Allison Kelly

ICA
Oakland, CA

Allison Kelly is deeply committed to fighting economic inequality through innovation and out-of-the box partnerships at a community-based CDFI, ICA, where she has been serving in the role of CEO since June 2019. Prior to ICA, Kelly was the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at CDC Small Business Finance, a leading U.S lender focused on supporting entrepreneurs in undertapped communities. Kelly has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit and for-profit worlds, having worked in the financial- and healthcare-service industries.

Before joining CDC, Kelly spent seven years in various leadership positions at Pacific Community Ventures, a nonprofit social enterprise focused on helping small businesses thrive through affordable capital and free business coaching.

At Pacific Community Ventures, she increased company participation in the business advising program fivefold — to 250. And she started strategic partnerships with 30 community-based groups that help small businesses in the Bay Area and across the nation.

Education:
· Master’s of business administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
· Bachelor’s degree in psychology with honors from the University of Oregon

Community Involvement:
· Board member at Mal Warwick Donordigital, a fundraising and advocacy agency that works with leading charitable groups.
· Advisory member for CNote
· Member of the Opportunity Finance Network, a national coalition of CDFIs.

Mallory Davis

Business and Marketing Manager

Scale Up Milwaukee

With a marketing internship at Rolling Stone Magazine, B.A. in Communication and a post-baccalaureate certificate in Fashion Merchandising under her belt, Mallory launched her career in product development with national retailer Kohl’s Department Stores. During her time at Kohl’s, she was a product and brand manager overseeing several different brands and business areas ranging from $50M-$180M in annual revenue. Following her retail experience, Mallory pivoted into the agency world where she became an Account Director with a New York based creative agency that specializes in experiential marketing. In early 2019, she became an adjunct instructor at Mount Mary University.

In addition to her professional career, Mallory enjoys being an invested part of her community. She volunteers with Interfaith, a Milwaukee nonprofit that assists and supports the elderly community; actively engages with the Walker’s Point Association; and she was also a co-host on HGTV’s My Flippin’ Friends where she and others flipped homes in Milwaukee to make their community a more beautiful place to live.

James Soto

Nashville Made
Nashville, TN

As Founder and CEO of INDUSTRIAL, one of North America’s top industrial marketing agencies, James brings 16+ years of significant hands-on experience and perspective from working with iconic industrial brands as well as speaking at major manufacturing and B2B marketing events about the challenges industrials face in this new era of disruptive business models, digital marketing, and industry 4.0.

Jacquise A. Purifoy

Build Institute
Detroit, MI

Jacquise A. Purifoy, Esq. is a Facilitator and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Build Institute. April 1, 2019 she joined the Build Institute as the lead for Citywide Detroit Soup. Detroit Soup is a micro granting dinner celebrating creative projects in Detroit. She was sworn into the State Bar of Michigan in November 2010. Prior to private practice, on April 1, 2011 she was hired by U.S. House of Representative Hansen Clarke (MI-13) as his Chief Correspondent. In this role, she was solely responsible for orchestrating policy positions and legislative responses to constituents. Then as Clarke’s Community Grants Coordinator she worked directly with key federal and state business and civic leaders to identify small business and economic development initiatives in Southeastern Michigan. Jacquise wrote over 200 letters of support for businesses and non-profits in Metro Detroit securing over $9 million in funding. In 2004, Jacquise matriculated from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English and American Culture.

Jacquise is a zealous advocate for people in her community and was profiled in Dbusiness Magazine’s 2014 Top Lawyers Edition. She was featured in Legal News’ Motion Magazine as a young lawyer with a sharp, energetic mind, and burgeoning talent committed to Detroit’s rejuvenation. B.L.A.C. Magazine recognized Jacquise as a local Hometown Hero. Jacquise’s most memorable professional moment is having the opportunity to visit the White House on behalf of the citizens of Detroit and to personally meet President Barack Obama twice!

