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Speakers

President & CEO Raza Development Fund

Annie Donovan

Annie Donovan is Raza Development Fund’s President & CEO. She leads an experienced team of servant leaders who are passionate about building communities of opportunity where everyone in America can thrive.

Donovan brings a wealth of experience in the CDFI sector. For decades she has been driving impact investing strategies to spur economic opportunity and revitalize communities. She served in the White House Office of Social Innovation and as the Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, where she directed a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of programs aimed at improving access to capital for disinvested communities across the country. She has held top executive positions at Capital Impact Partners (now Momentus Capital), and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), where she worked to propel these organizations to greater levels of growth and impact.

Donovan’s passion for community development and sustainability began with her service in the U.S. Peace Corps. Today, Donovan is an accomplished leader in the industry and a published writer. She has published many articles on economic and community development, health, climate and impact investing. Donovan has been a keynote speaker and guest lecturer to share her extensive knowledge. She has an undergraduate degree in Economics and an MBA in Finance.

Associate Vice Chancellor of Economic Opportunity for Dallas College

Ben Magill

Ben Magill is Associate Vice Chancellor of Economic Opportunity for Dallas College. Ben has worked in economic and workforce development for municipalities, public schools, chambers of commerce and community colleges in North Texas since 2009. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies from Oklahoma State University and is currently pursuing an MPA at UT-Arlington. Ben is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and serves on the board of Impact Ventures, Friends of Solar Prep and North Central Texas Council of Governments' Economic Development District Board.
CEO & Co-Founder RevJen

Brian Joseph

Brian Joseph is the CEO and Co-Founder of RevJen Group, a social enterprise dedicated to the empowerment of nonprofit leaders and the organizations they serve.
In forming RevJen Group, Brian marries his passion for the nonprofit sector with his background in leadership solutions in formation of his mission to fuel a greater good, one leader at a time.

RevJen Group thinks it’s time that social sector organizations and leaders had the same opportunities, training, and network of support as their for-profit peers. With support from RevJen, nonprofit leaders are developing plans for growth they can maintain, cracking the code on their biggest challenges, and linking arms with peers and allies to keep them going for the long-haul.RevJen Group partners with nonprofits, funders, and key stakeholders to provide revenue capacity-building training and professionally facilitated peer groups to the nonprofit sector to combat three pervasive, interlinked nonprofit sector issues:

· Financial Sustainability. Nonprofit organizations are frequently unable to develop reliable, repeatable revenue that sustains the organization and its mission.
· Development Talent Turnover. Nonprofit sector leaders are turning over in record numbers.
· Leadership Isolation and Burnout. The nonprofit sector is filled with passionate leaders who don’t believe they can invest in themselves, leading to feelings of isolation and burnout.

Brian has 20 years of leadership experience in both for-profit and non-profit industries. He is a speaker and author and has served on for-profit and non-profit boards. He is based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area where he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and chasing his dogs around. He holds an Executive MBA, with honors, from Southern Methodist University.

President & CEO Big Thought

Byron Sanders

Byron Sanders is President and CEO of Big Thought, an impact, youth-aligned organization closing the opportunity gap by equipping youth with skills to create. His work across many sectors have all centered on the belief that people are born great – our responsibility is to create systems of opportunity for their greatness to shine. Byron and his team’s work builds programs and learning systems empowering youth with the skills to thrive in their authentic voice and recognize their own power. By building 21st century skills, a youth becomes a creator and can forge their path ahead. He’s recognized as 2022 Dallas Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO, the CASEL O’Brien Award for Excellence in Expanding the Evidence-Based Practice of Social and Emotional Learning and to be named a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar. Byron believes with youth as co-designers of the world around us, we become the best version of us all.
Co-Founder Community Does It!

Christine Román

Christine Theresa Román was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico and spent over a decade attending school and teaching in San Antonio. Before co-founding Community Does It, Ms. Román spent ten years as an educator for the Cristo Rey Network. During her time with this network of college prep, catholic high schools, she served as math teacher and principal at Cristo Rey Brooklyn. She then moved back to her adopted home, Texas, to assist in the creation of the 30th school in the Cristo Rey Network, Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep, located in Pleasant Grove, Dallas, Texas. As Founding Principal and Executive Director at Cristo Rey Dallas, Ms. Román helped to build a vibrant community emphasizing high expectations and strong values.

Ms. Román earned two degrees from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio: a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics. After graduating from St. Mary’s, Ms. Román taught middle and high school mathematics and science for five years at Holy Cross High School in San Antonio, Texas. Ms. Román was also the mathematics department chair, the robotics team coach, and a de facto college counselor.

She also holds a Master of Public Health degree in Biostatistics from Columbia University in New York. In her time at Columbia, she managed and analyzed the data for several epidemiological studies of epilepsy and pediatric retinoblastomas.

Ms. Román is currently working on her doctorate’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education. Through her doctoral dissertation, Ms. Román is studying and analyzing the effect leadership development through community organizing interventions for Latino, immigrant parents have in the development and sustainability of parent/school accountability relationships.

After her time with the Cristo Rey Network, Ms. Román launched her own services as an organizational development consultant, recruiter, leadership coach, and change manager for different small businesses in the construction industry and new non-profits in the Dallas area.

Through Community Does It, Ms. Román is excited to combine all her experiences as a Latina woman, daughter, sister, wife, mom, educator, life coach, statistician, business consultant, and researcher to bring a community together that continues to be forgotten to help them realize and develop the skills and wisdom they already possess to lead the change they want to see in their communities.

