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

John Balbach is responsible for the operational management of Impact Investments, including playing leadership roles with major initiatives such as Benefit Chicago and the Catalytic Capital Consortium. He also leads impact investing efforts to advance the Foundation’s Climate Solutions Big Bet.

Prior to MacArthur, Balbach worked with Silicon Valley Bank and JPMorgan Chase. He has also served on a National Science Foundation commercialization review committee, managed and raised capital for an Impact Investing Fund focused on developing the Michigan life sciences sector, advised industry-leading corporations on infusing cleantech solutions into their supply chains, provided consulting services to leading nonprofit organizations with the Nonprofit Finance Fund, and served as a strategic advisor to hundreds of founders of technology-based startup ventures through a Michigan economic development program.

He holds a BS in Finance from Miami (Ohio) University, an MA from St. John’s College, and an MPA from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Bruce Brege has worked 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). Bruce Brege has a BBA in finance from Ohio University, an MBA in finance and economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MS in engineering-economic systems and operations research from Stanford University, and an MA in math education from Stanford University.

Jim Casselberry, the co-founder and CEO of Known, 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.

Phil Colaço is a philanthropist and global leader in investment banking who served as CEO and global corporate finance leader at Deloitte Corporate Finance until his retirement in 2023. During his decade at Deloitte Corporate Finance, Colaço helped position the firm as the world’s leading organization in mergers and acquisitions by deal volume for several years.

Prior to joining Deloitte Corporate Finance, Colaço was a managing director and cofounding partner at McColl Partners, following earlier roles at Bowles Hollowell Conner/First Union Securities and Lehman Brothers. Throughout his career, Colaço has advised on numerous high-profile transactions across diverse sectors, including healthcare and professional services, manufacturing, software, postsecondary education, community banking, and consumer finance. His expertise earned him recognition as a Top M&A Investment Banker by Global 50 and as a Charlotte Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree.

Colaço currently serves as a trustee of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, Novant Health, and Charlotte Latin School. He is a former board chairman, treasurer, and trustee of Trinity Episcopal School, as well as a former president and member of the Association for Corporate Growth in Charlotte.

Colaço earned a BA in economics from the University of Virginia and an MBA with highest honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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 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. Edwardson earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Joe Exner is chairman and CEO of the Steele Foundation for Hope, which he launched with longtime mentor Stuart Steele in 2022. Since then, the foundation has provided $180 million in funding to 25 social enterprises and is pioneering an equity-based philanthropic model designed to help scale solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Exner brings decades of leadership and investing experience, along with a deep commitment to service, to the foundation’s mission of supporting transformative enterprises and the leaders behind them. The foundation’s portfolio reaches 105 countries, including 40 in Africa, with billions in additional committed capital expected to be deployed in the years ahead.

William Fitzgerald, CFA is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Fitzgerald Asset Management. Prior to establishing his firm, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of ZCM Capital Management. Bill spent over a decade financing sustainable infrastructure following a nearly 20-year career with Nuveen Investments. In his tenure as Chief Investment Officer of Nuveen Asset Management, Bill was pivotal in growing the firm’s AUM from $46 billion to $67 billion over a seven-year period and guided the Nuveen Asset Management organization toward an emphasis on portfolio construction, credit analysis, trading, and hedging strategies. Bill is a recognized industry leader and received the Lipper Award for Large Mutual Funds for best risk-adjusted performance in 2005. He is active as a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago. He has served on the Board of Directors of Syncora Guarantee, Inc., the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the Ariel Education Initiative and as a Trustee of the Janus Henderson Funds.

Mr. Fitzgerald holds a BA from Beloit College and an MBA in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he serves as a member of the Business Council on Chicago Booth.

Jody Foldesy is a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group in Los Angeles. Foldesy serves as the global COO for BCG’s Corporate Finance and Strategy Practice Area and has advised clients on topics related to corporate, portfolio, and growth strategy for the past 18 years. He has helped many clients understand long-term disruptive scenarios resulting from technological, regulatory, and societal change.

Foldesy holds a BA in journalism from American University and an MBA with high honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He graduated from Booth in 2007 and has remained actively involved with Booth programming since then.

Before joining BCG, Foldesy worked as a journalist at The Washington Times. He won several awards and broke a variety of major stories while covering the city’s top sports beat, the Washington Commanders.

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.

