FOUNDING TEAM
DAVID BANK
David is the CEO and Editor of ImpactAlpha. David is a journalist, entrepreneur and thought leader in social innovation, technology and finance. As a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, he covered software, the Internet and venture capital. His book, Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Future of Microsoft (Free Press, 2001) was named one of the "Best Business Books of 2001" by the Harvard Business Review and Amazon.com. Most recently, he was a vice president of Encore.org (formerly Civic Ventures) where he advanced innovative ideas and compelling people making a difference with encore careers. Bank was a 1996 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He has an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
ZULEYMA BEBELL
Zuleyma is the Operations Manager and Data Lead of ImpactAlpha. Passionate about connecting people and harvesting mutually beneficial relationships, Zuleyma believes social enterprises are a vehicle for real economic growth. With a Master’s degree in Investment and Development from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida, she is dedicated to sustainable development solutions. Zuleyma worked as a Reporting Analyst for UNDP in Amman Jordan, she is fluent in Spanish and Arabic.
PROJECT DIRECTORS & WRITERS
MAURA DILLEY
Maura is a social innovation and environmental impact strategist working on transitions to a sustainable economy. She has been with Impact Alpha for over a year as a writer and is program director for Financing Fish where she covers investors and entrepreneurs growing the sustainable seafood sector. Previous to Impact Alpha, Maura was accelerating social entrepreneurs working on Grand Challenges set out by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Maura holds a master’s degree in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability from the Blekinge Institute of Technology in Karlskrona, Sweden and a certificate in Social Enterprise Management and Impact Investing from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. As the co-owner of a small business – The Rio Theater and Café in rural Sonoma County, California – she is also versed in the ground-level practicalities of small business administration, community placemaking and buttering popcorn.
DENNIS PRICE
Dennis is writer and project director at ImpactAlpha and has more than a decade of experience at the intersection of markets and development. He leads ImpactAlpha’sFull Stack Capital coverage, chronicling how public, philanthropic and private investors are blending their capital to finance solutions to today’s most intractable problems. He also manages projects for ImpactAlpha clients including the Gates, MacAuthur and Hewlett Foundations. Prior to ImpactAlpha Dennis co-founded the impact investing firm, 118 Capital, worked as a research consultant with the Media Development Investment Fund and spent a summer as an associate with the Global Impact Investing Network. He began his career with the Peace Corps in Armenia. He has a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Boston College.
JESSICA POTHERING
Jessica is a business journalist focusing on social innovation, finance and economic development. Her passion is exploring the cross-section of business and society; the topics of her reporting and research range from social impact bonds in the United States to social entrepreneurs in Southern Africa. Jessica started her journalism career covering the financial markets as a reporter in London and New York. She studied Global Affairs at New York University and George Washington University. Jessica lives a nomadic life on the East Coast – and in South Africa, when she can.
PODCAST PRODUCER
ISAAC SILK
Isaac is a writer, composer, and audio engineer living in Oakland, California. He’s reported stories for both San Francisco NPR affiliates, KQED and KALW, and has produced podcasts for a number of Bay Area websites. His interest in the intersection of politics, the environment, and social justice has taken him from the coalfields of West Virginia to the conference rooms of sustainable investors in San Francisco. When he’s not thinking about tackling the great challenges of our time, he enjoys riding his bicycle, playing trombone, and settling catan.
ADVISORS
JEROME TAGGER
Jerome has worked for the past fifteen years and on a global scale at the confluence of capital markets and environmental, social and governance issues, helping asset owners, fund managers and companies make sense of sustainability, impact, and corporate and investor responsibility. He is notably a former Director at the Global Impact Investing Network and COO at the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment.
BRIAN WALSH
As head of Corporate Impact at Liquidnet — the New York-based global institutional trading network — Brian is charged with leveraging the private sector company's full spectrum of resources in order to create value beyond financial return. In 2007 Brian helped launch Liquidnet For Good, which aims to have impact locally, globally, and systemically. Beyond extensive employee engagement programs to maximize local impact and a comprehensive partnership with a youth village for orphans in Rwanda to achieve global impact, Liquidnet's support of "Markets for Good" applies the company's core competency — using technology to make markets more efficient — to realize systemic impact. Liquidnet is collaborating with others, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to help build a social sector powered by information. Liquidnet For Good is also helping to accelerate the growth of impact investing market. A regular speaker about philanthropy, impact investing, and corporate impact, Brian graduated from Georgetown University and previously consulted philanthropic organizations.
RAVI KURANI
Ravi is a budding entrepreneur with a background in sustainable business and supply chain management. Ravi launched a due diligence and investment campaign for the BoP communities in India, while working with First Light Ventures Fund and Village Capital. First Light Ventures and Village Capital democratize entrepreneurship through peer support networks. Ravi is committed to utilizing technology to find innovative ideas and designs for emerging markets. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Riverside, MBA in International Finance from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and a Certificate from Stanford University in Renewable Energy Systems..
JEFF TULLER
Jeff has over two decades of experience in the finance and technology sectors, and finds the enormous opportunity at their cross section most interesting. After several years as systems architect at "classic" capital firms like Bear Stearns and State Street Bank, Jeff officially moved into the social capital space at the very first SOCAP conference, way back in 2008. Since then he has been focused on ways to leverage technology to grow the social capital sector, most recently as Chief Technology Officer at Mission Markets. He has a B.A. (Cornell University) and M.S. (University of New Hampshire) in Computer Science, and an M.P.A. (New York University) in Public Policy & Management. He recently moved back to Brooklyn, where he was born and where he seems to belong.
AVARY KENT
Bringing new companies from idea to reality is Avary Kent’s passion. Avary blends scientific analysis with business acumen and operational expertise to help bring new companies and products to market. Avary excels in early stage companies that are focused on creating new holistic systems to manage growth and scale to create high impact products. Avary is a founding member of the ImpactAlpha family.