Ms. Román is the youngest of her family’s eighteen siblings. She is the happy mother of three boys and a girl. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and playing board games.

Public Affairs Associate, Allyn Media

Cimajie Best

Cimajie Best is an experienced Public Affairs Associate with a demonstrated history of work in non-profit management, program development and philanthropy. As a skilled tactician in capacity building training and stakeholder management she is a strong racial equity advocate and program evaluator. Cimajie works with non-profits, foundations, and communities to create inclusive outcomes for all parties involved.

Ms. Best believes in the idea of meeting the people where they are to best service their needs. Whether it be hosting community listening sessions on behalf of clients or assembling oversite boards comprised of locals, she is most passionate about equitable and sustainable community development.
Cimajie has experience in city, county, and state government as well as the private sector. Her in-depth work in both micro and macro settings gives her a competitive edge in understanding the complex and nuanced realities of accomplishing truly transformational change across many sectors. Having launched programs for organizations such as the State Fair of Texas and the Texas Women’s Foundation she is s a staunch advocate for collaborations, partnerships and a collective impact approach to producing lasting change in communities.

Cimajie served on the Dallas County Child Welfare board and currently serves on the boards of the Moorland Family YMCA at Oak Cliff, Healthy Future of Texas, and the Community Engagement Committee for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She is a SVP Dana Juett Resident Alum, a former Communities Foundation of Texas, Emerging Leader in Philanthropy Fellow as well as an Obama Foundation Community Leader Alumni.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy & Africana Studies from Louisiana State University as well as a certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from Oxford.

Vice President of Investment Group, Tiedmann Advisors

Donovan Ervin

Donovan Ervin (he/him) is Vice President in the Investment Group at Tiedemann Advisors. In this role, he’s helping to direct capital toward a more inclusive, just, and regenerative economy. This work aligns closely with Donovan’s professional mission: developing and supporting new markets that shift patterns of production and consumption, distribute power and ownership more democratically, and expand the definition of wealth to include individual, community, and planetary health and well-being.

Previously, Donovan has held positions at various organizations in the social sector, ranging from K-12 education to community development to environmental justice.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Donovan is a graduate of Yale University (MBA and Master of Environmental Management) and Stanford University (BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity). He's also a proud advisory board member at the Yale Center for Business & Environment. Outside of work, Donovan enjoys writing, exercising, and being with his people.

District 4 County Commissioner Dallas County Commissioners Court

Dr. Elba Garcia

Dr. Elba Garcia embodies a new breed of professional women in the 21st century. She is not only a community leader, but is also a mother and wife, a dentist with her own private practice, and a role model for Latino women from all walks of life. Dr. Garcia is a former Dallas City Council Member and the current Dallas County Commissioner for District 4.

Born and educated in Mexico City, Dr. Garcia earned her Doctorate in Odontology from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in 1984. She later immigrated to the United States, where she had to recertify her Degree at Baylor College of Dentistry, earning her second Doctorate in Dental Surgery (DDS) in 1990. She is a small business owner, having run her own private practice since 1998. Dr. Garcia also served as an assistant professor at the Baylor College of Dentistry. She is married and has two sons.

Dr. Garcia has always dedicated herself to community service and began her service in public office in 2001 when she was elected to the Dallas City Council to represent the residents of District 1. While serving on the Dallas City Council, Dr. Garcia was instrumental in steering a number of important public projects to completion, including securing critical funds for the Latino Cultural Center and spearheading the development of a new Animal Shelter and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Additionally, she worked with the Environmental Committee to institute LEED standards for City of Dallas buildings. When she was chosen unanimously by her colleagues to serve as Deputy Mayor Pro Tem and Mayor Pro Tem, she was the first Latina to serve in those positions.

Dr. Garcia was elected to serve as Dallas County Commissioner by the citizens of District 4 in November 2010, becoming the first Latina ever to serve on the Dallas County Commissioners Court. During her first term in office, Dr. Garcia focused on making Dallas County government more transparent, saving millions in tax dollars by fixing the Dallas County’s bail bond system, pushed for the completion of the long-delayed Hunter-Ferrell Road project in Irving and Grand Prairie, building and extending trails in District 4, championing initiatives like the District Attorney’s Animal Cruelty Unit, and educating constituents about Dallas County services. During her second term in office, Dr. Garcia was instrumental in updating the Dallas County purchasing rules and ethics policies, the expansion of the MWBE certification, Dallas County adopting “ban the box” in its hiring policies, starting the “Homes for Hounds” program in the jail, completing the $20 million improved MacArthur Blvd project, and leading the renovation of the Records Building Complex. She also created the Facilities Management Committee to address issues with Dallas County’s aging buildings and dangerously high level of deferred maintenance. Through long-range planning and prudent investment in facilities, Dallas County’s deferred maintenance has been reduced from $100 million when she took office to $28 million today.

Now in her third term as Dallas County Commissioner for District 4, Dr. Garcia has completed the $5.7 million Northaven Trail project, the $15.35 million Cockrell Hill Road, opened the Oak Cliff Government Center, broke ground for the Oak Cliff Gateway a mixed used affordable housing project and is looking forward to completing the $27.2 million Medical District Dr. project and $200 million Dallas County Records Building Complex Renovation Project and many other projects she currently has underway.

