SPEAKER BIOS
Jennifer Abele
Founding General Partner, VC414 (Milwaukee, WI)
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.
See Jennifer at: Funder Engagement 101 — What Investors Look For
Marvin Abrinica
Director, Venture Lab at University of Cincinnati 1819 Innovation Hub + CEO, Wunderfund (Cincinnati, OH)
Marvin Abrinica is long-time mentor for Flywheel dating back to 2017. He's a serial entrepreneur and Director of the Venture Lab at the University of Cincinnati's 1819 Innovation Hub, where he helps founders launch and fund their companies through UC's accelerator program and startup grant funds. He spent 18-years at Procter & Gamble launching new product lines for their Personal Healthcare portfolio. After leaving P&G, he launched Wunderfund, an equity crowdfunding platform connecting everyday investors with small business startups. He also co-founded Esoteric Brewing Company in Walnut Hills, creating the first Asian & Black-owned brewery in Ohio. Whether it's working with startups or experienced venture builders, Marvin is passionate about building into founders on their journey as entrepreneurs.
See Marvin at: Social Enterprises In Action
Sue Bevan-Baggott
Founder, Power Within Consulting + Member, QCA Ventures (Cincinnati. OH)
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.
See Sue at: Intro to Impact Investing and Funder Engagement 101 — What Investors Look For
Kristen Baker
Executive Director of LISC Greater Cincinnati and LISC Louisville
Kristen Baker is Executive Director of LISC Greater Cincinnati and LISC Louisville, where she has led transformative community investment efforts since 2011. Under her leadership, LISC has deployed more than $135 million in the Cincinnati region and mobilized over $40 million just since 2020 to support affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, and wealth preservation. With experience spanning Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Louisville, Baker brings a regional perspective to advancing housing strategy and community development.
See Kristen at: Capital & Community— Investing in Place for Lasting Impact
Gaby Blocher
CEO, Sunflower Fuels (Lexington, KY)
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.
See Gabby at : Social Enterprises in Action!
Eileen MacDermott Budo
Co-Founder and CEO, Last Mile Food Rescue (Cincinnati, OH)
Eileen MacDermott Budo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Last Mile Food Rescue, a logistics-first nonprofit solving food insecurity in Greater Cincinnati. Under her leadership, Last Mile has grown 30% annually, rescuing more than 19 million pounds of food since founding — and is on track to rescue 15 million pounds a year by 2030, the amount needed to close the hunger gap in the region.
A U.S. Air Force veteran and 28-year P&G supply chain executive, Eileen built her career on a single discipline: logistics done right changes outcomes. At P&G she managed global supplier partnerships and built the company's first centralized procurement shared service. In the Air Force, she learned that a logistics failure is a mission failure.
She founded Last Mile to apply that standard to hunger — and to prove the model can scale to cities across the country.
See Eileen at: Social Enterprises in Action!
Michael Conger
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship + Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Miami University (Oxford, OH)
Michael Conger is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford, OH. His research and teaching focus on how entrepreneurial action can contribute to solving social and environmental problems and the ways in which social enterprises are changing the role of business and organizations in society.
Michael will be joining the faculty of the Lindner College of Business and Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Cincinnati starting this August.
See Michael at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem
Mark Conrad
Private Funds Attorney, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (Washington, DC)
Mark Conrad focuses on the structuring, formation, governance and regulation of private equity funds, including secondaries funds, venture capital funds and funds of funds arrangements. Mark is the practice group coordinator for Morgan Lewis’s impact investing practice and has significant experience advising sponsors of impact investment funds, especially funds integrating some form of catalytic and concessionary capital, to integrate complex social and environmental objectives into traditional private equity and venture capital structures. Further, leveraging his representation of institutional investors like sovereign wealth funds and large state pension plans, Mark counsels impact investors in the negotiation and structuring of impact fund investments in areas such as blended finance arrangements, mission lock and development of impact-linked performance metrics.
