Brenda Anderson teaches at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, where she serves as MBA Program Director, and at the International Business School at Brandeis University. Brenda also provides financial literacy training to physician leaders participating in Brandeis healthcare executive education programs. Brenda has taught at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Northeastern University, and Boston University. Prior to entering academia, she worked as an auditor for KPMG Peat Marwick and is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Connecticut. Her research focuses primarily on behavioral issues in accounting, with an emphasis on the human information processing aspects of professional auditor judgment. Professor Anderson has received research grants from the National Science Foundation and the Ernst & Young Foundation, and has published in journals such as The International Journal of Auditing, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Behavioral Research in Accounting and the Journal of the American Taxation Association.
Wendy Bolger is the Principal at Bolger’s Barn Consulting, which specializes in advising mission-driven organizations on their strategic planning, fundraising, program growth, and marketing needs. Prior to starting her own firm, Wendy launched new educational and funding initiatives at Mercy Corps, where she also developed the global aid agency’s largest corporate and individual partnerships. She has helped start new ventures at Save the Children, and managed democracy training programs for the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs. Wendy has an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, and an undergraduate degree from Smith College. She lives in Boulder, Colorado with her three children and one husband, and is active in her kids’ schools and on statewide school funding issues. She is a partner of Social Venture Partners of Boulder, and an Ambassador and former Leadership Fellow for The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.
Ryan R. Brenneman is Chief Financial Officer at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MECC), and is Adjunct Professor of Accounting at Boston College and Bentley University. Prior to joining MECC, Ryan Brenneman provided finance and accounting consulting services to State Street Bank and Pathfinder International in 2012 and 2013. Mr. Brenneman served as First Marblehead Corporation’s Managing Director and Chief Accounting Officer from 2011 to 2012. In 2009 and 2010, Mr. Brenneman served as Controller, Multifamily Accounting for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, also known as Freddie Mac, a financial services company that provides liquidity to the U.S. housing market. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Brenneman served as Controller, Investments and Capital Markets Accounting, also at Freddie Mac. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Brenneman was a Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., a strategy and systems consulting firm. Mr. Brenneman also previously served as the Chief Financial Officer of two privately-held technology companies, as an accountant for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a registered public accounting firm, and as an associate in the tax and corporate departments of Wilmer Hale, Dentons, and Baker & McKenzie, each of which are law firms. Mr. Brenneman received an A.B. from Bowdoin College, a M.S. from the London School of Economics, a M. Accy. from The George Washington University and a J.D. from Georgetown University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Nancy Cremins is a litigator/dispute resolver and employment lawyer at the law firm of Gesmer Updegrove in Boston, handling a broad range of matters encountered by entrepreneurs and startups. She is the immediate Past President of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, an organization committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society. She is a member of the inaugural Boston class of the Pipeline Fellows, which trains women to become angel investors. She holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Boston College and a law degree from Northeastern. She serves on the board of the Women’s Bar Association, the Northeastern School of Law Alumni Board, and co-chairs the Website and Technology Working Group on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission. Nancy is also the mom of 2 children, ages 4 & 2.
Elaine Martyn, as the Vice President of Development at the Global Fund for Women,spends her days matching the world’s most passionate activists with the most creative philanthropists to bring about sustainable change in women’s rights. Her lifelong support of women’s rights, immigrant communities and fundraising in the developing world, stems from her upbringing as a Sri-Lankan American. Elaine’s background in social justice, advocacy, policy, fundraising and communications, on education, health, and human rights fuels her belief that women are the most effective agents of social change. She brings experience from Refugees International, King’s College London, the British Medical Association, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School and the Global Fund for Women together with field work in conflict and post-conflict regions of Asia and Africa to her personal and professional commitments. Elaine double majored in Medical Studies and English Literature and Communications at Gannon University, and has a Master’s degree in Victorian Literature from the University of Leeds. She is a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and Women in Development, an active supporter of Planned Parenthood and enjoys dual UK-US citizenship. She has published on equal opportunities, communication, mentorship, and management. When she’s not putting the fun in fundraising, Elaine enjoys reading 19th century novels and cheering for the New England Patriots.
Kate McElligott is an experienced international strategy executive focused on business development at Grameen Foundation. She is responsible for managing key global relationships and developing a comprehensive thought leadership strategy. Kate has a decade of experience in fundraising and marketing for non-profit organizations. Prior to joining the Grameen Foundation she was Director of Development for the Microcredit Summit Campaign, where she secured financial support and sponsorship for global convenings in Bali, Indonesia and Cartagena, Colombia. Prior to entering the world of social enterprise, Kate spent a year volunteering in Changsha, Hunan, China as part of the Harvard Kennedy School’s World Teach program. She began her career at CCS Fundraising and raised over $60 million dollars for causes through capital campaign management. Kate holds a Masters in Social Enterprise from the American University School of International Service with a focus on innovation in emerging markets and an B.A. in Political Science from Providence College. Originally from the Chicago Area she enjoys running, hiking and practicing yoga in her spare time.