Van Jones is a deal lead at Wellington Access Ventures, a dedicated early-stage venture capital fund within Wellington Management, a private, independent investment management firm with more than $1 trillion in client assets under management. Jones is an operator-investor focused on commercial strategy, partnerships, and complex global deal execution. He has built and scaled businesses in markets where growth depends on coordinating multiple parties, including enterprise customers, financial partners, distribution networks, local operators, and strategic counterparties.

Jones began his career in China, advising multinational companies on growth across emerging markets. He later cofounded Hello Tractor, where he helped build an orchestration layer for fragmented agricultural markets across Africa. Across his operating and investing career, Jones has led eight-figure strategic partnerships and commercial deals globally, transforming complex stakeholder ecosystems into scalable business opportunities.

Before joining Wellington, Jones was a partner at Drive Capital, where he invested across fintech, enterprise SaaS, and cloud-based data infrastructure.

In 2018, Jones received the Chicago Booth Young Alumni Distinguished Alumni Award and now serves on the Distinguished Alumni Awards Selection Committee. He also serves as a trustee of the University of Cincinnati Foundation and on the university’s Investment Committee.

Jones earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rachel Kohler is a technology entrepreneur and social impact investor. Kohler recently launched STEAMe, a digital and data infrastructure platform for community workforce development systems that helps people qualify for and apply to skills-based jobs.

Previously, Kohler was co-owner and CEO of NowPow, a digital social care referral platform she built and successfully led through the company’s sale in 2021. Before NowPow, she worked for Kohler Co. for 22 years, has served on the Kohler Board since 1999, and is a member of its executive committee. She has also worked in investment banking and management consulting.

Kohler is a trustee of the Kohler Foundation and serves as a trustee of the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Medical Center. She earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA from Princeton University.

Kohler lives in Chicago with her husband of 33 years, Mark Hoplamazian, and has three adult children: Mara, Lena, and Leo.

Janet Cooper is an experienced public company and nonprofit board leader with a distinguished career in finance. Cooper serves on the Board of Trustees of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where she chairs the Investment Management Committee, and on the advisory board of Bravo! Vail. She recently retired from the boards of The Toro Company (2024) and Lennox International (2025), where she chaired the audit and governance committees, respectively.

A former CFO, controller, and treasurer, Cooper brings extensive expertise in finance, investments, capital markets, audit, and risk management. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an MS in applied mathematics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she graduated summa cum laude with dual majors in mathematics/computer science and economics.

Chris Noon, MBA ‘72, 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, Noon 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. Noon currently serves as a Trustee of Ravinia Festival, an internationally renowned, not-for-profit music venue, and is a previous board member of Lake County Habitat for Humanity. Noon resides in Winnetka with his spouse, Barbara, and is the proud parent of two adult children.

Emma Rodriguez-Ayala serves as president and general counsel at Ariel Investments. Rodriguez-Ayala collaborates with the co-CEO on companywide initiatives and oversees the firm’s legal, compliance, operations, technology, and marketing functions supporting all Ariel-affiliated entities. She is also a member of Ariel’s Operating Committee, among other governance roles.

Prior to joining Ariel, Rodriguez-Ayala was general counsel, chief compliance officer, and board secretary of LGIM America, a diversified asset manager with $220 billion under management. She also previously served as general counsel at Mesirow Advanced Strategies. Before moving in-house, Rodriguez-Ayala was a partner in the investment management practice at Faegre Drinker and began her career at Sidley Austin LLP.

Rodriguez-Ayala is an independent director of First Bank Chicago, one of the largest privately held banks in the Chicagoland area. She also serves on the boards of WTTW and WFMT. In addition, she is a founder and board member of Angeles Investors and a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association.

A native of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez-Ayala graduated summa cum laude with a BA in international business from Saint Louis University and earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Andrea Sáenz is the president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the nation’s largest and oldest community foundations. She works to bring to life a vision to realize a stronger and more prosperous Chicago region where access to opportunities transcends race, ethnicity, or zip code. The Trust’s work is professionally fulfilling and deeply personal for Sáenz. She joined the Trust from Chicago Public Library, where she led strategy, program design, and organizational development. Previously, she served as chief of staff at Chicago Public Schools, policy advisor at the U.S. Department of Education, and executive director of HACE, a national nonprofit focused on Latine success in professional careers. She serves on numerous nonprofit boards. Sáenz earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Scripps College.

Mauricio Servitje Labarrere holds a bachelor’s degree in international business administration from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, where he graduated with the Class of 2018.

