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Global Leadership Team
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Isam Ghanim
President and CEO
Meet Isam
Isam Ghanim is ChildFund International’s ninth president and CEO. In his career spanning nearly four decades, he has dedicated his life to making a meaningful impact on the lives of children and families in need.
With a passion for positive change and a heart attuned to global concerns, Ghanim has lived and worked in some of the world’s most challenging places, including Sudan, Somalia, India, Kenya and Ethiopia. His firsthand experiences in these diverse and complex environments have positioned him as a catalyst for social change.
In 2023, Ghanim was honored with several prestigious accolades. He delivered a keynote at the annual briefing of the Overseas Security Advisory Council, a testament to his expertise in international development and his understanding of its contribution toward global security. He was also heralded as one of "The Most Innovative CEOs to Watch in 2023," underscoring his forward-thinking approach to tackling complex global challenges. Virginia Business magazine also recognized him for his outstanding leadership, shining a spotlight on his influence in the world of nonprofits.
Before assuming his role as the head of ChildFund International, Ghanim served as the president of Search for Common Ground, an organization renowned for its work in transforming the way the world deals with conflict, fostering peace and understanding in strife-torn regions. His career has included senior positions with other organizations at the country, regional and global levels. His tireless commitment to improving the lives of children worldwide makes him an inspiring figure in international development. -
Meg Audette
Chief Organizational Effectiveness Officer
Meet Meg
Meg has over 19 years of experience in international development. She has worked on child development and protection initiatives in Palestine, Sierra Leone, Nicaragua, Cambodia and the Philippines. After spending more than 10 years working for nonprofit organizations, Meg worked for the United Nations and most recently has served as vice president for Project Support Services for ARD, a Tetra Tech Company. Meg holds an M.A. in sustainable development from the SIT Graduate Institute in Vermont and a B.A. in English and history from Wofford College in South Carolina. A member of the Metis Nation, a western Canadian indigenous group, Meg will be working remotely from Vermont, where she lives with her family.
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Cristina Barrera
Regional Director, Americas
Meet Cristina
Cristina Barrera is a professional with over 14 years of experience in international development, where she has promoted the rights of children and people with disabilities. She has led advocacy efforts, establishing alliances with governments and civil society organizations, as well as impactful programs in vulnerable communities. She has also led fundraising strategies and fostered positive work environments.
As Regional Director, Cristina is responsible for strategic leadership and overseeing operations in Americas region countries where ChildFund operates, including Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.
Before assuming this role, Cristina served as Country Director for ChildFund in Ecuador. She also worked for CBM, where she was responsible for strategy definition and operations in Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay and Cuba.
Cristina holds an MBA with a specialization in project management and a postgraduate degree in Digital Transformation.
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Karen Hanrahan
Chief Impact and Innovation Officer
Meet Karen
Karen Hanrahan is an executive change agent with 25 years in the public and private sectors, leading large-scale social impact initiatives and public-private partnerships around the world. From the front lines of conflict and poverty across Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and the United States to senior levels of government, nonprofit, business and philanthropy, Karen has spent her career forging unique public-private collaboration, designing and executing sophisticated policy and strategy, empowering local communities and strengthening organizations to advance opportunity, inclusive growth, human rights and democracy.
Prior to ChildFund, Karen served as president and CEO of GLIDE Foundation, where she led efforts to transform an iconic community foundation to break cycles of poverty, catalyze mobility and advance equity in the Bay Area. She has formed unique multi-stakeholder partnerships with corporate leaders, philanthropists and leaders such as Warren Buffet to generate capital, co-create holistic solutions and make investments that change lives and systems. Prior to GLIDE Foundation, Karen spent 20 years advancing global development, human rights, democracy and gender equality across continents, including six years in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary for democracy and human rights, as coordinator of international assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan and as architect of a large-scale strategic planning and organizational change initiative for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. During her time as an appointee, Karen was also detailed as the chief innovation officer to the U.K. Department for International Development in England, where she designed and launched the Humanitarian Innovation Hub, established innovative financing and partnerships and catalyzed new solutions to hard development challenges.