See Mark at: Intro to Impact Investing
Brendon Cull
President & CEO, Cincinnati Regional Chamber (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Brendon at: From Vision to Action — Advancing Regional Priorities in the Midwest
Mark Davis
CEO, Table Sense (Cincinnati, OH)
Mark serves as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Table Sense, a social enterprise and nonprofit organization. Operating out of Cincinnati, Ohio, he has overseen the organization’s efforts to improve youth education and table manners through specialized programming.
Background & Career Highlights. At Tablesense, Mark guides its mission to balance social impact with enterprise growth. Prior to this role, Mark spent a decade in executive roles at Necco, a social enterprise operating across multiple states. During his tenure, he helped the organization expand its footprint from $40 million to $130 million in revenue. Mark Holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.A.) from the University of Cincinnati. He’s a father of two who enjoys fly fishing and coaching middle school football in his spare time.
See Mark at: Intro to Impact Investing
David Gaines
Founder & CEO, La Terza Coffee (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See David at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem
David Garrett
Impact Investing Anaylist, Table Sense + Toigo Fellow (Cincinnati, OH)
David is a former kindergarten teacher turned Impact Investor. He currently serves as an impact investing associate at Table Sense, based here in Cincinnati. He recently graduated from the University of Rochester with an MBA and holds a bachelor's degree in early childhood education from the University of South Carolina. He's always bouncing between OTR and NYC, but in his free time, you can find him running along the nearest body of water or popping into a local art museum.
See David at: Seeding our Future — Investing in our Region’s Youth
Pam Green
President and CEO, Easterseals Redwood (Cincinnati, OH)
Pam Green is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities, veterans, and those facing economic disadvantage, leading bold growth in early childhood services, workforce development, and veteran support. With deep social enterprise leadership experience, she champions inclusive hiring, strategic innovation, and the belief that expanding opportunity—especially through early investment—strengthens entire communities.
See Pam at: Profit and Purpose — How Corporations are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Steve Hightower
Founder and CEO, Hightowers Petroleum (Cincinnati, OH)
Stephen L. Hightower is the President and CEO of Hightowers Petroleum Co., an international energy solutions company serving major customers across fuel, fleet, EV, and renewable energy markets.
He is a self-made entrepreneur, author of Fueling: From Zero to 1 Billion, and recipient of several national business awards.
His experience includes global supply chains, energy markets, business growth, and public-private energy initiatives.
See Steve at: Profit and Purpose — How Corporations are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Rhiannon Hoeweler
CEO, MadTree Brewing (Cincinnati, OH)
Rhiannon is the CEO of MadTree, she is responsible for intentionally driving the brand, consumer and employee experience and supporting MadTree’s revenue growth. Prior to that she served as VP of Experience and the first Director of Strategic Impact leading efforts around sustainability, community, and strategic corporate philanthropy which resulted in achieving B Corp Certification in October of 2023.
See Rhiannon at: Profit and Purpose — How Corporations are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Sheri Chaney Jones
Founder & CEO, Sure Impact (Columbus, OH)
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.
See Sheri at: Founder Engagement 101— What Investors Look For and Social Enterprises in Action!
Emily Kendall
Co-Founder & President, EmpowerMe Living (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Emily at: Capital and Community — Investing in Place for Lasting Impact
Robert Killins, Jr.
Vice President, Community Investments, Greater Cincinnati Foundation (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Robert at: From Vision to Action: Advancing Regional Priorities in the Midwest
Sherwood MacVeigh
Vice President of Marketing, Ohio Valley Goodwill (Cincinnati, OH)
Sherwood MacVeigh is a strategic growth and social impact leader focused on advancing innovative models that connect sustainability, workforce development, and community impact.
As Vice President at Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries, she works across retail, partnerships, and social enterprise initiatives to help scale programs that extend the life of goods, reduce waste, and create pathways to employment. Her work includes leading collaborations with corporate and academic partners to explore circular textile solutions, including garment reuse, cleaning, and resale innovation.
Her work sits at the intersection of brand, partnership, and impact—helping translate sustainability from concept into action.
With a background spanning global brand strategy and social enterprise, Sherwood is known for translating complex systems—consumer behavior, sustainability, and economic mobility—into practical, scalable models that benefit both people and the planet.
