Kathy Bendheim
Kathy Bendheim is an independent consultant focused on addressing social and educational issues. Her early career was spent in public accounting followed by business school and management consulting with McKinsey & Co. However, her passion has consistently been the improvement of the public education system. Since leaving the for-profit world, she has worked in Bridgeport, CT for the YMCA, where she started a summer and after-school program that won the Chairman’s Award for best new program; in New York City for Clearpool, Inc., an education reform initiative; and in program operations and development of for-profit initiatives to generate sustainable funding. She was also the Executive Director of the White House Council for Community Solutions, which was tasked with identifying best practices in community collaboratives with a focus on how to create more opportunity for disconnected youth. Most recently she was a consultant with Building Impact, advising foundations and philanthropies on investments in public education. Kathy has a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
MJ Kaplan
MJ juggles several roles. In 2014 she joined Loomio, a social enterprise start up based in New Zealand. Loomio is an online platform for collaborative decision making that is in 75 countries and growing rapidly. MJ teaches social enterprise and strategy at Brown University. Since 2000, MJ has led Kaplan Consulting, focused on strategic alignment, partnerships and leadership. MJ was the Fulbright New Zealand Ian Axford Fellow in 2013, where she researched social enterprise start-ups. In 2014, MJ’s research contributed to national policy changes and substantial growth of the social enterprise sector in New Zealand.
Kim Anderson
Kim’s more than 30 years as a business leader and entrepreneur started in the Executive Training/Buying Departments of Jordan Marsh and Macy’s. She founded Teapots & Tassels, Co., which was awarded “Best of Rhode Island” repeatedly, and was featured in Southern Home Magazine. Kim has founded and led several significant community based programs, including the Barrington Business Task Force, and was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year” award by the SBA in 1991 and “Citizen of the Year Award” in 2005 by the East Bay Chamber of Commerce. She founded and chairs Flower Power, a community beautification effort in Barrington, and has raised close to half million dollars in twelve years for this endowed effort. In 2009 Kim and her daughter, Ava, founded Ava Anderson Non Toxic, a direct sales company offering the safest full line of 90+ organic and natural personal care and home cleaning products, whose singular purpose was to reduce harmful chemicals linked to disease for humans and the environment. In 7 years she and her daughter built the company to a $60M run rate, with 100 local employees, and 20,000 enrolled Independent Consultants across the country. The Andersons sold the business in 2016, and Kim is now dedicated to working with her family to impact invest for climate crisis solutions.
Kenneth Barrette
Chair
Kenneth is a results-oriented executive with 20 years of experience in business operations and technology. Specializing in translating vision into actionable strategy, he consistently drives turnarounds of underperforming organizations, accelerates revenue growth and profitability for new business ventures and product launches, and improves velocity and value realization of strategic business investments and acquisitions. As a proven change leader, Kenneth has extensive experience in all aspects of designing business operations, including product development, marketing sales and distribution, consumer engagement and service, operations transacting and administration, technology enablement, and organizational structure and performance. Ken is a Managing Director in Alvarez and Marsal’s Healthcare Industry Group.
Claudia Cardozo
Claudia is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach with over 10 years of experience assisting small businesses; non-profit organizations and the private sector to improve employee engagement and economic growth. She brings a unique blend of experience in the private and public sectors, combined with a vast network and access to resources that she leverages to find customized solutions that best meets the needs of her clients. Her passion for helping others develop their full potential has its origins in her own story as a first-generation immigrant to the United States. Her constant pursue of personal and professional development allowed her to gain experience in a variety of industries, always pushing the boundaries of her comfort zone and striving for excellence.
Claudia is the Community Development Manager and HarborOne Bank, and a Strengths Coach at Leadership Rhode Island’s Make RI Stronger Initiative. Ms. Cardozo is in the board of directors of Academy for Career Exploration High School and the Providence/Cranston Workforce Board. She is also a Community Advisor at United Way of Rhode Island and Business Mentor at Venture Mentoring Services of Rhode Island. Claudia holds a certificate of Master Coach of Neuro-linguistic Programming.
