*Please note that the agenda is in formation and is subject to change.
9:00 AM
Registration Opens & Networking Breakfast
The Forum
601 W 125th Street
New York, NY 10027
9:25 AM
Welcome Remarks
The Forum, Auditorium
Executive Director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change and Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School
Sandra Navalli ’03BUS, OAM
Executive Director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change and Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia Business School
Sandra Navalli, ‘03BUS OAM, is an adjunct faculty and executive director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School, which educates leaders to use business knowledge, entrepreneurial skills, and management tools to address social and environmental challenges. The institute offers courses, experiential learning programs, research, and community-focused initiatives, including the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures which provides seed grants for social and environmental ventures. Newer initiatives focus on Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Capital for Good (which covers the full capital spectrum from ESG and impact investing to venture philanthropy), Business and Climate Change, and the ReEntry Acceleration Program (where MBA students teach personal finance, entrepreneurship, and interpersonal skills in prisons). She has over a decade of experience in the impact field, and previously worked in business and product development for an education technology social venture, management consulting, microeconomic policy, and in corporate law. In 2020 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to international education. She received an MBA from Columbia Business School and honors degrees in economics and in law (BEc/LLB) from the Australian National University.
9:30 AM
Innovating Aid: Leveraging Technology for Greater Humanitarian Impact
The Forum, Auditorium
With over 25 years of experience in both operational and program roles, Jennifer has led transformative initiatives in some of the world’s most challenging environments. In this engaging discussion, she will share invaluable insights on navigating change and driving innovation within humanitarian efforts. Attendees will explore how leveraging new technologies can enhance aid effectiveness and create lasting impact in communities worldwide. Jennifer’s unique perspective, shaped by her extensive fieldwork in places like Bosnia, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan, will provide practical lessons on building resilience amid crises. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from a leader who has dedicated her career to improving lives and fostering social progress. Join us and be part of the conversation that inspires action and shapes the future of humanitarian leadership.
Chief Operating Officer at Mercy Corps
Jennifer Sime
Chief Operating Officer at Mercy Corps
Jennifer Sime serves as Mercy Corps’ chief operating officer, maximizing operational efficiency and effectiveness. She is responsible for operational leadership, including process efficiencies and change management, and improving systems and operations with the goals of increased alignment, accountability, and the efficient allocation of resources.
Previously, Jennifer worked for Physicians for Human Rights, where she served as COO and more recently as interim executive director — setting the organization’s vision and driving its evidence-based, quality programming. She has balanced a distinguished career with the International Rescue Committee and a master’s degree in Latin American politics from New York University, and brings more than 25 years of experience in both operational and program roles.
She spent ten years living and working in Bosnia, Kenya, Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, and Panama, before moving on to hold a series of leadership positions at IRC, including the roles of senior vice president for resettlement, asylum, and integration, and senior vice president of the Awards Management Unit. Jennifer was also Mercy Corps’ country director in Kyrgyzstan from 2002 to 2003.
10:20 AM
Break
The Forum, Foyer
10:30 AM
Impact Investing as a Tool for Resilience
The Forum, Auditorium
This session will explore how targeted impact investments are driving change in financial inclusion, social well-being, and climate resilience to help build a more secure economic future. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from these leading experts as they discuss how impact investing is shaping a more resilient future.
Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners
Jennifer Louie
Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners
Jennifer Louie leads Closed Loop Partners’ private credit, catalytic capital group.
Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Jennifer spent the last ten years managing emerging market debt portfolios across both the public and private markets. Her responsibilities spanned across the deal cycle and included fundraising for private debt vehicles. She began her career in New York City at Merrill Lynch focused on business development and proprietary M&A.
In more recent years, Jennifer has held executive positions at organizations focused on impact investing and sustainable finance.
Jennifer graduated with her BS degree in business management from Binghamton University.
Co-founder and Managing Partner of ResilienceVC; Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School
Vikas Raj ’10BUS
Co-founder and Managing Partner of ResilienceVC; Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School
Vikas Raj, ’10BUS, has spent his career operating and investing in startup-led innovation in financial services.
