Honorary Chair
Chair
Patty Stonesifer advises business, nonprofit and government leaders on strategies for reducing inequity. In 2012 she completed a three-year term as Chair of the Smithsonian Institution Board of Regents. In the ten years prior, she was the founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She continues to serve on the Smithsonian Board of Regents, as well as on the boards of the Center for Global Development and the Broad Institute. In 2010 President Obama appointed her as Chair of the White House Council on Community Solutions. Other non-profit boards on which Ms. Stonesifer has served include the Seattle Foundation, the GAVI Fund, One.org and the Seattle YWCA. Before joining the Gates Foundation, Ms. Stonesifer spent two decades working in technology, culminating as Senior Vice President at Microsoft Corp. She is on the corporate boards of Amazon.com and Miraval Resorts. Ms. Stonesifer served as a member of the US delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions on AIDS. She is a graduate of Indiana University, and has received honorary doctorate degrees from Indiana University and Tufts University.
Paula Boggs retired recently as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Starbucks Coffee Company where she also served as Secretary of the Starbucks Foundation. Prior to that, she was Vice President at Dell Computer Corporation (1997-2002), partner at Preston Gates & Ellis (now K& L Gates, 1995-1997), Staff Director for the Advisory Board on the Investigative Capability of the Department of Defense (1994), and an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington (1988-1994). Ms. Boggs also served in the United States Army (1981-1988) and was a detailed staff attorney at The White House (1987-1988). She currently serves on The Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees, the American Red Cross Board of Governors, the Advisory Council for KEXP FM (an NPR affiliate), the School of Rock LLC Board, is Washington’s State Delegate to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Ms. Boggs has also been part of several philanthropic organizations, such as the boards of Legal Aid for Washington Fund, the Greater Seattle YMCA, and the Seattle Art Museum. She holds a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from University of California at Berkeley School of Law.
Jim Canales currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of The James Irvine Foundation. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Canales served as Vice President and Corporate Secretary at the Foundation from 1999 to 2003. His service at the Foundation began in 1993 and has included roles such as Special Assistant to the President, Program Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer/Corporate Secretary. Mr. Canales currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the College Access Foundation of California. Mr. Canales has previously served as board chair for KQED Public Broadcasting and for the Stanford Alumni Association. He has also served on the boards of BoardSource in Washington D.C., and Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco. He is a co-founder and past Board Chair for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Mr. Canales holds a B.A. degree and an M.A. from Stanford University.
Michael Fleming currently serves as the Executive Director of the David Bohnett Foundation. As Executive Director, Mr. Fleming promotes the Foundation’s goal of improving society through social justice and civic activism and is committed to funding forward-thinking programs, organizations and institutions in areas including public policy, education, the LGBT community, the arts, gun violence and animal language research. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2000, Mr. Fleming worked in a variety of media positions, including producing newscasts in Boston and Washington and serving as a media specialist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Mr. Fleming remains active in broadcasting as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of public radio’s KCRW Foundation, one of the country’s — and the Web’s — most listened-to NPR stations. In 2007, he was appointed to the Los Angeles Convention Center Commission by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Mr. Fleming has, since 2003, taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, served on the Dean’s Council of New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and was, in 2005, a Victory Fellow (now Bohnett Fellow) at Harvard Kennedy School. Mr. Fleming holds a B.A. from Colorado College.
Michele Jolin currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she is developing policy tools to foster social entrepreneurship and drive investment toward more innovative, effective non-profit solutions to our nation’s critical social problems. Previously, Ms. Jolin served as Senior Advisor for Social Innovation at the White House, in the newly created Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (2009-2010). Prior to joining the White House, she co-edited the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s presidential transition book titled Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. Ms. Jolin also served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (2005-2008), where she authored a number of articles and reports on policy tools to promote innovation and impact in the non-profit sector. From 1999-2004, she was a Senior Vice President at Ashoka, a global foundation that invests in social entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries around the world. From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Jolin served as the Chief of Staff for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, and from 1993-1995, she worked for Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on the Senate Banking Committee. She has a B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Michael Kempner is the Founder (1986), President, and Chief Executive Officer of MWW Group, one of the largest independent public relations firms in the United States. Mr. Kempner also serves as an Operating Advisor to Pegasus Capital Advisors, helping them build companies that solve scarce resource issues and other transformative technologies. Previously, Mr. Kempner was the Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Robert Torricelli (1982 -1984). He is currently a member of various boards, including the Center for Food Action, the Network for Teacher Entrepreneurship, the North Jersey Community Bank, and New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service. Mr. Kempner was named PR Professional of the Year in 2010 by PR News and was inducted into the PR News Hall of Fame in 2009 for his work in communications. He has also received recognition as PR Week’s Professional of the Year (2008) and the Public Relations Society of America New Jersey chapter’s Public Relations Professional of the Year (2005). Mr. Kempner holds a B.S. from the School of Communications at The American University.
Maurice Lim Miller is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Family Independence Initiative (FII), a national center for anti-poverty innovation. Before founding FII, Mr. Miller spent 22 years at the Asian Neighborhood Design (1978-2000) and served as its Executive Director for most of his tenure, where he promoted multi-service community development initiatives in San Francisco and Oakland, California. He also serves on the boards of the Hitachi Foundation and the Board of the California Endowment, one of the country’s largest foundations, which focuses on the nexus of health and poverty. Mr. Miller previously served as a Board Member of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, Public/Private Ventures, and the Koshland Awards Committee of the San Francisco Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton honored him at the 1999 State of the Union Address for his community service and leadership. Mr. Miller holds a B.S. and an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Laurene Powell Jobs is founder and chair of the Emerson Collective, an organization that works with a range of entrepreneurs to advance domestic and international social reform efforts. Ms. Powell Jobs also serves as president of the board of College Track, an after-school program she founded in 1997 to prepare underserved high school students for success in college. Since its inception in East Palo Alto, College Track has expanded to serve students in Oakland, San Francisco and New Orleans. Ms. Powell Jobs also serves on the boards of Teach For America, NewSchools Venture Fund, Stand for Children, New America Foundation and Conservation International. Earlier in her career, she spent several years working in investment banking and later co-founded Terraverra, a natural foods company, in California. Ms. Powell Jobs holds a B.A. and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Norman Rice currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Seattle Foundation, one of the nation’s largest community foundations. In this role, Mr. Rice is leading the Foundation in achieving its mission to create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge, and leadership. Prior to joining The Seattle Foundation, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle (1999-2005) and Mayor of Seattle (1990-1997). As Mayor, Mr. Rice earned national acclaim for revitalizing Seattle’s downtown and strengthening city neighborhoods through public-private partnerships. He also championed for an improved public school system, implemented a welfare-to-work program, and improved downtown retail centers, housing, and civic buildings. Mr. Rice currently serves on many boards and commissions, including the Brookings Institute’s Advisory Committee for Sustainable Communities, the Northwest African-American Museum, the King County Committee to End Homelessness, and HistoryLink. He holds a B.A. in Communications and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Kristin Richmond currently serves as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Revolution Foods. Ms. Richmond founded Revolution Foods in 2005 in order to serve healthy meals and offer nutrition education to low income students. From 2002 to 2004, Ms. Richmond was Vice President of Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators, where she designed and executed strategy that grew the organization from a small community based program to a nationally scalable model working with more than 700 teachers and 60 public schools. From 2000 to 2002, Ms. Richmond lived in Nairobi and co-founded the Kenya Community Center for Learning (KCCL). Prior to that, she worked at Citigroup. Ms. Richmond is a board member of many organizations, including KCCL, Lighthouse Community Charter School, and U.C .Berkeley’s Global Social Venture Competition. She is also an Aspen Institute Entrepreneurial Leaders in Public Education Fellow, an Education Pioneers Fellow, and an Advisor to the Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneurship Program. In 2010, Newschools Venture Fund named Ms. Richmond the Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2007, she won the Global Social Venture Competition for the Revolution Foods model. Ms. Richmond holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Boston College and an M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
Nancy Rubin currently serves as co-chair of Amnesty International's 50th Anniversary Year to build a larger international grassroots movement to prevent abuse and promote human rights. Previously Ms. Rubin served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission for Human Rights where she led international initiatives on securing rights around the world. Ms. Rubin also served the Clinton Administration as a Director in the Corporation for National and Community Service to establish AmeriCorps, which has placed over half a million Americans in public service programs. At AmeriCorps, Ms. Rubin led the public private partnership initiative to garner the business community's support. She has also served on the Public Policy Support Committee of the National Red Cross and was catalytic to a loan repayment program for law students pursuing careers in the public's interest. During the Carter administration, Ms Rubin served as Deputy Director of Public Participation at the Department of Agriculture and worked at the White House as the National Coordinator of the Consumer Education Project. Prior to her service in Washington, Ms. Rubin was a public school teacher in Los Angeles, where she served on the Mayor's Advisory Committee on Youth. Ms. Rubin founded Community Outreach and served on a number of boards and commissions, including Women, Men and Media, and the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. She was the first chair of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and she received the Carrie Catt Chapman Public Service Award. Ms. Rubin holds a B.A. from UCLA.
Paul Schmitz is the National CEO of Public Allies, a national non-profit dedicated to supporting young people through full-time community service and leadership development programs. Mr. Schmitz founded Public Allies Milwaukee in 1993, was promoted to Vice President and Chief Strategist in 1997, and was appointed national CEO in 2000. He currently serves as Co-chair of Voices for National Service, co-founder/chair of the non-profit Workforce Coalition, and is a board member of Our Good Works and Independent Sector. Mr. Schmitz is also a faculty member of The Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. He was recognized by The non-profit Times as one of the 50 most powerful and influential non-profit leaders in the country, and honored by Fast Company Magazine with a Social Capitalist Award for innovation. Mr. Schmitz was also a Next Generation Leadership Fellow with the Rockefeller Foundation. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Bobbi Silten currently serves as the Chief Foundation Officer of
Gap Inc., a global specialty retailer whose brands include Gap,
Banana Republic, and Old Navy. For more than five years, Ms. Silten
has led the Gap Foundation, overseeing all community investment and
volunteer programs for 135,000 employees worldwide, and guiding Gap
Inc.’s work to make a long-term impact in its communities, including
targeted programs for underserved youth and women through innovative
social solutions. Prior to joining Gap Inc., Ms. Silten spent 10
years at Levi Strauss & Co. (1995-2005), including five years as
President of the U.S. Dockers brand. She also spent 11 years working
in advertising at Foote, Cone & Belding (1984-1995). Ms. Silten
currently serves as a national board member for Summer Search and
Chair for the Reimagining Service Council, a national cross-sector
initiative to increase the impact of volunteerism. She was formerly
co-chair of the Business Track of the 2009 National Conference on
Volunteering Service and the inaugural co-chair for the California
Volunteers Business Partners Program. Ms. Silten holds a B.A. in
Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley.