Advisory Board Chair
Chris Cardona
Chris Cardona has worked in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector since 1997, serving as staff, board member and consultant to national and local membership networks. He currently works at the TCC Group as a Consultant in the philanthropy practice. TCC provides consulting services to foundations, corporations, and nonprofits, specializing in strategic planning, evaluation, and program development. For three years, Chris led Hispanics in Philanthropy’s operations in the Northeast region, opening a New York office, hiring staff, raising funds, and managing a $1.6 million annual grantmaking portfolio. He has consulted with grantmaker affinity groups on a research publication, an online grantmaker survey, and a strategic planning document. Chris earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and his B.A. from Williams College, both in political science. His dissertation was about the institutional design of security forces and its impact on regime stability in Latin America, with a focus on Colombia. Chris lives with his wife, Catherine Sumner, a fundraiser, in Battery Park City, and keeps the neighbors awake with his unfortunate guitar playing.




Holly Delany Cole is the Deputy Director (Programs) at the Community Resource Exchange. She is a social worker and has worked in a variety of human service settings. Immediately before CRE, she was a freelance consultant for human services and grant-making organizations, with an emphasis on program evaluation, program development and proposal writing. Holly was a member of the program staff at the New York Community Trust from 1983 through 1989, managing several grant programs. Holly sits on the Boards of Educational Equity Concepts and Computers for Youth. She holds a master’s degree from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.




Jason K. Babbie is the Membership Services Program Director for the Environmental Grantmakers Association, an international organization of over 200 foundations. Prior to EGA, Jason was the Senior Environmental Policy Analyst for the New York Public Interest Research Group, directing state-level clean air, energy, and global warming campaigns and all federal environmental activities. He was also an adjunct professor at Pace University, the Air and Energy Program Director at Environmental Advocates of New York, and a consultant to the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Jason holds an M.A. from Brown University and a B.S from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.




Jenny Everett is currently pursuing her MBA at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where she is specializing in Social Innovation and Impact. Prior to starting her MBA, Jenny was the Senior Program Manager, Membership and Individual Donors at Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP), a non-profit organization that works to increase resources in Latino communities and to increase diversity in the field of philanthropy. Previously, she was an Account Director at DoubleClick and an International Marketing Associate at the Concha y Toro Winery in Santiago, Chile. Jenny is also the Cofounder of the GIG (Gals Investing in Girls) Fund which raises money for organizations supporting young women and girls in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Davidson College.




Lara Galinsky is the senior vice president at Echoing Green. Lara’s portfolio consists of the day-to-day management of Echoing Green, marketing and communications, evaluation, thought leadership, alliances, strategic planning, and internal capacity building. Most recently, Lara Galinsky worked as the director of National Programs at Do Something, Inc., working with over 20,000 educators to inspire 4 million young people to get involved in their communities and develop vital leadership skills. Before that, Lara launched the BRICK Award, which annually honors and funds the most outstanding community leaders under the age of thirty. Lara graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wesleyan University and has completed executive programs at Columbia University business School and Georgetown University’s School of Public Policy. She serves as a board member for the Nonprofit Workforce Coalition, NYC Venture Philanthropy Fund, and the Fast Forward Fund, as well as the board chair of StartingBloc. She recently graduated from Coro’s Leadership New York program.



LaTeisha Moore is a project manager at Wieden+Kennedy, a global but independent and creatively led advertising agency. Prior to her foray into the for-profit world, LaTeisha spent several years working and volunteering in nonprofit development (fundraising), and served on the Board of the Directors for Young Involved Philadelphia and the Community Advisory Board of Metro newspaper. Her experience in these two arenas gives her a unique appreciation of social entrepreneurs who blur the line between for-profit and not-for-profit enterprise. As a result, she focuses her energy on growing VPF and strengthening Net Impact’s New York professional chapter. LaTeisha has a B.A. in Urban Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.




Lauren Russell Geskos has spent nearly a decade in managerial roles in the Silicon Valley and New York. At Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors,Lauren is a Manager responsible for RPA’s communications with its clients and philanthropic network. This includes RPA’s strategic partnerships and relationships, monograph books, website, conferences and events, newsletters, surveys, presentations and analysis. She is also involved in the organization’s mission-Related Investing practice, and has been active in planning programming around environmental issues. Prior to joining RPA, Lauren founded an independent communications consulting firm, Highmark, led outreach to ultra-high net worth families at the Institute for Private Investors as Manager of Private Investor Membership, and worked as a Marketing Manager in the Silicon Valley. Lauren earned her B.A., in English with minors in Communications and Anthropology, from Stanford University, where she was a member of the Women’s Honors Society. She has completed Wharton’s Private Wealth Management course for Investors. She is regularly engaged in a variety of philanthropic and volunteer activities, especially those focused on climate change.

Mark Reed is founder and Principal of the Contact Fund LLC, a New York City based community development investment fund. The Fund, founded in 2005, mobilizes private investors’ capital for deployment in community development projects in New York City. Contact Fund’s private investments have enabled these organizations to leverage five times the capital from other sources. Mark is a former Vice President at the Bank of New York, where he co-managed a $500mm bond portfolio and a $300mm credit derivative portfolio. Since 1997, Mark has served on the Board of Directors of a fourth generation family-owned business. Mark holds an AB in Anthropology from Stanford University and an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Management at NYU. Mark and his wife, an elementary school teacher, are the proud parents of three young children.



Matt Cohen is a Principal of City Light Capital, an early stage venture capital firm investing in for-profit businesses that create solutions to social problems in the Safety and Security, Education and Media, and Energy and the Environmental sectors. Prior to City Light, Matt was an investment banker at both Citigroup and Bear Stearns. Matt also worked in asset management capacities at Bear Stearns and O’Shaughnessy Capital and was a founding member and Vice President of Business Development for Netfolio,Inc., a financial services start-up. In 2005, Matt created The Future Stars Partnership, an annual multi-day program that immerses inner-city high school students in college campus life. Matt has an MBA from Cornell University and a BA from the University of Connecticut.

.