In 2010, Claudia was named the Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by RI Small Business Administration, and in 2013, RI Latino Public Radio recognized her with an Outstanding Achievement Award for her contributions to the Latino business community. She also received the Ronald McDonald House Community Service Award in 2014.
Dan Crocker
Dan Crocker is a business leader with extensive experience in leading the strategy and driving the results of global businesses. His most recent roles have included serving as the COO of Daniele Foods, a third generation producer of specialty Italian charcuterie, and the SVP, Global Chief Customer Officer of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., the iconic agricultural cooperative known for creating a broad portfolio of cranberry products sold to over 100 countries around the world. Holding a wide variety of leadership positions throughout his career, Dan has consistently demonstrated a relentless curiosity to discover creative solutions to complex business challenges, which is why working with SEG entrepreneurs is so inspiring to him. Dan’s background also includes working across a broad range of industries as an attorney in the public sector, in a corporate private practice, and as in-house counsel. Dan earned his law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law, and his undergraduate degree in economics and English from Drake University. Dan lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Erica, and their three children.
Scot Jones
Scot is the owner and CEO of Groov-Pin Corporation, a manufacturer of engineered fasteners and precision turned components with plants in Smithifield, RI, and Newnan, GA. Prior to Groov-Pin, Scot was with GE as Manager of Marketing and Engineering for a unit within GE Medical Systems. Following graduation from a GE management training program, Scot led the model shop and formed the production team for the start-up of GE’s MRI scanner business. He went on to lead groups accelerating the development of imaging technology for pharmaceutical and medical research. Scot has a BSEE from the University of Maine, an MASc from the University of Toronto in Wave Sciences, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Scot serves on the board of Crossroads RI and is a member of YPO/WPO. He lives in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Dwayne Keys
Dwayne Keys has spent over 15 years advocating on behalf of historically excluded and disadvantaged communities. He’s has been involved in various community & volunteer organizations such the RI Young Professionals & Urban League focusing on economic development, housing, and political participation. Dwayne serves as Chairperson of the South Providence Neighborhood Association (SPNA), leading efforts to provide public forums where all South Providence residents may have direct input in the urban planning decisions that shape the future of the neighborhood. In addition to his advocacy and volunteer work, Dwayne is a full-time Financial Coach with Compass Working Capital, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial coaching and education to families with low income residents to help them build assets and financial capabilities. With over 15 years of experience working in banking & financial services before joining Compass, Dwayne still participates in various personal finance programs and economic prosperity events geared to eliminating poverty.
Mark Marosits
Mark is a social marketing strategy advisor to social purpose organizations spanning government agencies, foundations, non-profits and social ventures. He co-founded and co-owns Worldways with his partner Maureen Cronin. Worldways has provided research, strategy, design, integrated media, Web development, digital marketing and technology innovation services to over 100 client organizations on three continents. A social enterprise coach and investor as well, he has helped to launch and scale organizations in such arenas as health, fair trade and organic fashion and socially conscious films, as well as in the microenterprise arena. Prior to Worldways, he served as a partner in several health and health care industry consultancies.
Rebeka Mazzone
Rebeka has spent over 20 years in financial strategy, planning, and analysis with a focus on collaboration and successfully partnering within the organization to close the gap between finance and operations. After spending several years with a Big 4 accounting firm, Rebeka provided outsourced CFO and financial turnaround services for a broad range of industries before working directly in higher education, most recently as the COO and CFO of an industrial arts school where she oversaw faculty, the development and launch of a new academic program and construction and financing of a new academic building. She is excited to return to her passion of consulting to help companies thrive and evolve. Rebeka is a strategist and planner, passionate about creating value for companies. Her entrepreneurial mindset and intellectual curiosity drive her to find creative ways to solve problems, prioritize and deliver tangible outcomes in a growing organization. Rebeka has demonstrated achievement in developing and leading organization-wide change management including turning around a company or department's performance several times throughout her consulting career.