Dr. Garcia is the Chair of the Dallas County Criminal Justice Advisory Board(CJAB), DWI Task Force, New Life Opportunities and the Dallas County Facilities Management Committee. She is Vice-Chair of the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority (NTBHA). She is also a board member of the Public Employee Benefits Cooperative (PEBC), Benefits Review Committee, and the Continuous Improvement Steering Committee. She formally served the Dallas County Civil Service Commission and was an alternate for the Regional Transportation Committee (RTC). In her role as Dallas County Commissioner, Dr. Garcia also appoints community members to various Dallas County Boards, including the Parkland Board of Managers, the Dallas County Trail and Preserve Program Board, the Citizen Election Advisory Committee, the Dallas County Historical Foundation, as well as several other boards and commissions.

In addition to her service to constituents, Dr. Garcia bears a myriad of other public service responsibilities. She currently sits on the Safer Dallas Better Dallas Board and is an Advisory Board member of Methodist Dallas Medical Center, HOPES Advisory Council and the College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology at Prairie View A&M University. She formerly served on the Boy Scouts of America Circle Ten Council, Dallas Convention Visitors Bureau, Dallas Zoological Society, and the Salvation Army boards and New Friends New Life Advisory Board.

She is also a current and/or past member of the Oak Cliff Lions Club, Grand Prairie Rotary Club, Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce, Greater Grand Prairie Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Irving/Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, Greater Southwest Black Chamber of Commerce, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Henry Holmes Breakfast Group, Irving Heritage Society, Irving Women’s Network, Irving Hispanic Forum, League of Women Voters of Dallas, Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, Irving Texas Democratic Women, Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Summit, Hispanic 100, Dallas Assembly, Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Heritage Oak Cliff, West Dallas Chamber of Commerce, and St. Cecilia’s Catholic Women.

Founder of WaterBear Network

Ellen Windemuth

Ellen is the founder of WaterBear Network. Prior to founding WaterBear, Ellen was the Owner and CEO of Off the Fence, a global nonfiction production and distribution company based in Amsterdam. Under her leadership Off the Fence acquired, produced, and co-produced over 6,000 hours of content and won hundreds of awards for productions including their latest feature documentary MY OCTOPUS TEACHER, a Netflix Original which won the Bafta and Oscar for Best Documentary in 2021.

Ellen is a seasoned Entrepreneur, Executive Producer, Impact Producer and Distributor and has produced over 500 hours herself to date. She is the Chairperson Emeritus of the Jackson Hole Film Festival Board and an avid supporter of conservation, land regeneration and biodiversity. She runs her own NGO dedicated to the mitigation of air pollution. Her experience in factual programming and feature documentaries is extensive in both production and distribution.

Ellen has been presented with numerous awards, including Wildscreen’s Christopher Parsons Outstanding Achievement Award 2018 and the CogX Global Goals Impact Award 2022. She has three children and a great passion for the outdoors. Ellen's board experience is extensive including almost 13 years on the Jackson Hole Film Festival board, 5 years on the Wildscreen board and various advisory functions.

President & CEO Forest Forward

Elizabeth Wattley

Elizabeth currently serves as the President and CEO of Forest Forward, a neighborhood revitalization organization working to dismantle impacts of systemic inequities while breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Previously as the Director of Strategic Initiatives at CitySquare, Elizabeth led innovative social entrepreneurship projects at CitySquare, including restoration efforts of the historic Forest Theater in South Dallas (ongoing as part of Forest Forward) and developing small homes for chronically homeless individuals.

Elizabeth is dedicated to driving economic development in South Dallas/Fair Park while maintaining the rich history, culture, and pride of the community. Prior to joining CitySquare, Elizabeth’s love for social entrepreneurship was anchored during her time at Paul Quinn College, where she served as the Director of Service Learning and led the effort to transform the college’s unused football field into a nationally recognized organic farm to combat food inequities and access.

Elizabeth currently serves on the Majestic Theater Centennial Planning Committee, is an active member the DFW Spelman Alumni group, and is a member of the inaugural Black Women in Nonprofit Leadership cohort hosted by Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT). Elizabeth was named one of 2020 Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40. A native of Dallas with rich ties to the Southern Dallas community, Elizabeth completed undergraduate studies at Spelman College in Atlanta in economics and earned her MBA at the SMU Cox School of Business with a concentration in strategy and entrepreneurship.

Director of Capital Strategies at Common Future

Eric Horvath

Eric is primarily driven by a single, fundamental question: how do we transform how power and resources are shared in our economy, while truly centering the brilliance and bravery of those who have been systematically excluded? As Director of Capital Strategies, Eric leads Common Future's national work to build equitable impact investments by, for and with BIPOC communities. Before Common Future, Eric worked at Transform Finance, where he launched several educational initiatives for activists, organizers and other social sector allies that explored paths for their communities to better engage with capital. He has also worked in philanthropy, where he supported the Woodcock Foundation’s grantmaking and impact investing efforts. Through his time at the foundation, he helped steward several millions of dollars in grants and program-related investments.

Eric serves on the board and investment committee of the New York Foundation, as well as the investment committees of the UUCEF and Invest Appalachia; he also serves on the finance committee for the North Star Fund, New York City's social justice community foundation. He teaches "Capital for Good: Finance, Investment and Social Justice" at the City University of New York to graduate students and remains active in local progressive politics. A former Fulbright ETA, Eric earned his MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and his MBA from the Stern School of Business at NYU. He calls Brooklyn home.

