30|30 Leadership Council

Danielle

Danielle currently works as the Associate Director of Development and Communications at Boston Collegiate Charter School (BCCS) in Dorchester, MA. Prior to her work at BCCS, she completed her MBA at the Simmons School of Management. While completing her degree, Danielle worked with Lexington Public Schools and implemented an initiative to bring the substitute teacher program in-house. This project saved the district valuable funds that could then be redirected to the classroom. Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, Danielle worked in Executive Education program delivery at Harvard Business School. In her spare time, Danielle enjoys running and yoga. In 2011, she ran the Boston Marathon with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital team Add Nan Peterson’s photo and article in news section

Harrison Schroder

Harrison is currently a junior at Pomfret School where he serves on the Community Service Council. Harrison will be directing Pomfret’s All-School Day of Service. He also volunteers with children who have mental disabilities and referees youth soccer games. He loves sports, especially soccer, singing cappella and community service. He is a high honors every term at Pomfret, while also holding leadership positions as a Dean’s Assistant and Student Activities representative at school. Harrison is a 2011 Grab The Torch camper.

Caroline Carew

Caroline is a senior at Northwest Catholic School in West Hartford, CT. She is active in community service projects in her community and church. Caroline is the mentor at TOPSoccer, a soccer program empowering mentally and physically disabled children. Caroline has been a third grade religious teacher for the last four years. Caroline has displayed her entrepreneurship abilities with a very successful Tee Shirt business during the summer months in Maine. Caroline attended GTT’s Colorado Camp at The Fountain Valley School..

Rakhi Agrawal

Rakhi Agrawal, hailing from West Hartford, CT, is currently attending Columbia University in the City of New York. An alumna of Hall High School, Rakhi was heavily involved at her high school, and served as Editor-in-Chief of her school’s newspaper and yearbook, as well as President of Hall’s AIDS Awareness, Environmental, Empty Closets, and Y.E.S. (Young Educators’ Society) Clubs. In addition, she volunteered at countless places in the surrounding community, including a local hospital and worked for Congressman John B. Larson. Currently, she is involved with numerous campus organizations such as Rotaract, Earth Coalition, Peace by PEACE, One-to-One Tutoring, Columbia Undergraduate Journal of South Asian Studies, 85 Broads, Columbia Economics Review, Take Back the Night, The Columbia Daily Spectator, and Peer Health Exchange. In addition to helping others, passions include singing, playing the flute, playing lacrosse, and travelling. She is honored to be a member of Grab the Torch’s 30/30 Advisory Committee.

Jill Marie Anderson

Jill Marie Anderson graduated Magna Cum Laude from Marist College in 2005 with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Special Education and a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology. She is very proud to call herself a New York City public school educator. Currently, she teaches third grade in Sunnyside, Queens. In addition to her classroom responsibilities, she writes curriculum, serves as a grade leader, and conducts parent workshops to maintain a strong home/school connection for families. One of her proudest teaching moments was when she fund-raised to take her third grade class from Flatbush, Brooklyn on an environmental education camping trip in the Poconos. It was the first time most of the children had ever traveled outside of New York City, making it an unforgettable adventure for both Jill and her students.

Being actively involved in philanthropy is very important to Jill. The most influential project she was ever involved in was when she raised funds to travel to the Dominican Republic and teach children at one of the local orphanages. It was a life-changing experience that has motivated Jill to do as much as she can to help others and to find as many opportunities as possible to travel and learn about other cultures.

In addition to teaching, Jill is the fitness/sports chair for her sorority's New York City alumni group and organizes a range of fitness activities that collaborate with various charities. Jill has many hobbies and interests that she tries to juggle in her spare time; from traveling and writing to acting and skiing, she loves to experience everything life has to offer. She is very honored and excited to be a part of the 30/30 Council.

Jenny Bierce

Jenny Bierce graduated from Yale University in 2009 with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science and a concentration in International Studies. She currently lives in New York City and is working as a Client Associate at Landor Associates, a Branding consultancy. In addition to creating branding programs for clients such as Citi and Sunoco, Jenny participates in Landor’s Brand Aid, helping non-profit organization create strong brands to help them better achieve their goals and make a difference. Before starting work, Jenny travelled to Ghana, where she volunteered as a pre-school teacher. She has always had a passion for teaching and learning about other cultures and is excited to continue this passion through the 30/30 Council.