Julia McDowell
Julia McDowell is Director of Enterprise Strategy at CVS Health, where she is currently focused on new healthcare opportunities enabled by the recent acquisition of Aetna. At CVS, Julia has also worked on product innovation with CVS’s specialty pharmacy, enterprise adoption of new technology, evaluation of competitive threats, and organizational design for strategy and innovation. Prior to this, Julia served as Program Director of Family Planning at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), where she designed, launched, and led the organization’s first family planning program. She oversaw the implementation of pricing deals CHAI brokered with global pharmaceutical companies to make essential contraceptive products affordable, partnering with public health systems in sub-Saharan Africa to expand access to long-acting methods of contraception for millions of women. Early in her career, Julia was a Fulbright Fellow in Bolivia, where she collaborated with indigenous communities on environmental health and social justice issues, and later served as the Principal Investigator for Climate Change at Agua Sustentable, a local nonprofit research and advocacy organization. Julia earned an MBA at the Yale School of Management as a Frederick Frank Fellow, and an MPH at Emory University as a Robert W. Woodruff Fellow. She completed her BA at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she now lives with her husband, Seth.
David Melançon
David Melançon is a business strategist and brand-builder who leads The Ito Partnership, a strategic consultancy helping purpose-driven businesses and organizations navigate today’s world, creating strategies and programs that drive growth, impact and results. Moving beyond positioning and marketing, Ito’s work connects intention and purpose to actionable business goals and results.
David has spent the last two decades helping companies grow, both as a C-suite member and as a consultant. Most recently at Edelman, he led a 150-member team, responsible for a cross-section of high-profile clients, including Comcast, GE, Charles Schwab, Booking.com and Bacardi. In leadership roles at other agencies, David led work with global clients including Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Sony, Kaiser Permanente and wework.
David has worked for iconic brands such as Berkshire Hathaway’s Benjamin Moore — where his work as CMO led to being named an Adweek Brand Genius — to start-ups such as JUST Capital and the nation’s first ebook company, NetLibrary. As VP of corporate communications for Visa, he led global communications efforts in launching new technology products such as online payments, stored value cards, and Visa’s first digital products.
An early leader in helping organizations develop models that integrate purpose with financial sustainability, David has worked with social enterprise leaders such as Echoing Green, Global Citizen and Defy Ventures, as well as purpose-led brands such as Starbucks, Chobani and Kind. He began his career in the US Navy, serving as a journalist and public affairs officer. David is a featured speaker at industry conferences globally, a frequent contributor and commenter in publications and articles, and has served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including GLSEN, the AIA Foundation and Make It Right.
David completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and graduate studies at both Keio University in Tokyo and the University of Oklahoma.
Sonia Millsom
Sonia Millsom is the Chief Commercial Officer at Maven Clinic. With a mission to reset the standard of care for women, Maven Clinic is the largest telehealth platform specialized for women and families. In her role, Sonia leads Maven’s annual go to market plan, sales, client success and strategic partnerships to meet annual revenue targets. Throughout her career, Sonia has chosen roles that focus on transforming the delivery system for better consumer outcomes. Prior to joining Maven, Sonia held leadership roles at Iora Health, Best Doctors, Health Dialog and UnitedHealthcare where she led teams to generate revenue through marketing, sales and business development. Her passion for innovation in healthcare started during her time as a Maternal Child Health Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. She has a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and a BA from Boston College. Sonia resides in East Greenwich, RI where she and her husband are raising the next generation of strong women as the parents of two teenage girls.
Gary Rindner
Gary enjoys sharing his extensive business, legal and operational experience with aspiring and successful entrepreneurs. He started his career as a corporate lawyer in New York City and then served as General Counsel for a multinational trading firm for over 15 years. In 2007, Gary transitioned to the nonprofit sector and directed his efforts to developing infrastructure and improving business efficiency and operational outcomes. He served as COO for one nonprofit providing free job training and placement in New York City and another nonprofit supporting a national partnership of healthcare providers. In these positions, he helped ambitious and demanding CEOs implement their visions! Gary currently serves as a Director and Vice Chair of Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, a workforce development nonprofit for jobless and working poor New Yorkers. He splits his time between Westchester, New York and Westerly, Rhode Island.
