, the research lab established by Microsoft Co-Founder, Paul Allen.
Stephen is a Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee at The California Endowment. He is the Chairman of Friends of New Orleans and also serves on the boards of The Association of Marshall Scholars and The Dalai Lama Foundation. Stephen earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology with highest honors from UCLA as well as a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Oxford University. He is a Marshall Scholar and a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He lives in East Palo Alto, California with his wife and daughter.
Allison Duncan
Founder and Principal, Amplifier Strategies
Allison Duncan is the Founder and CEO of Amplifier Strategies, a management consulting and technology firm. She has supported a wide range of grantmakers and nonprofits in developing the internal capacity and external partnerships to successfully carry out their strategic purpose. From California Ocean Science Trust to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Allison has helped both small and large organizations with her unique expertise in program and portfolio management, financial and operational risk management, and has defined creative strategies for increasing program success. Recently, Amplifier Strategies was selected to partner with Stanford University to launch a professional education program for social and environmental program managers. The company is creating a beta launch of its multi-bottom line portfolio management and transaction due diligence online solution, and is developing a new PRI fund focused on the conservation economy with a client partner.
Before launching Amplifier Strategies, Allison held various executive positions at the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. As the foundation’s first Director of Program Finance, she designed and implemented the foundation’s due diligence practices. Allison has extensive experience managing large-scale global environmental initiatives: as program director for the Moore Foundation’s Conservation International & Global Conservation Fund (a $300 million program), she worked with colleagues in Brazil, Guiana, Madagascar, Andean countries and countries of Melanesia to fund environmental outcomes and broker multi-lateral partnerships with key stakeholders including international economical development banks, NGOs and state agencies.
Prior to joining the Moore Foundation, Allison was a client service manager and CPA at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, in the Carolinas, Russia, New York and Silicon Valley. Her positions ranged from managing complex business transactions to researching emerging issues for mergers and acquisitions, stock compensation, derivatives and hedging activities, and internal controls.
Jed Emerson
Managing Director for Integrated Performance, Uhuru Capital
Jed Emerson is a recognized international leader in the field of strategic philanthropy and impact investing. His work in performance measurement, nonprofit capital markets, foundation strategy, Social Return on Investment frameworks, sustainable business development and other areas of practice has been viewed as significant in its broad contribution to the field and efforts to support others engaged in the community and social application of business skills and practice. He has presented at numerous conferences and events both nationally and internationally—including the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; the Caisse de Depots in Paris, France; the London Business School and Oxford University, UK. Among U.S.-based academic institutions, he has presented his work at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UNC, Northwestern, UCLA and numerous other academic institutions.
Jed is presently a Partner with Uhuru Capital Management, an investment firm pursuing full financial returns for investors together with global social/economic development impacts. Uhuru is an integrated firm which contributes one quarter of its firm profits to support the expansion of social entrepreneurship in emerging markets, domestic U.S. and around the world.
David Erickson
Manager, Center for Community Development Investments, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
David manages the Center for Community Development Investments at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and is the editor of the journal Community Development Investment Review. David holds a PhD in U.S. History from UC Berkeley with a focus on economic history and public policy. He has more than five years of experience working in the affordable housing finance field for nonprofit, government, and private-sector employers. He previously received a masters in public policy from UC Berkeley and has a bachelor's degree in history from Dartmouth College. His book on the history of community development, The Housing Policy Revolution: Networks and Neighborhoods, is now available from the Urban Institute Press.
John Febert, CPA
Owner and President, Febert and Associates
John started his own multi-family office practice in 2008 and officially organized Febert & Associates, LLC in January, 2009. John has over 20 years’ experience working with family offices. He began his career in 1986 with Price Waterhouse in Morristown, NJ. He left Price Waterhouse in 1989 to work for one of his primary clients who was forming a dedicated single family office. He served as a Vice-President at the Morristown-based dedicated single family office for the next eight years. Most of his time was spent dealing with income tax compliance and planning, estate planning, bill paying, accounting, philanthropy, real estate and private aviation.
In 1997, John moved to Pittsburgh, PA to establish and lead a dedicated single family office for a Pittsburgh based family with an operating real estate business, serving as President for the next eight years. In 2005, he joined a multi-family office based in King of Prussia, PA and was instrumental in the opening of a Pittsburgh office. John served as a relationship manager for multiple family engagements and also served the dual role of tax manager for two years. During this time, he was involved with not only the technical aspects of income tax and estate tax planning, accounting, bill paying and outsourced CFO services, but also guided many clients through issues dealing with family dynamics such as family governance, family meetings, educating the members of the second and third generations and the many issues involving philanthropic consulting.
John received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University and his Master’s in Taxation from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has served on the steering committee of the University of Pittsburgh’s Family Office Forum, and he served as chairman of the Family Business Roundtable, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of family businesses and the education of the family members and their business advisors. He is a regular presenter at the Family Business Roundtable’s annual tax symposium.
He lives in the north suburbs of Pittsburgh with his wife and two children.
Brad Fisher
CEO, Springcreek Advisors, LLC
Brad Fisher is the CEO of Springcreek Advisors, LLC, a family office investment advisory firm based in Marin County, California. Prior to joining Springcreek, Brad Fisher was a Vice President of Bernstein Global Wealth Management in New York, and he served as a General Partner and the Chief Operating Officer for Pemigewasset Capital, LLC, a Connecticut-based family office and hedge fund. During his early career, he was an entrepreneur, founding multiple ventures, including Aim 21, Inc., a software company that built enterprise multimedia database systems for advertising agencies and their clients. After selling Aim21 to Reuters in 1996, he founded Tailwind, Inc., an online resource center for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The American Towns Network acquired Tailwind in 2001. Brad received an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Kent Gilges
Managing Director, Conservation Forestry
Kent Gilges is a Managing Director at Conservation Forestry, LLC, which is a private equity firm that invests in timberland globally.
Before joining Conservation Forestry, Kent was the Managing Director of Finance and Acquisitions at The Nature Conservancy. In that role, he was primarily responsible for identifying, structuring and financing transactions on behalf of the largest conservation organization in the world. Kent managed the acquisition of over 800,000 acres of land since 1999. He was also the lead for The Nature Conservancy in the establishment of an integrated protection plan for the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, in which he had overall responsibility for a project which created five million acres of new parks and secured the conservation of over 20 million acres in a mosaic of protected areas and sustainably managed forests.
Kent was on the board of the Forest Stewardship Council from 2003 to 2007. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Kent managed the European bureau for McGraw-Hill’s trade magazine, Chemical Engineering, and wrote for a number of magazines and newspapers.
Kent has degrees from Cornell and Oxford Universities.
Steve Godeke
Godeke Consulting & Co-Author, Philanthropy’s New Passing Gear: Mission Related Investing by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Steven Godeke is an independent Financial Advisor who works with foundations, corporations, and non-profit organizations to integrate their investment and philanthropic goals. He advises organizations and individuals on the creation and execution of mission-related investment strategies across asset classes and program areas.
His clients include The Rockefeller Foundation, The Robin Hood Foundation, The Conference Board, The F.B. Heron Foundation, The World Economic Forum and corporate clients in the financial services and pharmaceutical industries. Steven is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University where he currently teaches a course in Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship.
Prior to establishing his own firm, Steven worked for twelve years in corporate and project finance with Deutsche Bank. He attended Purdue University where he received a BS in Management and a BA in German. He studied as a Fulbright Scholar in Cologne and has an MPA from Harvard University.