Patrick Blute

Patrick Blute is a rising senior at Columbia University studying Sustainable Development. Originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Patrick has spent a great deal of time volunteering with local arts initiatives. He continues to spend his time assisting the Harwich Junior Theater in order to keep community theater thriving in his hometown. He has also done extensive fundraising and volunteer work abroad in Australia including work with the Royal Flying Doctors and Volunteering Queensland, after Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods. His personal passion revolves around helping organizations that focus on sustaining culture and addressing environmental challenges.

Simran Dua

Simran Dua joins our team with extensive cross-sector experience. As a senior in high school, she began to leverage internships to learn about different job functions and industries; by the time she had finished her undergraduate degree in Finance and Marketing from New York University-Stern, she had completed six internships. Simran decided to learn about the multi-faceted world of Finance and started her career at J.P. Morgan, first as an internal consultant and later transitioned to an investment banking analyst position focusing on public finance. After almost four years at JPMorgan, Simran resigned with aspirations to explore new opportunities. Over a span of two years, she worked with an entrepreneur to start a financial services organization, spent six months traveling independently throughout South America, and completed the StartingBloc Social Innovation Fellowship Program. She rejoined the private sector with Unilever where she focuses on understanding consumer trends and evolving the sustainability space within the organization. Simran remains committed to organizations focusing on social impact in her spare time by serving as the NY Regional Ambassador for StartingBloc, a business planner for a social entrepreneur, and an active member of the Acumen Fund Community.

Taylor Fargo

Taylor is a returning Island School alumna from Fall 2004 semester. She interned for two summers and is excited to be back on the Cape where she feels at home. Originally from Vermont, she graduated from St. Lawrence University where she focused on Environmental Studies and Spanish. During her college career, she studied abroad in both Costa Rica and Scotland. While in Scotland, Taylor lived in an eco village called Findhorn and studied applied sustainable living, group dynamics, and conflict resolution. Taylor enjoys traveling, winter sports, cooking, and gardening and is passionate about the environment. This semester she will be part of the research team investigating the implementation of a biodigester on campus and is excited to work with the kitchen staff and Human Ecology team to bring more healthy, local foods to the Paterakis Dining Center.

David Feith

David Feith is an assistant op-ed editor at The Wall Street Journal in New York, where he edits op-eds and writes about foreign policy, human rights, and education reform. He was a Bartley fellow at the Journal in 2008 and 2009, and he was an assistant editor at Foreign Affairs magazine from 2009 to 2010.

He is also director of the Civics Education Initiative, which he co-founded while in college in order to launch a national agenda for strengthening civic knowledge and engagement in America. In that capacity, he is editor of the forthcoming book, Teaching America: The Future of Civics Education (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011).

The book includes original essays from 23 experts, including Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Senator Jon Kyl, former Senator Bob Graham, former Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Harvard Law scholar Alan Dershowitz, author Juan Williams, historian Michael Kazin, charter-school pioneers Mike Feinberg and Seth Andrew, and others. Upon publication of the book this Fall, a broad-based public campaign will broadcast authors' ideas to diverse audiences of policymakers, educators, parents, philanthropists, and scholars.

David graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in history from Columbia University in 2009. While there, he was editor of The Current, a campus journal, and he contributed articles to outlets including the Columbia Spectator, the Columbia Political Review, and National Review Online. His passions include ping-pong and Chipotle.

Andrew Foukal

Andrew grew up in Nahant, Massachusetts and attended Bates College. At Bates, Andrew was a member of the varsity ski team and served as treasurer of the College’s Fishing Club. After graduating with a major in physics, Andrew traveled the country on a motorcycle for 8 months. Currently, Andrew lives in Charlottesville, Virginia and is employed as a project developer with HelioSage, a start-up, solar energy company. He is also enrolled at the University of Virginia pursuing a Masters in Materials Science and Engineering. In his free time, Andrew enjoys skiing, hiking, sailing – or just about anything outdoors.

Elizabeth Ghormley

Elizabeth Ghormley is a Communication and Development professional, focused on empowering non-profits and social innovation campaigns in business. She is the Director of Development at Digital Democracy and a collaborator at Heller CD. Elizabeth is a founding member of Wesleyan Alumni in Philanthropy and Public Service, a StartingBloc fellow, holds a MS in Public Relations and Corporate Communication from NYU, and a BA in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Wesleyan University. She lives in Brooklyn.

Chris Golden

Chris Golden, 21, is the Executive Director and co-founder of myImpact.org, an online platform for Americans in national and community service programs. In his role, Chris leads daily efforts to recruit partners and users to leverage myImpact.org’s social media tools in order to engage more Americans in citizen, increase the effectiveness of service programs and demonstrate the impact of service and volunteerism.