Jim Seymour
Jim Seymour has over 36 years of investment and finance experience in international and emerging markets. With Bankers Trust, he spent 18 years living and working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. He also worked for 13 years at Commonfund Capital managing international/emerging markets private equity funds; 4 years at EMP Global, a Washington based emerging markets private equity firm; and most recently with Pontefract Global Strategies, LLC (PGS). PGS advises investors and investment management firms on investing in international private equity opportunities with a primary focus on social impact investing in frontier emerging markets. Examples of current relationships include a corporate finance firm based in Vietnam; a Cambodia-based private equity firm; a new private equity firm in Haiti; an early stage venture capital firm in India; and a new private capital firm in Nigeria. Jim has served on 18 private equity fund advisory boards and is currently on the Board of the Africa Emerging Markets Fund and several non-profit Boards including the Global Partnership for Afghanistan, the Coalition for Green Capital, and the Thunderbird Private Equity Center. In the past he has served on the Boards of The Brent School, an Anglican boarding school in Baguio, the Philippines, the American Church in London, Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport, CT, and the Westport Public Library. Jim is a graduate of Yale University in International Relations and Harvard Business School in International Finance and served four years in the U.S. Navy submarine force.
Tony Weisman
Tony Weisman is a globally recognized, award-winning marketing executive with over 30 years of experience stewarding the world’s biggest brands. He specializes in digital marketing transformation and brand differentiation. As the former Chief Marketing Officer of Dunkin’ US and CEO of Digitas, he is a highly effective leader known for driving growth, talent acquisition, mentorship and building diverse, dynamic Millennial and Gen-Z workplace cultures. A tech, digital and consumer savvy marketer, Tony is also a frequent speaker and coach. Tony previously served as CMO of Draft Worldwide, an integrated marketing services agency focused on direct and digital marketing. He began his career at Leo Burnett Advertising. Tony currently serves on the Ad Council, Mobile Marketing Association and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and was the former Chairman of Chicago Public Media (WBEZ). Tony received his BA in political science from Brown University (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He lives in Narragansett, RI. and enjoys cycling, sailing, and attending live music.
Lorne Adrain
Lorne Adrain is a co-founder of SVPRI and served as the Chair for several years. He is highly engaged in philanthropy – author of a book series raising money to support community needs (www.adrain.com), founder of National Neighborhood Day, RI Foundation’s “Inspiring Partner of 2005” and winner of Northwestern Mutual Life’s community service award “Most Exceptional Volunteer” in the nation. Lorne serves on multiple boards including Harvard Business School, Big Picture Schools, and the Business Innovation Factory. He earned his BS at University of Rhode Island and his MBA at Harvard. Mr. Adrian lives in Providence, Rhode Island.John Farber
John Farber has over 25 years experience in developing and managing brands in the food and housewares sector. He is currently the president of HEYMB Food Enterprises LLC which manages the food and housewares businesses of renowned chef Mario Batali. Mr. Farber was also an owner/founder of OXO International, the iconic housewares brand. Prior to OXO, Mr. Farber spent 6 years on Wall Street in the Mergers and Acquisitions Business. Mr. Farber has an MBA from Yale University and a AB from Oberlin College.
Martin Keen
A leader in design innovation, serial entrepreneur Martin Keen is the founder of the global socially-conscious KEEN® Footwear brand and, more recently, the award-winning Focal Upright Furniture company based in Portsmouth, RI. His love of sculptural form, structures found in nature and competitive sailing inspire his pragmatic design aesthetic, helping him create many of the market trends and innovative products in use today.
Keen was born in 1965 in Somerset, England. He holds a BA in Industrial Design from the Ohio State University. In addition to racing sailboats, Keen also enjoys traveling, beekeeping, creating sculptural pottery and snowboarding in the mountains of Vermont. He lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island with his wife and two children.