CEO of Cienega Capital

Esther Park

Esther is the CEO of Cienega Capital, a regenerative investment firm utilizing an integrated capital approach to systemic change in the areas of soil health, regenerative agriculture, and local food systems. Cienega Capital is also part of the #NoRegrets Initiative, a regenerative asset strategy focused on the health of agricultural soils and agricultural communities in North America. Esther has over 20 years of experience in mission-based financial services ranging from microfinance to risk capital investments, in partnership with financial institutions, family offices, foundations, and investment advisors. She is also a faculty member of the Just Economy Institute and serves as a Board member to a number of companies and non-profits.

Esther has also served as the Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at RSF Social Finance working with social enterprises; and as a senior consultant at ShoreBank Advisory Services, providing strategic and capital planning advice for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). And in a previous life, Esther lived in Nukus, Uzbekistan, teaching English and conducting program evaluation work for the United Nations. Esther received her MPP from University of Chicago, and BA in Social Welfare from the University of California Berkeley.

Student at UTD

Jessica Barnes

Jessica Barnes is a junior at The University of Texas at Dallas’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. In December 2021, she received her Associate degree in computer science from Dallas College.

In 2021, Jessica joined the Greenwood Project to secure a FinTech internship. In 2022, she accepted a Trading Associate internship offer with PEAK6’s Capital Management. Through rigorous training with the Greenwood Project to enhance her skills and has completed the Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. She plans on sitting for the Securities Industries Essentials Exam this summer.

After graduation, she plans on entering FinTech as a trading associate. She plans on mentoring individuals and helping organizations that focus on introducing a wide variety of individuals into FinTech in the future.

Founder & Principal, Oak Lawn Group LLC

Jimmy Tran

Jimmy J. Tran is a business owner, nonprofit volunteer and civic leader. He founded Oak Lawn Group LLC in 2010, which is a real estate investment firm that makes both direct and indirect investments primarily focused on real estate and other income-producing assets. Jimmy is also the Owner of Code Ninjas Dallas, a computer coding program where kids learn coding by creating games. In addition, Jimmy is also a League Commissioner for XP League Dallas, an esports league for elementary and middle school aged kids. Prior to becoming a small business owner and entrepreneur, Jimmy led Corporate Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions activity for a $10 billion+ business segment within CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company. While at CBRE, Jimmy led $2 billion+ of acquisitions, and helped grow earnings (EBITDA) 3X over a period of 8 years. Prior to CBRE, Jimmy worked as a management consultant for Bain & Company in Dallas, Hong Kong and Singapore. He holds 4 degrees from SMU and 2 degrees from Harvard.

In addition to his business interests, Jimmy is also passionate about education, urban planning, and civic engagement. He was recently named to the inaugural board to the Economic Development Corporation for the City of Dallas. He has served or held Board seats on the National Board of AVANCE (an early childhood nonprofit), SMU Simmons School of Education, Parkland Foundation, Oak Lawn Committee and the HBS Club of Dallas. Additionally, Jimmy has completed nonprofit consulting and pro-bono assignments with Jumpstart, KIPP, Goodwill, Senior Source and ScholarShot. Jimmy also helped launch Friends of PL PREP where he currently serves as Board Chair. Friends of PL Prep is a foundation that raises funds for PL PREP, a Dallas ISD Choice school in Oak Lawn.

Jimmy has been selected for several prestigious leadership and award programs including the Hunt Scholarship, George Family Foundation Scholarship, Leadership Dallas, Mayor’s Star Council, Leadership ISD, DBJ 40 Under 40 and the Dallas Assembly.

Jimmy enjoys traveling, spending time with his wife and 3 kids, taking his Akita/German Shepherd on neighborhood walks and up-keeping his aquarium and red‐eared slider turtle.

Founder Becoming

Johnny Sertin

Johnny is a curator of hope. A leadership coach, mentor and speaker with 35 years of experience as a community practitioner and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Becoming, a venture focused on transformation in people, places and organisations. Johnny’s vision is to curate space to grow compassionate, creative and resourceful leadership for a complex world. At the heart is Wayfarer, a professional development pathway that reimagines human ecology and the story of transformation, through a nature-based inquiry.
Executive Director, Jenesis Group

Kim Tanner

Kim brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in business and philanthropy. Throughout her career, she has played a leading role in developing strategic business initiatives as well as the creation and implementation of operational processes for corporations, private companies, and family foundations. Kim currently serves as the Executive Director for the Jenesis Group, a private family foundation bringing innovation, entrepreneurial acumen, and market-based solutions to the philanthropic sector. As Executive Director, Kim is responsible for leading the foundation’s mission to empower high-potential non-profit ventures and the social entrepreneurs who lead them by providing both human and financial resources. Kim overseas all aspects of grantmaking and operations for the foundation as well as setting strategic priorities and building relationships with key partners. She has been instrumental in developing and implementing a “venture like” approach to helping youth development organizations achieve their goals. As a seasoned funder, board member and thought partner, she has served as an engaged colleague to such high-growth social enterprises as Ashoka, New Profit, Play Works, Year Up, and Genesys Works.

Before entering philanthropy, Kim worked at MetLife as the youngest Regional Administrator in charge of the administrative operations of 17 sales offices in the western half of Texas. Following her tenure at MetLife she worked briefly in the Telecom industry building-out the administrative operations, reporting tools and systems, and marketing efforts for a national sales organization.

Kim earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance & Marketing from Texas Tech University. She is an avid runner having successfully completed both half and full marathons. She raised two young adults and is now enjoying spending much of her time with her two grand-daughters (Lynnlee Joyce 3.5 and Flora Ruth 1.5).