Sherwood MacVeigh is a social impact leader advancing sustainability, workforce development, and circular economy innovation. At Ohio Valley Goodwill, she works across partnerships and social enterprise models to extend the life of goods and reduce waste. Her work connects brand, partnership, and impact—translating sustainability into scalable, real-world solutions.
See Sherwood at: Purpose and Profit — How Corporations Are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Melisse May
Founder, Lead with Insights + Flywheel Board VP
Melisse May is an innovation leader, entrepreneur, and business strategist with more than 30 years of experience transforming insights into breakthrough products, services, and business models that create competitive advantage. As a former marketing executive at Procter & Gamble, she led health care new ventures as part of FutureWorks and helped build billion-dollar brands.
After P&G, as founder of Lead from Insights LLC, she helps startups, growth-stage companies, and established organizations develop consumer-centered innovations that create sustainable advantage. Melisse is also a passionate champion of entrepreneurship and innovation in our community. She serves on the board of Social Venture Partners Cincinnati, as Vice Chair of Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, as Board Chair of Exceptional Academy, and as a member of QCA Ventures. She devotes many hours to pro-bono coaching of social impact startups, having served over 40 organizations in the past few years.
See Melisse at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem
Dan Meyer
Founder and CEO, Nehemiah Manufacturing (Cincinnati, OH)
Dan Meyer is the Founder and CEO of Nehemiah Manufacturing, a $152M consumer packaged goods company he founded in 2009 with a mission to build brands, create jobs, and change lives through sustainable employment—making a difference one person, one day, and one job at a time.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Nehemiah has grown into a leader in the laundry and home care space, with a portfolio that includes Tide To Go, Tide Washing Machine Cleaner, Tide Laundry Stain Remover, and Downy Wrinkle Releaser, among other brands licensed through its longstanding partnership with Procter & Gamble. The company employs more than 300 family member, the majority of whom are second chance citizens—individuals overcoming barriers to employment such as a felony record, past substance abuse, or homelessness. Through whole-life coaching and sustainable jobs, Nehemiah has become a national model for how business can drive both growth and human transformation.
Dan brings more than 45 years of CPG experience to the role. He spent 16 years in marketing, sales, and general management positions at Procter & Gamble, Quaker Oats, and the Drackett Company before founding Changing Paradigms in 1994, which he grew into an $85M leader in premium private label household products.
In 2016, Dan Founded the Beacon of Hope Business Alliance, a coalition of more than 100 companies working to expose 2,500+ jobs each year to the second chance population across Greater Cincinnati.
Dan holds a bachelor's degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in Cincinnati with Deb, his wife of more than 40 years, and is the proud father of three daughters and 4 (soon to be 5) grandchildren.
See Dan at: Profit and Purpose — How Corporations are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Jenna Nicholas
CEO, Lightpost Capital, and Co-Founder and CEO, Impact Experience (San Francisco, CA)
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.
See Jenna at her Keynote Address
Katie Nzekwu
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Found Village (Cincinnati, OH)
Katie Nzekwu is a licensed social worker, nonprofit founder, and widely respected leader in youth development across Greater Cincinnati. As Co-Founder of Found Village, which she launched with her husband Iloba in 2015, she has built a relationship-centered model that supports young people in foster care through long-term commitment and community. With more than 20 years of experience and recognition as a 2021 Jefferson Award recipient, Katie brings both deep professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Her leadership is grounded in a belief that when young people are met with safety, belonging, and genuine connection, they can truly thrive.
See Katie at: Seeding the Future — Investing in Our Region’s Youth
Michael O’Bryan
Founder & CEO, Human Nature and Director, The Wealth + Work Futures Lab (Philadelphia, PA)
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.
See Michael at his Keynote Address
Dr.
Gary Painter
Director, University of Cincinnati Center for Real Estate + Social Innovation Collaborative (Cincinnati, OH)
Dr. Gary Painter holds the BEARE Chair in Real Estate and serves as the Academic Director of the Center for Real Estate and the Director of the Social Innovation Collaborative at the University of Cincinnati.