After graduating at the top of her law school class, Karen practiced International Project Finance at White & Case, LLP, where she built complex financing deals and partnerships with the World Bank, IFC, OPIC/IDFC and other global financial institutions. She served as senior leader at a Fortune 500 company, establishing its first corporate social impact strategy while also building new business and capabilities in international development and security. Karen has worked for the United Nations as a senior protection officer in Afghanistan and for State and USAID as funder, senior advisor and leader of large human rights and rule of law initiatives in Iraq. Along the way, she has built deep expertise and a track record in change management, strategic planning and organizational health.
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Adam Hicks
Chief Development & Marketing Officer
Meet Adam
Adam has more than 30 years of success in brand building and customer and channel marketing.
Before joining ChildFund, Adam served as the marketing leader at Cross-Cultural Solutions and CARE.
Prior to his nonprofit career, Adam worked at The Coca-Cola Company as their Director, Global Education Market Development Group.
He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee.
Adam has also served on the boards for HelpAge, USA and Men of Valor, Inc., and chaired the board at The YMCA Community Action project.
Though he is proud of his professional accomplishments, Adam’s greatest love is for his family: his wife, Gillian, and three sons; twins Noah and Tanner, and Ian.
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Erin Kennedy
VP, External Affairs & Partnerships
Meet Erin
Erin Kennedy is a leading policy, children’s rights and gender expert with almost 20 years of experience in the field. Ms. Kennedy is responsible for setting strategic direction for the organization’s business development, U.S. advocacy and external engagement portfolio. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Duquesne University and a Master’s in Public Administration from American University.
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Mario Lima
VP, Program Resources & Institutional Learning
Meet Mario
Mario Lima, ChildFund’s vice president for Program Resources and Institutional Learning, has more than 25 years of international development experience holding different positions at the country, regional and global levels. As a member of the ChildFund leadership team, he has worked on different fronts to improve social impact, local partnerships, internal processes and overall effectiveness. Before coming to ChildFund, he worked for CARE International, where he served as country director in the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, the L&OD director at international headquarters and the deputy regional director for Latin America, among other roles. He was also the co-founder and executive director for Learning for International NGOs (LINGOs).
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Laura Meloy
Chief Financial Officer
Meet Laura
Laura Meloy oversees global finance and accounting operations at ChildFund, bringing over 25 years of distinguished experience in nonprofit fiscal management to her role. Prior to her tenure at ChildFund, Laura held the position of Chief Financial and Operating Officer at United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg, where she also served on the National Financial Issues Committee for United Way Worldwide.
A Certified Public Accountant affiliated with the Virginia Society of CPAs, Laura holds an undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her extensive background and expertise in financial leadership contribute significantly to the strategic direction and operational efficiency of ChildFund's global initiatives. -
Chege Ngugi
Regional Director, Africa
Meet Chege
Chege Ngugi has devoted over a decade of his professional life to ChildFund in the Africa Region as a country and regional team leader. Prior to this role, Chege held several executive positions at ChildFund. He served as a Country Director in 3 countries; Mozambique, Ethiopia and Kenya for nearly 10 years, where he championed various innovations in programming, fundraising and partnership building, particularly with corporates. His core competencies include resource mobilization, people management, program design and execution, organizational development, financial management and budgetary control, and partnerships and strategic alliances formation. In addition, he has served in different global taskforces that have been instrumental in developing new ways of doing business especially in the Covid-19 era. Chege holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the United States International University (USIU) - Africa and Columbia Business School.