John Goldstein
Managing Director, Imprint Capital
John Goldstein is Co-Founder of Imprint Capital Advisors, LLC, which catalyzes capital for social impact by supporting foundations, individuals, and family offices and their trusted advisors. John is also a co-founder of and senior advisor to Medley Capital Management (MCM), a private investment firm that seeks corporate and asset-based financing opportunities globally and actively serves the development finance and social enterprise markets. Prior to forming MCM, John served as Senior Managing Director of Medley Global Advisors and was also co-founder and Executive Director of the Medley Institute, where he worked (and in many cases continues to work) as a board member, senior advisor or team member, including Global Giving, Distributed Capital, the International Interfaith Investment Group (3iG), Keystone/Access, the Sustainable Food Lab, Aquaya, TBLI (Triple Bottom Line Institute), the Global Exchange for Social Investment (GEXSI) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund. John also worked as a management consultant in the Strategy practice of Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). John was an honors graduate of Yale University where he was awarded the Richter Fellowship and the Townsend Prize.
Kevin Granger
Portfolio Manager, Phocas Financial Corporation
Kevin is a Portfolio Manager at Phocas Financial Corporation. He has over twenty years of experience in the financial services industry, the bulk of which was in the institutional asset management arena.
Prior to joining Phocas Financial Corporation, Kevin was the Director of Research at Leading Edge Investment Advisors, a “manager of managers” for institutional investors, and was responsible for developing both traditional relative return as well as absolute return products for institutional investors. During that time, he also collaborated intensely with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), as well as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), an undertaking that led to a series of surveys and conferences. That project examined attitudes to diversity in the investment management industry, and worked to quantify potential benefits, or costs, to pension plan members of diversity among investment managers.
Kevin was also a Generalist Investment Analyst at General Motors Asset Management, working as the sole investment analyst covering small cap growth stocks. While previously employed as a Multi-sector Investment Analyst at the then Dresdner Bank, and at Value Line Publishing, he analyzed, and authored research reports on, companies in such diverse industries as aerospace, capital equipment, commercial banking, computer services, cement and construction aggregates, defense, food, insurance, integrated oil, media, specialty chemicals, and tire and rubber. Kevin began his financial services career as a Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst at Lehman Brothers, and earned his BA in Economics from Yale University.
Tessie Guillermo
President and CEO, ZeroDivide
Tessie Guillermo is President and CEO of ZeroDivide. Prior to ZeroDivide, Tessie served for 15 years as CEO of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, a leading national health policy/advocacy organization with offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In 2000, Tessie was appointed by former President Bill Clinton to serve as an inaugural member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Board for The California Endowment, and for Catholic Healthcare West. Tessie is also a member of the Board of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, the Nonprofit Finance Fund in New York and Northern California Grantmakers (NCG). Tessie is an alumna of the University of California, Berkeley and California State University, East Bay, with a BA in Economics. She is a graduate of the Gallup Leadership Institute and was a 1997 Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute.
Lisa Hagerman
Director, Boston College More for Mission Campaign Resource Center
Lisa A. Hagerman, Ph.D., is the Director of the More for Mission Campaign Resource Center at the Boston College Institute for Responsible Investment. She is also affiliated as a Research Fellow with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Center for Community Capital and the Oxford University Centre for the Environment. In July 2008 she completed her appointment as a Research Fellow at the Labor & Worklife Program, Harvard Law School, working on the Pension Funds & Urban Revitalization Initiative funded by the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations. Lisa was previously Vice President of Economic Innovation International, a Boston consulting firm that builds privately capitalized community equity funds. Prior to her consulting work, Lisa was with Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, as Assistant Vice President in the Government Relations group and also worked for Citibank, New York, for seven years in the Latin American Marketing Division. Lisa completed her Doctorate in Economic Geography at the University of Oxford. She received her BA from Bucknell University and her MA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Al Hammond
Senior Entrepreneur, Ashoka
Al Hammond is Senior Entrepreneur with Ashoka’s Full Economic Citizenship program, where he is leading an effort to transform rural healthcare. He is also: a serial social entrepreneur, with five prior start-ups to his credit, now working on a health care enterprise that will pilot in rural India; an author who has published extensively in the scientific, policy research, and business literature and written or edited more than 12 books or book-length reports, including, most recently, principal author of The Next 4 Billion: Market Size and Business Strategy for the Base of the Pyramid; a consultant who has worked with numerous corporations, foundations, government agencies (including the White House science office), and international organizations; a former journalist who went on to found and edit several national publications, win several national magazine awards, broadcast a nationally-syndicated daily radio program for 5 years, and oversee the launch of a prominent blog, http://www.nextbillion.net.
Al holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard University in Engineering and Applied Mathematics.
Janice Hester Amey
Portfolio Manager, Corporate Governance, California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Janice Hester Amey is a Portfolio Manager in the Corporate Governance Group at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). CalSTRS is a public pension fund established for the benefit of the California public school teachers over ninety years ago, in 1913. CalSTRS serves over 800,000 members, retirees and beneficiaries. CalSTRS is a Defined Benefit Plan.
As of May 31, 2009, the fund had approximately $120 billion in assets; Canadian, domestic and international equities represent about $103 billion of these assets. The remainder is allocated to fixed income, real estate, and alternative investments. Janice is responsible for the day-to-day management and the development of policies and guidelines relative to the relational investment managers and corporate governance.
There are six full time professionals and one administrative position assigned to the Corporate Governance Asset Group at CalSTRS. The group is responsible for the execution of proxy votes and other corporate actions on the entire US portfolio and the UK, Australian, and Canadian equities in the CalSTRS portfolio. The remaining markets are outsourced to the external investment managers responsible for the securities. The asset class is responsible for the management of $3.4 billion (US) in the relational investment style including internally managed co-investment portfolios. The fund recently completed a search for additional relational investment managers in both US and non-US markets.
Janice is a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, attended Albany Law School and has done extensive coursework in the Masters in Economics Program at Trinity. Janice has over twenty years experience in the investment area, almost equally split between the public and private sectors. CalSTRS’ Corporate Governance guidelines, and most recent fiscal year domestic proxy votes, can be found on the fund’s website at http://www.calstrs.com. Janice was previously a Personal Trust Portfolio Manager at the Hartford National Bank from 1977 to 1985.
Jeffrey Holloman
Energy Industry Advisory Executive
Jeffrey is an energy industry veteran with over 27 years of experience. He has wide-ranging domestic and international experience developing, implementing and leading successful corporate Merger & Acquisition strategies, asset management, operating plans and energy commodity trading platforms.
Jeffrey has worked with regulatory bodies and agencies in the US, UK and Australia to provide advice and guidance for re-regulating the gas and electric industries on local, state and national levels. He is a trusted advisor for developing renewable energy portfolio strategy, alternative generation options and assessments of cleantech and other advanced system applications.
Kristin Hull
Trustee, Hull Family Foundation
Kristin Hull is an educator, activist, and progressive philanthropist whose central passion is equity in education. Having received her BA in Latin American Studies and Child Development in addition to her teaching credential from Tufts University, she began her career as an elementary school teacher in urban settings. After several years grappling with the many issues confronting her students and their families, Kristin returned to school earning an MA in Research in Bilingual Education from Stanford University and a PhD in Urban Education from UC Berkeley. Kristin founded the North Oakland Community Charter School (http://www.noccs.org) and the George Mark Children’s House (http://www.gmch.org), the first free-standing children’s hospice in the United States. She serves on the board of the Mosaic Project (http://www.mosaicproject.org), the Nicholson Foundation and her family foundation (http://www.hullfamilyfoundation.org). This year, she is developing a project with the Bay Area Center for Non Violent Communication (http://www.baynvc.org) serving teachers and children in the Richmond public schools.
Interested in innovative solutions to leverage resources for social change, Kristin became interested in impact investing while serving as a board member for various not-for-profit organizations and foundations. She acts as an informal peer coach urging friends and colleagues to investigate their holdings to ensure their investments are aligned with their personal and organizational missions and goals.