Professor Painter is a leading figure in the fields of real estate and social innovation. In addition to his recent book on Social Impact Bonds and forthcoming book on Social Innovation, he works extensively with a variety of social innovation organizations and collective impact networks to address some of the grand challenges that society faces. Professor Painter also has extensive expertise in housing, urban economics, and education policy, which shapes his research on how the social innovation process can identify new models of social change within these complex policy areas.
See Gary at: Capital Community — Investing in Place for Lasting Impact
Joshua Pine
City of Cincinnati I-Team Director (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Joshua at: Capital Community — Investing in Place for Lasting Impact
Jonathan Preedom, PhD.
Jonathan Preedom, PhD. Assoc. Professor of Entrepreneurship, Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, LA)
Jonathan Preedom 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.
See Jonathan at: Funder Engagement 101 — What Investors Want and Elevator Pitch Showcase
Sabari Raja
Managing Partner JFF Ventures (Boston, MA)
Sabari Raja is Managing Partner at JFFVentures, an early-stage venture capital fund investing in entrepreneurs building pathways to economic mobility. She leads the firm's investment strategy, portfolio development, and ecosystem partnerships, with a focus on technology-enabled solutions that expand access to education, workforce advancement, and economic opportunity.
Prior to JFFVentures, Sabari was the co-founder and CEO of Nepris, an education technology company focused on connecting learning to careers through industry engagement and career exploration. Nepris was acquired in 2021 and is now part of Pathful. Before becoming an entrepreneur, she spent more than a decade in leadership roles spanning product management, business development, strategic partnerships, and international growth.
Sabari is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship, workforce innovation, the future of work, and the role of technology in expanding economic opportunity. She was recognized as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® Southwest Award winner in 2020 and currently serves on the board of Pathful.
Originally from rural South India and now based in Austin, Texas, Sabari is passionate about expanding access to opportunity through entrepreneurship and innovation.
See Sabari at: Intro to Impact Investing
Jackie Reau
CEO, Game Day Communications (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Jackie at: From Vision to Action — Advancing Regional Priorities in the Midwest
Carley Riley, MD, MPP, MHS
Carley Riley, MD, MPP, MHS (she/her) is Associate Professor in Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and an Attending Physician in Critical Care at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where she also serves as Executive Director of Population Flourishing & Regional Systems, Co-Executive Director of Community Flourishing for the Michael Fisher Child Health Equity Center, and Director of the Mayerson Child Well-being Initiative.
Dr. Riley co-leads the Collective Well-being and Equity Learning Lab and serves as Chief Learning Officer for Investing in Flourishing, an initiative catalyzed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. A former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at Yale (2013–2015), she is currently a Fellow with The Nova Institute for Health and recently completed the Executive Leadership in Health Care Program at Drexel University.
Her work is grounded in the conviction that flourishing — for every person and every community — is not an aspiration but an expectation. She builds deep collaborations across healthcare, education, social services, business, philanthropy, law, and civic life to collectively transform the mindsets and structures that shape well-being for people and places. Her methods draw on participatory research, systems science, and outcomes-based financing — and throughout, she centers the voices and power of the people and communities most affected by the systems she works to improve.
Dr. Riley lives in Cincinnati with her partner, three children (ages 22, 20, and 9), and three dogs (ages 11, 4, and 3).
See Carley at: Seeding the Future — Investing in Our Region’s Youth
Pamela Roussos
Executive Director, Weaving Impact (Chicago, IL)
Pamela Roussos is a mission-driven nonprofit leader dedicated to empowering social entrepreneurs in under-resourced communities across the US. As CEO, she builds ecosystems where innovation, equity, and collective responsibility fuel lasting change. She works actively in Baltimore, Chicago, and Gaithersburg through strong local partnerships. She brings a blend of strategic vision and deep commitment to advancing opportunity for all.
See Pamela at: Capital and Community— Investing in Place for Lasting Impact
Catherine Salzman
Founder, Heartwood Strategies (Bellevue, KY)
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.
See Catherine at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem
Dustin Shell
COO, Aileron + Director, Conscious Capitalism Cincinnati
Suzanne Smith
Founder, Social Impact Architects and Adjunct Professor, University of Texas (Austin, TX)
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.