Kareen Boncales

Mountain BizWorks
Asheville, NC

Kareen Boncales is the Learning Services Specialist at Mountain BizWorks, where she uses her talents of community building, organization, and tenacity to manage hundreds of business education classes serving thousands of entrepreneurs. Kareen is an economic development professional with nearly ten years of experience in small business lending Community Development Financial Institutions. Kareen holds a BA in Economics for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. While not working, Kareen’s entrepreneurial spirit can be found singing a tune at her soon to open karaoke lounge venture, or hiking in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

Moriah Heaney

Mountain BizWorks
Asheville, NC

Moriah Heaney is the Community Investments Manager at Mountain BizWorks. She works to leverage the power of small businesses’ stories to advance access to funding and entrepreneurial training to all who desire to be business owners. She is responsible for attracting millions of dollars from private foundations, individual investors, and federal, state and local governments to directly support small business creation and retention in the form of non-traditional lending, resulting in over 5,000 new or sustained jobs in Western North Carolina. Moriah holds a BA in Sustainable Product Development from Warren Wilson College. In her free time, you can find Moriah whitewater kayaking in Appalachia’s scenic rivers and playing with her Old English Sheepdogs.

Karleen Porcena

Vice President Relationship Manager, My Banker

Berkshire Bank
Boston, MA

Dedicated to creating a more equitable and inclusive community, Karleen Porcena is an authentic leader who is driven to inclusive economic advancement. With over 10 years of comprehensive community development experience within the Greater Boston area, Karleen aims to create innovative strategies and partnerships to move the dial on the racial wealth gap.
As the daughter of Haitian immigrants, Karleen uses her unique lived experience coupled with professional knowledge to build comprehensive solutions to economic disparities. In her current role as the Senior Program Officer for Economic Opportunity at the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s largest community development corporation, she challenges her peers to keep the focus of our work anchored around the people and systems we aim to change. Karleen oversees all economic development strategies at LISC Boston, including asset building, entrepreneurship, and neighborhood economic development activities. As the previous Massachusetts Kiva Advisor, Karleen ensures that entrepreneurs with barriers to accessing loans through traditional financial institutions are able to receive the investment they need for their business to thrive.

Karleen is passionate about building bridges between people, communities, and networks with intentions to have an equal playing field for all. She brings to her work a wide variety of relationships with community organizations, business and resident leaders, elected officials, as well as faith-based institutions. She is a strong communicator, and has a unique ability to tell stories that resonate. Outside of the office Karleen has sat on a number of community boards including the Board of Trustees at The Food Project, Board member for the Madison Park Community Development Corporation, Advisory board member for the Mattapan Boys and Girls Club and many others.

Karleen has her M.B.A from Babson College in Wellesley, Ma and holds a double B.A in Comparative Politics and Spanish from Clark University in Worcester, MA.

Lars Kuehnow

Duluth LISC
Duluth, MN

Lars Kuehnow is the Program Officer. In this position, Lars is responsible for leading Duluth LISC’s efforts to seed revitalization in key neighborhood commercial districts as well as Duluth LISC’s lending initiatives. He helps plan, oversee, secure financing and assist in implementation of signature projects that are part of LISC’s Building Sustainable Communities (BSC) strategy. Lars has an extensive background as a business owner and entrepreneur, as well as experience in project management, capacity building, and business advising for both nonprofits and businesses.

Nia Evans

Boston Ujima Project
Boston, MA

Nia K. Evans is the Director of the Boston Ujima Project. Her educational background is in the areas of labor relations, education leadership, and policy. Her advocacy includes a focus on eliminating barriers between analysts and people with lived experiences as well as increasing acknowledgement of the value of diverse types of expertise in policy.

She is a co-creator of Frames Debate Project, a multimedia policy debate project that explores the intersection between drug policy, mental health services and incarceration in the state of Massachusetts.

Ms. Evans has a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Master of Arts in Education Leadership, with a course of study in Leadership, Policy, and Politics from Teachers College at Columbia University. She also studied abroad at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, where she focused on International Labor Relations.