He has invested in over 70 fintech startups, helping them raise over $1B and creating over $3B in value, with a singular focus on inclusive solutions for highly underserved consumers and small businesses. Prior to co-founding ResilienceVC, Vikas was a managing director at Accion Venture Lab, where he led the fund’s investment work globally and was a board member of Self Inc, Konfio, SMECorner, StreetShares, and Tienda Pago (among others). Previously, Vikas was an M&A investment banker at Evercore Partners, where he advised on multiple corporate transactions with aggregate value of over $45B across the financial services, technology, real estate, and consumer products sectors. He also helped build two pioneers in the microfinance space, as an early employee at Ujjivan and ASA International, both of which are now publicly traded companies.Vikas has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
He is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and Johns Hopkins (SAIS), where he teaches courses on startup investing and inclusion. He is also the chair of the investment committee of the Catalyst Fund, a climate fintech fund focused on Africa, and is a fintech contributor for Forbes. Vikas lives in Washington DC with his wife and two sons, who he regularly regales with his middling tennis and guitar skills.
Executive Director and Head of Sustainable Products and Solutions, Global Sustainability Office at Morgan Stanley
Courtney Thompson ’17BUS
Executive Director and Head of Sustainable Products and Solutions, Global Sustainability Office at Morgan Stanley
Courtney Thompson, ’17BUS, is an executive director and head of sustainable products and solutions in Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainability Office, supporting the development of sustainable finance products and solutions across the firm’s Institutional Securities, Investment Management and Wealth Management divisions. Before joining Morgan Stanley, Courtney worked in strategic advisory at Next Street and economic consulting at Analysis Group. Courtney has a BA in economics from Williams College and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She currently serves as board co-chair of LEO Impact Fund, the student-led impact investing fund at Columbia Business School.
10:30 AM
*Note: This session is from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Climate & Social Impact Pitch Mix & Match and Networking Session
Columbia Business School, David Geffen Hall
645 W 130th Street, Room 590
New York, NY 100270
Are you passionate about tackling climate change and creating positive social impact? Want to discover the groundbreaking solutions startups are bringing to the table? Looking for potential partnerships or team members to bring your business to life? Interested in joining a team or getting involved with a startup? Seeking connections with professionals who share your interest in sustainability and social impact?
This informal pitch mix and match networking session offers the ideal platform to meet fellow changemakers, exchange ideas, and collectively drive progress towards a greener, better future. Join us for lightning round venture pitches from a variety of Columbia-affiliated social and environmental startups followed by a networking session to make meaningful connections within the social and environmental startup community at Columbia.
This matchmaking event is designed for:
- anyone looking to meet Columbia-affiliated social or environmental startups;
- any Columbia-affiliated social or environmental startup (at any stage) seeking new team members or connections, and;
- anyone looking to practice their pitch in a non-competitive environment.
Program Manager at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School
Karen Hasher ’99TC
Program Manager at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School
Karen Hasher, ’99TC, is program manager of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School. She received a master’s in education from Teachers College, Columbia University; an MBA in finance from Drexel University; and a BS in marketing from the Pennsylvania State University.
Prior to joining Columbia Business School, Karen worked as manager of program evaluation for Publicolor, a youth development organization, and for Leadership for Educational Equity as project manager for new ventures. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and once started and ran her own company. Now, Karen enjoys supporting other entrepreneurs grow their organizations.
Karen is originally from the Philadelphia area and now lives in Manhattan. She enjoys walking her dog, Ozzie, in Riverside Park, volunteering at animal rescue organizations, and traveling.
11:20 AM
Break
The Forum, Foyer
11:25 AM
Empowering Communities Through Sustainable Energy Transition
The Forum, Auditorium
A successful energy transition will be one that not only lowers our carbon footprint, but also creates cleaner communities, green jobs, and cheaper energy. Join our panelists as they discuss how we can deploy sustainable and renewable technologies through private and public capital to ensure we achieve these goals with speed and scale.
Managing Director and Lead Transactor at New York Green Bank
Kelsey Clair ’22BUS
Managing Director and Lead Transactor at New York Green Bank
Kelsey Clair, ’22BUS, is a director and lead transactor on NY Green Bank’s investment and portfolio management team, where she sources, structures, and executes on clean energy investments across New York State. Kelsey is focused on bridging the financing gap for projects that will decarbonize our economy, namely in energy storage, clean transportation, and building efficiency.