Executive Director Fintech In Action

Michelle Williams

With over 14 years of thought leadership experience, Michelle Williams is a social impact and innovation strategist, empowering corporations and non-profit organizations to better define, execute and implement their impact, philanthropic and equity-centered goals. Michelle owns CODE 214, a social impact consulting firm dedicated to helping corporations and non-profits solidify their serviced based footprint. She is currently the executive director of Fintech In Action, a coalition of action-oriented corporations and individuals accelerating progress and inclusion of Black professionals within the industry. Prior to FIA, Michelle served as the Executive Director for The Dallas Entrepreneur Center (The DEC Network), a non-profit organization, dedicated to helping entrepreneurs start, build and grow their businesses through education, mentorship, advocacy and access to an entrepreneurial ecosystem. Overseeing The DEC Network’s southern sector expansion, Michelle fundraised over $2.5 million and launched a cross-sector initiative across three strategic locations and oversaw a collaborative of the City of Dallas and 60+ business service organizations.

Having sat on multiple boards and commissions both locally and nationally, Michelle is committed to serving her community wherever she is needed. Much of her work and passion is fueled by the belief that access to high-quality education, health care, justice, economic equity and housing are basic civil rights in our American society. Michelle has had the distinct honor of working with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans: a cross-agency effort aimed at identifying evidence-based practices to improve student achievement.

In 2016, Michelle was the honored by Texas State Senator Royce West as a recipient of the Outstanding Texan award for Senatorial District 23. Michelle is the immediate past President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Urban League Young Professionals where she was awarded the prestigious title of President of the Year by the National Urban League. That same year, Michelle was awarded with the YP honors award: a highly selective honor bestowed to only 10 professionals nationally under the age of 40 by the National Urban League Young Professionals. In 2018, she was named one of the top 15 Innovators Reshaping Texas by Texas Monthly magazine.

Michelle has an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University where, in 2020, she was appointed to the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board.

Healthcare and Quality Management Consulting Founder and CEO of Bracane Company, Inc. (BCI)

Pamela J. Nelson, Ph.D., RN

Registered Nurse, Certified Clinical Research Associate, regulatory consultant, and author with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Areas of service as Staff Nurse, Nursing Administration, Research Compliance Monitoring, Project Management, and Community Health Education. Pamela is a trusted business leader and advocate for small and diverse businesses; known for her work with disparities in access to healthcare and solutions for helping to create opportunities for minorities to enter the clinical research industry with the formation of the Association of Minorities in Clinical Research (AMICR). An accomplished speaker and author, Pamela speaks to professionals in her industry about the regulatory process and quality monitoring procedures. She has a passion for health promotion. She has authored articles and presentations and wrote Declutter Your Mind (A Biblical Perspective). Pamela began her career in Longview, TX as a nurse and developed a passion for traveling and conducting medical missions. Since 1999, she has served with agencies to complete medical missions in Ghana, Uganda, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala. At home, she has worked with remote communities in South Texas and was instrumental in collaborating with healthcare systems to bring neighborhood clinics to disparate healthcare areas in Collin County.

In 2019, Bracane Company received the U.S. Department of Commerce Export Achievement Award to increase opportunities for collaboration of research partners and medical interests globally.

Founded in 2002, Bracane Company is a global, full-service provider of research consulting services to small to mid-size life science companies, government, and insurance entities. We specialize in project rescue, quality audits, and program evaluations.

Co-Founder Community Does It

Prisma Garcia

Prisma Y. Garcia joined MoneyGram International in August 2021 as part of the Social Impact team. She was the Director of Capacity Building at Social Venture Partners Dallas from July 2017 to July 2021.

Prisma worked at The Concilio, a Dallas nonprofit, as a Program Director. She also previously worked as a Fundraising Consultant with Changing Our World, Inc. based in New York, NY.

She received her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Science-Business with a minor in Latino Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Most recently, she completed a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Prisma is a board member for Refugee Services of Texas, Community Does It, and other community organizations. She loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her dogs. She resides in Pleasant Grove (Dallas, TX), where she was born and raised.

Founder & CEO One Stop Wellness

Romy Antoine

Romy Antoine is the founder and CEO of One Stop Wellness, a digital workplace wellness platform using on-demand video and health tracking to empower employees to improve their health status in just 5 minutes a day. Romy was also the recipient of the National Wellness Institute’s Young Wellness Professional Award for his industry contributions. His work has been covered by Men’s Health, Thrive Global, Afrotech, Yahoo and he was named Top 100 Modern Man by Black Enterprise.

Romy’s company One Stop Wellness was 1 of the North American startups who received funding through Amazon Alexa’s 1st Black Founders Cohort to create voice skills for wellness. In addition to his tech ventures, Romy is also a fitness trainer and nutritionist who’s coached clients all over the world since before virtual training was a thing! He is a speaker and thought leader on how organizations can inspire well-being. And as the only millennial expert who’s actually a millennial, he published The Ultimate Guide to Engaging Millennials as a toolkit for managers to better engage millennials to attract and retain top talent while navigating through a virtual and multigenerational workplace.

Founding Partner, Dev Labs VC

Ruben Hernandez

Ruben Omar Hernandez is a Silicon Valley based investor, entrepreneur, engineer, senior executive and philanthropist that has successfully raised, deployed and managed private equity, debt, grants, and venture capital across the Americas.

Ruben has advanced the belief that all human beings must participate in the ownership and active sustainability of earth systems. He believes that money is a resource that must flow freely to enable humans to solve our most difficult challenges and live in harmony with earth and one another.