Founded my two Millennial leaders in September 2008, following the ServiceNation Summit, myImpact.org contributes to a new era of service, where serving one’s community is seen as a critical solution to solving societal problems. A beta platform and Twitter-based application was initially released in June 2010 and a pilot phase began in September.

Chris’ personal and professional passions intersect in the fields of civic engagement, national service, education reform and open government and he is a frequent contributor to discussions in these areas. He has spoken to the National Young Leaders Conference, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Washington and National 4-H Convention, among others and written for The Washington Times, Change/Wire and Change Up Magazine.

An avid social media user, Chris has served for two years as official Twitter Correspondent for the National Conference on Citizenship and was selected to join a Twitter delegation to the launch of STS-133, Space Shuttle Discovery. A native of Coventry, Connecticut, He is a 2010 graduate of American University in Washington, DC where he holds of B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the School of Public Affairs.

Jessica Chakraborty

As a Resource Development Officer for BoardSource, Jessica works collaboratively within the Strategic Development & Partnerships Team to build and sustain resource-generating relationships with corporate and foundation partners. Prior to joining BoardSource, Jessica served as Corporate Relationships Manager for at the Capital Area Food Bank. She has also served in a variety of roles at other nonprofit organizations including the American Red Cross National Headquarters, the International Rescue Committee, Starlight Children’s Foundation and Hands on Atlanta.

She currently serves as chair of the board of directors of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of DC (YNPNdc), a 501c3 dedicated to promoting a healthy, viable, and inclusive nonprofit sector that supports the growth, learning, and development of young professionals. YNPNdc is an all-volunteer organization that develops over 50 free or low-cost professional development and networking events each year. Jessica is also an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and volunteers with the DC Chapter of AFP.

Jessica obtained a Masters of Public Administration from the School of Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University in Washington, DC and also holds a B.A. in communication & rhetoric studies and sociology from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA.

Christine Kousin

Chrissy Kousin currently resides in Washington, DC where she is a Private Wealth Advisor with Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Maryland – College Park and her Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Georgetown University. Chrissy’s past philanthropic efforts include volunteering with Miriam’s Kitchen and chairing a fundraiser to raise funds for DC inner city schools on behalf of Greater DC Cares. In her spare time, Chrissy loves to travel the world, ride horses, explore new restaurants and cultural events, and spend time with her wonderful friends and family.

Nick Walton

Nick is the founder and ceo of Charity Ally. Prior to Charrity Ally Nick worked on the Financial Reserves Management team at Wellington Management Company, LLP in Boston, Massachusetts. Nick worked at Standish Mellon Asset Management LLC (2009 – 2010) and, previous to that, The Boston Company Asset Management LLC (2006 – 2009).

Nick is passionate about giving back to the surrounding community and providing opportunity to those who are willing to better themselves. During his undergraduate years, he was very active with fundraising and advocating for the American Cancer Society (ACS). He helped start the ACS "Colleges Against Cancer" campaign, which within 3 years had developed into a nationwide program that existed on over 300 college campuses. For his efforts, he was awarded the American Cancer Society (NE) Leadership award in 2006. He is also a participating member the Pingree School Alumni Leadership Board.

Nick earned his BA in political science, magna cum laude, from Wheaton College (Norton, MA), and is currently in the progress of earning a MLA in management from the Harvard Extension School. He currently resides in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Christina McGrath

Christina McGrath has lived in Colorado Springs for over 20 years and says that her passion for philanthropy started in elementary school when she participated in service projects at The Colorado Springs School. Christina graduated in 2007 from Miami University with a Bachelor's degree in Architecture and a Minor in Arts Management.

While at Miami, she took a class on Social Entrepreneurship, which further fuelled her desire to give back to the community.

After graduation, Christina was selected to join El Pomar Foundation's leadership and professional development fellowship. At the $500 million private foundation she had exposure to hundreds of outstanding nonprofits in Colorado.

In 2011, she became the executive director of COPPeR, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region. In her new role, she works with arts organizations, artists, businesses and municipal governments to ensure that arts and creativity are strategically positioned in all areas of the community.

In addition to her love of the arts, Christina enjoys Colorado's blue sky and gets outside as much as possible whether it's throwing on her skis or going for a hike.

She currently serves on the board of Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity.

David Miller

David is originally from Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Bates College with a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies. David’s research has focused on the cultural aspects of sea turtle conservation and he looks forward to exploring the complex relationships between culture and the environment on Eleuthera. His passion for experiential education has taken him to diverse settings around the world where he has taught a variety of age groups with a focus on high school students. He has led groups of teenagers to Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Dutch West Indies on academically focused SCUBA trips. At the Island School, David will teach humanities, work with community outreach and instruct in the SCUBA program.