Pradeep Jethi
Co-Founder and CEO, Social Stock Exchange Ltd
Pradeep has direct experience of setting up new exchange ventures, and an understanding of their technical and regulatory requirements. He worked for three years as New Product Development Manager for the London Stock Exchange and, among other product and service offerings he built there, developed and launched the Corporate Responsibility Exchange: a disclosure platform for extra-financial indicators (ESG measures). Pradeep has experience of gaining regulatory approval from the FSA for new products and has worked with both the issuer community and institutional investors.
Prior to his work at the LSE, Pradeep was Founder and CEO of FTdynamo, a Financial Times online business and management information portal. Before this, Pradeep spent 10 years in media as Publisher at Pearson/FT where he published books in business, management and finance topics (including some of the UK’s earliest books in CSR and stakeholder value).
Pradeep holds a BA (Hons) from the University of British Columbia and an MA from the University of Sussex.
Kyle Johnson
Senior Investment Consultant, Cambridge Associates, LLC
Kyle is a Senior Investment Consultant in the Boston office. He works with a broad range of clients on general investment issues such as asset allocation strategy, manager selection, and investment program evaluation. In addition, Kyle also serves on the firm’s Mission-Related Investing Team, which helps clients make informed decisions about mission-related and other forms of social investing. Kyle has authored two research papers at the firm, including "Update on Auditing Issues Related to the Valuation of Private Partnerships" in 2006, and "Social Investing" in 2007.
Before Kyle joined Cambridge Associates in 2005, he was the Director of Institutional Client Relationships for Domini Social Investments LLC, a firm specializing in socially conscious investing. At Domini, he was responsible for serving institutional clients and their consultants, developing and implementing institutional sales strategies, and forming strategic partnerships with fund distribution intermediaries. Previously, Kyle worked at KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., where he began his career as a research analyst and later served as committee chair for KLD’s suite of socially and environmentally screened indexes.
Kyle graduated from Harvard College and received a Master’s of Theological Studies from the Harvard Divinity School. He has completed Level I of the CFA Program.
Marc Johnson
Program Officer, Education, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Marc Johnson currently serves as Program Officer in Education with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He manages the financial sustainability strategy and program-related investments portfolio in Education.
Prior to joining the Gates Foundation, Marc served as Vice President of the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative Mentoring Initiative in Ohio. Previously, Marc worked as an Investment Manager at E*TRADE Financial, helping clients develop long-term investment plans.
Marc's experience also includes working in the corporate finance division at Bank of America and the investment banking group at Merrill Lynch. In 1995, Marc was one of eighteen Americans selected a Henry Luce Scholar. As a Luce Scholar, Marc worked at the Jakarta Stock Exchange in Indonesia and traveled throughout Southeast Asia as part of a one-year fellowship program.
Marc holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Morehouse College and a Master’s Degree in Education Finance from Harvard University.
Peter H. Johnson
Partner, Developing World Markets
Since 2003, Peter and his DWM colleagues have raised some $500 million of debt and equity capital for microfinance institutions in developing countries and now manage over $300 million in debt and equity investments in microfinance institutions. From 1994 through 2004 Peter co-managed with Judy Kirst-Kolkman, DWM I Fund, L.P., which has participated in over 350 IPOs and Secondary Offerings on local emerging markets stock exchanges.
Prior to DWM, Peter spent 14 years with Bankers Trust, focused exclusively on emerging markets. As an investment banker in London with Middle Eastern institutional clients, he helped restructure their direct investments in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. In New York, Peter conceived and executed multiple bond issues to restructure $14 billion of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) debts to the U.S. government by emerging markets governments. In Cairo, Peter opened and managed Bankers Trust's Egypt office and negotiated Bankers Trust's first debt for equity swap and first asset backed financing backed by workers remittances.
Since 1996 Peter has been on the board of Pro Mujer International and served from 2003-2006 as Chairman of the Board. Until 2007, he was also on the board of Pro Mujer Mexico.
He has an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is competent in French and attempts conversational Spanish but his efforts to learn Arabic at four top institutions have all been futile.
Deepak Kamra
General Partner, Canaan Partners
Deepak Kamra has a knack for identifying innovative companies that disrupt the status quo to become leaders in their fields. After an 11-year career growing technology startups into successful global leaders, Deepak joined Canaan in 1991 and is focused on investments in digital media and software. Deepak led Canaan’s early investment in DoubleClick, the Internet’s first and leading online advertising solution; Match.com, the most popular dating site worldwide; and BharatMatrimony, the world’s number-one online matrimony site.
He also invested in voice-over-IP infrastructure company Acme Packet, which became one of the top-ten performing IPOs of 2006, and his recent IPO, SuccessFactors, is the leading company in human performance and talent management. He currently sits on the boards of technology-driven global companies such as e4e, providing next generation business process services; ON24, the leader in webcasting; Zmanda, a leader in open source backup software; and Zoosk, the largest social dating network in the world. He also directed Canaan’s investments in AllBusiness.com, Concord Communications, Impulse! Buy Network, iPrint.com, Latitude Communications, PriorityCall Management, Recourse Technologies and SalesLogix. Recognizing early the global nature of venture capital, Deepak initiated Canaan’s investments in the India market starting in 2001.
Before joining Canaan, Deepak gained 11 years of executive operating experience at growth companies in the telecommunications, computer and software industries. He was a key member of the startup team at Aspect Communications, helping lead the pioneer in call center technologies to a successful IPO in 1990, and has also held leadership roles at telecommunications companies like ROLM Corp. and TRW Datacomm International.
Deepak received a BA from Carleton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In his spare time, he is involved in several microfinance initiatives to spur economic growth in developing nations and currently serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee at Deutsche Bank’s Global Microfinance Consortium. He was recently included on the Forbes Midas List, a prominent list ranking the best dealmakers in technology and is also on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association.
Charly Kleissner
Founder, KL Felicitas Foundation
Dr. Charly Kleissner is a philanthropic entrepreneur utilizing his high technology background in his venture philanthropy. Together with his wife, Lisa, he co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation (http://www.klfelicitasfoundation.org) which focuses on enabling social entrepreneurs, empowering rural communities, and advocating sustainability, mission, and social investment strategy. Charly is also Co-Founder of the Social-Impact Initiative (http://www.social-impact.org), helping social entrepreneurs worldwide to accelerate and increase their social impact. Charly serves on the Advisory Board of multiple not-for-profit companies such as Acumen Fund, Global Social Benefit Incubator at Santa Clara University, and Global Philanthropy Forum.
Charly is supporting multiple social venture and micro financing funds committed to double and triple bottom line returns. He is on the Advisory Council of MicroVest and Acumen Capital Market I.
Charly has over twenty years of experience as a senior technology executive in Silicon Valley. He held executive and senior engineering management positions at Ariba Inc., NeXT Software Inc., Digital Equipment Corp., and Hewlett-Packard Company.
Charly earned his MS and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Technology, Vienna. He authored two software patents and published numerous articles. Charly received the ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ award from the University of Technology, Vienna.
Mariia Kousnetsova
Portfolio Manager & Senior Client Advisor, Springcreek Advisors, LLC
Mariia Kouznetsova, CFA, CPA, CFP is a Portfolio Manager at Springcreek Advisors LLC, responsible for client and firm-wide asset allocation and portfolio management, investment due diligence, and managing investment framework. Prior to joining Springcreek, Mariia was a Senior Auditor in Global Asset Management Group at Ernst & Young LLP, and led teams in performing hedge funds and private equity audits, independent valuation of investment portfolios and derivatives modeling and valuation.
Mariia was awarded the CFA designation and serves on the Board of Directors of CFA Society of San Francisco. She is an Adjunct Faculty at University of San Francisco, teaching derivatives in Master of Science in Financial Analysis Program, and also teaches derivatives and alternative investments in the CFA Review Program. She is a CPA and CFP and a member of AICPA, CFA Institute, California Society of CPAs, and Financial Planning Association. Mariia graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth as a valedictorian summa cum laude with three Bachelors degrees: Bachelor of Accounting; Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance with a minor in Marketing; and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with a minor in French.