Prior to joining NY Green Bank, Kelsey worked as a lead transactor and portfolio manager at MUFG Bank, where she managed a billion-dollar portfolio of investments in commodity trading platforms and midstream energy companies. Her career has been focused on providing financing solutions to corporates and projects within the energy sector. Prior to MUFG, Kelsey worked for JPMorgan Chase investing in middle market companies across all industries.
Kelsey received a BS in finance from Fordham University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She is also an executive committee member for CAIA NY, where she leads educational programs in alternative investments.
Chief Investment Officer at Climate United
Michael Grossman
Chief Investment Officer at Climate United
Michael Grossman is chief investment officer at Climate United. Previously, Michael created the private credit business at New Island Capital to provide debt capital to the renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, education, and financial inclusion sectors in the United States and emerging markets. Michael was responsible for international lending at Calvert Impact Capital and oversaw impact investing at Social Finance, where he managed and launched multiple impact-first investment vehicles. Michael spent more than a decade at Citibank in Africa, where he managed the Senegalese and Tunisian banking operations. He was a senior advisor to McKinsey’s social sector office and helped launch the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the African Development Bank’s Trade Finance business.
Michael sits on multiple public and private investment or credit committees.
Michael is a graduate of MIT and Georgetown University. Michael is a Salzburg Global Fellow and a chevalier in Senegal’s National Order of the Lion.
Senior Advisor, Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy
Campbell Howe
Senior Advisor, Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy
Campbell Howe is a senior strategy advisor with the US Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office. At DOE, she helps lead efforts on the Pathways to Commercial Liftoff for Clean Hydrogen. Previously, she invested in technology companies at ICONIQ Capital and Bain Capital Ventures. She received her master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford.
Managing Director at Whitehall & Company LLC and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Climate School
Nadia Zaets ’09BUS ’09SIPA ’05BC
Managing Director at Whitehall & Company LLC and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Climate School
Nadia Zaets, ’09BUS ’09SIPA ’05BC, joined Whitehall as a director in April 2017. Prior to joining Whitehall, she worked in the power, utilities, and renewables group at Credit Suisse. Nadia has been originating and executing transactions in thermal generation, renewable generation, electric, gas, and water utility space. She has experience in buyside and sellside M&A as well as debt and equity financing.
Some of the prior transactions include:
– Sale of the Ironwood generation facility
– Sale of the Channelview generation facility
– Sale of the Brooklyn Navy Yard generation facility
– Acquisition of Source Gas utility by Black Hills
Career
– Credit Suisse, Vice President – Power, Utilities, and Renewables Group
Education
– MBA, Columbia Business School
– Masters in International Affairs, Columbia School of International and Public Affairs
– Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude), Barnard College
12:15 PM
Networking Lunch
The Forum, East Atrium (1st Floor)
Pick up your boxed lunch in the East Atrium and eat there, in Geffen Hall, or outside.
1:15 PM
Rebuilding Faith in our Economy and Democracy: Embracing Patriotic Capitalism for Greater Economic Opportunity
The Forum, Auditorium
Whatever the outcome of the US election in November, it is clear that many people feel the economy does not provide a reasonable and fair path to financial security and advancement for their families. This lack of faith in the economy is also eroding faith in democratic institutions, in the US and in many other countries around the world.
What can investors and corporate leaders do to address these twin threats? Join us for an insightful session that delves into the concept of Patriotic Capitalism, a forward-thinking blueprint aimed at recalibrating American enterprise for greater inclusivity and shared success.
Led by industry trailblazers Roy Swan, director of mission investments at the Ford Foundation, and Antony Bugg-Levine, co-founder of the Global Impact Investing Network, this session will explore the transformative potential of impact investing within the framework of Patriotic Capitalism.
Roy Swan brings unparalleled expertise in deploying endowment capital for impactful investments across global markets, while Antony Bugg-Levine, a pioneer in impact investing, will share his extensive experience in mobilizing resources for social change. Together, they will address the critical need for a new capitalist paradigm that aligns private and public interests, bridges the gap between wealth and opportunity, and revitalizes the American Dream.
Co-founder and Board Member of Global Impact Investing Network
Antony Bugg-Levine
Co-founder and Board Member of Global Impact Investing Network
How do we activate investment capital to advance social progress? Antony Bugg-Levine has been working to answer that question for 20+ years.