Diane Lynch
Diane Lynch has been a Social Enterprise Greenhouse partner since June 2009. She has served on the Loan Committee and the Board for the last four years, and has been Chair since 2013. Previously, Diane was a management consultant with Booz, Allen, working primarily in the food sector, assisting domestic and international food manufacturers and retailers in the areas of operations, logistics, strategy and product launch. From 2009-2011, she served as Director of Social Enterprises at Amos House, working with their catering, restaurant, baking mix, and home improvement businesses. She holds a BA from Brandeis University and an MBA from Boston University. Her public service experience includes work in education, municipal planning and urban environmental planning. Diane, her husband Jim and their three children reside in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Kathy Bendheim
Kathy Bendheim is an independent consultant focused on addressing social and educational issues. Her early career was spent in public accounting followed by business school and management consulting with McKinsey & Co. However, her passion has consistently been the improvement of the public education system. Since leaving the for-profit world, she has worked in Bridgeport, CT for the YMCA, where she started a summer and after-school program that won the Chairman’s Award for best new program; in New York City for Clearpool, Inc., an education reform initiative; and in program operations and development of for-profit initiatives to generate sustainable funding. She was also the Executive Director of the White House Council for Community Solutions, which was tasked with identifying best practices in community collaboratives with a focus on how to create more opportunity for disconnected youth. Most recently she was a consultant with Building Impact, advising foundations and philanthropies on investments in public education. Kathy has a bachelor’s degree in business from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
MJ Kaplan
MJ juggles several roles. In 2014 she joined Loomio, a social enterprise start up based in New Zealand. Loomio is an online platform for collaborative decision making that is in 75 countries and growing rapidly. MJ teaches social enterprise and strategy at Brown University. Since 2000, MJ has led Kaplan Consulting, focused on strategic alignment, partnerships and leadership. MJ was the Fulbright New Zealand Ian Axford Fellow in 2013, where she researched social enterprise start-ups. In 2014, MJ’s research contributed to national policy changes and substantial growth of the social enterprise sector in New Zealand.
Kim Anderson
Kim’s more than 30 years as a business leader and entrepreneur started in the Executive Training/Buying Departments of Jordan Marsh and Macy’s. She founded Teapots & Tassels, Co., which was awarded “Best of Rhode Island” repeatedly, and was featured in Southern Home Magazine. Kim has founded and led several significant community based programs, including the Barrington Business Task Force, and was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Year” award by the SBA in 1991 and “Citizen of the Year Award” in 2005 by the East Bay Chamber of Commerce. She founded and chairs Flower Power, a community beautification effort in Barrington, and has raised close to half million dollars in twelve years for this endowed effort. In 2009 Kim and her daughter, Ava, founded Ava Anderson Non Toxic, a direct sales company offering the safest full line of 90+ organic and natural personal care and home cleaning products, whose singular purpose was to reduce harmful chemicals linked to disease for humans and the environment. In 7 years she and her daughter built the company to a $60M run rate, with 100 local employees, and 20,000 enrolled Independent Consultants across the country. The Andersons sold the business in 2016, and Kim is now dedicated to working with her family to impact invest for climate crisis solutions.
Kenneth Barrette
Chair
Kenneth is a results-oriented executive with 20 years of experience in business operations and technology. Specializing in translating vision into actionable strategy, he consistently drives turnarounds of underperforming organizations, accelerates revenue growth and profitability for new business ventures and product launches, and improves velocity and value realization of strategic business investments and acquisitions. As a proven change leader, Kenneth has extensive experience in all aspects of designing business operations, including product development, marketing sales and distribution, consumer engagement and service, operations transacting and administration, technology enablement, and organizational structure and performance. Ken is a Managing Director in Alvarez and Marsal’s Healthcare Industry Group.
Claudia Cardozo
Claudia is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach with over 10 years of experience assisting small businesses; non-profit organizations and the private sector to improve employee engagement and economic growth. She brings a unique blend of experience in the private and public sectors, combined with a vast network and access to resources that she leverages to find customized solutions that best meets the needs of her clients. Her passion for helping others develop their full potential has its origins in her own story as a first-generation immigrant to the United States. Her constant pursue of personal and professional development allowed her to gain experience in a variety of industries, always pushing the boundaries of her comfort zone and striving for excellence.
Claudia is the Community Development Manager and HarborOne Bank, and a Strengths Coach at Leadership Rhode Island’s Make RI Stronger Initiative. Ms. Cardozo is in the board of directors of Academy for Career Exploration High School and the Providence/Cranston Workforce Board. She is also a Community Advisor at United Way of Rhode Island and Business Mentor at Venture Mentoring Services of Rhode Island. Claudia holds a certificate of Master Coach of Neuro-linguistic Programming.
In 2010, Claudia was named the Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by RI Small Business Administration, and in 2013, RI Latino Public Radio recognized her with an Outstanding Achievement Award for her contributions to the Latino business community. She also received the Ronald McDonald House Community Service Award in 2014.
