Jennifer Abele

Founding General Partner, VC414

Jennifer Abele is a Founding General Partner of VC 414, a women-led, Milwaukee-based, early-stage venture capital firm. The vision of the firm is to invest where venture returns and public good intersect, with an investment strategy to back founders modernizing frontline industries, forging urban resilience, and wealth creation. Prior to founding the firm, she was a widely recognized municipal and higher-ed executive, policy strategist, and public-utility leader in Wisconsin.

Sue Bevan-Baggott

Founder, Power Within Consulting + Member, QCA Ventures

Sue is passionate about accelerating life-improving innovations, empowering purpose-driven leaders, and elevating business success.

As a Global innovation leader at Procter & Gamble, she helped grow mega-brands from Pantene to Pampers.

Today, as founder of Power Within Consulting and an “Accidental Angel Investor,” Sue strives to catalyze important changes through her advising, speaking, and impact investing – all with purpose-driven leaders and organizations.

As Associate Producer of the multi-award-winning film, Show Her the Money, she hopes to accelerate gender equity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Sue challenges all of us to invest in the changes we want to see in our world.

**Gaby Blocher**

**CEO, Sunflower Fuels**
Gaby Blocher is the CEO of Sunflower Fuels, where she leads the company’s mission to advance innovative, sustainable fuel solutions for a cleaner energy future. With a background in strategy and business development, she is passionate about scaling technologies that reduce carbon emissions while strengthening domestic energy resilience. Under her leadership, Sunflower Fuels is focused on accelerating the transition to practical, commercially viable alternative fuels through strategic partnerships, operational excellence, and forward-thinking innovation. Gaby is a local Cincinnatian who attended Ursuline, the U.S. Naval Academy, and Columbia Business School. In her spare time she hangs out with her kids, husband, and friends, and coaches rugby.

**Sheri Chaney Jones**

**Founder & CEO, Sure Impact**
For over 25 years, Sheri Chaney Jones has worked alongside foundations, non-profit, and government leaders to help them use data to solve complex social problems and increase revenue. An author, professor, and internationally recognized measurement expert, Sheri believes in data, metrics, and accountability. In 2018, Sheri launched SureImpact to automate and simplify the process of collecting and sharing outcomes and impact data.

Brendon Cull

President & CEO, Cincinnati Regional Chamber

For the past three years as CEO, and for more than a decade as a senior executive with the region's largest business organization, Cull orchestrates a strategy focused on growing the region’s economy, population, and cultural vibrancy. Brendon has spent nearly thirty years working at the intersection of business, civic leadership, and government. He led government relations at Kroger for a decade and was a key leader in the office of Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken. Outside of work, you can find him at the Y being a swim dad for his two daughters, hanging out at the Mercantile Library with a good book, riding his bike, or standing in the crowd at any of our great live music venues in our city.

David Gaines

Founder & CEO, La Terza Coffee

David Gaines is the Chief Visionary for La Terza Coffee and author of the award-winning Radical Business: The Root of Your Work and How it Can Change the World. His forthcoming book, Why We Buy, and Why It Matters (October 2026), explores how everyday purchases can build a more human economy.

Emily Kendall

**Co-Founder & President, EmpowerMe Living**
Emily Kendall is an impact entrepreneur, visionary storyteller, and capital strategist reimagining neuroinclusive housing options that are both economically durable and scalable. As co‑founder and president of EmpowerMe Living, she blends 20 years of high‑growth marketing and fundraising experience—from IPO‑stage companies to multi‑billion‑dollar equity raises—with a deeply personal mission. Her son Luke was born with Down syndrome, a life experience that profoundly informs her leadership and her push for systems‑level change.

**Robert Killins, Jr.**

**Vice President, Community Investments, Greater Cincinnati Foundation**
Robert Killins Jr., has dedicated the past 15 years to serving our community through GCF, driving positive, lasting change in the region. From leading our impact investing program to overseeing the grants process and championing housing affordability, Robert's efforts continually strengthen and enrich our community.