Lloyd Kurtz
Senior Portfolio Manager, Nelson Capital
Lloyd manages portfolios for institutional and high net worth clients at Nelson Capital, a Palo Alto money management firm affiliated with Wells Fargo. Prior to joining Nelson, Lloyd spent nine years as a Research Analyst and Director of Quantitative Research at Harris Bretall Sullivan & Smith, a San Francisco-based money management firm; and before that was Senior Research Analyst at KLD Research & Analytics in Boston.
During his tenure at KLD, Lloyd did much of the initial quantitative work on the development of the Domini Social Index, the first broad-based social investment benchmark, and co-authored two chapters of the book "The Social Investment Almanac." His quantitative analysis of Domini Social Index performance, co-authored with Dan DiBartolomeo, was later published in The Journal of Investing. He also authored the chapter on social investment in the 2008 Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Lloyd maintains an online annotated bibliography of studies of socially responsible investing at http://www.sristudies.org. In 1997 and 2005, he published reviews of this literature in The Journal of Investing. Lloyd is the Program Administrator for the Moskowitz Prize. He holds an MBA from Babson College and a BA from Vassar College. In 1999 he received the SRI Service Award for his contributions to social investing.
Dana Lanza
Executive Director, Confluence Philanthropy
Dana Lanza is the Co-Founder and Director of Confluence Philanthropy, a new project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Confluence helps foundations and charitable organizations to align their mission and values with their assets. The organizational mission is to build a community of practice, instill capacity, and provide technical assistance to foundations and non profits pursuing mission related investing strategies.
From 2005-2009, Dana served as the Executive Director of the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA). Her purpose there was to provide networking guidance to over 250 environmental grantmaking organizations from across North America and Europe in 15 strategic funding areas. While acting as Director, Dana led the incorporation of EGA into an independent 501c3 organization after 20 years under the Rockefeller Family Fund.
Beyond this, Dana has a long-standing and remarkable history in championing ecological and environmental justice. At the age of 28, Dana founded Literacy for Environmental Justice (LEJ), which brought free urban environmental education projects to more than 10,000 public school students, while employing hundreds of at risk youth as community advocates. During her tenure at LEJ, she acted as a lead organizer in the closure of San Francisco’s infamous Hunters Point Power Plant; later raising funds to supplant it with the region’s first off-the-grid Eco Center. She has taught in the Master’s in Teaching Program in Critical Global Literacy at New College of California, and has been a fellow at the Donnella Meadows Leaders Fellowship Program in Systems Theory and the California Women’s Foundation Policy Institute. Dana currently serves on the Board of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples.
A recipient of several environmental awards, she has presented at Bioneers, the American Public Health Association, and the European Foundation Center, among others. In 2005, she contributed to the anthology titled Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World. Prior to these achievements, Dana lived and worked among the Samburu people in northern Kenya for many years, as well as the Lakota in South Dakota. She currently lives on a 250-acre farm in Pound Ridge, NY.
Tom Lockard
Managing Director, Stone and Youngberg
Tom Lockard joined Stone & Youngberg as an investment banker in 1984 and is a member of the firm's Executive Committee. During his tenure with Stone & Youngberg, Tom has successfully structured more than 400 separate new issue municipal bond transactions representing over $4.5 billion of municipal debt.
Tom earned a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University. Following Stanford, he completed a Coro Foundation fellowship and spent two years working on immigrant and refugee assistance with the Foundation Task Force on Refugee Affairs in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. In 1984, Tom earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
Tom has served as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and as a board member of Coro Northern California. He remains actively involved with local and international philanthropic organizations. Currently he is the board treasurer for the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as a board member of the Salesian Boys' and Girls' Club in San Francisco and the Stanford University Buck/Cardinal Club.
Elise Lufkin
Senior Program Officer, Calvert Foundation
Elise Lufkin is Senior Program Consultant at the Calvert Giving Fund (CGF). She helped create and launch Global Impact Ventures (GIV), an investment platform that offers holders of donor advised funds a broad range of mission-aligned investment opportunities. Through her work with GIV, the investment platform has been expanded to encompass both debt and equity funds.
Prior to her work with CGF, Elise operated an independent consulting company assisting foundations transitioning from conventional to mission-aligned investing. She began her business career raising angora goats and rabbits to create custom home furnishings from their wool and has started and run two businesses. She worked in the nonprofit field as both executive staff and board member. Elise holds a Master’s in the Science of Management from Antioch University and a BA from Yale University.
The Calvert Giving Fund is a project of Calvert Foundation, a nonprofit created in 1995 to fight poverty through investment. Calvert Foundation allows everyday people, not just institutions, to participate in financial instruments that directly serve communities both in the US and around the world by providing affordable housing, microfinance, small business funding and essential community facilities.
Mamundi (MG) Subhas
Associate Portfolio Manager, Guardian/SRI Portfolio Management Team, Neuberger Berman
Mamundi Subhas, CFA, Senior Vice President, joined the Firm in 2001. Subhas is an Associate Portfolio Manager on the Socially Responsive Equity and Guardian team. Prior to joining the Firm, he was a Managing Director at Moody’s Investor Service and a Vice President at WEFA Group and Prudential Securities. Subhas also held positions at Monchik Weber, STSC, Inc. and Interactive Data Corp., where he spent seven years. He began his career in 1974 as an economist at Louis Berger International. He received a BS and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. Subhas has been awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Priya Mathur
Board Member of California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), Chair of the Health Benefits Committee and Vice Chair of the Investment and Performance and Compensation Committee
Priya Sara Mathur is serving her second term on the Board of Administration representing public agency members of CalPERS. She is Chair of the Health Benefits Committee and Vice Chair of the Investment and Performance and Compensation Committee. She also serves on the Benefits and Program Administration, Ad Hoc Board Governance and Ad Hoc Risk Management Committees.
Ms. Mathur is a principal financial analyst for Bay Area Rapid Transit District. In that capacity, she finances multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects, including BART's $1.5 billion earthquake retrofit program.
Before joining BART in 1998, she was a consultant with Public Financial Management Inc., a leading advisor to local governments, bringing to market approximately $2.5 billion in municipal bonds.
Ms. Mathur has a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor's degree in economics and literature from Connecticut College.
She resides in San Francisco, which she has called home since 1995. She was raised in Lexington, Mass., where her family settled following her father's emigration from Allahabad, India.
B. Kathlyn Mead
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, The California Endowment
B. Kathlyn Mead, a veteran health care industry administrator, was named Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for The California Endowment in May 2007, to oversee the day-to-day operations and management of the private, statewide health foundation. Prior to joining The Endowment, Kathlyn was the CEO of the Council of Community Clinics in San Diego.
An established leader within the health care industry, Kathlyn has also served as Vice President of the CalPERS sector for Blue Shield of California and as CEO for Sharp Health Plan from 1996 to 2005. While at Sharp Health Plan, Kathlyn developed and implemented the highly successful FOCUS program, a subsidized premium insurance product designed to expand access to affordable, quality health coverage for employees of small businesses. Kathlyn was also Vice President of Managed Care at Children’s Hospital San Diego, where she was responsible for the day-to-day management of contracting, marketing and physician relations. In addition, she has served as the Director of Operations for MetLife Healthcare Network and manager of Provider Networks for Blue Cross of California.
Her outstanding commitment to community service has been recognized by San Diego’s KGTV-10 News which awarded her the Organizational Leadership Award. Kathlyn is also the recipient of the Twin Award from the YWCA of San Diego. She currently serves as a board member of the Insure the Uninsured Project (ITUP) and on the Board of Trustees for the Alliance Healthcare Foundation in San Diego.
