Ana Marie Argilagos is the president of HIP. Previously to HIP she worked as a senior advisor at the Ford Foundation as part of the Equitable Development team. Her work focused on urban development strategies to reduce poverty, expand economic opportunity, and advance sustainability in cities and regions across the world. Before becoming a senior adviser at the foundation in 2014, she served as deputy chief of staff and deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). While there, she created the Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) to deepen and scale collaboration between public and philanthropic sectors. The IPI model of sourcing innovation and leveraging partnerships from broad global networks is now being successfully replicated at other federal cabinet agencies and in cities across the US. Previous to rejoining HUD she spent eight years as a senior program officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, where she spearheaded the foundation’s work in rural areas, indigenous communities, and the US-Mexico border region.

Until recently, Ana Marie was an adjunct professor of international urban planning at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. She has a successful track record working within both the public and the nonprofit sectors in a range of capacities — from educational programs manager at the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, to the director of the New Workplace for Women Project at the National Council of La Raza, to the deputy director of Ayuda, a community-based legal clinic serving immigrants in Washington, DC — and has proved herself to be an entrepreneurial thinker bridging diverse agendas and achieving results.

Ana Marie received her master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University and her bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University.

Melissa Berman is the founding president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc., an innovative nonprofit philanthropy service launched by the Rockefeller family in 2002. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ mission is to help donors create thoughtful, effective philanthropy throughout the world. RPA develops strategic plans, conducts research, manages foundations and trusts, structures major gifts, coordinates donor collaboratives, and provides re-granting and fiscal sponsorship services. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors annually manages or facilitates about $200 million in giving to more than 25 countries. It has offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago and will be opening in London by 2016.

Ms. Berman has led Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors since its inception, building it into one of the world’s leading philanthropic advisory, grantmaking, research, and project management services. Under her leadership, RPA developed and published the “Philanthropy Roadmap” series of donor guides with support from the Gates Foundation. She developed and leads RPA’s research initiative, “The Theory of the Foundation,” and is the author of three reports in that initiative.

A frequent speaker, Ms. Berman has been a guest lecturer at universities across the U.S., Europe, and Asia including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, IMD, Oxford, Sun-Yat Sen, and Beijing Normal universities. As a widely-recognized expert in philanthropy, Ms. Berman has been profiled in the New York Times and the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Her ideas and views are featured in the Economist, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. She has been interviewed on the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, NPR, BBC Radio, CNBC-TV, and Bloomberg TV.

Previously, she served as senior vice president, research and program development at The Conference Board, a global nonprofit, independent business research organization. She oversaw all research and publications on management practices, including global corporate citizenship, governance, human resources, finance, and performance management.  

Ms. Berman is a director of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Foundation Center. She is an adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Business School, where she also serves on the Advisory Board for the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise.

Ms. Berman holds a B.A. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University.

Colborn oversees the service delivery functions of a multi-faceted social services nonprofit that serves 25,000 people each year in the greater Philadelphia region. Operating with an annual budget of $88.5 million, JEVS Human Services has over one thousand employees working in 20 successful programs providing skills development, job readiness and career services, vocational rehabilitation, recovery services, adult and residential day services, and in-home personal assistance.

Colborn has worked in the social sector for over 30 years, with backgrounds in philanthropy, community and economic development, and workforce development and employment policy and advocacy. He has played leadership roles in organizing philanthropic networks focused on workforce development, community colleges, and mission investing.

A graduate of Oberlin College, Colborn holds a master of business administration degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has served on a variety of boards and advisory panels and currently serves as a trustee of the Foundation Center and on the boards of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and the SkillsUSA Foundation.

Neal is the Vice President of Programs at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, in Flint, Michigan. He has held several positions within the Foundation, most recently as director of the Flint Area grantmaking program focusing on the redevelopment of downtown Flint and workforce and economic development initiatives in the Flint area. Neal also managed the Reducing Barriers to Employment portfolio on the Pathways Out of Poverty program (now titled Pathways to Opportunity program) and has worked on several of the Foundation's Special Initiatives projects for statewide and regional economic revitalization. Neal joined the Mott Foundation in January 2000. He holds a bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University and a master's degree from Michigan State University.

Neal, his wife Amanda, and two sons reside in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation was founded in Flint, Michigan, in 1926, by a General Motors pioneer and is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable, and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally.

Deborah Hoover has served since 2007 as president and CEO of Burton D. Morgan Foundation, a private foundation based in Hudson, Ohio, with a mission to champion the entrepreneurial spirit. Ms. Hoover was instrumental in establishing the foundation's Northeast Ohio Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program, a Kauffman Campuses℠ Initiative, to spread entrepreneurship across liberal arts campuses; and in establishing NEOLaunchNET, formerly the Blackstone LaunchPad Program. Ms. Hoover spearheaded Morgan Foundation's decision to establish the Entrepreneurship Education Experiment, a research institute that advances the field of entrepreneurship education through leading edge research projects and programs. Ms. Hoover received the Northeast Ohio EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2014 in the Educational Services & Nonprofit category.