Ruben obtained his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering from Columbia University School Of Applied Science and Engineering. Ruben's senior thesis focused on the impact of industrial activity in the levels of Carbon Dioxide on earth. This work was performed at the Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona which at the time was part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Ruben worked for many years in the Natural Resources and Utilities practice at Accenture. During his tenure at Accenture, Ruben managed multimillion dollar technology implementation projects for very large and multinational clients in North America, Mexico and Europe. After Accenture, Ruben joined a team of software developers, artists, cooperative workers in a social enterprise dedicated to the development of sophisticated, beautifully designed custom technology platforms for nonprofits, foundations, municipalities and workers cooperatives in the United States.

Ruben joined and became the youngest chairman of the board of the Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce whose mission was to promote social impact investment from the United States to the Global South. During his tenure with the Chamber, Ruben led and organized investment and trade missions throughout North and South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia (India and Indonesia). Ruben developed very strong and deep relationships with government officials, ultra-high net worth individuals, Senior Executives of companies looking to develop sustainable communities across the planet.

For more than 10 years, Ruben has been making angel and venture capital investments into technology startups founded by social impact and transformational entrepreneurs from the Americas. For over 4 years, Ruben and his founding partners at Devlabs Ventures successfully raised and deployed Devlabs Fund I, one of the best performing early-stage Impact Venture Capital Fund in the world with a current TVPI > 7.

In 2019, Ruben became the founding partner of Full Spectrum Capital Partners whose mission is to mobilize $1 Trillion USD to early-stage entrepreneurial ecosystems with high social, environmental and economic returns. Currently, Ruben is the President of the Board of the Emerging Startup Ecosystems Endowment Fund (ESEEF) whose global mission is to democratize the building of healthy entrepreneurial startup ecosystems for solving the world's pressing problems by those who experience them no matter their socio-economic background.

CEO at WaterBear Network

Sam Sutaria

Sam is the CEO and one of the founding team of the WaterBear Network: an award-winning digital publisher and interactive streaming company dedicated to our planet. WaterBear produces and distributes impactful documentaries and other media to drive tangible change across the world. Working with 150+ nonprofit organizations and building a community of millions of members, WaterBear is now live in 194 countries, across AppleTV, Roku, Samsung, web, iOS and Android.

Sam has led the commercial strategy and business development of the network and production studio since launch, and in just the last year has spearheaded partnerships with the New York Times, UN Foundation, Natura &Co, Jack Wolfskin, Rolex, Nikon Europe, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and many more. Prior to roles at WaterBear, Sam was the GM of The European Nature Trust (TENT), produced content and campaigns at Nice and Serious - an ethical creative agency - and trained with the BBC’s Natural History Unit in Bristol.

He is also the Founder of social enterprise DrawFor - which raised tens of thousands for a range of charities during the COVID-19 pandemic - and a Trustee of the Barnes Film Festival and the Hartswood Trust. Sam is also on the Advisory Board of the Aegean Film Festival and is deeply committed to developing the next generation of storytellers, and championing new and sustainable content production models.

Head of Strategy for evolvedMD

Sentari Minor

Sentari Minor is most passionate about bringing the best out of individuals and entities.
His love languages are strategy, storytelling, and social impact. As Head of Strategy for evolvedMD, Mr. Minor is at the forefront of healthcare innovation with a scope of work that includes strategy, corporate development, growth, branding, culture, and coaching. Prior to evolvedMD, he worked with some of the Nation’s most prominent and curious CEOs and entrepreneurs advising on philanthropy, policy, and everything social good as Regional Director of Alder (formerly Gen Next) [PHX + DAL + SFO] and strengthened social enterprises as Director at venture philanthropy firm, Social Venture Partners.

A Phoenix native, Mr. Minor continued his education in the Midwest and is an alumnus of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he studied English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. He is also a member of Class IV of the American Express Leadership Academy through the Arizona State University Lodestar Center. If you want to profile him: he’s an ENTJ (Myers Briggs), a Maverick (Predictive Index), and trimodal Blue/Green/Red (Emergenetics).
Where does he shine? In high-touch stakeholder engagement, capital raising, public relations, and strategic planning. With his background, Mr. Minor serves on the board of directors for a diverse set of social impact organizations, as a venture mentor for socially conscious companies nationwide, and as a facilitator for businesses who want organizational clarity. Committed to strengthening brands doing good in the world, Mr. Minor speaks nationally and publishes often on strategy, marketing, leadership, capacity building, social entrepreneurship, and engaging high-profile leaders in the dialogue of today. For his impact on business and community, he was honored among the Phoenix Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” class of 2022.

When he’s not busy changing the world, self-care to him looks like working out, stirring the pot on social media, being an amateur author, and spending time with the people who make him smile.

Founder & Executive Director, Impact Finance Center

Dr. Stephanie Gripne

Stephanie Gripne, Ph.D as Founder and CEO of Impact Finance Center, is the creative force behind the National Impact Investing Marketplace with a goal to catalyze $1 Trillion in investment capital into social ventures by replicating and scaling infrastructure that was piloted in Colorado. By providing nonconflicted education, Impact Finance Center identifies, educates, and activates individuals and organizations who want to become impact investors and develops community infrastructures such as Impact Days (an impact investing marketplace), Impact Investing Institute, Who’s Who in Financial Innovation & Impact Investing (regional directory), Impact Investing Giving Circles (investor accelerators), and Impact Investor Clubs. The three-year pilot CO Impact Days has resulted in over 70 new impact investors, sourced over 550 social ventures, and catalyzed over 260 direct impact investments totaling over $300M to date. Stephanie’s vision is driven by over 20 years of combined experience as an applied academic, investor, and practitioner at the University of Colorado Real Estate Foundation and Center, the $100 million Eco Products Fund, The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service, DOE Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Journal of Wildlife Management, and several universities.