Gregory Miller
Launch team, Google.org
Gregory Miller is an advisor to Google.org. Greg joined Google.org in June 2006, shortly after Dr. Larry Brilliant joined as Executive Director. From 2006 until 2009, as Google.org's Managing Director, Investments and Legal, Greg's responsibilities encompassed all funding efforts across all program initiatives – both philanthropic investments and grants – to for-profit & non-profit entrepreneurs and organizations. As a member of the senior leadership team, he helped to develop the program initiatives and the advocacy plans, scope the program positions and hire the team. In the three years from 2006 until Dr. Brilliant's departure in March 2009, DotOrg grew to 42 persons, awarded approximately $100 million with 120 grants, led eight philanthropic investments, and was recognized in countless news articles, blogs and philanthropic conferences recognizing its data-driven, outcome-based innovative philanthropic programs.
Greg began with a corporate finance career as an Associate at Brown & Wood law firm in New York City, later joining Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, where he led the San Francisco office's Technology Capital Markets Group, working with companies and leading investment banks structuring complex private equity and public markets financing transactions. In 2001, Greg joined Gunderson Dettmer, LLP, in Menlo Park, CA, as a General Partner advising entrepreneurs with emerging growth and technology companies, and leading venture capital firms. Later he helped found and launch Cometa Networks, an early wi-fi company that secured several rounds of top-tier venture and strategic funding, before ultimately winding down operations. He has led over 100 significant corporate transactions, including more than 25 IPOs and public offerings exceeding $3.8 billion, over 30 debt financing transactions exceeding $13.5 billion, and acquisitions and reorganizations in over a dozen transactions collectively exceeding $2.5 billion. Greg is a board member of the American Himalayan Foundation, and an advisor to Mission Point Capital Partners and Joie de Vivre Hotels, and a board member of AltaRock Energy and Makani Windpower. Greg has a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Colgate University, and a JD from the University of Virginia.
Craig Muska
Investment Advisor, The Threshold Group
Craig is responsible for recommending, implementing and monitoring investment strategy for Threshold’s client families. His work includes identifying investment philosophy, policy and asset allocation in close alignment with the goals and aspirations of individual family members and each family as a whole. He also works closely with Threshold’s relationship managers to integrate each client’s portfolio with other aspects of a family’s overall wealth management program. He helps family members objectively review and evaluate investment results against personalized goals along with relevant market benchmarks.
With more than fifteen years of experience in investment services, Craig joined Threshold after serving as Managing Director at IW Financial, a Portland, Oregon-based investment research and consulting firm dedicated to values-based investing. He developed innovative investment strategies and gained valuable insights in the area of mission-related investing and other values-focused solutions. Previously, he established a global wealth management platform at Envestnet Asset Management, and researched international equities, merger and acquisition opportunities and other asset classes as part of the investment team at both Credit Suisse HOLT and Nuveen Investments.
Craig earned a BS in Finance from Northern Illinois University and a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Carl Palmer
Co-Founder, Beartooth Capital
Prior to co-founding Beartooth Capital, Carl was President and CEO of Greenbridges, a real estate investment firm making agricultural investments generating strong financial returns and conservation benefits. Prior to co-founding Greenbridges, Carl was Executive Director of the Ogden Nature Center, a land trust and education center in Northern Utah, and worked at the Teton Science School in Grand Teton National Park. Carl graduated with Honors from Brown University and earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University where he was President of the Public Management Program.
Bob Pattillo
Founder, Gray Ghost Ventures
An entrepreneur committed to social empowerment of low income communities, Bob Pattillo is regarded as a visionary business and community leader with unique strengths in enterprise building. Bob has worked in microfinance for eleven years, and in late 2003, sold his 54 year old real estate business and launched The Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund. The fund focuses on regional equity microfinance funds that supply start-up and expansion capital to microfinance institutions around the world. In 2005, Bob furthered his social investment work by starting Gray Matters Capital which invests in life insurance, cell phone technology, off-grid lighting, and other enterprises that contribute to the well-being of low income communities in emerging markets. In 2008, both the Social Venture Fund and the Indian School Finance Company were born. He now dedicates his career to promoting microfinance and social investment as a means to transform both clients of social enterprises and investors.
Preston Pinkett III
Vice President, Social Investment Program, Prudential Financial
Preston D. Pinkett III is Vice President and Head of Prudential’s Social Investment Program, which has a willingness to take informed risks in socially responsible investments that help create healthy, sustainable communities. Prudential’s Social Investment Program has a portfolio of $300 million and has invested more than $1 billion throughout the U.S.
Prior to joining Prudential in 2007, Pinkett was the Senior Vice President for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority where he managed funding and development programs to spur economic development in New Jersey. He also has served as Senior Vice President with PNC Bank, where he founded and managed the PNC Development Bank and community development investment and lending activities; and Senior Vice President at Chemical Bank, New Jersey, responsible for community and economic development, government banking, government relations and regulatory compliance.
Pinkett is an officer of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Montclair State University and University Ventures; and is a board member of Newark Museum, New Jersey School Development Authority, Council of NJ Grant Makers and CityWorks.
Pinkett has a BS Degree in Economics from Cornell University and an MBA Degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Raúl Pomares
Vice President, Guggenheim Partners
Raúl Pomares is a member of Guggenheim Investments, where he focuses on the development of a dedicated Impact Investment management platform. The platform aims at delivering innovative fund solutions for return oriented investors that seek measurable environmental and social impact. Prior to this effort, Raúl served as a Portfolio Manager at Guggenheim Investment Advisors, developing integrated multi-manager portfolios for foundations and high net worth clients. In particular, Raúl applied his expertise across a broad range of Sustainability, Mission and Social Investment (SMSI) themes, to develop an integrated manager research and portfolio construction methodology for Impact investors. Prior to joining Guggenheim Partners in 2006, Raúl was a Co-Founder and Director of Client Services for a boutique wealth management firm. He also served as an investment advisor, international private banker and consultant on behalf of global financial institutions and private investors. Raúl received his degree in International Business Management from the University of San Francisco.
Bill Post
Senior Vice President, Stone and Youngberg
Bill Post is a Senior Vice President at Stone & Youngberg in San Francisco. Previously, Bill held the positions of Vice Chairman of Fiduciary Trust International of California, President of Franklin Templeton Investments-Wealth Management Group. He assisted Franklin in the acquisition, integration and management of Fiduciary Trust International, a $50 billion asset management firm. At Franklin, Bill was head of Franklin Templeton Alternative Strategies which utilized hedge fund and private equity strategies. Bill also was a Senior Vice President, Personal Investment Management at Capital Guardian Trust Company. Bill began his investment career with Wells Fargo Securities, Inc. as an investment professional.
Prior to entering the investment management business, Mr. Post was an attorney and specialized in tax, estate planning and corporate law. He worked in the Tax Department of Touche Ross and Co. and served on the staff of the US Senate Finance Committee. Mr. Post was a US Naval Officer from 1976-1980.
Bill earned his Juris Doctor from the Kendrick School of Law at the University of San Francisco and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia. Bill is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of San Francisco, the State Bar of California and District of Columbia Bar.
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Edward Ramos
Executive Director, Morgan Stanley
Global Growth Strategies for Morgan Stanley. He joined Morgan Stanley in 2005 and has over seventeen years of investment experience. Prior to Morgan Stanley, Eddie was a Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Brown Capital Management where he created the investment philosophy, stock selection process and portfolio construction methodology for the international equity service. Previously, he was a Portfolio Manager at Templeton Investment Counsel, managing over $1.5 billion in global and international equity portfolios for institutional, high net worth and retail clients. Prior to that, he assisted the Chief Investment Officer at Prudential Equity Management Associates. Eddie received a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and an MBA in Finance, Accounting and International Business from Columbia University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
Russell Read
CEO, C Change Investments
Prior to founding C Change Investments in 2008, Dr. Russell Read served as Chief Investment Officer for America’s largest pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). During his tenure, he redirected the portfolio toward international and natural resources opportunities, introduced its Commodities and Infrastructure investment programs, re-established and enhanced its Forestland investment program, and established its clean technology and environmental investment efforts as the leader among institutional investors.