Ms. Hoover served from 2013-2015 as chair of the Fund for Our Economic Future, a philanthropic collaborative created in 2004 to advance the economic competitiveness of Northeast Ohio and she continues to represent the fund on the Team NEO Board of Directors. She is chair of the Advisory Council for Foundation Center – Midwest and in April, 2014 was elected to the national board of Foundation Center. Ms. Hoover serves on the board of trustees of Western Reserve Academy and is a board member of the National Council for the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Ms. Hoover earned her B. A. from Williams College and a master’s in the history of art from the University of Chicago. She continued graduate studies at George Washington University National Law Center where she earned a J.D. degree and was a member of the Law Review. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, New Hampshire, and Ohio. In 2004, Ms. Hoover completed the "Governing for Non-Profit Excellence Executive Education Program," and in 2010 she completed the Performance Measurement for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations, both held at Harvard Business School. Ms. Hoover holds an honorary doctor of humane letters from Baldwin Wallace University.

Dominick Impemba is a Certified Public Accountant with nearly 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. At The Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Impemba oversees the day-to-day accounting for the foundation and its $4.1 billion endowment, monitors and evaluates internal controls, develops organization-wide policies and procedures, reviews the organization's tax filings, and is one of the individuals responsible for the annual budget process.

Prior to joining The Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Impemba was an audit senior manager at KPMG LLP in its nonprofit practice. Before that he was the controller at the Institute of International Education and an audit manager at Condon O'Meara McGinty and Donnelly, LLP, a public accounting firm dedicated to serving nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Impemba is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Iona College in New Rochelle, NY.

As a Senior Director in Walmart’s eCommerce (Central) Operations, Sylvester is in the center of one of the most significant strategic priorities for the company — intersection of digital and physical retail. He previously had divisional responsibility for the store pickup and dispatch field operations across select regions, business development, and internal governance management; now he oversees new customer propositions, digital customer experience, and store delivery operations. 

Sylvester also served as the Walmart W. Africa Executive for two years, based in Nigeria. Beyond operations, he was responsible for contributing to the strategic growth direction, and led the company’s business development efforts in W. Africa. Previously he had numerous experiences in various departments within the Fresh Grocery merchandising unit of Walmart U.S., including managing a $600 million portfolio within Dairy.

Prior to Walmart, Sylvester had a long career with the international development organization, Enactus, where he was international president and founding head of their Office for Strategic Initiatives. While serving a three-year term as president of Enactus’ 36-country International Affiliate Division, Sylvester led a network of over 40,000 individuals to increase the overall division revenue by 50 percent, institutional customers by 28 percent, consumers by 60 percent, and country performance index by 10 percent, all despite a 20 percent country reduction as a result of global network consolidation.

Prior to joining Enactus he held the position of marketing specialist with United Parcel Service’s (UPS) business development division in North Florida; before which he was their human resources recruiter, hiring employees for the company’s second largest hub. He’s been a partner and vice president of marketing for Pineapple Records and Café in Jacksonville, Florida, and has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience with various Fortune 500 companies and his own entrepreneurial ventures.

Sylvester graduated from the University of North Florida with bachelors of business administration in both marketing and management and pursued an M.B.A. at Webster University. He has a command of four languages, including French — for which he holds an Advanced Level Certificate (GCE). A frequent participant, keynote speaker, and/or panelist at the Corporate Council on Africa’s US-Africa Business Summits, World Economic Forum’s Africa Economic Summits, UBS’ Philanthropy Forums, Russia’s Gaidar (Economic) Forums, among others, he remains well informed about key international issues.

Sylvester received the Constituency for Africa’s African Pioneer award in 2012 and his Alma Mata, UNF, honored him in 2007 and 2009 with the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year and Prime Osborne Distinguished Business Leader awards, respectively.

Susan Kish is a senior executive with extensive experience in building successful businesses, products, services and teams. She has worked across multiple global industries e.g., financial services, media, and clean energy and is a relentless advocate of digital and data literacy. A seasoned entrepreneur, Susan has been successful in bringing new ideas and businesses to life inside large corporations and banks as well as in start-up environments. Susan leverages a wealth of knowledge of strategy, marketing and digital media, as well as product and business development expertise.

Most recently at Bloomberg LP, Susan headed up a cross-platform team and set of initiatives to drive strategy, innovation, and integration across the media, data, and analytical platforms. Innovations to come out of this venture include the birth of “The Year Ahead,” a data-driven media franchise and the incubation of Bloomberg’s award winning data visualization team.

Susan previously led market development at New Energy Finance, which was acquired by Bloomberg. In this role, Susan initiated the Bloomberg Future of Energy Summit in 2008 — one of the world’s most successful energy conferences — which she continues to moderate for Bloomberg today.

Prior to Bloomberg, Susan was an entrepreneur, founding First Tuesday Zurich in 1999. The business think tank connected start-ups and investors, convened and supported thought leader networks in private banking, emerging technologies, and sustainable energy. After First Tuesday Zurich was acquired in 2006 by the professional online network XING, she established XING’s consulting and advisory business.

Susan started her career as a banker at UBS and Chase. At UBS she built credit businesses in the commodity, brokerage and municipal finance sectors before moving from New York to Zurich as Global Functional Head of Structured Finance, and member of the Global Credit Risk Committee.