He was most recently the president of Lafayette Square Institute, providing US policymakers across the political spectrum with the insights, data, and resources they need to mobilize private investment in ways that generate prosperity for more people, and a managing director at the Lafayette Square holding company. He designed and led the Rockefeller Foundation’s impact investing initiative and oversaw its program related investments portfolio from 2007 to 2011. He convened the 2007 meeting that coined the phrase “impact investing,” and in 2009, co-founded the Global Impact Investing Network.
He also co-authored the first book on impact investing, Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference (2011). Prior to Lafayette Square, Antony spent ten years as CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), a Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) lending to and advising community organizations and donors across in the United States. A native of South Africa, he returned in the late 1990s, where he served as acting communications director of the South African Human Rights Commission and as a speech writer and media strategist for the African National Congress national election campaign.
Antony holds a BA from Yale, an MPA from Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs, and has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. He was selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and named one of the fifty most powerful and influential people in the US nonprofit sector by Nonprofit Times in 2018-2020. He currently serves on the boards of the Global Impact Investing Network and Community Connections for Youth.
Director of Mission Investments at Ford Foundation
Roy Swan
Director of Mission Investments at Ford Foundation
Roy Swan is the inaugural head of the Ford Foundation’s mission investments program, which deploys endowment capital for market rate impact investments, program-related investment capital for catalytic opportunities ranging from market rate to concessionary, and grant capital to support the global impact investing and Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) ecosystems. Roy’s team covers the United States, Africa, China, India, Indonesia and southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Roy’s background includes banking, finance, general management, investments, and law. Over the last three decades Roy has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards and advisory committees. Roy currently serves on the boards of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), Freddie Mac, and Parnassus Funds. Roy is also a member of the AQR Fund’s advisory board and KKR’ sustainability expert advisory council. In the past, Roy has served on boards including Aequi Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: ARBG), the Dalton School, Enterprise Community Partners, LIIF, the Morgan Stanley Foundation, the SASB Foundation, and Varo Bank, among others.
Roy is a 1986 graduate of Princeton University, where he was a recruited member of the track and field team, and a 1992 graduate of Stanford Law School, where he was a notes editor of the Stanford Law Review.
2:05 PM
Break
The Forum, Foyer
2:10 PM
Bridging Finance, Policy, and Technology: Catalyzing Climate Action to Overcome the Green Premium
The Forum, Auditorium
Join renowned climate scientist Ken Caldeira and climate economist Gernot Wagner for an insightful keynote discussion on the intersection of energy technology, policy, and finance. They will explore critical issues such as the balance between R&D in new technologies versus achieving scaling existing ones, and the role of finance, government, and philanthropy in overcoming the “green premium.” Attendees will gain valuable insights into the scientific, economic, and political strategies essential for addressing the urgent challenges of climate change.
Senior Scientist at Gates Ventures
Ken Caldeira
Senior Scientist at Gates Ventures
Ken Caldeira brings reliable information related to climate science into Gates Ventures and related organizations. He is surrounded by intelligent and thoughtful people who, given good information, make good decisions, so his role does not include advising what people should do.
Ken also mentors a postdoc-driven research group at Carnegie Institution’s facilities on the Stanford University campus. In that role, he helps the postdocs to make important new scientific discoveries and to perform valuable technical analyses. He aims to communicate these findings, and other empirical knowledge, clearly and accurately.
He tries to be a positive force in the universe.
Senior Lecturer in Discipline of Economics and Faculty Director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School
Gernot Wagner
Senior Lecturer in Discipline of Economics and Faculty Director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative at the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change at Columbia Business School
Gernot Wagner is a climate economist at Columbia Business School. His research, teaching, and writing focus on climate risks and climate policy.
Gernot writes a monthly column for Project Syndicate and has written five books, including, most recently: Geoengineering: the Gamble, published by Polity (2021); Stadt, Land, Klima (“City, Country, Climate”), published, in German, by Brandstätter Verlag (2021); Climate Shock, joint with Harvard’s Martin Weitzman and published by Princeton (2015), among others, a Top 15 FT McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2015, and Austria’s Natural Science Book of the Year 2017; and But will the planet notice?, published by Hill & Wang/Farrar Strauss & Giroux (2011).