Nisha Blackwell

Craft Business Accelerator
Pittsburgh, PA

Nisha, founder and CEO of Knotzland Bowties, works as an outreach consultant and the Craft Business Accelerator’s first Producer-in-Residence. Her community service with AmeriCorps, Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, GTECH, and Strong Women Strong Girls reflects her leadership capabilities and passion for connection with people. Nisha has combined her engagement skills with her role as a creative producer to launch ORIGINS, a multifaceted platform to provide intensive support and transformative opportunities to help African-American Creatives.

Renee B. Lindner

Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation
Milwaukee, WI

Renee B. Lindner holds a BS in Business from Marquette University. Lindner has over 8 years experience in Economic Development and an additional 15 + years experience in Account Management and Human Resources in a variety of corporate settings. For Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC), Lindner leads the Milwaukee area outreach and strategic stakeholder partnering. For Kiva and on behalf of the City of West Allis, she leads the matching loan efforts. Economic Inclusivity is a key concept that runs through both roles and she is proud to represent both organizations as an ally to business owners in their pursuit of financial stability and meaningful work for themselves and for our broader communities.

Y. Elaine Rasmussen

Interim Executive Director

Association for Black Economic Power
Minneapolis, MN

Ms. Y. Elaine Rasmussen is Interim Executive Director for the Association for Black Economic Power and Founder and CEO of Social Impact Strategies Group (SISG) a Black/Native-led certified B-corp social enterprise.

SISG provides facilitation and consultation on racial equity and social impact audits, education workshops for investors and Black and Brown womxn entrepreneurs, and produces the annual ConnectUP! MN Summit which promotes and grows inclusive and equitable entrepreneur ecosystems that drive positive, sustainable social impact grounded in economic justice.

She currently serves on the boards of MNVest, MDI, Nexus Community Partners, and Swift Foundation.

Rasmussen is a Cordes Fellow and RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Fellow where her Integrated Capital Fund project was named a MetLife Foundation Inclusion Plus Competition semi-finalist. She was recently featured in Fearless Commerce Magazine and received the National Association of Women Business Owners Achieve! Innovation Award for her work on inclusive economic development.

Adam Kenney

Craft Business Accelerator
Pittsburgh, PA

Adam works across the regional economic development spectrum to connect the demand and supply sides of the maker economy. Since 2016, the CBA has amassed 175 local maker businesses; provided $2 million in affordable capital and $125,000 in R&D grants; facilitated $1.6 million in sales contracts; provided or identified 84,000 square feet of production and/or retail space; and delivered +650 hours of pro bono technical assistance.

Dawn Seckler

Craft Business Acclerator
Pittsburgh, PA

Dawn works to identify, cultivate, and steward relationships leading to investments in Bridgeway Capital. She has extensive experience fundraising from local foundations and government funders. In pursuit of Bridgeway’s mission to make western Pennsylvania a thriving economy for all, Dawn is also tasked with staying abreast of the latest research and best practices in equitable economic development.

Katie Johnson

Craft Business Accelerator
Pittsburgh, PA

Previously, Katie was the Director of Braddock Tiles, a non-profit business that produces small batch architectural tiles with youth to teach job readiness skills. With her extensive experience in the arts and non-profit sector, Katie works with the CBA team to provide craft producers with better access to technical assistance, peer network interactions, grant capital, and opportunities to build their workforce through job creation. She also works with the CBA to deepen the program’s ability to foster, track, measure, and report on its equitable economic development outcomes.

Chuck Shealy

Real Estate & Lending Officer

LISC Jacksonville

Chuck has over 30 years of experience structuring the capital for commercial real estate projects.  A graduate of Southern Methodist University’s Real Estate Finance program in the early 1980’s, he spent the first half of his career as an institutional lender with New York Life and Confederation Life Insurance companies.  

Chuck spent 14 years as a partner with Maxwell Properties Inc in Atlanta, Georgia where he was responsible for structuring the debt and equity capital for the company’s development program.  During this period Maxwell was the most prolific developer of Kroger anchored shopping centers in the southeast completing 22 centers as well as student housing and office projects. In addition, Chuck provided acquisition/disposition and debt sourcing services to Maxwell’s third party private and institutional clients.