Stephanie serves in a variety of other roles: State of Colorado Employee Ownership Commission; Visiting Scholar at the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School in New York City; Virginia Tech Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability Associate; Aspen Institute Environment Forum Scholar; Boone & Crockett Fellow; Denver Foundation Impact Investing Committee Member; Environmental Leadership Senior Fellow; Property and Environment Research Center Fellow; Ford Foundation Community Forestry Fellow; Boone and Crockett Professional Member; LegacyWorks Group Board Member; International Women’s Forum - Women’s Forum of Colorado Member and Trustee Emeritus; Realize Impact Board and Investment Committee Member; RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Institute Advisor; Full Spectrum Capital Partners Principal; and Net Impact’s Innovator in Residence.

She received her Ph.D. from the Boone and Crockett Wildlife Conservation Program at the University of Montana, and has a B.S. in Biology & Wildlife Management from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and a M.S. in Ecology from Utah State University.

Chief Strategy & Operation Officer United Way of Metropolitan Dallas)

Susan Hoff

Susan Hoff is the Chief Strategy & Impact Officer for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Prior to joining the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas team in 2009, Susan was the CEO and President of ChildCareGroup. Susan is nationally recognized leader in nonprofit management and governance and a much sought after trainer and public speaker. She has developed curricula and educational publications for children and adults, is an accomplished fund developer and well -known children’s advocate at the local, state, and national levels. Susan serves on the boards of Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas, Early Matters Dallas, Texans Care for Children, TEXPROTECTS, TXPOST, and City Year Dallas. She is the past board chair of Social Venture Partners Dallas, the Jr. League of Richardson, and the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children.
Partner Include Venture Partners

Taj Eldridge

Taj Ahmad Eldridge is a 25+ year investment professional whose career has included high level executive roles in banking, asset management, alternative investments, and entrepreneurship. As General Partner of Include Venture Partners and former Senior Director of Investments at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), Eldridge has built a longstanding career with expertise in the fields of fintech, media, energy, transportation, and the circular economy. Eldridge is also one of the 70 Black Investors in Bevy.com - a $325 million virtual conference platform as noted in AfroTech.

At LACI, he established both the LACI Impact Fund I (LIF I) and the LACI Debt Fund to allow cleantech companies to grow with diverse capital. These funds utilize an equity impact lens to encourage invested companies to have environmental, economic, and social impact - particularly on increasing the number of underrepresented voices in the cleantech industry. In addition, Eldridge created programs such as LACI Investor Talks (LIT), the LACI Investor in Residence program, and the Player to CEO Athlete-Investor Impact Summit Series with JP Morgan Chase. He has been named one of the 53 Investors to Watch in 2021 by Pitchbook & 101 Black Titans in Tech while nurturing and building a team of investment activists.

Prior to LACI, Eldridge was the Director for the Incubator at the University of California in Riverside, California. During his tenure as Director, his team brought a $10M venture fund (Highlander Fund) to the Inland Empire - the first for the region. Because of Eldridge’s focus on blending entertainment, policy, and entrepreneurship, the region was named the #4 city in the United States for Diverse Entrepreneurs via Entrepreneur Magazine.

Eldridge began his career as a banker and economist with Wells Fargo Bank, UBS Investment Bank, and TRW Investments. He has also been a Founder, Board Member, and Investor in companies such as ILTG Media, Boswell Official Apparel, Voter, Xtopoly, Rookielook, iListen, KYC Hospitality, KIGT, Majira Project, CleanTek Capital and ConCreates.

He also serves on the Climate Finance Advisory Team of the Community Investment Guarantee Pool (CIGP), the Executive Board of the Homeboy Industries Ventures Fund, and The Majira Project - a Boston Consulting Group Venture Studio.
He has been profiled in publications such as Impact Alpha, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pitchbook, Forbes, GreenBiz, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more regarding his tireless efforts on achieving alpha while also advancing equity.

Eldridge has a BA degree in poetry & literature from Texas A&M University-Commerce, an MBA degree in International Business from Pepperdine University, and studied geopolitical economics at Claremont Graduate University as a PhD. He also studied abroad at The Universidad Adolfo Ibanez in Santiago, Chile, The Universidad Do Porto in Porto, Portugal, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in Hong Kong, China.

Mr. Eldridge is an avid audiobook bibliophile and a lover of music of all genres.

Director at Full Spectrum Labs and the Co-Founder Full Spectrum Capital Partners

Taj James

Taj James is a father, poet, strategist, designer, and philanthropic and capital advisor. He is the Founder former Director and current Board President of the Movement Strategy Center, and Founding Partner at Full Spectrum Capital Partners.

Taj thrives building community around the shared questions that matter most in our lives: How can we build the relationships and express the love needed to transform our world? How do we leverage conflict and challenge into the insight and energy needed to drive deeper connectivity, cooperation and creativity? How do we support leaders and communities to see the ecosystem and the whole, and design and act in ways that bend the long arc of history towards justice and ecological balance? Taj thrives connecting community stewards and capital stewards to bring financial value into alignment with sacred values in ways that build community wealth.

