Author: Cara Hagan

Reese’s leadership experience as an outdoor professional and educator, both abroad and in the US, have given him a diverse skillet to bring to village capital. The skills gained as a whitewater rafting guide and field studies assistant instructor are complemented by his skillset gained in pursuing an MBA/MA in International Environmental Policy. Reese is proficient in Spanish language speaking and writing, and has worked with several organizations in Latin America. As a professional guide, Reese has excellent communication, management, and problem-solving skills, enabling him to play a vital role in business developments and strategy.

Laura is interested in strengthening rural communities in Latin America through the creation of economic opportunities and social enterprises. Laura has experience in business strategy and program design for an artisan development organization transitioning from being a nonprofit to a social enterprise in Guatemala. Additionally, she has worked with a nonprofit in Peru constructing research tools, conducting field research, and analyzing data to make recommendations to the local government.

Laura has also consulted on projects related to: social media, fund diversification, marketing, network analysis, as well as monitoring and evaluation.  Her experience working with international organizations to create sustainable and culturally relevant programs has prepared her to be innovative and flexible with strong problem solving and communication skills. Laura truly believes that development work is most sustainable and valuable to the local community when it is paired with the creation and strengthening of the local community and economy.

Caryn’s experience in the energy sector has given her a valuable interest and background. She has strong competencies in financial analysis and modeling, supply chain and operations management, which give her an opportunity to make valuable contributions to any company’s financial advisory and energy/operations management efforts.  Her research experience has also given her strong project management, problem-solving, and analytical skills, which enable her to play a vital role in business /strategy.  Her recent education at the Monterey Institute in International Business Administration and International Environmental Policy includes many activities in line with her interests in energy consulting and management. These skills and interests can be valuable to any growing or changing business

Jeanette’s experience in a variety of different fields ranging from public relations to development program management has given her a diverse skill set to bring to any organization. She has proven strengths in using social media mediums to achieve marketing and fundraising goals, as well as event planning and team leadership experience. These proficiencies allow her to be an asset to any organization’s communication and outreach efforts. Recent experience working with rural artisans in Rwanda allowed Jeanette to gain valuable strategic planning expertise, as well as giving her the opportunity to build off previous production management competencies in an international environment. Jeanette sees herself excelling in any role that allows her to build upon her existing strengths in communications and management, while gaining new skills in the realm of social enterprise.

Tiffany is a Dutch and Indonesian Angeleno who graduated from the University of Southern California. She is a thoughtful problem solver with a diverse skillset to serve strategy or advising roles for a social enterprise.

Her experience in international development spans three continents with a focus on poverty reduction programs, grassroots community engagement and non-profit and for-profit social enterprise management. Recently she worked on business and program strategy development for Kiva Zip Kenya in Nairobi, a Kiva.org platform that links Kenyan small businesses directly to crowd-funded capital via mobile payment platform, M-Pesa and the Internet. Her ability to synthesize complex issues, have foresight and communicate solutions enabled her to develop partnerships with individuals and organizations that serve Kenyan entrepreneurs in various high-impact sectors.

Most recently she worked as the Growth Manager for the Silk Road Bazaar, a fair trade wholesale representative of marginalized artist groups located in Kyrgyzstan. She has an interest in the intersection of creativity and creating economic opportunities for underserved communities, more specifically in understanding how to link small-scale artisans to capital and markets for their products.

She is eager to grow a career in strategy and advising for impact investing and social enterprise management.

Zsoka is a recent graduate with a field of Environmental Engineering and Environmental Studies focusing on Sustainability, Urban Development and Renewables. She has been active in international programs which enabled to sharpen her communication, problem-solving and professional skills. She has experience in Environmental Management at a multi-company, Sales and Business Strategy at a small enterprise and her recent research focuses on Urban Metabolism Mapping. She is dedicated to life-long learning and her professional goal is to achieve balance between humanity and nature in such a way that it will contribute to a paradigm shift. She believes in the power of love, the importance of collaboration and the joy of life.

Tom has had experience in investment banking in Colorado and Boston and, recently, in teaching History on a remote island in The Bahamas. In trying to combine the business-oriented side of banking with the community-oriented side of teaching in a developing country, Tom was drawn to Frontier Market Scouts. As a clear communicator with a track record in business development and financial analysis, Tom is pursuing a career in impact investing with a focus on Latin America and/or the alternative energy sector.

