John Edwardson, '72, Social New Venture Challenge (SNVC)

Bruce Brege has a BBA in finance from Ohio University, an MBA in finance and economics from the University of Chicago, an MS in engineering-economic systems and operations research from Stanford University, and an MA in math education from Stanford University. His career has included work in corporate finance, financial services and data analysis in the private sector, including extensive time in the biomedical industry. Prior to joining OHS, he served as the founding math teacher for two charter high schools and helped to develop the charter management organization that runs these schools as well as information analytics.

Bruce loves to travel, enjoys classical and jazz music, is a medium-distance runner, and has been attempting over the past several years to learn to play golf (with limited success).

Jim has over 30 years of experience in investing, impact investing, investment management and investment consulting. He has an extensive managerial background in family and entrepreneurial businesses across industries of waste management, food manufacturing and financial services. Most recently, Jim served as the Chief Investment Officer at 4S Bay Partners, LLC, a single-family office focused on social impact, where he will serve as Senior Advisor. Jim is a board member at the Julian Grace Foundation, where he sits on its investment committee, and at Arc Chicago, LLC, the appointed board of Benefit Chicago. Benefit Chicago is a collaboration between The Chicago Community Trust, the John D, and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Calvert Foundation. He is the board chair of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). Jim has authored several white papers, including “Why Not the Best? Capturing Alpha from a Long-Neglected Market.”

Jim was a principal at Ennis Knupp and Associates Inc. (currently known as AonHewitt Investment Consulting, Inc) where he had a broad range of responsibilities, including serving as the primary and managing consultant assigned to some of the nation’s largest public pension funds, foundations, and endowments. Jim spearheaded Ennis Knupp’s Emerging Manager Advisory Council and was head of the firm’s global equity research group, member of private equity research group as well as the fixed income advisory council. Jim has also held senior roles at NexTier Companies, LLC and Dearborn Park Group, LLC, both of which offered strategic consulting advice to investment management and financial services firms.

During his career, Jim has held leadership positions with The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Partner and Director of Fixed Income Investments), Trias Capital Management, LLC (Founder and CEO), and Wedgewood Capital Management, Inc. (COO and Portfolio Manager). He began his career at First Chicago Corporation and Arthur D. Little Valuation, Inc. Jim has been an adjunct Professor at Valparaiso University teaching in the College of Business MBA program and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He sits on several philanthropic boards including Mosaic Genius, American Friends of Hebrew University, and is a Trustee at Morehouse College and the National Urban League.

Jim received a BS degree in economics from the University of Illinois and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.

Duncan Davis is a Founder and Managing Director of Breakout Capital. Breakout invests in high growth businesses, with a focus on mission-driven companies led by diverse teams. Breakout’s investments have been primarily in healthcare, consumer, and financial services. Breakout employs a deal-by-deal structure and its LPs are family offices.

Duncan began his career in leveraged finance at Goldman Sachs in New York City. He went on to join the investment team at Sterling Partners where he focused on healthcare services investing. Duncan grew up in Wisconsin and now resides in Wicker Park with his wife and two sons. Duncan serves as a mentor for American Corporate Partners to help military veterans transition to the civilian workforce.

John Edwardson is co-chairman of Advance Illinois, an independent statewide education policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that every Illinois student receives a world-class education. Edwardson is the former chairman and CEO of CDW, a leading provider of technology solutions to businesses, government, education, and healthcare organizations. During his tenure, CDW’s revenues grew from $3.8 billion to more than $10 billion. Prior to joining CDW, Edwardson served as chairman and chief executive of Burns International Services Corporation. He also served as president of UAL Corporation and United Airlines. 

Edwardson earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University and his MBA from Chicago Booth. He serves as a trustee of the University of Chicago, on the Council on Chicago Booth, and on the advisory board of Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation. He is also a retired board member of FedEx Corporation, Rockwell Collins Inc., and currently serves on the board of Chubb LTD.

Ghian Foreman is the president and CEO of the Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative, which generates community wealth and amplifies local culture through shared pride, power, and investment for Chicago’s mid-South Side. Emerald South attracts and coordinates investment through community convening and collaborative partnerships that increase local ownership and prosperity. 

Prior to joining Emerald South, Foreman was the executive director of the Greater Southwest Development Corporation, a community development corporation focused on the improvement of the Southwest Side of Chicago. 

Foreman is the managing partner of the Washington Park Development Group, a real estate development firm focused on traditionally underserved urban markets. In this capacity, he has been responsible for over $50 million in investments and development. Foreman sits on several boards, including the Chicago Rehab Network, Chicago Housing Authority Support Corporation. He is currently the President of the Chicago Police Board, and most recently joined Chicago Booth as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Strategy.