After 25 years in Atlanta, Chuck relocated to Jacksonville in 2014.  He joined the LISC team in April, 2017, and is excited to be providing debt and equity capital that is having a positive impact in the urban core communities of Jacksonville.

Audra Ladd

Co-Director

As the Co-founder of Nashville Made, Audra has always understood the intersection between locally-made goods and small business economic development. As the founder of Audra Ladd Studios, she does pottery and hand weaving, so she knows what it’s like to run a small business. She sees UMA as sitting at the nexus of helping local businesses and manufacturing that support family sustaining wages. She loves the renaissance that manufacturing has experienced in recent years and wants to see that continue. Audra is not interested in doing anything that doesn’t make the world a better place for her kids. Working in manufacturing toward a different future is important to her. She also sees manufacturing as an industry where climate change and economic development come together.

Audra cares about protecting the environment and puts her concern to action. Her late grandmother gave her some irises from her yard that Audra has kept even as she’s moved around Tennessee. Regardless of where Audra’s residence was, every spring she looks forward to the bloom of the irises. Her dream job would be to run an organic sheep and flower farm, where she could weave. Although, she may leave the sheep shearing to someone else.

As a small business owner, you have to be comfortable with some risks, and Audra is no stranger to risk taking. She’s repelled down the inside of a defunct volcano in Guatemala, dove into Oregon’s Crater Lake, and learned to water ski behind her father’s boat when she was seven.

What makes Audra proudest of all is her ability to balance a rewarding career and being an attentive parent of two girls. She loves that she sets a good example for them to follow.

Andrea Wesser-Brawner

Senior Vice President of Strategy & Partnerships

International Business Innovation Association

Andrea Wesser-Brawner has assisted thousands of entrepreneurs, research faculty and students in starting technology companies, pursuing federal funding for R&D, and securing strategic relationships for revenue generation. She has led the development and operation of five technology accelerator programs, some with federal grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and Economic Development Administration. Prior to joining InBIA, she handled business development and large federal grant management for BRIDG (formerly, the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research), an industry-led consortium for the manufacturing of sensors and photonic devices for a variety of industries. Having managed directly such diverse and large regional initiatives, she has since become a trusted advisor to the development of entrepreneur support organizations, most notably in programming, funding and operations plans, as well as entrepreneurial, innovation and industry cluster ecosystem cultivation.

Andrea has also been an entrepreneur while executive in a number of micro- and nano-technology based start-up companies. She graduated with Honors from the University of Central Florida with her Masters and Bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering. Andrea is thrilled to offer industry leaders who support entrepreneurs with rich content, best practices and easily-accessible benchmark data among peer organizations, especially for those that focus on manufacturing and scale-up of technologies.

Chris Brown

Chief of Policy & Government Affairs

PRC

Chris Brown, Head of Regional Government Partnerships at Bird (Bay Area and Pacific NW) has served at the intersection of policy/politics, community affairs, and the business community for over 15 years. He was previously Counsel for the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor, and Legislative Director for U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-1). He later served as a longstanding Director at PolicyLink, a national public policy institute focused on racial and economic equity across transportation, banking, and the larger economy. He brings a depth of experience in bridging community needs to government policy and business practices, and implements equity-based strategies for business operations and community partnerships.

His work seeks to help organizations successfully navigate the intersection of community, government, and corporate interests at local, state, & national levels, and has built fruitful partnerships across various sectors. Accomplishments include securing over 20 policy reforms at the federal and state level, and funding supports totaling over $1.2B in government budgets and public-private partnerships.

He holds a BA from the University of Georgia where he serves on the Board of Visitors for the nation’s top 5 ranked School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), and a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law in Chicago. Chris serves on several local and national non-profit Boards, including Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Centerforce, and the University of California’s Presidential Council on Small and Disadvantaged Small Businesses.

Courtney K. Robinson

Financial Inclusion Lead

Square, Inc.