See Suzanne at: Fireside Chat with Flywheel
Byron Stallworth
CEO, Inclusion Building Solutions (Cincinnati, OH)
Byron Stallworth is CEO of Inclusion Building Solutions, and is a recognized subject matter expert in supply chain diversity and business development. He has developed strategic partnerships and joint ventures for Minority and Women Business Enterprises (MBE & WBE), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (SDVOB), and 8a owned firms for over 20 years. He is a retired US Army Reserves Veteran, serving as a medic and Non-Commissioned Officer of 20+ years. Byron is a proud alumnus of the University of Cincinnati and the Executive Management Program of Dartmouth College, Tuck School of Business. Appointed by Mayor John Cranly and Mayor Aftab Pureval to the City of Cincinnati Planning Commission (2014-2024, Chairman 2020-2024) and a proud Leadership Cincinnati Class 38 alum.
See Byron at: Profit and Purpose — How Corporations are Driving a Double Bottom Line
Wolf Starr
Managing Partner, Ohio Impact Fund and Founder, Venture Atlas (Columbus, OH)
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.
See Wolf at: Funder Engagement 101 — What Funders Want
Katlin Watts
Director of Innovative Finance, Institute for Child Success (Greenville, SC)
Kaitlin Watts leads outcomes-based and impact investment initiatives at the Institute for Child Success, aligning public, private, and philanthropic funding to strengthen maternal and child health and education systems. Operating at the intersection of strategy, funding, and execution, she oversees portfolios including the U.S. Treasury SIPPRA initiative, building scalable, cross-sector solutions that translate complex goals into measurable results. With a decade of experience, she has led multi-million-dollar health initiatives that achieved population-level outcomes, bringing structure, alignment, and momentum to high-stakes initiatives without a clear playbook.
See Kaitlin at: Seeding the Future: Investing in our Region’s Youth
Moira Weir
President & CEO, United Way of Greater Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH)
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.
See Moira at: From Vision to Action — Advancing Regional Priorities in the Midwest
Jason Aluko-Williams
Jason Aluko-Williams, VP Engagement & Strategy, SVP International (Seattle, WA)
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.
See Jason at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem
John Yung
Program Manager, The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation (Covington, KY)
John Yung is a Program Manager at the Haile Foundation whose focus is on civic and community initiatives. He is an urban planner by training and has a 16-year career working in both local municipal government and consulting. He co-led the effort to bring the Congress of New Urbanism’s 32nd gathering to Cincinnati in 2024, is the former manager of the blog UrbanCincy.com and long-time resident and advocate for Cincinnati’s urban core.
See John at: From Vision to Action— Advancing Regional Priorities in the Midwest
Donna Zaring
Executive Director, Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub
Donna Zaring is a dynamic leader dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and innovators who make the world a better place. Prior to joining Flywheel Donna held leadership roles in economic development, corporate innovation and marketing at organizations including Cintrifuse, Fifth Third Bank, and Burke Inc. She is also an entrepreneur, leading communications campaigns for prominent regional and national brands as founder of her own marketing and PR firm. During her career, she has served on non-profit boards including The Cincinnati Museum Center and Mercy Health, and has been named to the Business Courier 40 Under 40 as well as the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Woman of the Year.
See Donna at: Welcome Remarks, Fireside Chat with Suzanne Smith, and Closing Remarks
aZ Zayn
Program Manager, SEA Change (Columbus, OH)
aZ Zayn (they / them) is a dedicated advocate with a deep passion for empowering Black, Brown, Queer, and youth communities. For over a decade, they have channeled their skills and energy into creating inclusive spaces where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued.
With a strong background in program management, development, and implementation, aZ brings both strategic expertise and a heartfelt commitment to equitable impact through Social Enterprise. Their work, grounded in deep respect for diverse identities and lived experiences, consistently drives change aligned with their guiding principles.
Rooted in a genuine desire to uplift those often overlooked, aZ has a remarkable ability to connect on a personal level—listening, understanding, and advocating for the unique challenges and aspirations of others. aZ has championed the growth of 125+ diverse entrepreneurs, ensuring they have the resources and support needed to succeed.
See aZ at: Gather 4 Good Workshop — Building a Regional Social Impact Ecosystem