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Hanneke Oudkerk
Regional Director, Asia
Meet Hanneke
Hanneke Oudkerk is a seasoned international development professional with over two decades of experience in the field of child rights and public health. Prior to her role as the Regional Director for ChildFund International Asia region, she served as the Country Director for ChildFund International Indonesia. Hanneke is passionate about leading and motivating multidisciplinary teams to achieve outstanding results and helping team members realize their full potential. Innovation, whether from a technological or systems-based perspective, has consistently played a pivotal role in Hanneke's career. She has a profound appreciation for brainstorming, design thinking processes, and the implementation of innovative ideas that facilitate effective and efficient work methods. Hanneke also values collaboration with equally motivated organizations, companies, and individuals to drive positive change. Hanneke had the opportunity to lead development programs in Nepal and Sri Lanka before relocating to Indonesia 11 years ago.
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Scott Sherman
Global VP/Chief HR Officer
Meet Scott
Scott and his team lead the talent management function of ChildFund.
Previously, he worked as Vice President, Human Resources at IntraHealth International; Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Development at PRA Sciences; and Global Director, Human Resources at FHI360.
Scott earned his undergraduate degree in child development and family life with a concentration in human resources management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, his master’s degree in counseling at Eastern Michigan University and his doctorate in adult education at North Carolina State University.
Scott is married with two children, Jessie and Blake, and enjoys playing golf and taking long walks with the dog.
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Sudipto Sircar
VP, IT/CIO
Meet Sudipto
Sudipto in his role is responsible for planning, sourcing, management and governance of the information technology function at ChildFund, ensuring that ChildFund adopts technologies that can be taken to scale and are practical and cost-effective in advancing the mission and vision of the organization. He come to ChildFund with 20-plus years of experience in the nonprofit sector, involved in delivering technology solutions geared toward improving the impact of humanitarian projects. Prior to joining ChildFund, Sudipto worked at CRS as Director of Enterprise Architecture, overseeing the implementation of global technology projects and managing the technology investment portfolio. He holds a master’s in Computer Application with certifications in enterprise architecture, project management, service delivery and change management. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and daughter.
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Amelia Smith
General Counsel
Meet Amelia
Amelia Smith joined ChildFund International in September 2022, as General Counsel. Amelia comes to ChildFund with a strong background in non-profit law and legal risk management, with a particular focus on international operations. Prior to joining ChildFund she spent five years as Senior Attorney for the Nature Conservancy, and nine years as General Counsel at Conservation International. She has an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Texas, and a law degree from the Catholic University of America. She and her husband live in Stafford Virginia and are looking forward to relocating to the Richmond area in the near future.
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James Tuite
Chief Operating Officer
Meet James
Mr. Tuite is responsible for the finance, accounting, assurance, treasury, legal, office administration and human resources at ChildFund.
Previously, he worked at the Population Council as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary-Treasurer. Mr. Tuite has also worked as an Auditor/Operations Analyst for Save the Children.
Mr. Tuite is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and former chairman of the board of InsideNGO. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the India Society.
He holds an undergraduate degree in accounting from Northeastern University in Boston and a master’s degree in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Board Members
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Tamar Manuelyan Atinc
Chair
Meet Tamar
Tamar Manuelyan Atinc is a development professional with over 30 years of experience in the analysis and implementation of development policies and programs. She is currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution where she has worked since 2013. During her long career at the World Bank, Ms. Manuelyan Atinc was Vice President for Human Development and served in three regions, including Europe and Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, and Africa working to advance country policy and programs to foster human development, reduce poverty and improve economic management. Her recent research has focused primarily on scaling up early childhood development, social impact bonds, and data and accountability for better education outcomes. Ms. Manuelyan Atinc is a member of the Board of the Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development Studies in Geneva since October 2017 and a member of the Advisory Committee for the Queen Rania Foundation since October 2018. She started her career working in Geneva at the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. A Turkish national, Ms. Manuelyan Atinc has undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
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Helen Thompson
Vice Chair
Meet Helen
Helen Thompson is the former Managing Director for the TOMS EMEA business where she led the development of the TOMS brand and business across Europe, Middle East and Africa building the TOMS mission to Use Business to Improve Lives. Helen has built a career with several international consumer brands across apparel, footwear and accessories sectors developing to Executive and Board level roles. Helen is now developing a portfolio of non Executive board positions supporting business with strong ethical cores who are also doing work for good. Helen currently resides in Somerset in the UK.