Susan is a trustee and independent director on several boards including Foundation Center, InsideClimate News, and One Month, an online learning platform.

Susan is currently the senior advisor to the chief marketing officer, IWM at Credit Suisse, and the executive-in-residence at Excel Venture Management in Boston. Susan recently joined the faculty at the Pratt Institute’s Design Management Graduate Program as a professor of international business.

Susan graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe College in the history of science, Magna cum Laude, and lives outside of Boston with her family.

Patrick McCarthy is the president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. He is a trustee of the Casey Foundation and the Baltimore Community Foundation, chairman of the board of the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, an executive committee member for both Living Cities and the East Baltimore Development Initiative, and a trustee on the board of Bryn Mawr College.

Prior to his becoming president and CEO, McCarthy was the Casey Foundation's senior vice president. In that capacity, he oversaw the foundation's work in the areas of health, reproductive health, mental health, substance abuse, juvenile justice, education, early childhood, youth development, child welfare and income security, as well as the foundation's Strategic Consulting Group and the direct service agency, Casey Family Services.

He was the initiative manager for the foundation's Mental Health Initiative for Urban Children, promoting neighborhood-based strategies for improving the emotional well-being of kids and families.

Prior to joining the Casey Foundation, McCarthy was senior program officer at the Center for Assessment and Policy Development, where he worked with foundations, states, and cities on system reform and strategic planning. He served as the director of the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services; director of the Division of Program Support; administrator of Case Management for the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families; and director of the Delaware Family Preservation Project. He taught child and family practice, research methods, and statistics at the graduate schools of social work of Bryn Mawr College and the University of Southern California and has experience as a family therapist and administrator in programs for emotionally disturbed youth and drug addicted adults.

McCarthy has a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Montclair State University.

Valdemar de Oliveira Neto ("Maneto") is impact business director of Fundación AVINA, a foundation created by Swiss entrepreneur Stephan Schmidheiny to contribute to sustainable development in Latin America. AVINA promotes sustainable development initiatives by encouraging productive alliances between civil society and business leaders and by fostering convergence around action agendas for social change. Maneto previously served as policy director of the organization. Maneto also serves as CEO of World Transforming Technologies.

Before joining AVINA in 2003, Maneto was founding executive director of Instituto Ethos, a pioneering business membership association which promotes corporate social responsibility in Brazil. Elected as an Ashoka Fellow in 1986, Maneto went on to serve as its vice-president from 1994 to 1998 and was responsible for launching Ashoka's Global Fellowship Program for social entrepreneurs. He began his career as a lawyer and was co-founder of the Centro de Cultura Luis Freire, a pioneering organization that defended human rights and provided legal assistance during Brazil's military dictatorship.

Maneto is presently a board member of GIFE, the leading association of Brazilian grantmakers, and serves as a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Panel on General Electric's Corporate Citizenship Report.

Maneto earned a law degree from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil, in 1982.

Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker is president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, an organization dedicated to connecting people, ideas, and resources to improve lives in Western New York.

As the chief executive officer at the Community Foundation, Clotilde has led a focused growth and impact strategy. Under her leadership the Community Foundation has facilitated numerous public/private sector collaborations focused on systemics change. These efforts have addressed issues such as school readiness, post-secondary attainment, lead-poisoning prevention, organizational development for arts organizations, and environmental stewardship. Most recently, Clotilde oversaw the Community Foundation’s effort to launch the Say Yes to Buffalo education initiative and the Greater Buffalo Racial Equity Roundtable. 

Other service highlights include a White House appointment to the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, U.S. Committee co-chair of the United Nations International Year of the Volunteer, and president of the Association of Junior Leagues International. Clotilde has served on numerous boards. Current service includes CFLeads, Foundation Center, FSG, and the Global Fund for Community Foundations.
Clotilde’s work has been recognized by many including the Points of Light Foundation, the Governor’s Award for Service, the President’s Award for Service, and Buffalo News Citizen of The Year. She holds a master’s degree in education from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, native of Cuba.

She speaks frequently on philanthropy, community impact, and nonprofit governance.

Bradford K. Smith joined Foundation Center as its president on October 1, 2008. Previously, Mr. Smith was president of the Oak Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland, a major family foundation with programs and grant activities in 41 countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. Prior to joining the Oak Foundation he developed and led the Ford Foundation's Peace and Social Justice Program, the foundation's largest program area. During his 10-year tenure as vice president, he distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations working on issues of human rights, international cooperation, governance, and civil society in the U.S. and around the world.

Mr. Smith has devoted his entire career to the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. He first joined the Ford Foundation as a program officer in its Brazil office before being promoted to representative. Prior to that, he directed the Brazil program of the Inter-American Foundation. At the start of his career, he worked for the YMCA of the USA, both in Costa Rica and New York, where he became manager for world development at its Center for International Management Studies.

Mr. Smith serves on the board of directors of the Tinker Foundation and the advisory board of the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security. He holds an M.A. in economics from the New School for Social Research in New York and a B.A. in anthropology and ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan.