Africa Social Enterprise Forum 2009

Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist, Keynote

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Craig is a senior Web-oriented software engineer who has become a leader in online community by virtue of founding and running craigslist.org for over nine years.  Craig started craigslist in 1995, using a common sense, down-to-earth approach.  Craigslist strives to make the "net more personal and authentic, while advocating social responsibility through the promotion of small, non-profit organizations."  Craig has been featured in the Associated Press, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Business Week, Time Magazine and Esquire Magazine.  

Andrew Zolli, Executive Director and Curator, Pop!Tech & Founder, Z+Partners

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Andrew is a foresight and global trends consultant. His firm, Z + Partners, helps global companies and institutions see, understand and respond to complex change. Andrew was recently named a National Geographic Society Fellow and has served as Futurist-in-Residence at both Popular Science and American Demographics magazines, as well as Public Radio’s Marketplace. Andrew is a network member of the Global Business Network, and serves as a Visiting Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. In early 2005 he was named to Fast Company’s Fast 50, the magazine’s annual compilation of emerging business leaders. In the same year, he was named one of Red Herring’s “20 Under 35.”

Antony Bugg-Levine, Managing Director, Rockefeller Foundation

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Antony leads the Rockefeller Foundation's Initiative of Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing. Previously, he was Kenya Country Director for TechnoServe, where he helped design and implement business solutions to rural poverty focused on small holder farmer economic integration and medium scale enterprise consulting.  A native South African, he served as Communications Director at the South African Human Rights Commission and as Speechwriter and Media Strategist for the ANC's 1999 election campaign.  Antony is an adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School.  He earned an M.P.A from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

Bill Carter, Founding International Board Member, Vice President for Africa Programs, Ashoka

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Bill is an accomplished entrepreneur who co-founded one of the few successful and early alternative energy companies in the US. He has consulted for the Harvard Advisory Group and McKinsey & Company. Bill is a founding member of Ashoka's International board and has been instrumental in the election of hundreds of Ashoka Fellows globally, including in Eqypt, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Uganda and Nigeria. Currently, he serves as Ashoka's Vice President for Africa Programs.  Bill speaks French and holds a PhD from Tufts University Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. 

Scott Clarke, Founder and Executive Director, Amandla Development 

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Scott founded Amandla Development to develop local capacity in South Africa to ensure that populations previously oppressed by apartheid have the opportunity to participate in the growing economy.  Scott's interest in education's ability to provide opportunities for empowerment out of poverty led to work in education policy research and education reform.  He has worked for Yale University Admissions, the International Leadership Charter Schools' startup team and also Life Choices Peer Education in Cape Town.  Scott also served with ABAFAOILSS, a consortium dedicated to increasing the presence of underrepresented students on Ivy League campuses.  Scott holds an M.P.A from New York University's Wagner School of Public Service. 

Peter Eliassen, Vice President, VisionSpring

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Peter Eliassen, Vice President of Sales and Operations, is responsible for the leadership and management of VisionSpring's global operations and the achievement of operational and sales objectives.  Prior to joining VisionSpring, Peter held positions in a mix of both public and private sector organizations.  Most recently, he worked for Unilever in the US Foods Customer Development Group.  Before completing his M.B.A, Peter worked for Capital One as an Intergrated Operatins Project Manager, for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva and as a consultant for a microfinance network in Benin.  Peter holds an M.B.A from Thunderbird.

Pieter Ernst, Executive Director, Marang House

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Pieter Ernst Jr is Executive Director of Marang House, a home for seriously ill children in Southern Africa. Founded by his late father who was a medical doctor, Pieter took over at the tender age of 19 when his father was brutally murdered in a robbery.  Tired of raising funds and with the ambition to accommodate every seriously ill child in need, he embarked on a journey to transform the NGO into a sustainable social enterprise.  Pieter is currently also pursuing studies in Social Entrepreneurship at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria.  

Dawn Hines, Co-Founder & Partner, Aventura Investment Partners

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Ms. Dawn Hines is a co-founding partner of Aventura Investment Partners, an early stage fund that targets the rural food value chain in Africa.  Ms. Hines has extensive experience working in the venture capital space and is a founder of venture consulting group that worked with early stage companies in Africa, the United States and Europe. While working at Reuters European in Geneva, she launched Europe's first financial information text messaging service.  Dawn holds an M.B.A from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.  

Omer Imtiazuddin, Health Portfolio Manager, Acumen Fund

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Omer joinedAcumen Fund in 2005.  Previously, he worked as a Consultant to the IFC leading the design of the Global Youth and Informal Enterprise Initiative.  He has experience in private equity-having worked at venture capital fund Barnard & Co. LLC-as well as in investment banking, from his experience working at Morgan Stanley.  Omer also has an extensive background in micro-enterprise and small business development, having worked with ACCION, Women's World Banking, Trickle Up and the Business Outreach Center Network.  Omer holds an M.B.A from the Wharton School.

Leila Chirayath Janah, Founder, Samasource

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Leila is  Founder of Samasource, a social business connecting people living in poverty to microwork-small, computer based tasks that build skills and generate life-changing income.  Samasource was a winner in the 2007 International Business in Development Challenge and the 2008 Stanford Social Enterprise Challenge. Leila has received the Rainer Arnhold Fellowship and has been invited to serve as a Social Enterprise Institute Fellow. Previously, Leila was founding Director of Incentives for Global Health and worked for Katzenbach Partners and the World Bank.  She served as Visiting Fellow at Stanford University and Australian National University.  Leila holds a B.A from Harvard University.

Ella Gorgla, Managing Partner, The Khana Group

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Ella has consulted to the nation's leading firms including Ernst & Young and IBM Global Services. She has advised clients in the investment banking, health care, retail and manufacturing sectors. Ella's core expertise include business growth and corporate strategy, contracts and negotiations, risk management, outsourcing and cost reduction, strategic planning and economic development.  Ella holds an M.B.A from Columbia Business School as well as an M.A. from London Business School.  She is Managing Director of The Khana Group.

Linda Jenkinson, Founder & Chair, LesConcierges and Managing Director, WOW Investments

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Linda, a serial entrepreneur, leverages her global network to educate and involve them in her philanthropic ventures. She is Founder and Chairperson of LesConcierges, the largest luxury corporate concierge company in the world, serving members such as American Express, Neiman Marcus and Bank of America. Linda is Founder and Managing Director of WOW Investments, a social investment fund focused on building SMEs in West Africa.  Linda consults in fund raising, business development, business strategy and turnaround strategies.  She has been five-year chair of the San Francisco Bay Area Red Cross annual gala, is a life member of World Class New Zealanders and was a three year member of the New Zealand Trade Board.   

Donna Katzin, Founding Executive Director, Shared Interest

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Dr. Donna Katzin is Founding Executive Director of Shared Interest, a social investment fund that raises and utilizes grant and loan capital for democratic and sustainable South African community economic development projects.  From 1986 to 1994, she served as Director of South Africa and International Justice Programs for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.  In that capacity she worked with religious bodies, institutional investors and community organizations to exert economic pressure to end apartheid, reinvestment responsibly after apartheid, and to advance social criteria for lending.  Donna holds a doctorate in Human Services Education and Development.

Chid Liberty, CEO, Sustainable Global Sourcing

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Before founding Sustainable Global Sourcing, Chid worked in finance as an Information System Analyst for several high-growth technology companies including Metavante Technologies, Mindjet Corporation and Trilogy Intergrated Resources.  In 2009, Chid received the designation of Fellow by the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies--BALLE.  His work at BALLE includes developing strategies aiding sustainable ventures in the achievement of organizational excellence.  Chis was born in Liberia.

Jacob Lief, Founder & President, Ubuntu Education Fund

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Jacob Lief is co-Founder of Ubuntu Education Fund, a community-based organization working with the people of Port Elizabeth to develop educational and health initiatives. Jacob helped grow the non-profit from a small fund supplying basic educational materials to an international development organization employing over 55 people. Ubuntu now reaches over 40,000 orphaned and vulnerable children and 13,000 adults. Jacob is the recipient of the Crystal Eagle Award  and the Douglass Dignitary Award.