Kate Overbeck

Kate Overbeck is the Vice President of Marketing at Irish America magazine, a New York-based publication dedicated to its mission of promoting awareness of a range of political, economic, social and cultural themes of paramount importance to the Irish community in the United States.

Since joining the publication in 2006, she has worked to identify and recognize outstanding Irish-American leaders who have made extraordinary contributions in fields ranging from business and finance to philanthropy and humanitarian aid. In addition to producing the several annual Irish America awards events honoring these distinguished leaders, Kate is also responsible for sponsor relationships, communications and development for the magazine.

In addition to her work at Irish America, in 2007, Kate took on the role of Manager of the US-Ireland Forum to execute the creators’ vision of a three-day conference to debate and enlarge on the role of the Irish Diaspora as it affects Ireland economically, culturally, and educationally, and examine the question of what is next for the island of Ireland after the Celtic Tiger era and the peace process.

Kate graduated from Boston University in 2005 with a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology (2005).

Warner Phipps

Warner Phipps is a junior at Cornell University majoring in Development Sociology with a minor in Diversity and Globalization Ethnicity and Development. He is a member of the Cornell Wrestling team that has finished as National runners up the past two seasons. He is a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council, an officer in the Development Sociology undergrad club and the student representative on the President’s council for AOD (alcohol and other drugs) prevention. Warner is the Cornell representative of the Ivy League Athletic Council. Warner will be pursuing a law degree in graduate school. His focus will concentrate on environmental issues within agriculture legislature.

Warner was born and raised on a farm/ranch in Nebraska Warner graduated from Kearney High School in Kearney Nebraska. While at Kearney, he served on the Buffalo County Youth Advisory Board. The board’s mission was to prevent underage tobacco and alcohol abuse. Warner was a gold medal winner of the Prudential Spirit of Community Award and a Time Magazine’s Tomorrow’s 25 recipient. Time selects the top 25 high school juniors from around the world. As a senior, Warner was one of 50 students from a field of over 80,000 applicants to be selected as a National Coca-Cola scholar.

Warner has always been actively involved philanthropy, leadership and community service. In 2009, Warner was selected by Grab The Torch to represent the Time 25 at the inaugural camp. In 2010, Warner was selected as Grab The Torch’s first intern. In 2011, Warner was appointed Membership Chairman for the 30/30 Leadership Council. Warner’s passions include spending time with his family, hunting and fishing.

Molly Stifler

Molly was born August 4, 1991 and is from Brookline, MA. She graduated from The Winsor School in Boston in 2010, and currently is a member of the Class of 2014 at Dartmouth College. Molly attended Grab the Torch in its inaugural season in 2009 at Pomfret. Her mentor is Ken Berger, Executive Director of Charity Navigator. Berger’s mentorship is particularly fitting for Molly, as she has a particular interest in the efficiency and metrics of non-profit organizations. Molly was an intern with the Social Innovation Forum in 2010, an organization that offers expertise and measures the impact of non-profit organizations. She is greatly involved with a family foundation of which she will eventually become a trustee. Molly's philanthropic focuses include addiction/substance abuse, music, and impact-measurement programs.

Emily Woods

Emily Woods is a Westminster Schools graduate and student at Vanderbilt University in its Ingram Scholarship Program for community service. In Atlanta, Emily volunteered through her school, church, and family at organizations including Seven Bridges of Hope homeless ministry and Good Samaritan Health Clinic. The Woods family has been on seven international trips through World Medical Mission, delivering medical care and spiritual outreach through hospitals, schools, and orphanages in rural Kenya and Zambia. Emily served as the first Research Assistant with Westminster’s Glenn Institute for Philanthropy and Service Learning, and she was the Executive Director of the student-created nonprofit, the East African Children’s Education Fund. In Nashville, she volunteers with numerous organizations and tutors students in inner-city schools. She also worked with Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health to conduct an assessment of the needs of Burmese refugee populations in Nashville. She is a board member for the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services, Vanderbilt Grassroots Organization, and Twelve Friends. Emily is passionately committed to addressing human trafficking. She volunteers with End Slavery Tennessee to fight sex trafficking in the United States, and recently, Emily spent six weeks in India serving victims of forced prostitution through the nonprofit Rahab’s Rope. She also founded Bloom Health Program, offering physical, emotional, and spiritual enrichment for young women and mothers in the Birla slum of Goa, India.