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Terry Peigh
Secretary
Meet Terry
Terry Peigh is a consultant on advertising, marketing communications and consumer insights, having recently retired as Managing Director of Interpublic Group.
While at Interpublic, Terry was responsible for leading global teams, providing a fully integrated, multi-disciplinary offering of communications services to some of the world's largest companies. Along with that work, for much of his career Terry has also supported several global health and development organizations at the board level (including the Population Council, Population Reference Bureau and Mothers2Mothers) and has served as consultant to government groups on a range of strategy and communications issues. Terry is a graduate of Northwestern University and earned his MBA with honors from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.
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Nisha Agrawal
Meet Nisha
Dr. Nisha Agrawal most recently served as CEO of Oxfam India, from March 2008 to April 2018, and joined the Oxfam International board soon after starting. During her tenure, Nisha and the OI board created five new Oxfam affiliates – in Mexico, India, South Africa, Brazil and Turkey – to make OI a truly global network. As CEO, Nisha led a complex change management process that integrated the programs and staff of the six international Oxfams then operating in India to create a single one. She also led a highly consultative process to formulate Oxfam India’s first five-year-strategy, “Demanding Rights, Creating Opportunities,” laying out its vision, mission and programs for 2010-2015, which was then updated and extended to 2020.
Prior to leading Oxfam India, Nisha worked at the World Bank (1989-2008), where she served as country manager for Cambodia, and also headed a 15-person poverty and social development team in Vietnam. Together with Vietnam’s country director, Nisha led the development of the World Bank country strategy for Vietnam and coordinating of all Vietnams donors.
Early in her career, Nisha worked with a team at the Impact Research Center at Melbourne University on a computable general equilibrium model of the Australian economy that was used for policy analysis. She also published several research papers.
Nisha is an economist by training and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Virginia. Prior to that, she earned her M.A. in economics from the Delhi School of Economics and a B.A. in economics from Miranda House, Delhi University. Currently she is a founding board member of Shakti, a non-partisan, inclusive platform of women who, regardless of region, caste, creed or ideology, aim to get more women into politics and elected as members of Parliament and state legislative assemblies. She also serves on the board of Katha, an NGO based in Delhi that works in the field of community development, child welfare, education and literature. Their mission is driven by the belief that children can bring positive change to their community if they are empowered through education.
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Kelly Hardebeck
Meet Kelly
Kelly Hardebeck is a nonprofit technology leader who specializes in the development of scalable programs, initiatives, and engagement strategies to enable nonprofit and educational organizations to realize greater value from their technology investments. As a strategic partner to nonprofits, she blendsher passion for impact and knowledge of nonprofit business processes and technology to help organizations achieve greater impact through the strategic use of technology.
During her tenure at Microsoft, Kelly worked in the Telemedicine Department at Massachusetts General Hospital on remote medicine programs that proved the efficacy of digital imaging and early video streaming in a medical setting. Since then, Kelly has worked directly for nonprofits or organizations serving nonprofits including Year Up, Cloud for Good and Salesforce.org. Most recently, she has served as the Vice President of Customer Success and Engagement at Salesforce where she was focused on the success of nonprofit and education customers using the Salesforce platform.
She also serves her community as an elected Town Meeting Member and has been an appointed member of her town's Advisory Finance Committee, chairing one of its key subcommittees. Kelly is an outdoor enthusiast and hiker and is a committed supporter of Adaptive Sports Partners of the North Country and participant in their annual Sunrise Ascent on Mount Washington.
Ms. Hardebeck holds a BA in Computer Science from Boston College and 6 Salesforce certifications.
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Anne Holton
Meet Anne
Anne Holton is a faculty member at George Mason University. She teaches education policy at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government and College of Education and Human Development, and is a Senior Fellow at EdPolicyForward, Mason’s Center for Education Policy. Holton served as interim president at Mason in 2019-2020.
A lifelong advocate for children and families in Virginia, Holton graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She has worked as a legal aid lawyer serving low-income families, a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge, a child welfare reformer, and Virginia's Secretary of Education. Holton helped desegregate the inner-city schools of Richmond, Virginia, as a child when her father was Virginia's governor in the early 1970s. As Virginia's First Lady when her husband was governor from 2006-2010, Holton championed foster care system reform. As Virginia's Secretary of Education in 2014-2016, Holton worked to increase Virginia's investment in public education, to promote innovation and the joy of teaching and learning in our schools, and to ensure that every student has a successful pathway to the future, especially those in high-poverty communities. Her life's work has focused on children and families at the margin and on the crucial role education must play in helping young people escape poverty. She helped create the Great Expectations program at Virginia's Community Colleges, a program to help young people aging out of foster care to access higher education, and was the program's executive director in 2014.
Holton has served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations including Voices for Virginia's Children, the Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation, and Assisting Families of Inmates. Holton currently serves on the Virginia Board of Education. She is married to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine. They live in Richmond, Virginia, where they raised their three children.
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Nicole Kamaleson
Meet Nicole
Focused on mission-driven or for-purpose organizations, Nicole has provided strategic advisory services on C-suite talent transitions, board/governance, human capital, and organizational development. She has expertise in sustainability, ESG, social finance, philanthropy, impact investing, international NGOs, think tanks/research, human rights, and the environment. Her work has spanned the globe in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Nicole has led senior executive searches at the board, CEO, C-suite, vice president, and regional and country director levels internationally.
Professionally, she has worked with boards in nearly all her assignments. Nicole actively participated in ongoing education programs with the Harvard Business School’s program on board leadership as well as the International Policy Governance model with John and Miriam Carver. She is currently active in Govern for Impact’s global network.
Within organizations, she has served in executive capacities in governance, organizational and board development and senior human resource roles, and presently serves on the boards of the Global Fund for Children and RefuSHE in addition to ChildFund.
A sought-after speaker, Nicole has been invited to share at various globally focused venues including the Maxwell School’s Transnational NGO Initiative at Syracuse University, Ronald McDonald House’s Global Leadership Conference, the Global Impact Investing Network’s Investor Forum and others.
Nicole holds a B.A. in business administration/marketing and an M.A. in human resources development. She has lived in Eastern Europe (Romania and Hungary), Africa (Kenya), and London. She currently resides in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
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Linah Jebii Kilimo
Meet Linah
Over the last 20 years, Linah Jebii Kilimo has served in Kenya as an elected Member of Parliament, government official and women's rights activist. Her key skills include advocacy and lobbying, fundraising and resource mobilization, adaptive communication, decisive leadership, mediation and negotiation, and social astuteness.
Linah has worked with the Government of Kenya in several capacities, including as Chief Administrative Secretary with the Ministry of Public Service and Gender (2021-2022); Chief Administrative Secretary with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries (2020-2021); Chairperson, Street Families Rehabilitation Trust Fund (2019-2021); Strategic Advisory Group member, Girl Generation (2014-2019); Chairperson, Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Board (2014-2017); Chairperson, Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (2008-2013); Minister and Assistant Minister in three different state departments for the Government of Kenya; and as a Member of Parliament with Marakwet East Constituency (2003-2013). During her tenure with the government of Kenya, she has successfully led several initiatives in the areas of strategic planning, community dialogue, organization of campaigns, lobbying, fundraising and empowerment.