Russell is also a founding member of the P8 Group, representing the world’s eight largest pension systems, coordinating towards scalable green investment solutions and has provided testimony to institutional investors, the press, state legislators, federal regulators, the US Treasury, the US Congress, the US Senate, and the United Nations on how to invest effectively while protecting and enhancing the environment. He was recognized by SmartMoney in 2007 in its Power 30 list of the most influential people in business and finance and by Institutional Investor in 2008 as #35 on its list of the 75 most effective chief executives.
Russell received his BA in Statistics and his MBA in Finance and International Business both from the University of Chicago. He received his Master’s Degree in Economics and his doctorate in Political Economy from Stanford University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a Chartered Life Underwriter (C.L.U.), and a Chartered Financial Consultant (Ch.F.C.).
Diego Recalde
Principal, GreenSpace Developments
Diego Recalde is a specialist in start-ups in the financial sector with over twenty years of experience in fund management, structured finance, and mergers and acquisitions at Kidder Peabody, JPMorgan and Credit Suisse. He helped create and manage a risk arbitrage fund and various investment banking groups. He is currently raising a $200 million mixed-use real estate fund (GreenSpace Developments) to create affordable nonprofit space. His combination of real estate and creative financing expertise has been fundamental to making nonprofit projects financially feasible.
Diego is also a leader in developing creative strategies for philanthropy in communities of color. He spearheaded the creation of a Philanthropic Private Equity Fund. He helped create and fund the SEO Community Assistance Fund, in collaboration with The Kellogg Foundation. He also served as Chairman of the New America Alliance Institute which promotes strategic philanthropy in the Latino community. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, such as CNN, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Latino Leaders, Emerging Market Investor, among others. He has a degree in Physics from Wesleyan University and an Electrical Engineering Degree from Columbia University.
Rae Richman
Director, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors
Rae Richman, Director at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), has more than fifteen years’ experience providing strategic consulting to organizations of all sizes, including family and corporate foundations, leading nonprofits and a wide range of Fortune 500 global corporations.
Rae manages the Bay Area office of a leading international philanthropy advising firm. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors works with individuals, families, staffed foundations and corporations to increase the effectiveness of their social investments. RPA currently serves more than 160 clients in facilitating over $200 million in annual gifts/grants to more than 60 countries. Rae’s funding expertise includes climate change and environmental protection, education and cultural preservation, with focused work in Israel and China. She has also been actively involved in RPA’s leadership on the issue of Mission Related Investing (MRI.)
She is formerly a consultant with expertise in corporate social responsibility and strategic philanthropy. Prior to starting her own consultancy for values-based organizations, Rae was Senior Manager of Consulting Services at Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), working with Fortune 500 companies to facilitate their stakeholder engagement and social reporting efforts, assist them in implementing more socially responsible policies and practices, and provide counsel on issues of global corporate community engagement. Rae brings to her work marketing and production experience at entertainment, multimedia and high-tech companies.
She received her BA from the University of Virginia and her MBA from the UC Berkeley/Columbia University Executive MBA program. Rae serves as a Board Member and Officer of the Black Rock Arts Foundation.
Lisa Richter
Principal, GPS Capital Partners
Lisa Richter co-founded GPS Capital Partners, LLC, to assist foundations and other institutional investors to design and implement investment strategy that enhances mission and public purpose goals. Consultancies range from family philanthropies to a number of the nation’s largest foundations, with strategies focused across asset classes, sectors and program areas. In partnership with Grantmakers In Health, Lisa is currently preparing a Guide to Mission Investing. She recently co-authored Equity Advancing Equity: How Community Philanthropy Can Build Racial & Social Equity through Mission Investing. Lisa holds a BA and MBA from the University of Chicago.
Jason Segal
Managing Director, Business Development, Sustainable Development Capital LLP
Jason Segal oversees business development globally for Sustainable Development Capital (SDCL) from their New York office. SDCL is a London-based specialist investment banking firm with an exclusive focus on sustainability. SDCL provides corporate finance services for investments and funds that seek superior risk-adjusted returns driven by resource-efficiency as a core investment theme. SDCL works with financial institutions, governments, developers and corporations across asset classes including public and private equity, infrastructure, real estate and energy efficiency.
Prior to joining SDCL, Jason was a Managing Director at Citigroup in the Global Prime Brokerage group, based in New York. Previously, Jason managed the Portfolio and Electronic Trading businesses for Nikko Citigroup's Equities Division in Tokyo. Before joining Citigroup in 2004, he was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager for Goldman Sachs Asset Management in the firm’s Quantitative Equities team in New York. Jason received his Masters in Business Administration from the Wharton School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wesleyan University. Jason holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Don Shaffer
President and CEO, RSF Social Finance
Don Shaffer is President and CEO of RSF Social Finance, a nonprofit financial services organization inspired by the work of Rudolf Steiner. Through its lending, giving, and investing services, RSF has made over $190 million in loans and over $90 million in grants since 1984 to social enterprises in the areas of Food & Agriculture, Education & the Arts, and Ecological Stewardship. Prior to joining RSF, Don served as Executive Director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), as well as Interim Executive Director of Investors’ Circle. He remains a Trustee of BALLE, in addition to being on the Boards of Social Venture Network and Comet Skateboards.
Hersh Shefrin
Mario Belotti Chair in the Department of Finance, Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business
Hersh Shefrin is the Mario L. Belotti Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University. His book, Beyond Greed and Fear, provides a comprehensive approach to behavioral finance and in 2009 was recognized by J.P. Morgan Chase as one of the top ten books published since 2000. Among Professor Shefrin’s other works are: A Behavioral Approach to Asset Pricing, Behavioral Corporate Finance, and Ending the Management Illusion. According to a 2003 article that appeared in the American Economic Review, he is one of the top fifteen economic theorists to have influenced empirical work. His work is in the "all time top ten downloads" from the Social Science Research Network. He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics in 1974. He holds an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Oulu, Finland, and is an Honorary Guest Professor at Central-South University in Changsha, China. Professor Shefrin is frequently interviewed by the media on financial matters.
Morgan Simon
Co-Founder, Responsible Endowments Coalition
Morgan is the Co-Founder of the Responsible Endowments Coalition, a non-profit organization that promotes responsible investment by colleges and universities on over 95 campuses nationwide, controlling $150 billion in investments. Supporting over 1,000 students, administrators and trustees each year, her work has led major institutions like Columbia University and Amherst College to address corporate practices through shareholder activism, and engage in proactive investment in community and environmental ventures. She was a Social Venture Network Innovation Award winner in 2007, and her work has been followed by national media such as The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
In 2002, she was the Co-Founder of Girls Action Initiative, a non-profit organization in Philadelphia that provided mentorship for middle-school girls. Working with the United Nations Development Project in Honduras, and local organizations in Mexico and Sierra Leone, she has contributed to HIV/AIDS research and environmental program development. She has also worked in corporate reform from two very different angles: at Women's Initiative for Self Employment, helping low-income women start small businesses, and also as part of ForestEthics' Corporate Action Program, which works to improve the environmental policies of large corporations. She currently serves on the boards of: Social Venture Network, a 500-member organization of leaders in socially responsible business; SJF Advisory Services, which provides assistance to and increases access to capital for entrepreneurial, socially conscious businesses; and La Pena Cultural Center, a vibrant Latin arts center focusing on the nexus of art and activism. Morgan holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Swarthmore College.