Prior to joining Columbia as senior lecturer and serving as faculty director of the Climate Knowledge Initiative, Gernot taught at NYU, Harvard, and Columbia. He was the founding executive director of Harvard’s Solar Geoengineering Research Program (2016–2019), and served as economist at the Environmental Defense Fund (2008–2016), most recently as lead senior economist (2014–2016) and member of its leadership council (2015–2016). Before EDF, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group in Düsseldorf and New York and wrote for the Financial Times leader writer team in London. He has been a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a senior fellow at the Jain Family Institute, and is a CEPR research fellow, a CESifo faculty fellow, a faculty affiliate at the Columbia Center for Environmental Economics and Policy, a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change, a coordinating lead author of the Austrian Panel on Climate Change, and he serves on the board of CarbonPlan.org.
Born and raised in Amstetten, Austria, Gernot graduated from high school in his hometown before moving to the United States for college. He holds a joint bachelor’s magna cum laude with highest honors in environmental science, public policy, and economics, and a master’s and PhD in political economy and government from Harvard, as well as a master’s in economics from Stanford.
Gernot lives in New York City with his wife, Siri Nippita, a gynecologist at NYU Langone Health and the chief of the family planning division as well as the director of Reproductive Choice at Bellevue Hospital, and their two young children.
3:00 PM
Break
The Forum, Foyer
3:05 PM
Empowering Refugees Through Financial Inclusion: Unlocking Economic Potential
The Forum, Auditorium
How can we leverage innovative financial inclusion tools to invest in the economic potential of refugee communities? Selen Ucak, ’03BUS, entrepreneurship and strategy lead at the Refugee Investment Network, will discuss how impact investing is driving social change in refugee settings. Yanki Tshering, ’90SIPA, executive director and founder of Accompany Capital, will share her insights and inspiring stories of how financial support has transformed refugee businesses in the United States. Sarah Khalbuss, ’21SIPA, program specialist in refugee career development at HIAS, will share her insights on how digital equity initiatives and mental health support are crucial in enhancing financial inclusion and employment opportunities for refugees. Inara Tareque PhD, ’26BUS, PhD candidate at Columbia Business School, will complement these insights with pioneering research on entrepreneurship and economic empowerment for refugees. Join us to discover powerful solutions for fostering economic opportunity and inclusion for refugees around the world.
Program Specialist, Refugee Career Development at HIAS
Sarah Khalbuss ’21SIPA
Program Specialist, Refugee Career Development at HIAS
Sarah Khalbuss, ’21SIPA, is a Syrian-American humanitarian practitioner and Fulbright alumni working in refugee resettlement and employment. At HIAS, Sarah coordinates the Refugee Career Pathways program, leads on digital equity themes, supports MG technical assistance and monitoring, supports the Employer Engagement Program, and coordinated the EnGen ESL pilot with four sites. After years of volunteering with refugees while studying Middle East Studies and conducting research on Arab Spring social movements at the University of Pittsburgh, Sarah moved to Turkey with Fulbright and stayed post-scholarship due to co-founding Istanbul&I, a nonprofit startup. Istanbul&I is a youth volunteer nonprofit focused on designing and implementing small projects for refugees and migrants in the heart of Istanbul’s Beyoğlu neighborhood. Her studies at Columbia’s School of International Public Affairs focused on livelihood and refugees, GBV prevention in humanitarian settings, mentoring Syrian youth, and human-centered design. Sarah is a yogi and wellness advocate and is especially passionate about the intersection of mental health and employment for refugees.
PhD Candidate at Columbia Business School
Inara Tareque PhD ’26BUS
PhD Candidate at Columbia Business School
Inara S. Tareque PhD, ’26BUS, is a PhD candidate at Columbia Business School’s Management Division, studying entrepreneurship, inequality, and social capital. Her ongoing work spans various domains, including immigrant entrepreneurship, US small business development and growth, and refugees’ economic empowerment.
Previously, she conducted research with the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative at Stanford GSB and at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on topics like ecosystem development and diversity in entrepreneurship. Her research has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and featured in media outlets including Time, Forbes, Bloomberg, and Inc. magazine. Inara holds an MPhil from Columbia Business School and a BA in mathematics and economics from Grinnell College.