Linah holds her Bachelor of Arts, Counseling from Kenya Methodist University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Her achievements, honors and awards include negotiating peace among communities in the Rift Valley; representing Kenya at the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations headquarters, where she spoke on accelerating efforts toward the abandonment of FGM and keeping girls in school; organizing the first international conference on getting legal tools for the elimination of FGM in Nairobi (2004); being a role model for girl child education as a volunteer at the World Vision TOT Area Development Project and raising over $100,000 to start anti-FGM programs in the TOT Area Development Program (Germany 2000). In 2014, she received the Father Kaiser Human Rights Award for defending the human rights of girls from FGM by the Law Society of Kenya. In 2015, she received The Outstanding Africa Women Leadership Award for exemplary work on FGM campaigns.
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Carol Kissal
Meet Carol
Carol Kissal has spent her career working at the intersection of financial and administrative operations, consistently leveraging her expertise in team development, organizational restructuring, financial stewardship and operational improvement to create competitive advantage and increased value. Most recently she has worked for Accenture Strategy and Management Consulting as a part-time Senior Business Consultant. Prior to this, she was the Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance at George Mason University, following several years as Emory University’s Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer.
Before her work in higher education, Carol held roles at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Washington, D.C.’s Department of Transportation, Amtrak and IBM.
Carol holds a B.S. in Business Management from Dominican College and an M.B.A. from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. She is a board member of Dining for Women’s South Carolina Chapter; INTO Mason, LLC; and George Mason Research Institute. She currently lives in the Maryland area.
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Martin McCann
Meet Martin
Martin McCann is a highly experienced leader in both international development and humanitarian efforts. He was the deputy chief executive and program director at Plan International’s global headquarters for seven years, overseeing the creation of Plan’s Child-Centered Community Development strategy and a tripling of its grant income. For 12 years, he was the CEO of RedR UK, the largest capacity-building nongovernmental organization in disaster preparedness and disaster response. He also was the chair/president of the Geneva-based Sphere, which is responsible for the globally accepted professional standards in humanitarian action.
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Wheat McDowell
Meet Wheat
Wheat McDowell is a Portfolio Manager at Richmond Capital Management, a fixed income manager for pensions, endowments, and insurance companies. He has been on the investment team at Richmond Capital since April of 2001. Prior to that date, he worked 15 years for sell side institutions (Lehman Brothers and First Union Securities) as a bond trader. He went to school at the University of Virginia, earning a B.A. and a M.B.A. Wheat was raised in Richmond and is a volunteer advocate for affordable housing. He serves as Board Chair for the Better Housing Coalition, a community nonprofit that develops, manages, and advocates for affordable housing in the Richmond region.
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Ravi Narula
Meet Ravi
Ravi Narula recently joined SymphonyAI as its Chief Financial Officer. He brings over 20 years of executive experience, including previously serving as the CFO of Ooma and, before that, BigBand Networks Inc., and as the Chief Accounting Officer of Gigamon. Presently, Ravi serves on the DEI and Racial Justice Task Force of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (comprising more than 350 member organizations).
As a finance executive, Ravi has helped a number of technology companies grow their sales significantly and has helped those businesses scale and expand globally. Ravi was instrumental in taking three companies public with their initial public offerings (IPOs) on NYSE and Nasdaq. Previously, Ravi served on the Board of YMCA of Silicon Valley to act upon his passion for helping children and people without resources.
A native of India, Ravi holds a bachelor’s in commerce from University of Garhwal, India, and completed his Chartered Accountancy from both India and Canada, before moving to U.S. in 2000. Ravi currently resides in the Bay Area with his wife, Priya, and three wonderful boys.
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Abbie Raikes
Meet Abbie
Abbie Raikes, Ph.D., MPH, is an associate professor at the College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center. She also serves as founder and director of ECD Measure, a group focused on building capacity for data-driven decision-making in early childhood. Dr. Raikes’ recent work has focused on improving early childhood programs and policies in low- and middle-income countries. Previously, Abbie contributed to early childhood policy development in several countries as a program specialist for the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. Prior to UNESCO, Abbie was a senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and has advised several organizations on early childhood development and education.