Dr. Ellen McGrath, Founder & President Bridge Coaching Institute, Clinical Psychologist

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Dr. McGrath primarily works as a clinical psychologist.  She is President and Founder of the Bridge Coaching Institute. Ellen works as a coach and consultant to a number of Fortune 500 companies and their executives.  She served as co-Chair of the NYC Firefighters Support Network after 9/11. Ellen was the psychology expert on ABC's Good Morning America for two years. She is currently an adjunct Professor at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. She has also taught at University of California Irvine Medical School and the University of Rochester School of Medicine.  Ellen lives in NYC and has two sons.

Matthew Mitro, Founder & President, Indego Africa

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Matt is currently a Fellow at the Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics and at the Starting Bloc Institute for Social Innovation, where he focuses on social entrepreneurship in Africa.  Matt's professional training includes practicing as an attorney coordinating legal aspects of financing large-scale infrastructure projects in developing nations.  Matt also worked for the US Departments of State and Justice.  He published research work on exploitative child labor and combatting the global trading system.  Matt is conversational in German and French. He founded Indego Africa

Jacqueline Muna Musiitwa, Founder & Executive Director, Hoja Law Group

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Jacqueline is founder of Hoja Law Group, which represents small businesses, startups and non-profits in commercial, intellectual property and cross-border transactions.  She was previsouly Corporate Associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Muna's international experience includes clerking for Denton Wilde Septe's associate office in Zambia, working at the University of Pretoria's Center for Human Rights and working in India with World Vision.  She is an adjunct International Law Professor at Central Michigan University and also Drexel University.  She earned her J.D from the University of Melbourne and is qualified to practice in New York and Australia.

Elchi Nowrojee, Director & Counsel, Credit Suisse

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Elchi Nowrojee is a Director and Counsel at Credit Suisse. He is responsible for private equity fund structuring for the alternative investments businesses.  Previously, he worked at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP, an international law firm, where he represented clients investing in African companies or forming African investment funds.  Elchi chaired the Committee on African Afairs of the Association of the Bar of the City of New Yorkthrough June 2009. He has worked and lived in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.  Elchi earned an M.Phil from Oxford University and a J.D from Harvard Law School. 

Kojo Parris, Founder & CEO, Social Private Equity South Africa

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Kojo is Chairman of A4e African, as well as the African Social Entrepreneurs Network, he is the founding CEO of Social Private Equity South Africa and a Director of both Operation Hope and Heart. 
Previously, Kojo was an investment banker with NM Rothschilds, Merchant Bank of Central Africa and the African Banking Corporation Holdings.  He was head of the Colloquim for Social Entrepreneurship at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria.  He is Honorary Consul of Guyana to South Africa.  Kojo holds an M.A from Cambridge University. 

Christine Phillpotts, Portfolio Manager,  Grassroots Business Fund

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Christine is Grassroots Business Fund Portfolio Manager for the Africa region, where she develops the regional investment statergy and expands the portfolio.  Previously, Christine was an Equity Research Associate at JPMorgan Asset Management, covering stocks for investment portfolios worth over $100 billion.  Christine also worked in Kenya with micro-finance organization Kenya Women Finance Trust.  Christine earned an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.  She is recipient of the the Robert Toigo Foundation and Morgan Stanley MBA Fellowships.

Alicia Polak, Founder & CEO, The Khaya Cookie Company

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After a successful Wall Street career, Alicia founded The Khaya Cookie Company For every 1,500 boxes of cookies sold, 1 new job is created in South Africa. In the United States, 4 new are created jobs for every 500 orders. Alicia and her work have been featured in CNN Headline News and in publications such as The Financial Times, Glamour, O: The Oprah Magazine and Business 2.0. She received the Food Network Awards' 2007 Edible Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She earned an M.B.A and M.P.A from New York University and University of Cape Town.