Alan J. Doucet Jr.

Alan has six years of industry experience in information technology, web design, and social media marketing. He is a managing partner of Dr Desktop, LLC in Warwick, Rhode Island where he coaches small business owners on the value of new age technology and business application.

Most recently, Alan launched a pro-bono program through Dr Desktop that brings technology training to the doorstep of senior citizens. The program is designed to deliver the necessary training for senior citizens to become independently active online through social media outlets.

Alan is a native of Farmington, New Hampshire. He is also a graduate of Franklin Pierce University, where he holds both a BS in Information Technology Management and in Graphic Communications. He currently resides in Tiverton, Rhode Island and actively participates in fundraisers for Habitat for Humanity and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Geoff Miller

Geoff Miller is an Associate for Chemonics International Inc., a Washington DC based international development consulting firm. Prior to starting at Chemonics, Geoff served as the Director of Operations and Marketing for love.fútbol, a social development NGO that partners with impoverished communities in South and Central America to build simple, safe soccer fields for at-risk youth. Geoff's interest in international development stems from spending much of his childhood living overseas, as well as from his volunteer experiences in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Outside of the office, Geoff is an avid runner and soccer fanatic, and enjoys traveling and writing. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in Latin American History.

Hannah Leo

Hannah Leo is a current high school senior at Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT. She has been involved in numerous community service projects including serving as a Relay for Life Captain at Pomfret School, serving as a Pomfret School Ambassador, and serving as a leader of Culturefest, a club that educates the school about diversity. She enjoys dance, soccer, singing, and scrapbooking. She was first introduced to Grab the Torch in the summer of 2009 when she attended the first GTT Philanthropy Camp. She had such a wonderful experience that she elected to return to camp in 2010. Hannah is very excited to stay involved with GTT as an honorary member of the 30/30 Leadership Council and as the leader of the GTT Junior Advisory Council.

Mary Newcomb

Mary Newcomb’s curiosity and passion for children’s services have inspired her career and volunteerism to date and will continue to motivate her life’s work. As Manager, Grant Support at Teach For America, Mary collaborates across Teach For America’s 39 regions to ensure the highest level of communication and collaboration with foundation and corporate partners. Prior to her involvement in education reform, Mary worked at The Children’s Aid Society of New York, a direct service agency that works to foster holistic development of inner-city young people. During her time there, Mary worked on the corporate and foundation giving team and was involved with events and volunteer services.

Mary holds a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish from Vanderbilt University. Mary is an unwavering optimist who loves meeting new people and leading an active lifestyle.

Faye Shanley

As the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy's Special Projects Associate, Faye Shanley manages the events of International Corporate Philanthropy Day, the Corporate Philanthropy Summit, and the Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy, as well as related projects. Previously, Faye worked for four years at NYU's Stern School of Business before moving to Brussels, Belgium, where she gained experience in both sustainability communications and international peacebuilding.

Faye holds a BA in English from Boston College and a MS in Global Affairs from New York University.

In her spare time, Faye enjoys reading, traveling the world, and spending time with her friends and family.

Jessica Chakraborty

Jessica Chakraborty graduated from Colgate University in 2005, where she majored in Economics. After college, Jessica worked in the non-profit sector for four years, first as Development Director of an inner-city elementary school where she organized fundraisers, managed the advisory board and wrote grants. Jessica enjoyed being able to see the direct results of her work in the improvements to the school and the students’ education. She later worked in Alumni Relations at Saint Joseph’s University, planning events and programming to engage the school’s alumni population.

Jessica earned a master’s degree in Health Economics and Policy, which she obtained while living in the Netherlands for a year. Upon her return to the U.S., she began her current position at Marsh, Inc., a global insurance broker, in the Employee Benefits Practice.

In her free time, Jessica enjoys skiing, playing tennis and traveling.

Heather Neuwirth

Heather Neuwirth graduated from University School of Milwaukee and Middlebury College. Service, international outreach, travel, and education have been an important part of her life since her first service-learning trip to Nutre Hogar Orphanage in Santiago, Panama’ as a freshman in high school. During her time at Middlebury College, she worked with the Page One Literacy Program, co-chaired Middlebury College’s Relay for Life, and completed a joint major in English and American Literatures and Italian. After graduating from Middlebury, she worked for a “semester” as an interpreter on WWOOF vineyards and farms in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, Italy. While teaching middle school and coaching field hockey and soccer, she also spent time volunteering in the Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee Hematology, Oncology and Transplant Unit. Heather is a volunteer to the hole in the wall gang camp.