Courtney K. Robinson is a financial services policy expert and attorney based in Washington, D.C. Ms. Robinson is the Financial Inclusion Lead for Square, Inc., where she works on issues critical to underserved communities and financial services policy development, particularly related to equal access to banking services and the broader financial system. Prior to her work at Square, she served as senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, where she was responsible for legislative and regulatory matters that affected financial institutions and consumer credit. The 2009 North Carolina Central University graduate, who completed law school at American University in 2012, previously served as the Policy Counsel for the Center for Responsible Lending and as a Legal Analyst for Freddie Mac. Her work and expertise have been featured in national media, including American Banker, Bloomberg, and Digiday.

Darrin M. Redus

Vice President

Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber

Darrin M. Redus, Sr. serves as Vice President for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber in charge of its flagship Minority Business Accelerator Program and regional economic inclusion efforts. A national thought leader for inclusive entrepreneurship and growing larger-scale diverse businesses, Darrin is a seasoned business executive and successful entrepreneur. Prior to the Cincinnati Chamber, Darrin served as President and CEO for MainStreet Inclusion Advisors, a national consulting firm developing diverse technology-based businesses and networks. Darrin received his MBA from Baldwin Wallace College in 1992, and enjoys sports, music and family time with his wife Sadaqa and their six children.

Katherine Lynch

Senior Manager

Kiva US

As Senior Manager, Katherine oversees programmatic partnerships for the Kiva US program, Prior to joining Kiva 5 year ago, Katherine worked at both Accion East and Grameen America, two other prominent microlenders in the US. Katherine holds a B.A. from Washington University in St Louis. Katherine has an M.A. in Social Enterprise Administration from Columbia University.

Laura Callanan

Foudning Partner

Upstart Co-Lab

Laura Callanan is the founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab. Upstart is disrupting how creativity is funded by connecting impact investing to the creative economy. Laura was senior deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, leading all grant-making programs, operations, and research before launching Upstart Co-Lab in 2015.

Previously, Laura was a consultant with McKinsey & Company’s Social Sector Office; executive director of The Prospect Hill Foundation; and associate director of the Rockefeller Foundation where, in addition to her responsibilities managing the endowment, she co-led the Foundation’s first impact investing efforts which included two investments in the creative economy: Smithsonian Folkways Records and netomat.

Laura has been a visiting fellow at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a scholar in residence at UC-Berkeley/Haas School of Business, a visiting scholar to the American Academy in Rome, and the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship.

Laura is the chair of the board for GlobalGiving Foundation, an advisor to Shift Capital, and a member of the British Council Policy and Evidence Centre for the Creative Industries – International Council. She is a past member of the board of directors of Signature Theatre and the Corporation of Yaddo, and a founding investment committee member and audit committee member for the American Academy of Arts.

Laura is the literary executrix for the estate of playwright and novelist Romulus Linney.

Laura Wolf-Powers

Associate Professor of Urban Policy

Hunter College

Laura Wolf-Powers is an Associate Professor of Urban Policy and Planning at Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. She has been teaching economic and community development to graduate students since 2002, publishing extensively in academic journals and for practitioner audiences. A recent collaborative project focused on the nature and implications for policy of emergent maker economies in U.S. cities.

Linda Fowler

President

Regionerate LLC

Regionerate LLC is a woman owned consulting firm based in Bethesda, Maryland. The president, Linda Fowler, has extensive expertise in community and economic development, inclusive innovation, and re-engagement strategies for individuals who are unemployed or underemployed. Regionerate has an orientation towards equitable outcomes and increasing the degree of inclusive planning and decision-making processes and structures to deliver viable solutions and long-lasting impact.

Linda Fowler, who founded Regionerate LLC in 2009, specializes in high-impact consulting with civic leadership groups, federal, state, and local governments, workforce and economic development organizations, universities, community colleges and industry to activate and support transformative regional partnerships. Focusing on manufacturing competitiveness, entrepreneurship support, innovation strategy, talent development, smart growth and sustainable communities, Linda has guided and facilitated regional prosperity and revitalization efforts in emblematic U.S. cities, including: West Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Flint, MI; Detroit, MI; Cleveland, OH; Toledo, OH; and SE San Diego. Linda has provided support to the German Marshall Fund as a Senior Non-Resident Fellow for their Urban Policy Program, created strategic partnerships and networks with multiple approaches to economic diversification for regional economies and consulted on Advanced Industries Strategies for the state of Colorado.