Santhosh Ramdoss, Program Manager, BRAC USA

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Santhosh is Program Manager BRAC USA, one of the world's largest NGOs that has pioneered a south-south model for development, leveraging its experience in Bangladesh to address poverty in Asia and Africa. Santhosh is a key resource in a US$20 million expansion project into Uganda.  Santhosh holds an M.B.A from Bharathidasan Institute of Management--among India's top business schools-- and an M.P.A from the Wagner School of Public Service, NYU, where he received the Jo Ivey Boufford Award for Innovation as well as the Howard G. Newman Award.  He is a 2006 Catherine B. Reynolds Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship.  

Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, Professor, Rutgers University

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Professor Robinson co-leads the Rutgers Business School’s efforts in the areas of urban entrepreneurship and economic development.  Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Stern School of Business, New York University.  Jeffrey is the recipient of the 2007 Faculty Pioneer Rising Star Award from the Aspen Institute. Professor Robinson is the co-Editor of the research volume Social Entrepreneurship and is also co-Founder of the International Social Entrepreneurship Research Conference. Jeffrey is a sought after speaker, author and media commentator appearing on PBS, Dateline NBC, NBC Nightly News and in the New York Times.

Elizabeth Scharpf, Founder & Chief Instigating Officer, Sustainable Health Enterprises

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Elizabeth is an entrepreneur who has spent most of her professional career starting up ventures or advising businesses on growth strategies in the health care industry.  She has spent time as a strategic management consultant at Cambridge Pharma Consultancy as well as stints at the Clinton Foundation and the World Bank.  Elizabeth has an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and an M.P.A from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  She is Founder ofSustainable Health Enterprises.


Nii Simmonds, Co-Founder, Afrobotics

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Nii Simmonds is interested in creating partnerships that can fuel sustainable growth in Africa.  He was a 2007 TED Global Fellow at the Arusha, Tanzania Conference.  Nii speaks frequently about affordable health solutions, technology, e-commerce, e-health, globalization and social entrepreneurship in Africa.  He is author of Nubian Cheetah, a blog  about African social entrepreneurship and venture capital. Nii is co-Founder of Maiker Faire and Afrobotics

Ambassador John Simon, Visiting Fellow, Center for Global Development

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Ambassador John Simon is a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Global Development.  His work at the Center examines social investment and its impact on low-income countries.  Previously, John served as the United States Representative to the African Union.  Before that, he was Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation where he spearheaded efforts to catalyze new private equity funds and promote private investments in the developing world. John holds an M.P.P from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Nick Sowden, Director of Business Development, ToughStuff

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Nick is a serial entrepreneur. As Director of Business Development at ToughStuff, he has been focused on growth and building partnerships since the enterprise’s early days. Before ToughStuff Nick launched several early stage ventures, two as co-founder and CEO, ranging from education to technology and social media. He completed the prestigious Entrepreneurial Program at University of Colorado at Boulder’s Leeds School of Business, where he won the University’s Business Plan Competition

Fred Swaniker, Founder & Chief Executive Office, African Leadership Academy

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Fred helped launch one of the best-performing private elementary schools in Botswana.  Most recently, Fred founded and led the launch of Global Leadership Adventures, a global leadership development program.  In the three years since launch, Global Leadership Adventures has more than doubled enrollment and expanded to five campuses worldwide.  Fred also gained entrepreneurial experience as founding COO of Synexa Life Sciences, a biotechnology company that today employs 30 South African scientists.  He holds an M.B.A from Stanford University Graduate School of Business and currently serves as CEO of the African Leadership Academy.


Anne Murray, Development Officer, E+Co

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Anne joined E+Co, a clean energy investor and services provider in the developing world, in April 2009 as Development Officer.  She worked most recently with the New York City Economic Development Corporation as Vice President, International Business Development.  Prior to that, Anne's background was focused on the global media field, including work with HBO, NFL, NBA and CBS.  Anne holds an M.B.A from Fordham University.  

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