Jasper Snoek
CFO, DOEN Foundation (Netherlands)
Jasper Snoek is CFO and Executive Director of DOEN Foundation, a charity that uses the annual proceeds it receives from three Dutch Charity Lotteries to fund entrepreneurial initiatives in the areas of sustainable development, culture, welfare and cohesion.
He has 14 years of experience in SME finance in developing and emerging countries gained as a consultant for BDO Corporate Finance and the international consultancy organization Ecorys. At present, his responsibilities include management of DOEN’s investment and loan portfolio containing social/environmental enterprises, small producers' organizations and the microfinance sector.
He holds several board positions including: ProCredit Holding AG, the holding company of a group of 22 socially responsible banks in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa; Triodos-Doen Foundation, a USD 70 million microfinance investment fund; and Banco ProCredit Mozambique, a socially responsible full service bank.
Jasper earned his Master’s Degree in Business Studies from the University of Groningen and holds a French Master of Advanced Studies in Risk and Crises Management (Sorbonne I).
Doug Stamm
CEO, Meyer Memorial Trust
A native Oregonian, Doug Stamm has been Chief Executive Officer of Meyer Memorial Trust since April 2002. Doug has leadership, fiscal, and administrative responsibilities for the Trust, which has current assets of approximately $493 million and has over its lifetime awarded to organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington over 5,800 grants and PRIs, totaling over $481 million. In addition to its general purpose grantmaking, the Trust is engaged in three Strategic Action Initiatives: Restoration of the Willamette River Basin; Access to Affordable Housing; and High Quality K-12 Public Education. With Doug’s leadership, Meyer Trust has developed a robust Program and Mission Related Investment program, through which the Trust embraces novel investment opportunities to compliment its grant program and further its mission. Doug is a Founding Director of Foundations for a Better Oregon, recently stepped down as President of Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, sits on the executive committee of the national PRI Makers Network, and is a Co-Chair of the national More for Mission Campaign.
Prior to joining the Trust, Doug worked in private business, nonprofit management, and the law. He held positions as attorney in private practice and several executive positions at NIKE, including Global Director of Public Affairs, which included leading the NIKE Foundation.
Doug is a graduate of both Stanford University (BS) and Northwestern School of Law (JD) at Lewis and Clark College. He has served on a number of national and local boards of organizations primarily involved with community building and youth.
Hugo Steensma
Clients & Distribution Head, USA, Sustainable Asset Management
Hugo Steensma is the Managing Director of Sustainable Asset Management USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SAM Group Holding A.G. of Zurich Switzerland (SAM). Robeco, a wholly owned subsidiary of AAA and Aaa rated Rabobank of The Netherlands, acquired an 80% interest in SAM.
In 1993, he founded Sonoma International Capital Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in assisting sustainable companies to procure equity and debt financing.
Hugo started and managed Rabobank’s entry in the U.S. market in 1980. He initiated and directed the bank’s corporate banking, commodity and trade finance and treasury activities and opened the offices in New York, Dallas and San Francisco. When Hugo left Rabobank in 1992 to set up his own company, the bank had become a leading and profitable entity with assets in excess of $10 billion and with a unique focus on the food and agribusiness sector, which continues into the present.
From 1967 until 1980, Hugo was with Bank of America, where he held management positions in corporate finance in Brussels and San Francisco. During his tenure with this bank, he founded and managed a joint venture merchant bank with Rabobank in Amsterdam.
He is a graduate of Nyenrode Business Universiteit in The Netherlands and the Harvard Business School / University of Hawaii Advanced Management Program.
Hugo is on the board of several for profit and not-for-profit organizations. He is Vice Chairman the Board of the Presidio School of Management, an innovative institution which offers an MBA degree program in Sustainable Management.
Anne Stetson
Co-Founder and General Counsel, Seven Seas Capital Management LLC
Anne is an international lawyer and strategic consultant to foundations and other institutions working globally to advance economic development. She is Co-Founder and General Counsel of Seven Seas Capital LLC, a social capital management company.
From 1998 to 2001, Anne served as Associate General Counsel to Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo, an international asset management firm, where she specialized in offshore funds and foreign investments. Previously, she provided counsel to Fidelity Investments, for which she established that firm’s subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil and Chile, and advised the firm’s portfolio managers on the legal aspects of foreign investments. She practiced corporate law in New York at Fox & Horan, an international law firm, in the area of cross-border transactions for Latin American and French clients.
In addition, Anne serves as a Director of ACCION International, a trustee of the John Merck Fund, a Director of Physicians for Human Rights, a board member of the Vance Center for International Justice, and an overseer of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She has published articles in the area of mission investing, foreign investments, Latin American capital markets, and human rights and constitutional reform in Colombia and China.
Anne received a BA from Yale University, an MA from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, and a J.D. from Boston University. She also studied at Columbia Law School.
David Thomson
Chairman, Formway Design Studios
David Thomson invests in a diverse range of firms, including software companies, the Bacchus Restaurant Group, boutique hotels, and a sheep and cattle ranch in his homeland, New Zealand. David serves as Chairman at Formway Design, a studio that produces world-class office seating and desk solutions to licensed partners globally. David’s true philanthropic passion is for wildlife and land conservation. He is a Trustee of the African Wildlife Foundation, where he currently chairs the development committee that has successfully completed a $100M capital fund. He is also on the board of Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust, which works to remove exotic species from New Zealand forests to restore the native bird species. David has been on the Advisory Board of REDF, a Bay Area group that uses venture philanthropy to support social enterprises that help the unemployed. He is a keen cyclist, sailor and incurable traveler.
Karie Thomson
Managing Director, Kinship Trust Company
Karie Thomson has been actively involved with conservation groups for over 15 years with a focus on land preservation and environmental leadership. She is currently on the Board of Peninsula Open Space Trust, which has been responsible for preserving over 60,000 acres as permanent open space and agricultural land in northern California. She served as Chair from 2005-2008 and guided a successful capital campaign to raise over $200 million. Karie was instrumental in the founding of Kinship Conservation Fellows, an environmental leadership program that trains practicing conservationists in market-based approaches to conservation. 139 Fellows from 33 countries have completed the program. Karie served on the Board of Ecotrust, which creates economic opportunity, social equity and environmental well-being in the Pacific Northwest. For over ten years she served in a leadership capacity to the Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation, established in 1955 to encourage and support scientific study of the Lake Superior region. She is currently President of the Huron Mountain Club, which owns and manages 20,000 of land and forests in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Karie is a Managing Director of the Kinship Trust Company, a family-owned and managed trust company based in Chicago, serving three generations of her extended family. She is actively involved in its investment endeavors and oversees the company’s philanthropic foundation. Karie resides with her family in Woodside, California.
Marjorie Torres
Managing Principal, GreenSpace Developments
Marjorie Torres is currently raising a $200 million mixed-use real estate fund (GreenSpace Developments) to create affordable nonprofit space. She is also the Founder of Concrete Stories, a full-service commercial real estate firm which provides strategic advice, brokerage, and real estate development. She is a serial entrepreneur and her investors include Credit Suisse, Columbia University, Wesleyan University, among other institutions. She has originated, managed and delivered real estate projects, as well as successfully executed turn-around of distressed assets for over fifteen years.
Marjorie’s board service includes the National Diversity Advisory Council of The American Red Cross, New America Alliance, The Global Diversity Summit in Commercial Real Estate and Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. She also serves on Renewal2 Investment Fund’s Board of Directors whose investments focus on social and environmental ventures. She holds membership at The Real Estate Board of New York and the TARA / Belizean Grove. Marjorie has been featured in the New York Times, Time Warner publications, Univision, Latino Leaders, Hispanic Business, and as a real estate expert in Donald Trump’s book The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received. Columbia University recognized her as one of their “Top 40 Alumni under Forty” and she has received the 2005 Latina Excellence Business Award by HISPANIC Magazine.