Pierre Noel is the Executive Director of the Haiti Fund at The Boston Foundation. The Fund was created after the devastating earthquake to provide relief and reconstruction support to Haitians both in Haiti and in the greater Boston area. Born in Haiti, Pierre has worked there as Country Director for FAMILY, Inc. where he led rural grassroots efforts in education, youth and economic development. He also served as Project Director for the Worldwide Vincentian Family – Haiti Program spearheading small and medium enterprises in Haiti. Pierre holds a law degree from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law, and is a graduate of Boston University, and the Monterrey School of International Studies.
Ellen Remmer is a Senior Partner of The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI), a nonprofit working to increase the impact of philanthropy in society through the promotion of strategic philanthropy, and a consulting practice which helps family, foundation and corporate donors move up the philanthropic curve. Since starting at TPI in 1993, Ellen has worked with dozens of private, corporate and community donors on making their giving more effective, developed a variety of initiatives aimed at growing high impact philanthropy in the United States and abroad, and is a frequent speaker and writer on the subjects of family philanthropy, strategic giving and women donors. She served as President and CEO of TPI from 2007- 2012. Ellen is on the Board of Directors of the Remmer Family Foundation, the Board of Visitors of the Lilly School of Philanthropy where she chaired the Women’s Philanthropy Institute for many years, Prosperity Catalyst and the Leadership Council of Oxfam America. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Linda Strohmeyer is the Chair of the Prosperity Catalyst Board. She has over 20 years of experience in Corporate Human Resource serving as a Vice President of Human Capital Management (HCM) at Goldman Sachs & Co., in New York where she created and launched a Global Wellness Division that served 22,000 employees around the world. Her background includes strategic planning, training and leadership development, environmental safety and benefits administration to name a few. Since her tenure with Goldman Sachs, Linda has followed her heart as an advocate for the empowerment of women and girls, caring for the most vulnerable orphans worldwide and ending childhood hunger children in America. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Vision Trust International and as Community Service Coordinator at The Tuxedo Park School where her daughter Ava attends. Linda is passionate about being and working with the people she advocates for which has enabled travel to Ethiopia, India, Haiti, Dominican Republic and next stop Cambodia.
Emie Michaud Weinstock is an attorney and advocate with more than ten years of experience working on behalf of diverse communities. A passionate activist, she works with underserved populations domestically and internationally, to achieve social and economic justice. Through her work, Emie works to build and manage relationships between varied stakeholders to develop and achieve shared objectives. At any given day, Emie can be found donating her time and skills, which embodies her commitment to community. Emie obtained her jurist doctorate from Northeastern Univ. School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst. Additionally, Emie serves on the board of Jean Appolon Expressions, a modern Haitian dance company committed to preserving Haitian folkloric dance and culture. She is passionate about her family and social justice issues.
Special Advisors
Manal Omar is the Associate Vice-President for the Middle East and Africa Center at the United States Institute of Peace. Previously, she was regional program manager for the Middle East for Oxfam - Great Britain, where she responded to humanitarian crises in Palestine and Lebanon. Omar has extensive experience in the Middle East. She worked with Women for Women International as regional coordinator for Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan.Omar lived in Baghdad from 2003 to 2005 and set up operations in Iraq. She launched her career as a journalist in the Middle East in 1996. UNESCO recruited her to work on one of her first lead assignments in Iraq in 1997-1998. Omar also spent more than three years with the World Bank’s development economics group. She has carried out training programs in Yemen, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Kenya and many other countries.
She is the author of Barefoot in Baghdad: A Story of Identity — My Own and What it Means to Be a Woman in Chaos. Sourcebooks, 2010. Omar’s activities have been profiled by the Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, the BBC, NPR, Glamour, the London Times and Newsweek. Her articles and opinion pieces have appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post, Azizah Magazine and Islamica Magazine.
Omar is on the advisory board of Peaceful Families Project, an organization with international reach that recognizes domestic violence is a form of oppression that affects people of all faiths, and an active member of the American Muslim community.She was named among Top 500 World’s Most Influential Arabs by Arabia Business Power in 2011, and among the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by Georgetown University and The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in 2009. In 2007, Islamic Magazine named her one of the ten young visionaries shaping Islam in America. She holds a master’s degree in Arab studies from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from George Mason University.
Ted Barber is co-founder and president of Prosperity Candle having sketched out the concept on a napkin while working in poverty alleviation, and wondering how businesses can better complement the work of governments and nonprofits to solve social problems. With a focus on helping small enterprises gain sustainable access to markets, Ted volunteered in Ghana and then spent eight years working in developing countries on projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies throughout Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Before that, he co-founded and managed for over a decade an import and trade consulting company that focused on handcrafted products made in Eastern Europe. Today he is happily consumed with realizing Prosperity Candle’s mission and helping to create a sustainable, high-impact social enterprise. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife and two daughters, and loves anything to do with outdoor adventure.