Dan Crocker
Dan Crocker is a business leader with extensive experience in leading the strategy and driving the results of global businesses. His most recent roles have included serving as the COO of Daniele Foods, a third generation producer of specialty Italian charcuterie, and the SVP, Global Chief Customer Officer of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc., the iconic agricultural cooperative known for creating a broad portfolio of cranberry products sold to over 100 countries around the world. Holding a wide variety of leadership positions throughout his career, Dan has consistently demonstrated a relentless curiosity to discover creative solutions to complex business challenges, which is why working with SEG entrepreneurs is so inspiring to him. Dan’s background also includes working across a broad range of industries as an attorney in the public sector, in a corporate private practice, and as in-house counsel. Dan earned his law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law, and his undergraduate degree in economics and English from Drake University. Dan lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Erica, and their three children.
Scot Jones
Scot is the owner and CEO of Groov-Pin Corporation, a manufacturer of engineered fasteners and precision turned components with plants in Smithifield, RI, and Newnan, GA. Prior to Groov-Pin, Scot was with GE as Manager of Marketing and Engineering for a unit within GE Medical Systems. Following graduation from a GE management training program, Scot led the model shop and formed the production team for the start-up of GE’s MRI scanner business. He went on to lead groups accelerating the development of imaging technology for pharmaceutical and medical research. Scot has a BSEE from the University of Maine, an MASc from the University of Toronto in Wave Sciences, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Scot serves on the board of Crossroads RI and is a member of YPO/WPO. He lives in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
Dwayne Keys
Dwayne Keys has spent over 15 years advocating on behalf of historically excluded and disadvantaged communities. He’s has been involved in various community & volunteer organizations such the RI Young Professionals & Urban League focusing on economic development, housing, and political participation. Dwayne serves as Chairperson of the South Providence Neighborhood Association (SPNA), leading efforts to provide public forums where all South Providence residents may have direct input in the urban planning decisions that shape the future of the neighborhood. In addition to his advocacy and volunteer work, Dwayne is a full-time Financial Coach with Compass Working Capital, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial coaching and education to families with low income residents to help them build assets and financial capabilities. With over 15 years of experience working in banking & financial services before joining Compass, Dwayne still participates in various personal finance programs and economic prosperity events geared to eliminating poverty.
Mark Marosits
Mark is a social marketing strategy advisor to social purpose organizations spanning government agencies, foundations, non-profits and social ventures. He co-founded and co-owns Worldways with his partner Maureen Cronin. Worldways has provided research, strategy, design, integrated media, Web development, digital marketing and technology innovation services to over 100 client organizations on three continents. A social enterprise coach and investor as well, he has helped to launch and scale organizations in such arenas as health, fair trade and organic fashion and socially conscious films, as well as in the microenterprise arena. Prior to Worldways, he served as a partner in several health and health care industry consultancies.
Rebeka Mazzone
Rebeka has spent over 20 years in financial strategy, planning, and analysis with a focus on collaboration and successfully partnering within the organization to close the gap between finance and operations. After spending several years with a Big 4 accounting firm, Rebeka provided outsourced CFO and financial turnaround services for a broad range of industries before working directly in higher education, most recently as the COO and CFO of an industrial arts school where she oversaw faculty, the development and launch of a new academic program and construction and financing of a new academic building. She is excited to return to her passion of consulting to help companies thrive and evolve. Rebeka is a strategist and planner, passionate about creating value for companies. Her entrepreneurial mindset and intellectual curiosity drive her to find creative ways to solve problems, prioritize and deliver tangible outcomes in a growing organization. Rebeka has demonstrated achievement in developing and leading organization-wide change management including turning around a company or department's performance several times throughout her consulting career.