Joan Trant
Executive Director, International Association of Microfinance Investors
Joan Trant is Executive Director of the International Association of Microfinance Investors (IAMFI), which launched in late 2007 with the goal of helping commercially-oriented microfinance investors leverage their capital more effectively, thus increasing access to financial services among the unbanked poor. Joan’s responsibilities encompass honing IAMFI’s strategy, building infrastructure, developing research activities and educational events, recruiting members and managing the day-to-day operations of the Association.
Previously, Joan served as Deputy Executive Director of The Resource Foundation for nine years, empowering needy communities in Latin America by cultivating productive relationships with U.S. donors and in-country nonprofits to increase self-reliance and living standards. Under her leadership, the organization exceeded 20% annual growth; fundraising and technical assistance supported the community-building programs of 120 organizations including microfinance institutions in 20 Latin American and Caribbean nations, benefiting annually 4.6 million disadvantaged children, youths, women and men.
Prior to The Resource Foundation, for fifteen years Joan held various sales and operations management positions in the financial services industry at Bankers Trust (1993-1997) and Citibank (1982-1993). In these roles, she focused on investment management and retail banking for high net worth individuals in the Mexican, Argentine and Spanish markets, managing a combined investment portfolio totaling $225 million.
Joan is a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business Executive Level Nonprofit Management Certification Program. She holds a Bachelors Degree from Georgetown University where she graduated magna cum laude, concentrating in Latin American Studies. She is based in New York City.
Christa Velasquez
Director, Social Investments, Annie E. Casey Foundation
Christa Velasquez is Director of Social investments at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Foundation is a private charitable organization whose principal mission is to help build better futures for disadvantaged children and families.
Christa is responsible for developing, coordinating, and managing the Foundation’s $100 million social investment fund. She develops and implements the Foundation’s evolving social investment strategy, designs social investment policies and procedures, and educates staff about Social Investments (SIs) and how to identify potential investments. Christa also manages the due diligence process and is responsible for deal structuring, portfolio monitoring, creating SI training tools and developing a technical assistance plan for grantees and partners.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Christa spent six years at Brody, Weiser, Burns (BWB), a consulting firm based in Connecticut, the last two years as an Associate Partner. At BWB, she specialized in social investing, community development financing, business planning for social ventures, program evaluation, and management of minority cultural institutions. She has worked extensively to develop new SI programs, evaluate and redesign existing programs, underwrite and structure investments, and monitor the performance of borrowers and investees.
Her current and former board experience includes TRF Urban Growth Partners, the American Visionary Art Museum, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, and the Yale University School of Management Internship Fund.
Christa has an undergraduate degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Steve Viederman
Finance Committee, Christopher Reynolds Foundation and Former President, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Steve's vocation is Grandparenting, doing what he can to leave options open for his grandchildren, children and all children.
His occupation is advocacy, writing, speaking and consulting. His interests include: sustainability, philanthropy and democracy; sustainable investing and fiduciary duty; higher education and public policy; the limits of corporate responsibility; economic and environmental justice; and, community governance.
Steve's 2008 article on “Fiduciary Duty” was well received. His most recent paper, co-authored, “After the Credit Crisis - The Future of Sustainable Investing.” was presented at the UNPRI Academic Conference in September.
He serves on a number of committees, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes Advisory Committee, and the finance committees of the Christopher Reynolds Foundation and the Needmor Fund. He is also an active shareowner with companies like ExxonMobil and Pfizer.
Herta von Stiegel
Executive Chairman, Ariya Capital
Herta von Stiegel is Executive Chairman of Ariya Capital Group, a Botswana and London based private equity firm focusing on sustainable investments in Africa.
An international executive with a consistent track record of building profitable, highly regulated, structured finance businesses, she held senior positions at Citibank and JP Morgan and, until 2005, was Managing Director at AIG Financial Products, the Financial Services Division of American International Group, Inc. A US tax lawyer by training, Herta practiced law prior to becoming a banker specializing in international taxation and mergers and acquisitions. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan, a Master’s of Law Degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Andrews University. She is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and New York.
Herta serves on several boards in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors, including Camco International, a market leader in climate change solutions and renewable energy, and Opportunity International, a global microfinance organization with multiple financial services subsidiaries. She chairs the Prince’s Trust Women’s Leadership Group, serves on the board of The Committee of 200, and is a member of the Women's Leadership Board of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
Richard Woo
Chief Executive Officer & Environmental Program Team Member, The Russell Family Foundation
Richard Woo is the CEO of The Russell Family Foundation (TRFF) in Gig Harbor, Washington. TRFF supports grassroots leadership, environmental sustainability, and global peace.
Richard volunteers on the boards of the Council on Foundations and Philanthropy Northwest, as well as Seattle University’s Visiting Committee for the Masters in Nonprofit Leadership.
Before joining TRFF, Richard worked nearly 12 years at Levi Strauss & Co. in global public affairs including serving as Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation.
Caprice Young
CEO, KC Distance Learning
Caprice Young is CEO of KC Distance Learning and Vice President of Business Development and Alliances for Knowledge Universe (KU). Prior to joining KU, she was President and CEO of the California Charter Schools Association. Under her leadership, the number of charter California schools grew by more than 300 and student enrollment grew by more than 100,000. Caprice has served as a member and President of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education. She also serves on numerous boards, including the Governor's Advisory Committee on Education Excellence, the Chime Institute and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Young is a recipient of the Coro Foundation Crystal Eagle Award for Achievement in Public Service. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University, a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California and a Doctorate of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Betsy Zeidman
Research Fellow, and Director, Center for Emerging Domestic Markets, Milken Institute
Betsy Zeidman is Director of the Center for Emerging Domestic Markets (CEDM) and a Research Fellow at the Milken Institute. CEDM aims to increase the flow of capital to America's emerging entrepreneurs and communities through its research and information network, educational center and financial innovations laboratory. Betsy also manages the Institute's work in such areas as mission-related investing, developmental finance and environmental finance. In this role, she works with foundations, governments, institutional and individual investors, entrepreneurs and policymakers.
A recognized leader in developing sound strategies for deploying market and philanthropic capital in under-invested communities, Betsy has authored several reports for the Institute and co-edited the volume Entrepreneurship in Emerging Domestic Markets: Barriers and Innovation. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and in the media.
Betsy is a member of the Board of Directors of the Social Investment Forum and CARAT (California Resources and Training), and sits on the advisory board of Wall Street Without Walls. Prior to joining the Institute, she provided strategic management and marketing advisory services to clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors, with a specialty in corporate responsibility and financial performance; served as senior management at several entertainment companies and public relations firms; and staffed national and state political campaigns. She earned a BA and an MBA at Yale University.
Georgette Wong
President, Correlation Consulting
Georgette Wong is the President of Correlation Consulting and curator & creator of the Take Action! Impact Investing Summit series. As a multi-disciplinary innovator, Georgette created Take Action! to examine the role of capitalism to create win-win-win solutions – for investors, communities and the environment. Thus, Take Action! focuses on premium investment returns that interlock with meaningful social and/or environmental impact.
Over the last eighteen years, Georgette has: advised families, foundations and Fortune 100 businesses on public and private investments; grown and funded early stage companies; and developed organizations focused on more effective philanthropy and partnerships between the business and social sectors. Before starting her own firm in 2006, she worked as the Director for Client Relationships at Sterling Stamos, a multi-billion dollar fund of funds and was also previously a Financial Advisor at Piper Jaffray. Earlier in her career, she was the Development Director for the Asian Law Caucus, the nation’s oldest legal and civil rights organization for Asian Pacific Americans.
Georgette has served on the Boards of The Full Circle Fund, The Foundation Incubator, and Chinese for Affirmative Action. She earned her MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles from which she graduated with multiple honors. She earned her BA magna cum laude from Amherst College.