He earned a BS from Florida A&M University and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. A native Chicagoan, he lives in Kenwood with his wife, Traci, and daughter, Jade.

Karen Gould is Managing Director of Golden Seeds, an investment firm promoting gender diversity and equitable access to capital for women. She is also Independent Director of sustainability-oriented Rev Renewables and Ambient Enterprises. Karen also volunteers and leads non-profits as a national commissioner and regional board member of the Anti-Defamation League and as a member of the advisory council of the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at the University of Chicago Booth.

Previously, Karen was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Board Member at Turner Construction Company, the largest non-residential contractor in the US. In earlier positions, she held senior executive roles at Bell Canada and AT&T. She was named in the Top 100 Women in Tech by Crain’s Chicago Business as CFO for CenterPost Communications. Karen has an MBA with Honors in Finance, Strategy & International Business from University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Karen is married with three sons and lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Bob Greenlee is Chief Operating Officer at Tusk Holdings and Acting President of Tusk Philanthropies. At Tusk, Bob has worked for the past decade at helping early-stage and growth-stage startups navigate the regulatory environment. He has worked in the healthcare, telecom, energy/climate, gaming, technology, education, finance, and policy/political reform sectors, leading campaigns for large corporate clients like LVMH, Tesla, and CVS, startups like Bird, Ro, and Sedera, and not-for-profits like Girls Who Code, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Bob previously served as Deputy Governor of the State of Illinois, as well as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Office of the Governor, and Deputy Director of the Illinois Office of Management and Budget. An attorney by training, Bob also has been affiliated with Kirkland & Ellis, and the Quinlan Law Firm, and clerked on the 7th Circuit. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition and American Prairie, and as Corporate Secretary of Energy Foundry, an impact not-for-profit venture fund investing in the smart grid and renewables sector. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. and Ph.D (History of Religions) from the University of Chicago.

Rich Hoops is the executive director of Impact Charitable, a nonprofit based in Denver, Colorado that partners with donors and government funders to identify and address critical capital/funding gaps among underserved individuals, entrepreneurs, and small businesses, through the facilitation of direct, philanthropic investments and special purpose funds.  He is also a member of Social Venture Partners, an organization that provides capacity building services to nonprofits and social enterprises, and Social Venture Circle, a national network of social impact investors and he serves on several nonprofit boards.  

Hoops began his private-sector career at Tandy Corporation in 1986. After that, he joined Dell Computer Corporation where, over 11 years, he held a variety of senior management and executive positions in sales, marketing, and business development. In 2000, Hoops moved to Boulder, Colorado where he founded and served as CEO of Outdoor Intelligence, a digital mapping company that served the outdoor recreational industry. Since 2004, Hoops has invested his time, energy, and resources in a variety of nonprofit and for-profit social impact initiatives and organizations in Colorado and East Africa, where he continues to support several nonprofit community development organizations and for-profit social ventures through mentorship and investment.  

Hoops has a bachelor of arts from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. When not working, Hoops enjoys skiing, fishing, cycling, and spending time with his four daughters.

Rachel Kohler is the CEO of NowPow and is improving access to community resources that support whole person care. Under her leadership, NowPow’s referral technology has been rapidly adopted by top health systems, payers, and community-based organizations across the country. Before joining NowPow, Kohler spent more than 20 years building and managing global luxury brands at Kohler Co., one of the largest and oldest private companies in the nation. Kohler is a trustee at the University of Chicago, the University of Chicago Medical Center, and the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. 

She also serves on the boards of Kohler Co., Kohler Foundation, LPMC Foundation and MAPSCorps, a technical workforce pipeline for NowPow. Kohler also previously worked at Booz Allen & Hamilton, a management consulting firm, and at First Boston, an investment bank now known as Credit Suisse. Kohler earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Princeton University.

Noon has been involved in the development of more than 800 acres of land for suburban office and industrial parks, over 3,000,000 square feet of office buildings and over 1,700,000 square feet of industrial buildings. After 5 years as a construction lender and 10 years working for other national development companies, Chris started Quadrangle in 1988. He has an undergraduate degree with Honors in Civil Engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Steve Sarowitz is Founder and Chairman of Paylocity (Nasdaq: PCTY), a leading U.S. provider of payroll and HR solutions. In addition, Steve also serves as Director of Payescape, a UK payroll provide, and partner in Wayfarer Entertainment. He is also an international philanthropist with an interest in promoting unity by and promoting universal education and advocating for the elimination of racism, sexism, nationalism and religious prejudice. He also serves on the board of NCAT, an organization that builds state-of-the art training centers in urban areas. Steve served as Executive Producer for the award-winning documentary Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise and The Gate: Dawn of the Bahai Faith, a groundbreaking documentary about the founding of the Baha’i Faith. Steve is an avid runner who has been inducted into the Chicago Area Runners Association Hall of Fame. Steve is married with 2 children and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Illinois. Steve is a passionate Baha’i who has given presentations about the Baha’i Faith and its vision of world unity at several universities, the Parliament of the World’s Religions and other venues around the world.