Julia McDowell
Julia McDowell is Director of Enterprise Strategy at CVS Health, where she is currently focused on new healthcare opportunities enabled by the recent acquisition of Aetna. At CVS, Julia has also worked on product innovation with CVS’s specialty pharmacy, enterprise adoption of new technology, evaluation of competitive threats, and organizational design for strategy and innovation. Prior to this, Julia served as Program Director of Family Planning at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), where she designed, launched, and led the organization’s first family planning program. She oversaw the implementation of pricing deals CHAI brokered with global pharmaceutical companies to make essential contraceptive products affordable, partnering with public health systems in sub-Saharan Africa to expand access to long-acting methods of contraception for millions of women. Early in her career, Julia was a Fulbright Fellow in Bolivia, where she collaborated with indigenous communities on environmental health and social justice issues, and later served as the Principal Investigator for Climate Change at Agua Sustentable, a local nonprofit research and advocacy organization. Julia earned an MBA at the Yale School of Management as a Frederick Frank Fellow, and an MPH at Emory University as a Robert W. Woodruff Fellow. She completed her BA at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she now lives with her husband, Seth.
David Melançon
David Melançon is a business strategist and brand-builder who leads The Ito Partnership, a strategic consultancy helping purpose-driven businesses and organizations navigate today’s world, creating strategies and programs that drive growth, impact and results. Moving beyond positioning and marketing, Ito’s work connects intention and purpose to actionable business goals and results.
David has spent the last two decades helping companies grow, both as a C-suite member and as a consultant. Most recently at Edelman, he led a 150-member team, responsible for a cross-section of high-profile clients, including Comcast, GE, Charles Schwab, Booking.com and Bacardi. In leadership roles at other agencies, David led work with global clients including Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Sony, Kaiser Permanente and wework.
David has worked for iconic brands such as Berkshire Hathaway’s Benjamin Moore — where his work as CMO led to being named an Adweek Brand Genius — to start-ups such as JUST Capital and the nation’s first ebook company, NetLibrary. As VP of corporate communications for Visa, he led global communications efforts in launching new technology products such as online payments, stored value cards, and Visa’s first digital products.
An early leader in helping organizations develop models that integrate purpose with financial sustainability, David has worked with social enterprise leaders such as Echoing Green, Global Citizen and Defy Ventures, as well as purpose-led brands such as Starbucks, Chobani and Kind. He began his career in the US Navy, serving as a journalist and public affairs officer. David is a featured speaker at industry conferences globally, a frequent contributor and commenter in publications and articles, and has served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including GLSEN, the AIA Foundation and Make It Right.
David completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and graduate studies at both Keio University in Tokyo and the University of Oklahoma.
Sonia Millsom
Sonia Millsom is the Chief Commercial Officer at Maven Clinic. With a mission to reset the standard of care for women, Maven Clinic is the largest telehealth platform specialized for women and families. In her role, Sonia leads Maven’s annual go to market plan, sales, client success and strategic partnerships to meet annual revenue targets. Throughout her career, Sonia has chosen roles that focus on transforming the delivery system for better consumer outcomes. Prior to joining Maven, Sonia held leadership roles at Iora Health, Best Doctors, Health Dialog and UnitedHealthcare where she led teams to generate revenue through marketing, sales and business development. Her passion for innovation in healthcare started during her time as a Maternal Child Health Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. She has a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and a BA from Boston College. Sonia resides in East Greenwich, RI where she and her husband are raising the next generation of strong women as the parents of two teenage girls.
Gary Rindner
Gary enjoys sharing his extensive business, legal and operational experience with aspiring and successful entrepreneurs. He started his career as a corporate lawyer in New York City and then served as General Counsel for a multinational trading firm for over 15 years. In 2007, Gary transitioned to the nonprofit sector and directed his efforts to developing infrastructure and improving business efficiency and operational outcomes. He served as COO for one nonprofit providing free job training and placement in New York City and another nonprofit supporting a national partnership of healthcare providers. In these positions, he helped ambitious and demanding CEOs implement their visions! Gary currently serves as a Director and Vice Chair of Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, a workforce development nonprofit for jobless and working poor New Yorkers. He splits his time between Westchester, New York and Westerly, Rhode Island.