Executive Director and Founder of Accompany Capital
Yanki Tshering ’90SIPA
Executive Director and Founder of Accompany Capital
Yanki Tshering, ’90SIPA, is executive director and founder of Accompany Capital, an award-winning Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in New York City that has made over $70M in loans to immigrants and refugee businesses and enabled 1,412 refugees to invest $27M in further education, recertification, homeownership and microenterprises.
Yanki’s passion for economic development stems from her belief that with appropriate support, immigrants and refugees can start new lives and contribute to the mainstream economy. She has a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University with a specialization in economic development and South Asian Studies. In 2012, Yanki was honored by Mayor Michael Bloomberg with the American Dreamer Award in the business leader category for her contribution to improving the lives of newcomers to the city.
Entrepreneurship and Strategy Lead at the Refugee Investment Network
Selen Ucak ’03BUS
Entrepreneurship and Strategy Lead at the Refugee Investment Network
Selen Ucak, ’03BUS, is a dynamic leader at the nexus of private sector engagement and global social impact. As a part of the Refugee Investment Network (RIN), she specializes in impact investing strategies to address forced displacement challenges, as well as consulting to international organizations.
Previously, Selen supported small businesses and job creation in Turkiye and Jordan as Program Director at Building Markets. She is the author of “Another Side to the Story: A Market Assessment of Syrian SMEs in Turkey” and “The Untapped Potential of Supplier Diversity in Turkey,” among other research in inclusive economies. In addition to her experience as executive director of The American Turkish Society, Selen’s expertise includes social entrepreneurship, grantmaking, and economic research. Selen is a Vital Voices Visionaries Fellow; a contributor to the Impact Entrepreneur magazine; and an advisor to various impact initiatives. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School as the first Tashman Fellow and a BA in economics/international affairs from Colorado College.
3:55 PM
Break
The Forum, Foyer
4:00 PM
Closing Keynote Panel on Investing in the Future: Women Empowerment
The Forum, Auditorium
CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen
Leslie Abbey
CEO of Hot Bread Kitchen
Leslie Abbey is an organizational leader and entrepreneur who has committed her career to supporting families and youth, social justice, and data-driven strategies to improve social service outcomes. As Hot Bread Kitchen’s CEO, Leslie is overseeing execution of the organization’s three-year plan to support 1,000 breadwinners across New York City and expand its programs to all five boroughs.
Prior to joining Hot Bread Kitchen in January 2022, Leslie was deputy executive director and chief operating officer of Covenant House New York, the city’s largest organization dedicated to serving youth experiencing homelessness. From 2014 to 2017, Leslie was chief program officer at Lantern Community Services, a leading nonprofit provider of supportive housing in New York City.
Prior to Lantern, Leslie held progressively senior positions at the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) in the Bloomberg administration. Her first role was as executive director of the Juvenile Justice Initiative, the city’s largest alternative-to-placement program for youth in the juvenile justice system and the first-ever program of its kind to use data-driven evidence-based social service models. At the end of her ACS tenure, Leslie was interim deputy commissioner of the Division of Policy, Planning, and Measurement, where she led the creation and implementation of myriad, data-driven City-wide initiatives. Leslie started her career advocating for youth as an attorney in the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice from 1997 to 2007, where she first represented children in Bronx family court, and then moved on to the Practice’s Special Litigation and Law Reform Unit. A critical thinker with a passion for building programs that improve social service outcomes and the experience of users of public systems, Leslie is a co-founder of two nonprofit organizations. In the year following her law school graduation, Leslie co-founded Family Legal Care (formerly LIFT), an award-winning organization that provides legal information and support to 30,000 Family Court litigants annually. In 2022, Leslie co-founded, and now serves as chair of the board of directors of Anthos|Home, which aims to improve housing outcomes for New Yorkers with housing vouchers, in collaboration with myriad housing system partners.
Leslie has served on numerous other boards and committees in the nonprofit and public sectors as well. Current appointments include the board of managers of Swarthmore College, board of trustees of New York University School of Law, board of trustees of JCCA, and board of directors of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition. She is also a member of the Women’s Forum of New York. A native New Yorker who has always loved the beauty of food, Leslie and her husband live in Manhattan, where they have raised two children and one rescue puppy.