**Jenna Nicholas**

**CEO, Lightpost Capital, and Co-Founder and CEO, Impact Experience (San Francisco)**
Jenna Nicholas is an investor, entrepreneur, advisor, author, coach and speaker. She is the President of LightPost Capital, an investment and acquisition firm, and the Co-Founder and CEO of Impact Experience, which advances equity across climate, healthcare, education, and investments. Jenna is the author of *Enlightened Bottom Line: Exploring the intersection of spirituality, business and investing*.
An active angel investor, Jenna has backed multiple unicorns. She’s served as an an Investment Partner at One Planet Group, worked with World Bank Treasury on green bonds and sustainability projects, supported development of Toniic’s global impact community, and with the Calvert Special Equities team investing in education technology, financial inclusion, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture. As Project Manager of Divest-Invest Philanthropy, she led a coalition of foundations of over 170 foundations representing $50 billion in assets under management shifting capital from fossil fuels into impact solutions, which she shared on the TEDx Portland stage.
Jenna serves as an advisor to Ethic and the Nexus Global Youth Summit and previously sat on Apollo Global Management's Impact Advisory Committee. She co-chaired the Emerging Leaders Council of LISC, co-taught at Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, and is Vice President of Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs.
She holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a BA in International Relations from Stanford with study at Oxford University, and has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, PDSoros Fellow, Echoing Green Fellow, and is a Council on Foreign Relations member. Jenna serves on the board and investment committee of the Oakland Museum of California. Jenna has been featured in the New York Times, Financial Times, Forbes, amongst other publications. Jenna is an active member of the Bahá’í Faith.

**Michael O’Bryan**

**Founder & CEO, Human Nature and Director, The Wealth + Work Futures Lab (Philadelphia)**
Michael O’Bryan is a nationally recognized keynote speaker and systems strategist focused on reimagining how workplaces, workforce systems, and civic institutions cultivate human potential and pathways for economic opportunity. As Founder and CEO of humanature and Director of The Wealth + Work Futures Lab, he integrates developmental science, organizational psychology, and systems thinking to address workforce volatility and structural challenges at their root.
Past projects include co-authoring *Connected Community: A Trauma-Informed Community Engagement Toolkit* and supporting the development and implementation of the Camden Food Fund - a character-based loan fund for food businesses. Across nonprofit and for-profit sectors, Michael and his team at humanature design and facilitate cohort-based learning experiences that strengthen management practices, improve job quality, and equip organizations to embed a practice-oriented culture of learning.
Michael is a Fellow at the Drexel University Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation. He has delivered keynote addresses and plenary sessions at national convenings including ComcastNBCUniversal's *Project Up* Summit, The National Skills Coalition, Jobs for the Future, NeighborWorks America, The Greenlight Fund, Compass Working Capital, SHRM, SOCAP, The New Economy Initiative, and Janney Montgomery Scott. He has also advised federal agencies, foundations, and mission-driven employers across the country. Michael currently serves as Chair of The Samuel S. Fels Fund and continues to shape national conversations on humanity-centered design, the future of work, and economic well-being.

Joshua Pine

City of Cincinnati I-Team Director

Joshua Pine serves as the Innovation Team Director for the City of Cincinnati. He started his public innovation career with the City of South Bend working with then Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s administration on a Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayoral Challenge initiative focused on improving mobility access. He also worked on the innovation team at the National League of Cities where he served as a subject matter expert advising cities across the country during the pandemic on best practices related to creative placemaking, emerging technologies, and data storytelling.

**Jonathan Preedom, PhD.**

**Jonathan Preedom, PhD. Assoc. Professor of Entrepreneurship, Louisiana State University**
Jonathan earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business at Clemson University. He also holds an MBA from the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University, completed in 2015, and a Bachelor of Arts from Roanoke College, earned in 2006. His research explores how entrepreneurs and investors construct, interpret, and act on meaning in uncertain and evolving contexts. Jonathan draws on diverse perspectives from strategy, organizational theory, and cultural sociology to demonstrate how entrepreneurial contexts offer a powerful lens for advancing broader management and entrepreneurship theory.
Before pursuing his Ph.D., Jonathan founded two entrepreneurial ventures. His first venture was a consulting firm dedicated to addressing the business, management, and compliance challenges faced by rural, independent healthcare providers. His second venture was a technology startup focused on the outdoor industry, specifically targeting the archery sector. These entrepreneurial experiences have significantly influenced his academic, research, and teaching interests.

Jackie Reau

CEO, Game Day Communications

Jackie Reau, CEO of Game Day, a media and marketing agency based in Cincinnati, has more than 25 years of experience and specializes in strategic communications planning and crisis management. Before co-founding Game Day in 2002 with former ESPN Anchor Betsy Ross, Jackie worked in PR at The Christ Hospital and as director of marketing at the Cincinnati Art Museum.

She is also active in the community serving on boards: Cincinnati Art Museum, Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub and Ohio University Foundation Board. Jackie earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and a master’s in sports administration at Ohio University. She has also studied at the Harvard Business School. She has completed four half marathons and has visited all 30 Major League baseball parks.

Catherine Salzman

Founder, Heartwood Strategies

Catherine Salzman has over 18 years of experience in market research, marketing, strategy, and data journalism. She is also experienced in facilitation and creative problem-solving techniques. She has worked with organizations of all sizes, from global brands to local non-profits. Catherine is now the owner and director of Heartwood Strategies, a human-centered strategy, insights, and facilitation firm. She has previously held positions at Nielsen, Empower, and Seed Strategy, a Burke company.

**Suzanne Smith**

**Founder, Social Impact Architects and Adjunct Professor, University of Texas (Austin)**
Suzanne Smith is the Founder and CEO of Social Impact Architects, a national firm that helps changemakers design strategies that work, tell stories that inspire, and build systems that last. A social entrepreneur, professor, and one of the most respected voices in the nonprofit sector, she’s spent nearly three decades helping organizations turn good intentions into great impact.
She previously served as CEO of the Leadership Council for Nonprofits and went on to found Flywheel: Social Enterprise Hub, Cincinnati’s first accelerator for social entrepreneurs. She also serves on the Board of Aileron in Dayton, Ohio. Today, she teaches social entrepreneurship at top universities from Duke to UT Austin and authors Social TrendSpotter, one of Substack’s top blogs on social change. Known for her contagious energy and practical wisdom, Suzanne helps leaders see around corners, connect the dots, and accelerate the speed of social change.

**Wolf Starr**

**Managing Partner, Ohio Impact Fund and Founder, Venture Atlas**
Wolf Starr is the founder of Venture Atlas, a venture and leadership advisory firm working with family offices, angel networks, and venture capital teams to build modern, inclusive investment platforms. His work focuses on capital strategy, community engagement, and network design—helping investors align strong financial performance with measurable social and economic impact.

Moira Weir

President & CEO, United Way of Greater Cincinnati

Moira Weir became the first female President and CEO of United Way of Greater Cincinnati in 2020. She has guided the organization through transformative change designed to help all people achieve economic well-being within its nine-county service area in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. She was previously the Director of Hamilton County Job & Family Services.

Jason Aluko-Williams

Jason Aluko-Williams, VP Engagement & Strategy, SVP International

Jason Aluko-Williams is a devoted advocate for equity and social justice, with a career spanning over two decades in education and philanthropy. Throughout his career, Jason has focused on elevating opportunities for underserved communities, particularly the LGBTQ+ community and communities of color.

At SVPI, Jason is dedicated to aligning the organization’s mission with its commitment to equity, exploring universal approaches to addressing social issues while honoring individual communities. His role involves fostering relationships with affiliates, amplifying voices within the network, and leading conversations around what it means to be a philanthropist.

With a passion for building inclusive communities, Jason is excited to leverage his experience to enhance SVPI’s impact on a global scale, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued.