Board of Directors

David C. Hodgson (Chairman), General Atlantic, LLC
William A. Ackman, Pershing Square Capital
Maya Ajmera, The Global Fund for Children
Carter F. Bales, The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC
Esther Benjamin, International Partnership for Microbicides
Meredith Blake, Cause & Affect
Peter J. Campbell, Generation Partners
Guy de Chazal
Cheryl L. Dorsey (ex-officio), Echoing Green
Betsy Fader, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Marianne Gimon, Consultant
Adam Janovic, Ingalls & Snyder, LLC
Andrew R. Kassoy, B Lab
James Rubin, One Equity Partners
Reggie Stanley, Calvert Group, Ltd.
Jerome C. Vascellaro. TPG Capital LP
Dan Weiss, Barnes & Noble

David Hodgson, Chair

David Hodgson is a Managing Director of General Atlantic, a global private equity firm. In addition to serving as a director for a number of public and private companies, David is a board chair for Boys and Girls Harbor and Playing to Win. He is a member of the board of directors of the Manhattan Theater Club, a member of Dartmouth College's President's Leadership Council, serves on the Stanford Business School Advisory Council, and is a trustee of Johns Hopkins University, and of the Spence School in New York. David graduated from Dartmouth College and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

William A. Ackman

William A. Ackman is the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., a registered investment adviser with hedge fund assets under management in excess of $5 billion. Prior to forming Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P., Mr. Ackman co-founded Gotham Partners Management Co., LLC, an investment adviser which managed public and private equity investments.

Mr. Ackman received an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College where he graduated magna cum laude.

Maya Ajmera

As a 1994 Echoing Green Fellow, Maya Ajmera founded the Global Fund for Children, where she continues to serve as the President. She currently serves on the National Executive Board of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center and the Washington Area Women's Foundation. She is on the advisory boards of Youth Philanthropy Worldwide, Whole Child Initiative, Room to Read, and the Emerging Markets Foundation. Maya earned her BA from Bryn Mawr College and her MPP from the Sanford Institute for Public Policy at Duke University.

Carter Bales

Carter Bales Co-Founded The Wicks Group of Companies and is currently a Managing Director. He graduated from Princeton University and the Harvard Business School. Prior to founding Wicks, Carter held senior level positions at McKinsey & Company. In addition to serving as a member of McKinsey's Advisory Council, Carter is a trustee of The Nature Conservancy, Vice Chairman of the Grand Canyon Trust, Vice Chairman of the Cancer Research Institute, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Esther T. Benjamin

Esther Benjamin was recently appointed Executive Director for Resource Development at International Partnership for Microbicides. Previously, she served as Vice President for Business Development at the International Youth Foundation, where she focused on developing strategic partnerships and programs to support children and youth initiatives around the world. During the 1993 to 1994 humanitarian crisis in Somalia, Esther was appointed United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Officer, the youngest person appointed in this position, and in 1999 President Clinton appointed her a White House Fellow. Esther's private sector experience includes management consulting with Andersen, with Grant Thornton LLP, and with Richard S. Carson & Associates. Esther is Co-Founder of the Good Samaritan Fund and currently serves on the board of directors of Women in Community Service. As a College Scholar, Esther earned her undergraduate degree in political science and English from North Central College, and she earned graduate degrees in applied economics and international affairs from American University, where she was a Graduate Fellow.

Meredith Blake

Meredith Blake is a social change strategist and is a nationally recognized public interest attorney, advocate, and social entrepreneur, with over a decade of experience in creating positive social change. She previously served as Executive Vice President, Corporate & Community Affairs of Participant Productions and as President of the Participant Foundation. As a 1998 Echoing Green Fellow, Meredith founded the nonprofit legal services agency called Break the Cycle, which empowers youth to end domestic violence. As Founder and CEO, Meredith took the organization national in 2003 in order to serve youth in communities around the country. She received undergraduate degrees in political science and mass communications from the University of California at Berkeley and a JD from UCLA.

Peter Campbell

Peter Campbell is a Partner at Generation Partners, a private investment firm. Peter joined Generation Partners in 2000 as entrepreneur-in-residence; he was named a partner in 2001. Prior to joining Generation Partners, Peter worked in global marketing at Colgate Palmolive. He earned his BA from Middlebury College and his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Guy de Chazal

Until recently, Guy was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and President of Morgan Stanley Venture Partners (MSVP). He remains on the board of one of MSVP’s portfolio companies, Thrupoint Technologies and a previous portfolio company, Lionbridge Technologies (LIOX). He also serves on the board of Uhlig. He served on the board of the National Venture Capital Association, co-chairing the Education Committee and chairing the Annual Convention in 2005. In 2004 and 2005, he was an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, teaching Venture Capital to second year MBA students. Prior to his twenty-two years at Morgan Stanley, he worked at Citicorp Venture Capital and, before that, McKinsey and Co. In the nonprofit sector, Guy serves on four boards; he is chairman of Fountain House, a residential, service and advocacy program for people living with mental illness. He also serves on the boards of two Connecticut schools, Eagle Hill in Greenwich and Suffield Academy, and the Meadowbrook Hunt Club on Long Island. Guy has a BS Engineering from Manchester University in the UK and an MBA from Harvard University. He is married to Kitty Choate and has two teenage children, Justine and David.

Cheryl Dorsey

An accomplished social entrepreneur with expertise in health care, labor issues and public policy, Cheryl Dorsey was named President of Echoing Green in May 2002. She is the first Echoing Green Fellow to lead the social venture fund, which has awarded $27 million in start-up capital to over 450 social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987. Read more.

Betsy Fader

Betsy Fader is the Director of Strategy and Planning at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. She is the former Executive Director of Student Pugwash, USA, the junior arm of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, which won the 1995 Nobel Prize for Peace. She sits on the boards of Computers for Youth, the Literacy Assistance Center, Student Pugwash USA, the Women's Law Initiative, and the Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science. Betsy holds a BA from Vanderbilt University and a Master's Degree in Education from Harvard University.

Marianne Gimon

Marianne Gimon is an independent consultant and previously worked for the Social Science Research Council, coordinating a fellowship for HIV/AIDS and public health policy research in Africa. She has also worked for Population Council, the United Nations Development Program, and Equilibres et Populations, a French NGO dedicated to promoting reproductive health and education in West Africa. In addition, Marianne taught English in Yantai, China as a Worldteach volunteer. Marianne is a family council member of the Flora Family Foundation in Menlo Park, California. She received her BA from Brown University and her MA from the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University where she focused on economic and political development.

Adam Janovic

Adam Janovic is a Senior Director for the Ingalls & Snyder Value Partners Fund. Prior to Ingalls & Snyder, Adam was the President and fourth generation to run Janovic/Plaza. Janovic/Plaza is a New York based retailer and wholesaler of paint and decorating products. Adam holds a BA from Colgate University and an MBA from Cornell's Johnson School of Management.

Andrew Kassoy

After spending sixteen years in the real estate private equity business, most recently as a Director at MSD Real Estate Capital, L.P., Andrew Kassoy co-founded the nonprofit organization B Lab in 2007. B Lab envisions a new sector of economy which harnesses the power of private enterprise to create public benefit. Previously, Andrew was Managing Director in Credit Suisse First Boston’s Private Equity Department, a Founding Partner of DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (RECP), and head of its international business. RECP’s two funds totaled $1.9 billion and have achieved returns to date in excess of 20 percent and a 2X multiple on invested capital. Andrew originated and built RECP’s business in Japan, then moved to London to build its European team. Andrew received his BA in political science from Stanford University, where he was a Truman Scholar.

James Rubin

James (Jamie) Rubin joined BC Partners in 2008 from One Equity Partners, where he was a founding partner since inception in 2001. James originated and executed transactions in a variety of industries with a particular focus on healthcare and business services and was also responsible for building OEP's practice in India. Prior to forming One Equity, James worked at Allen & Company Incorporated and the Federal Communications Commission. James has a law degree from Yale University and a degree from Harvard University.

Reginald Stanley

Reginald (Reggie) Stanley is Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President at Calvert. He has twenty years of experience in investment, economic development, and entrepreneurial businesses. Prior to Calvert Reggie served as President of Boston Community Managed Assets and Chief Operating Officer of its CDFI holding company, Boston Community Capital (BCC). Prior to joining BCC, Reggie spent seven years and held several leadership positions at Fidelity Investments, including Vice President of High Net Worth Marketing and Customer Development and E-Commerce. He has worked at the consulting firms of Bain & Company, and McKinsey & Company, as well as served on several community and nonprofit boards aimed at civil justice, economic development, equality and quality of life issues. These include(d): the Philadelphia Business Cooperative Office for economic development, the Whitman Walker Health Care Clinic, the Doorways to Dreams (D2D) IDA support start-up, GLAD for impact litigation, The Partnership for diversity in Boston, The Children's Museum of Boston, Big Brother's Association of Roxbury/Dorchester, and the Social Investment Forum Board. Reggie graduated with honors with a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and earned his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jerome Vascellaro

Jerome Vascellaro is a Partner at TPG’s San Francisco office. Prior to joining TPG, Jerome served as Senior Director of McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm. He joined McKinsey in 1978 and during his twenty-seven years at McKinsey, he has served clients in the United States and Europe to improve the effectiveness of their organizations, develop strategies for entering new businesses and markets, and turn around troubled businesses. Jerome is very active at his alma mater, Brown University. He serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He is past President of the Brown Alumni Association, as well as past National Chair of the Brown Annual Fund, and is currently Co-Chair of Brown’s current Campaign. Jerome holds a BS in engineering and economics from Brown University, where he graduated with highest honors, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.

Daniel Weiss

Daniel (Dan) Weiss has worked for over thirty years in the fields of communications and publishing, producing books, magazines, and multi-media for children and adults, with a focus on education. A graduate of NYU’s School of the Arts in Film and Television, Dan began his career in educational television, making short animated films for Sesame Street, documentaries for the government and public service organizations, and political commercials. In the early seventies, he transitioned into book publishing, working at Golden Press, Scholastic, and Simon and Schuster, prior to forming his own company, Dan Associates, Inc. (DWAI), in 1980. DWAI was the producer of numerous bestsellers, including the SWEET VALLEY HIGH series of books, merchandise and television entertainment; adult how-to books, fiction and magazines. Dan sold DWAI in 2000 to AlloyOnline, a teen marketing company. In 2001, Dan initiated and closed the transaction wherein SparkNotes.com, a start-up online publisher, was acquired by Barnes & Noble, Inc. The company, presently known as Spark Publishing, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary with over 550 titles in print after 4 years, and a website that has grown to become the largest educational site on the Internet. Dan is currently Publisher of Quamut, a unit of Barnes & Noble.