Vice President of Development at Echoing Green
Kate Duff
Vice President of Development at Echoing Green
Kate Duff is an experienced nonprofit executive specializing in fundraising, operational management, and leadership of social impact and cultural organizations.
Kate previously served as the COO of the International Center of Photography, overseeing fundraising, education programs, visitor experience, and administration for the world’s leading photography museum and school. Kate was recruited to ICP from her position with CCS Fundraising after a leading a successful eight figure capital campaign resulting in the opening of a new museum on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in January 2020.
As a fundraiser, Kate has raised millions of dollars for NYC-based and national organizations such as the Public Theater, ICP, and FoodCorps. She has led annual giving, campaign, and endowment fundraising programs, provided interim management services for development departments, and managed teams responsible for fundraising from individual, foundation, corporate, and government sources. In each of her engagements she has implemented effective operational tools and systems for tracking, reporting, and managing fundraising pipelines.
Kate began working with the executive office of Echoing Green in 2021 and has managed cross-departmental projects including the FY23 goal-setting initiative, a complete revision of the personnel manual, planning for the board-designated reserve, and the design and implementation of EG’s hybrid work model and the safety protocols around the return to office. Last summer, Kate began working with the development team to plan for the future of fundraising at Echoing Green.
Kate started her professional life as an attorney, and her nonprofit leadership experience is underscored by five years of legal practice. Kate holds an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, cum laude, a JD from Vanderbilt University Law School, and a diploma in cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Arts Academy.
President and CEO of Women’s World Banking
Mary Ellen Iskenderian
President and CEO of Women’s World Banking
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is the president and CEO of Women’s World Banking, a global nonprofit dedicated to serving the nearly one billion women excluded by the formal financial sector. She joined Women’s World Banking in 2006 and leads its global team in partnering with financial institutions and policymakers around the world to design and develop solutions and programs that facilitate systemic change for women. Additionally, she oversees Women’s World Banking’s asset management business that makes direct equity investments in financial service providers as a means to advance women in the workplace and as customers.
Mary Ellen is a passionate advocate for women’s economic empowerment through greater access to finance; she urges the financial services industry and business community to view low-income women as a powerful new market of small business owners, heads of households, and consumers of financial products and services.
Mary Ellen has spoken widely and published extensively on topics ranging from equality of economic opportunity, women’s financial inclusion, climate resilience, and financial abuse. In April 2022, her first book, “There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women,” was published by MIT Press.
Before joining Women’s World Banking, Mary Ellen worked for 17 years at the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, and had previously worked for the investment bank Lehman Brothers. She is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves as a director on the board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council and of Milken’s Africa Business Leaders Council.
A 2017 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Fellow, Mary Ellen holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in international economics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, Open Society Foundations and Former Adjunct Professor of Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School
Georgia Levenson Keohane
CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, Open Society Foundations and Former Adjunct Professor of Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School
Georgia Levenson Keohane is the CEO of the Soros Economic Development Fund, the economic development and impact investing arm of the Open Society Foundations. She has more than twenty years of leadership experience in the private and nonprofit sectors at the intersection of the capital markets, innovative philanthropy, responsible business and investing, and public policy.
Previously, she served as president of the Navab Capital Partners (NCP) Foundation and head of the firm’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice, and before that executive director of the Pershing Square Foundation. A former McKinsey consultant, Georgia has advised CEOs, boards, management teams, and institutional, corporate, and philanthropic investors on strategy, operations, ESG, sustainable and impact investing, and inclusive growth. She is also a former adjunct professor of social enterprise at Columbia Business School, where she hosts the Capital for Good podcast.
Keohane speaks and writes regularly on social and economic policy, philanthropy, stakeholder capitalism, and the role of business in society, and is the author of two award-winning books, Capital and the Common Good: How Innovative Finance is Tackling the World’s Most Urgent Problems (2016) and Social Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century: Innovation Across the Nonprofit, Private and Public Sectors (2013). Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Time, and the Harvard Business Review, among other publications.
Keohane serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, and holds a BA from Yale University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and an MSc from London School of Economics, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.
4:55 PM
5:00 PM
Reception With Leo Impact Fund
Dear Mama
611 W 129th St
New York, NY 10027