Linda was a Senior Technology and Business Advisor to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST-MEP) for 13 years. NIST-MEP is a Department of Commerce program focused on strengthening the competitiveness of small and mid-sized manufacturers. She led an external team for the U.S. Economic Development Administration to facilitate community investment strategy in Central Florida that focused on the transition of the Space Shuttle Program.
Currently, Linda works with federal agencies including Commerce, Labor, and NASA to support talent migration, manufacturing community partnerships, economic recovery, and small business assistance. For the past four years, Linda has supported NASA on designing and implementing Strategic Regional Innovation Partnerships that leverage the agency’s expertise, technologies, and facilities. Pilot sites include regions across nine states: Colorado, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, New York, Virginia, and Maryland.

Regionerate supports national funders and local foundations to engage communities in developing economic inclusion strategies and link economic, workforce and community development agendas. Her philanthropic clients include: New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan, Skillman Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Lumina Foundation, C.S. Mott Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, Lake County Community Foundation, Toledo Community Foundation, Arthur Blank Family Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Jacobs Family Foundation.

Linda supported an Entrepreneurs of Color Initiative in Detroit, Michigan for a funder network led by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In this role, she assessed the programmatic, cultural, financial and structural barriers to Entrepreneurs of Color. Linda conducted several focus groups and one on one interviews. One of the successful outcomes of the project was a new source of business capital and technical assistance for Detroit businesses owned by Entrepreneurs of Color and businesses committed to hiring primarily persons of color. The loans range from $50K to $150K. Several rounds of funding have been raised and disseminated to date.

Noelle St. Clair

Community Development Relationship Manager

Woodforest National Bank

Noelle St.Clair is community development relationship manager at Woodforest National Bank. In this role, St.Clair has spearheaded the Bank’s Opportunity Zone investment strategy across its 17 state footprint in line with Community Reinvestment Act objectives. Prior to joining Woodforest, St.Clair served as advisor and outreach manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, where she published research and hosted national events on community development finance and impact investing trends. She previously worked at UpLift Solutions, a national nonprofit consulting firm focused on healthy communities and economic and workforce development. St.Clair was formerly a licensed securities agent at Calvert Foundation, an impact investing pioneer whose Community Investment Note channels capital to organizations and social enterprises conducting community development globally. St.Clair is an advisor to ImpactPHL and Community Lenders PA. She has an MBA from the LeBow College of Business at Drexel University and BAs in Economics and Philosophy from the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University.

Rachel McIntosh

Senior Opportunity Investment Officer

Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Economic Development

Rachel McIntosh, Senior Opportunity Investment Officer with Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Economic Development division, has over twenty years of experience in comprehensive community economic development, serving in a variety of cross sector roles encompassing financial services, grantmaking and impact investing. Ms. McIntosh has a MA/MPA from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Steve Hall

Senior Director of Small Business and Economic Development Lending

LISC

Steve Hall is a Senior Director of Small Business and Economic Development Lending for LISC, joining in 2017 to lead and expand all corporate relations, small business engagement, and Economic Development Lending strategies for LISC. He comes with over a decade of experience serving as an executive at Charter One Bank in the Business Banking division, as a social impact leader at Accion Chicago, and with deep roots and connections in the small business lending industry. Steve brings years of executive experience in evaluating, researching, and engaging small businesses on growth strategies, social impact, and labor inclusion. His background includes a vast network of corporate peers and philanthropic investment partners across the nation. Civically, he is a constant voice of support for African American and Minority businesses causes–particularly those affecting low to moderate income communities.