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Daphne Maxwell Reid
Meet Daphne
Daphne Maxwell Reid is best known as Aunt Vivian from the hit comedy, "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". Presently serving on the following boards, her involvement in the community at large rounds out a full schedule: Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Board, Petersburg Area Art League Board, and the Citizens’ Action Commission for the Governor’s Mansion. Her latest projects include photography, publishing and construction of wearable art pieces.
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Jonathan Roberts
Meet Jonathan
Jonathan W. Roberts has worked in the financial services industry for over three decades, including leadership at several high-performing and well-respected financial institutions. Since 2022, Jonathan has served as Chief Executive Officer for the Hudson Valley Credit Union, one of the 50 largest credit unions nationally.
Prior to this role, Jonathan served as the Head of Community Banking at Webster Bank. Before that, he held executive roles at First Bank, Santander Bank, First National Bank and Citizens Bank, after beginning his career at Fifth Third Bank.
Jonathan holds a B.A. in sociology from the University of Cincinnati as well as a Certificate of Professional Development from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and is an alum of the General Management Program at the Wharton School.
Jonathan and his wife, Angela, have maintained a continuous commitment to ChildFund since the mid-’90s, when they were both finishing college. They have volunteered on and donated to multiple not-for-profit boards of community and industry organizations.
Currently Jonathan is serving on the board of the New York Credit Union Association, an organization committed to advancing financial cooperatives. He was also recently Chair Emeritus for the Urban League of Greater Hartford. Jonathan currently lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife.
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Bridget Winston
Meet Bridget
Bridget Winston is a proven sales and customer success leader with over 18 years of experience in high-growth technology companies. She has served as the chief revenue officer and vice president of sales and customer success for several organizations, including Shutterstock, Ooma, ShoreTel/Mitel and, most recently, for Chief, a private network for executive women. Bridget has a passion for mentoring teen girls and women embarking upon their careers and donates time, money and resources to her alma maters and women’s job-readiness organizations. She also regularly volunteers with the New York Cares Society organization and West Side Campaign Against Hunger, where she delivers food to New Yorkers in need. She believes her mission is to help bring confidence, dignity and security to women in all facets of society. Bridget lives in New York City and Los Angeles with her husband, Anthony, and their cat, Gracie.
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Miguel Zepeda
Meet Miguel
Miguel Zepeda is an entrepreneurial financial and technology leader scaling up opportunities for Fortune 1000’s. He has spent over 25 years setting up strategic direction and executing at the intersection of banking, mobile networks and technology. With an abundance of international experience, Miguel has a strong understanding of markets throughout North America, South America and Europe. He is a regular speaker at financial industry conferences and inclusion champion for underbanked groups through innovation and technology.
Currently, Miguel is Managing Director for Brink’s Money (www.brinksmoney.com), a FinTech Bank that successfully incubated at Brink’s Inc. and is ranked Top 10 in the country. He launched this new division in 2013, scaled-up to ~ $3 Billion in deposits and acquired thousands of customers. Brink’s Money has won several awards from FinTech media partners. In a prior position, Miguel served as Head of Corporate Development – Fixed Line at America Movil, one of the largest telecommunication providers in the world with 400 million customers, where he held responsibility for expanding through Latin America. Under his guidance, the company underwent a rapid geographical expansion into Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia deploying over $500 million in investments.
In addition to his executive career, Miguel has served on several advisory boards. Currently, serving as Executive Board member for the Innovative Payments Association (www.ipa.org) and ePago International, Inc. in Panama. Previously, he served on the board of THRIVE – United Way & Canterbury Community School (Richmond), Visionaria Venture Capital & Aspel (Mexico) and Antevenio (Spain).
Miguel holds an MBA from The Stern School of Business - New York University and obtained his Engineering degree from Tec of Monterrey – Mexico. He resides in Richmond VA, with his two kids Rafi (12) & Gabe (10) and wife (Claudia) and would like to spend more time biking, trekking or sailing.