Taj helped to found and lead the Movement Strategy Center (MSC), which has grown into a $50M thriving social change community institution and network committed to creating a world that works for all. Taj works in service of the Transitions Community and the networks it weaves, which are advancing solutions to the question of how we transition from a world of domination, violence and extraction to a world of resilience, regeneration and interdependence.

Over two decades of leadership at MSC, Taj had the honor to help launch and support new alliances such as Strong Families and the Climate Justice Alliance. Taj has also played a key role in building new funding collaboratives and strategies to increase investment in grassroots organizing and alliance building. These initiatives include California Fund for Youth Organizing, Move to End Violence Initiative, California Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, and Building Healthy Communities.

Taj has advised communities and foundations in the environmental and climate sectors, working to build and launch collaborations, partnerships and initiatives designed to accelerate transition to a regenerative economy. These efforts include the Climate Justice Alliance, The Building Equity and and for Impact Initiative (BEA4Impact), the Alliance for Climate Resilience, as well as the Climate Resilience and Urban Opportunity initiative of the Kresge Foundation. Through MSC's own Pathways To Resilience Initiative and Community Climate Solutions Initiative, Taj and the MSC team support the work of a range of partners who are raising awareness about climate impacts and climate solutions within a diverse cross-section of social movements.

A graduate of Stanford University, Taj was a recipient of a Next Generation Leadership fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation and was named a “Local Hero” by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Taj lives with his family as a guest on unceded Ohlone land, known by many as Oakland, California.

CEO of Biotech Initiatives of Lyda Hill Philanthropies

Tom Luce

Tom Luce’s life has been one of family, professional accomplishments, public service, and social entrepreneurship.

He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Southern Methodist University where he has been honored as a Distinguished Alumni. Tom went on to become the founding and managing partner of the Hughes and Luce law firm. He was lead attorney on multibillion mergers and litigation and was selected at various points in his career as one of the best attorneys at local, state, and national levels.

His public service in Texas was distinguished by gubernatorial and legislative appointments to major state positions including Chief Justice of the Supreme Court pro tempore, Sunset Commission, Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, Texas Commission on Judiciary, Chief of Staff of the Select Committee on Public Education, and the Superconducting Super Collider.

On the national level, he was appointed as Assistant Secretary of Education by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the United States Senate, and appointed to The Library of Congress Board by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Tom went on to found Texas 2036, an organization dedicated to addressing the impact of the state’s growth by an estimated 10 million people when it turns 200 years old. In addition to Texas 2036, Tom has founded and lead numerous other nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving the needs of others. These include the Texas Business and Education Coalition, Just for the Kids, Data Quality Campaign, the National Center for Educational Accountability, the National Math and Science Initiative, and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.

His latest venture is serving as CEO of Biotech Initiatives of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, focused on developing the entire life science ecosystem across the state of Texas.
He has authored two books on improving public education and has taught at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas at Dallas.

President & CEO, CapEQ

Tynesia Boyea-Robinson

As an entrepreneur, Six Sigma blackbelt, and technologist, Tynesia helps businesses achieve their true potential through social impact. She has been religiously leading and writing about enterprises that “do well and do good” for over a decade.

As President and CEO of CapEQTM, which she founded in 2011, she demonstrated how business and community goals can align towards mutual outcomes, helping Fortune 500 clients like the Carlyle Group, Marriott, and others change the way the world does business. In her previous role as Chief Impact Officer of Living Cities, Tynesia was responsible for ensuring $100M of investment produced outcomes that improved the lives of people across the country.

Tynesia has published articles featured in the Washington Post, Forbes and more, and her most recent book is The Social Impact Advantage: Win Customers and Talent By Harnessing Your Business For Good. In her first book, Just Change: How to Collaborate for Lasting Impact, Tynesia shares her experience investing in cities and leaders across the country.

CEO & Portfolio Lead, Roanhorse Consulting

Vanessa Roanhorse

Vanessa is an inclusive solutions-driven problem solver committed to liberating all peoples and delivering impactful mechanisms for social, environmental and economic change. She launched Roanhorse Consulting (RCLLC) in 2016, an Indigenous-led think tank. RCLLC co-designs wealth and power building efforts that directly invest in our leaders, support meaningful data collection informed by indigenous research approaches, and helps build thoughtful community-led projects that enforce values that put people at the center. Vanessa got her management chops working for 7 years at a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Delta Institute, focused throughout the Great Lakes region to build a resilient environment and economy through creative, sustainable, market-driven solutions. Vanessa oversaw many of Delta’s on-the-ground energy efficiency, green infrastructure, community engagement programs, and workforce development training.

Vanessa is a 2021 Paypal Maggie Lena Walker’s Emerging Leader Awardee and a 2020 Conscious Company Media’s World Changing Woman in Sustainable Business Awardee. She is a 2021 Purpose Fund Building fellow and a 2020 Boston Impact Initiative Fund-Building fellow. She is a founding member of the Zebras Unite Co-op, and an advisor to Angels of Impact Fund. She sits on the boards of Groundworks NM, Delta Institute, Zebras Unite and is an advisor to Decolonizing Wealth, Angels of Impact Fund, GenderSmart’s JEDI Working Group, and Social Venture Circle’s Restorative Investing Taskforce. She is one of 8 co-founders of Native Women Lead, an organization dedicated to growing Native women into positions of leadership and business. Vanessa is Diné (Navajo) citizen and resides on Tiwa Territory (Albuquerque, NM).