Treye Johnson

Regional Outreach Manager

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Treye Johnson is a regional outreach manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. From the Bank’s Cleveland office, he works with the community development team on current and emerging issues affecting communities throughout the northern half of Ohio.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve, Johnson worked in a variety of nonprofit organizations. He worked as a program officer at Burton D. Morgan Foundation, a philanthropic organization that provides grants to support entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education throughout Northeast Ohio. Johnson also served as a fellow with the George Gund Foundation, and worked to support grantmaking across the Foundation’s program areas. Additionally, Treye worked at Saint Martin de Porres High School and St. Ignatius High School.

He volunteers at Hillcrest Hospital, providing support to parents with children in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Johnson holds a BA in communications from John Carroll University and an MS in sport administration from the University of Louisville

Victor Rubin

Senior Fellow

PolicyLink

Victor Rubin is a Senior Fellow and former Vice President for Research at PolicyLink, a national nonprofit institute advancing equitable policy change. He has been an urban planning researcher, teacher, and consultant for 40 years. He has led engagements by PolicyLink regarding strategies for inclusive economic growth in Detroit and Baltimore and several communities of practice with officials and advocates from more than 20 cities, including the Equitable Innovation Economies group with the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Southern Cities for Economic Inclusion with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.. He coauthored, with Angela Glover Blackwell and Chris Schildt, “Equitable, Inclusive Growth Strategies for American Cities,” a chapter in Wachter, Susan M. and Lei Ding, editors, Building Shared Prosperity in America’s Communities, 2016, University of Pennsylvania Press, He has been an advisor to the American Planning Association, The American Institute of Architects, the National League of Cities, The National Recreation and Park Association, and many other organizations. He is the guest editor of a forthcoming special issue of Community Development Innovation Review and was guest editor of the Special Issue on Regional Equity of the Journal of the Community Development Society (2011 and 2018). Victor joined PolicyLink in 2000 after serving as Director of the HUD Office of University Partnerships. He is a member of the California Planning Roundtable and was formerly Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, the department where he earned his MCP (1975) and PhD. (1986.) He has lived in Oakland since 1975.

Christopher van Bergen

CFO/COO

Nest

Christopher van Bergen is the CFO/COO of Nest, a nonprofit building a new handworker economy to generate global workforce inclusivity, improve women’s wellbeing beyond factories, and preserve cultural traditions, using radical transparency, data-driven development, and fair market access to connect craftspeople, brands, and consumers in a circular and human centric value chain.

In his capacity, Chris oversees all of Nest’s programming, including direct-to-artisan business training and mentorship of over 600 artisan businesses across 100+ countries, strategic initiatives to solve for universal sector challenges, as well as partnerships with pioneering brands. He directs all financial activities for the Nest organization including annual budgeting and auditing, as well investment of assets.

A member of the Nest team since 2011, Chris has helped spearhead Nest’s ethical compliance program, and has worked to guide the organization through years of exponential growth and impact.

The first decade of his career was spent rooted in the arts sector as a performing musician and orchestral administrator. As a Classical Trumpet player, Chris made steady appearances with ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony, and served as the Director of Development & Marketing for the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

Chris received an Executive MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at NYU, specializing in Global Business, Strategy, and Leadership, and is now an Adjunct Professor at the Stern School. He also holds music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University, and a degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester.

Elmer Moore Jr.

Program Advisor

Elmer Moore Jr. is the executive director of Scale Up Milwaukee, an ecosystem project using Dan Isenberg’s proven model for infusing growth into an ecosystem. Scale Up Milwaukee runs a number of programs including the Scalerator, CEO Forum for Growth, Meet the Masters series and a growing membership platform. Scale Up Milwaukee has helped create more than 150 new jobs in the region.

Elmer came to Milwaukee as the director of business development for Allen Edmonds Corporation, a manufacturer and retailer of premium men’s footwear, apparel, and accessories. He previously led multicultural student recruitment as associate dean of admissions at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and has traveled extensively speaking and teaching on the topics of admissions, diversity and public speaking. Elmer also teaches entrepreneurship at Marquette University.

Elmer serves on the board of Make a Difference Wisconsin, an organization teaching financial literacy to teens. He earned his B.A. from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, and his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City.