Since 2020, Servitje has served as co-CEO of Grupo Altex. He began his career with the company in 2006 and has since gained broad experience across multiple departments. Before his current role, he led the Citrus division and previously held the position of sales director.

Servitje’s extensive experience and leadership within Grupo Altex have provided him with a deep understanding of the company’s operations and market dynamics, which continue to inform his executive responsibilities.

Roberto Servitje, ’13, is C0-CEO at Altex, his family’s business and one of Mexico’s largest agro-industrial companies. He has spent most of his professional career in a variety of local and international roles within his family’s businesses in the food industry, including risk management and marketing. Directly after graduating from the full-time program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2013, he joined Grupo Lacrem in Barcelona as Director of Marketing, and in 2015 he returned to Altex based in Mexico City, most recently serving as CEO for the group. 

Servitje received a BA in international commerce from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City (2008) and participated in the SNVC while he attended Chicago Booth. He is active in various organizations that support urban and contemporary art, as well as rural development initiatives throughout Mexico.

Ron Tarrson is the owner of Santa Fe Aero Services and a majority partner of The Jet Center Santa Fe, providers of avionics, maintenance, fuel, hangar, and concierge services for private and corporate aviation at the Santa Fe Regional Airport in Santa Fe. Tarrson previously worked for the John O. Butler Company, where he held numerous leadership positions, including corporate director, treasurer, COO, and president. After the company was sold to Sunstar, which took the public company private, he served for two years as vice chairman.

Tarrson serves in leadership roles for several foundations focused on the airline industry. He recently served on the Council on Chicago Booth and is currently a member of the advisory council for the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation.

Tarrson received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Nasrin Thierer is a Chicago philanthropist and social innovator dedicated to advancing community health, equity, and access through technology. Thierer is cofounder and president of the Thierer Family Foundation and has spent years working alongside food banks, pantries, and community partners nationwide, building a deep understanding of how food insecurity contributes to poor health and rising healthcare costs.

Through the foundation, Thierer created Vivery, a national digital platform that connects people facing food insecurity with nutritious food and local support. She has evolved this technology into a proven methodology for expanding food access by partnering with healthcare providers and the charitable food system, most recently through a pilot with Sinai Chicago that gives patients managing chronic conditions an easy-to-use app to order medically tailored groceries directly from local pantries.

Her leadership and innovation have earned recognition from Crain’s Chicago Business as a Notable Leader in Philanthropy, as well as a Chicago Innovation Award for developing one of the most impactful new technology solutions driving social good. Through her partnership with Windy City Harvest, Thierer champions the use of technology to strengthen and sustain urban farming in the city.

Earlier in her career, Thierer spent more than two decades in technology and business leadership at Motorola and later founded Revenew, a cloud-based marketing platform acquired in 2016. She holds a BS in electrical engineering and computer design from the University of Tennessee and an MBA in marketing and finance from Nova Southeastern University.

Reflecting her broader civic commitment to community and culture, Thierer serves on the boards of the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she is vice chair, as well as the Ryan Opera Center, where she previously served as president.

Tony Wilkins, CFA is a private investor and executive coach focused  on helping C-suite teams make better decisions by providing broad perspectives from experiences and investments in a variety of industries. He mentors founders at 1871, TechStars Chicago, the Polsky Exchange, Google for Startups and the founders in his portfolio. An investor in Pre-Seed and Seed rounds of startup companies, current board seats include TraknProtect and Mile1 Technologies.  

Active in the non-profit space, Tony was a member of the Disciplinary Review Committee of the CFA  Institute from 2006 – 2012, President of the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives in  2012 and Board Member of the National Association of Securities Professionals. He represented BNY  Mellon as Trustee Representative and Senior Investment Advisor to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation Trust  serving as one of four Trustees on this $9B entity and currently serves on the board of AnitaB.org as Chair of  the Investment Committee. 

Prior to embarking on his career in early-stage space, he spent 18 years at Northern Trust and Weiss, Peck &  Gree in institutional asset management sales and 6 years as a portfolio manager and marketer at Chicago based Stein, Roe & Farnham starting in 1986. His finance career began after six years in the military  electronics industry working for AT&T and as a firmware engineering manager at Atlanta-based, Lockheed  Loral. He began his work career in 1979 at Chrysler Corporation in Detroit. 

Tony received his BSEE from Northwestern University and his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is an avid randonneur.