Tasha Seitz leads the venture investment team at Impact Engine, where she invests in early stage software companies driving improvements in education, health, economic empowerment, and environmental sustainability. She has been making and managing technology venture investments for over two decades. Prior to joining Impact Engine, she was a partner with JK&B Capital, a technology venture capital firm based in Chicago with $1.1 billion dollars under management, where she was responsible for identifying, evaluating, and making investments in early stage enterprise software companies. Her post-investment responsibilities included serving on boards of directors, managing growth, coaching and hiring management teams, and managing investments through exit.

In addition, Seitz serves as adjunct professor of social impact at the Kellogg School of Management, board director for the Bridges Impact Foundation US, and a member of Echoing Green’s Investor Advisory Group. She is also a founding partner and former board chair for the Chicago chapter of Social Venture Partners. Seitz earned a BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Unmi Song is President of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, a private foundation that supports nonprofits serving low-income communities in Chicago. The Fry Foundation focuses its grant-making in the areas of arts learning, education, employment, and health. Across all of its funding areas, the foundation’s focus is on helping organizations: build capacity to enhance the quality of services and better assess the impact of programs; develop successful program innovations that other organizations in the field can learn from or adopt; and share knowledge so that information which can help low-income communities and individuals is widely and readily available. The Foundation is especially interested in testing new ideas that will advance knowledge or practice in the fields in which its grantees work. Addressing needs of the Chicago community since 1983, it has assets of $200 million and awards $8 million in grants annually.

Song received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago and continued her education at the University’s Graduate School of Business, obtaining an M.B.A. in Finance and International Business. Song was a vice president of Bankers Trust Company and held positions at Citicorp Investment Bank in New York City, at the First National Bank of Chicago and at Gold Star Tele-Electric Company, in Seoul, Korea. Prior to joining the Fry Foundation, she directed the Employment grant-making program focused on job training and welfare policy issues at the Joyce Foundation.

Song has many affiliations with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. She serves on the board of the Metropolitan Planning Council. She was appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She has served on the boards of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Forefront (previously the Donors Forum of Illinois), and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy; and she has served as board chair for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the nation’s leading Pan-Asian American civil rights group. She has been honored by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago and Korean American Community Services (now known as Hana Center) for her support of the Asian American community in Chicago. She is a member of The Chicago Network, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Economic Club of Chicago.

Ron Tarrson is the managing partner and director of Santa Fe Aero Services and The Jet Center Santa Fe, suppliers of avionics, maintenance, fuel, hangar and concierge services for private and corporate aviation at the Santa Fe, NM Regional Airport.  He formerly worked for the John O. Butler Company, where he held numerous positions, including corporate director, treasurer, COO, and president. After selling to Sunstar of Japan, which took the public company private, he served for two years as vice chairman. Tarrson received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his MBA from Chicago Booth. He serves in leadership roles for many foundations that focus on the airline industry. Tarrson recently served on the Council on Chicago Booth and is currently on the advisory council for the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation.

Nasrin Thierer, founder and managing partner at Assetblue Investment Group, is an innovative leader and experienced entrepreneur with a proven track record of building new businesses and optimizing distribution channels.

Thierer has launched many companies from the ground up, most recently Revenew, Inc., a cloud-based distributed marketing automation platform, which was acquired by Marlin Equity Partners and now operates under the Aprimo brand. Nasrin is an active investor in the community and on the board of ShoppingGives and PatientBond.

Thierer is also founder and president of the Thierer Family Foundation, which focuses on leveraging technology to help nonprofits. She currently serves on the boards of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Ryan Opera Center.

Over the first 22-years of her career, Thierer held a broad spectrum of senior business management, technology, and marketing roles at Motorola. She holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Design from University of Tennessee and a MBA. in Marketing and Finance from Nova Southeastern University.

Erik was the Founder and Managing Partner of Adobe Capital, one of Latin America’s leading impact investment fund managers and now part of Vancouver-based Deetken Impact. Over the last decade, he has played a catalytic role in the growth of the impact investing sector in Latin America. Before launching Adobe Capital, he worked at various private equity and venture capital funds in Mexico. Erik received an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering with Honors from Universidad Iberoamericana.