Jim Seymour
Jim Seymour has over 36 years of investment and finance experience in international and emerging markets. With Bankers Trust, he spent 18 years living and working in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. He also worked for 13 years at Commonfund Capital managing international/emerging markets private equity funds; 4 years at EMP Global, a Washington based emerging markets private equity firm; and most recently with Pontefract Global Strategies, LLC (PGS). PGS advises investors and investment management firms on investing in international private equity opportunities with a primary focus on social impact investing in frontier emerging markets. Examples of current relationships include a corporate finance firm based in Vietnam; a Cambodia-based private equity firm; a new private equity firm in Haiti; an early stage venture capital firm in India; and a new private capital firm in Nigeria. Jim has served on 18 private equity fund advisory boards and is currently on the Board of the Africa Emerging Markets Fund and several non-profit Boards including the Global Partnership for Afghanistan, the Coalition for Green Capital, and the Thunderbird Private Equity Center. In the past he has served on the Boards of The Brent School, an Anglican boarding school in Baguio, the Philippines, the American Church in London, Christ & Holy Trinity Church in Westport, CT, and the Westport Public Library. Jim is a graduate of Yale University in International Relations and Harvard Business School in International Finance and served four years in the U.S. Navy submarine force.
Tony Weisman
Tony Weisman is a globally recognized, award-winning marketing executive with over 30 years of experience stewarding the world’s biggest brands. He specializes in digital marketing transformation and brand differentiation. As the former Chief Marketing Officer of Dunkin’ US and CEO of Digitas, he is a highly effective leader known for driving growth, talent acquisition, mentorship and building diverse, dynamic Millennial and Gen-Z workplace cultures. A tech, digital and consumer savvy marketer, Tony is also a frequent speaker and coach. Tony previously served as CMO of Draft Worldwide, an integrated marketing services agency focused on direct and digital marketing. He began his career at Leo Burnett Advertising. Tony currently serves on the Ad Council, Mobile Marketing Association and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, and was the former Chairman of Chicago Public Media (WBEZ). Tony received his BA in political science from Brown University (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa). He lives in Narragansett, RI. and enjoys cycling, sailing, and attending live music.
Lorne Adrain
Lorne Adrain is a co-founder of SVPRI and served as the Chair for several years. He is highly engaged in philanthropy – author of a book series raising money to support community needs (www.adrain.com), founder of National Neighborhood Day, RI Foundation’s “Inspiring Partner of 2005” and winner of Northwestern Mutual Life’s community service award “Most Exceptional Volunteer” in the nation. Lorne serves on multiple boards including Harvard Business School, Big Picture Schools, and the Business Innovation Factory. He earned his BS at University of Rhode Island and his MBA at Harvard. Mr. Adrian lives in Providence, Rhode Island.John Farber
John Farber has over 25 years experience in developing and managing brands in the food and housewares sector. He is currently the president of HEYMB Food Enterprises LLC which manages the food and housewares businesses of renowned chef Mario Batali. Mr. Farber was also an owner/founder of OXO International, the iconic housewares brand. Prior to OXO, Mr. Farber spent 6 years on Wall Street in the Mergers and Acquisitions Business. Mr. Farber has an MBA from Yale University and a AB from Oberlin College.
Martin Keen
A leader in design innovation, serial entrepreneur Martin Keen is the founder of the global socially-conscious KEEN® Footwear brand and, more recently, the award-winning Focal Upright Furniture company based in Portsmouth, RI. His love of sculptural form, structures found in nature and competitive sailing inspire his pragmatic design aesthetic, helping him create many of the market trends and innovative products in use today.
Keen was born in 1965 in Somerset, England. He holds a BA in Industrial Design from the Ohio State University. In addition to racing sailboats, Keen also enjoys traveling, beekeeping, creating sculptural pottery and snowboarding in the mountains of Vermont. He lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island with his wife and two children.
Diane Lynch
Diane Lynch has been a Social Enterprise Greenhouse partner since June 2009. She has served on the Loan Committee and the Board for the last four years, and has been Chair since 2013. Previously, Diane was a management consultant with Booz, Allen, working primarily in the food sector, assisting domestic and international food manufacturers and retailers in the areas of operations, logistics, strategy and product launch. From 2009-2011, she served as Director of Social Enterprises at Amos House, working with their catering, restaurant, baking mix, and home improvement businesses. She holds a BA from Brandeis University and an MBA from Boston University. Her public service experience includes work in education, municipal planning and urban environmental planning. Diane, her husband Jim and their three children reside in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.