Deborah’s had a wide range of professional opportunities; from the co-founder of a successful non-profit to an HR manager for a Silicon Valley start-up. Currently, she works with an independent school as their Director of Operations and Enrollment and on the side, has her own consulting business that mentors small businesses through the “Crowdfunding” process. The thread that has run through all the work she’s done has been local economic reinvigoration, community building and environmental and social justice. Deborah has very strong strategic planning, business development and personnel skills. She is a progressive leader with a quick bottom-line mind that enables her to see the big picture clearly and she excels in  finding ways to move entrenched problems forward.  Her highest level of impact is identifying and catalyzing stakeholders, systems thinking and tapping into potential resources.

Helen has developed a unique blend of highly valuable and transferable skills through both her professional career as a transfer pricing manager for Deloitte Tax LLP and her work with her own sustainable non profit organization in Ecuador. She has strong competencies in financial modeling; intangible property valuation and impact measurement that would be valuable in helping an organization better value, understand and manage their social impacts and financial performance. Her experience living and working with rural communities in Ecuador and her recent consulting experience developing a business plan for an El Salvadorian social enterprise has also given her profound intercultural communication skills, a strong proficiency in the Spanish language and a passion for development in Latin America. This along with her project management skills and her impact investing experience will allow her to play a vital role in business impact measurement and evaluation strategy.

Maria’s experiences in both banking and finance management have given her a valuable background and skillset to bring to an impact investment organization. She has strong competencies in financial modeling, analyzing financial statements and financial ratios, which allow her to make valuable contributions to the due-diligence activities of the organization. She is a native Spanish speaker having lived, studied and worked in Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Honduras. Her professional experiences have given her strong management, problem-solving, coaching and communication skills; these enable her to play a vital role in working in a multicultural, multi-country and fast-paced environment.

She also brings a successful social enterprise experience from having worked as a volunteer coach with a Peruvian entrepreneur on the final development of his business plan. His business plan won a National Award in Peru and a Global award in Holland in 2010.

Her most recent professional experience in an international non-profit organization includes many activities in line with social investment organization operations.

All of this gives her industry knowledge in impact investing and social enterprise relevant to an impact investment organization’s core business.

Lindsey’s interest in social entrepreneurship and business development stems from her experience founding a social enterprise in Thailand focusing on economic diversification. She also has a strong background in international development policy after working with the United Nations to craft national policies in preparation for post-2015 development agenda negotiations. She has further experience in public relations, marketing, and public health. Lindsey has worked on three continents and speaks two languages.

Leslie Graham is an experienced consultant and fundraiser, based in Los Angeles.  Since earning her MBA, she has consulted with numerous community-based organizations, social service agencies and local governments on capacity building issues.  She currently works as the Director of Development at CalArts, where she links the institute’s financial goals to funding opportunities, both private and public. Having extensive experience as a management consultant for small nonprofit organizations, Leslie particularly enjoys working in the field to establish relationships based on shared interests and mutual goals.

With her planned transition into the social enterprise field, she would like to work with a growing organization that would benefit from her diverse skills – project management, business planning, and strategy – and involve her in the decision-making process.

With FMS, Leslie is looking for an assignment focused on social enterprise development (regionally or locally) or with an environment-focused funder. She speaks French and is eager to improve her Spanish.

Alex is a 2014 University of Iowa pharmacy school graduate with a passion for preventive medicine through lifestyle improvement and patient education. He currently works with Self Spark, a lifehacking startup that focuses on creating positive lifestyle behavior change through behavioral science and technology. He has a broad range of healthcare internship experience, from macro level projects (at US-FDA, GlaxoSmithKline, Management Sciences for Health, and PATH) to one on one work with patients in clinical settings. He hopes to work with a healthcare focused fund to learn how they evaluate and support individual enterprises, as well as analyze and project market trends.

Maura has unique experience in management consulting and field development for social enterprise. Her strengths are in strategy and design for systemic change, community engagement and education. She is a creative individual driven to share stories of social and environmental triumph through unique program design, speaking, writing. As a consultant, she has developed strong project management, problem-solving and facilitation skills. As a co-owner of a small business (an independent cinema and café) she is versed in the ground-level practicalities of small business administration as well as design research for new services and community engagement. Maura cares deeply for ocean health and is working to end plastic pollution through materials and systems innovation and to help people economically dependent on environmental degradation achieve alternative livelihoods.

John’s experience in banking and finance has consisted of energy-focused internships in which he was able to develop a broad understanding of the industry and related business economics. He has proven himself to be a dedicated worker who enjoys participating with colleagues and clients alike and is quick to adapt and immerse himself in new environments. Most recently, John had the opportunity to work as an analyst for Jefferies Group, an investment-banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and financial advisory services. He worked alongside financial analysts as they developed valuation models, created company overviews of various mid and large-cap companies, and prepared investment committee materials for potential investments.

Through his investment experience, John developed a strong analytical and valuations skillset that he looks forward to bringing to fellowship opportunities offered by the Frontier Market Scouts Program.