Invest in New England Speakers
Organizers will announce additional speakers as they are confirmed.

Betsy Biemann, Coastal Enterprises, Inc.

Betsy works to build a just, vibrant and climate-resilient future for people and communities in Maine and rural regions nationally. CEI does this by integrating finance, business expertise and policy solutions to make the economy work more equitably. Betsy serves on the board of the New Innovation Growth. Prior to joining CEI, Betsy led the Maine Food Cluster Project of Harvard University’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, served as President of the Maine Technology Institute, and as Associate Director at The Rockefeller Foundation, where she managed national grant and impact investment portfolios aiming to increase employment and economic mobility in low-income communities.

Betty Francisco, Boston Impact Initiative Fund

Betty Francisco is a seasoned business executive and impact investor with over 25 years of experience in the areas of business strategy, legal, compliance, risk management, development, operations, and human resources. Betty is currently the CEO of Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investment fund that invests in social enterprises and community-governed real estate to close the racial wealth divide in Massachusetts. She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that is building Latinx economic and political power through Latino leadership representation and economic opportunity in Massachusetts. She was the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital where she oversaw the organization’s legal affairs, compliance, and risk management. Before that, she served as EVP, General Counsel for Sports Club/LA and Reebok Sports Club/NY, a fitness brand acquired by Equinox Fitness. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Beth Israel Lahey Health, The Boston Foundation, and Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

Geeta Pradhan, Cambridge Community Foundation

Geeta draws on her deep experience in philanthropy, urban planning, and community development to address the needs of Cambridge. She has led the Foundation’s transformation from a local grantmaker to a data-informed, strategic civic leader that tackles the city’s most intractable problems in deep partnership with nonprofits, local changemakers, and donors. In 2021, Geeta co-authored the Foundation’s Equity & Innovation Cities report, highlighting the widening income disparities amidst Cambridge’s growing prosperity. She helped envision and structure the City’s $22- million Rise Up Cambridge program, the only non-lottery cash assistance program of its kind in the country. Previously, at the Boston Foundation, she served as the associate vice president for programs and co-founded the Boston Indicators Project. Geeta completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree in India and holds a Master of Urban Design from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Janice St. Onge, Flexible Capital Fund

Janice is President of the Flexible Capital Fund, an impact-focused, CDFI fund, providing flexible risk capital (revenue-based financing, subordinated debt and equity) to New England's food system, forestry and climate solutions businesses. As President, Janice manages all facets of the Flex Fund’s operations, including raising capital, deal flow, due diligence, and portfolio / financial management. Janice brings economic and business development, as well as financial expertise to the organization, having served in the technology, financial services, higher education and state government sectors during her 25+ year career. She is a founding member of the Vermont and Northern New England Women’s Investors Network, and Slow Money Vermont and serves on the Vermont Small Business Development Center Advisory Board. Janice is a graduate of the University of Utah with a B.A. in Marketing and is an alumnus of the Snelling Center for Government’s Vermont Leadership Institute.

Jeffrey Rosen, Tufts University

Jeff is the Jason and Chloe Epstein Term Professor of the Practice and the Director Certificate in Impact and Sustainable Investing housed at Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Jeff currently teaches graduate level courses in Catalytic Capital and Blended Value. Jeff began his professional life in ice cream trucks and spent many years growing and selling food service businesses and serving in senior financial roles for national chains striving to go public. A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the University of Maine’s School of Resource Economics, Jeff spent 20 years serving as the CFO for the Solidago Foundation. During his time in Philanthropy, Jeff provided board service to several philanthropic affinity groups, including Confluence Philanthropy and Sustainable Food and Ag System Funders. He also collaborated with field partners to design and launch several community investment funds including PVGrows and the Real People’s Fund.

Joseph Williams Jr., The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

As part of his work with TCF MIC's New Haven Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (NHE3), Joe focuses on building, leading and coordinating the day-to-day activities related to the establishment of an inclusive, integrated and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem in New Haven. Before coming to The Foundation, Joe worked as a Trusted Connecticut Small Business Development Advisor at the University of Connecticut School of Business for 9 years. His position involved assisting small business owners and entrepreneurs start, expand and grow their businesses. Joe also brings a wealth of experience from work prior to that position including a role as an Insurance Consultant at Key Insurance Solutions in Hartford, serving as President of Williams Capital Partners in New Haven, employment at the Urban League of Greater Hartford as VP for Development and Marketing and a role as Regional Director for the Center for Business and Industry Services at Middlesex Community College.

Lawrence Miller, Vermont Community Foundation

In 2001 the Vermont Community Foundation set aside 5% of contributions to invest directly in Vermont. Lawrence manages this place-based mission investment portfolio, as well as maintaining an independent strategic consulting practice. He started his career as an entrepreneur in the then new craft brewing sector, is a longtime Director of the National Bank of Middlebury, and is a former Secretary of Vermont's Agency of Commerce and Community Development. 

Lisa Owens, Hyams Foundation

Lisa Owens is the Executive Director of the Hyams Foundation, which funds organizations and networks working toward racial and economic justice in Greater Boston and Massachusetts. Lisa brings over 25 years of experience building local grassroots organizations and supporting national movements.  She previously served as the Executive Director of City Life/Vida Urbana, a prominent housing justice group that is nationally recognized for organizing communities against displacement and building collective power for systemic change. She has taught courses on community organizing and nonprofit management in local universities and has served on the boards of many Boston-based and national organizations committed to fighting for social, racial, and economic justice.

Lubna Elia, New England Impact Investing Initiative

Lubna founded the New England Impact Investing Initiative, a nonprofit striving to democratize access to education about impact investing and diversify the talent pipeline for the sector. At BlueHub, Lubna oversees human resources, talent management, inclusive excellence initiatives and administration in support of the organization’s various business lines and plans for future growth and innovation. Lubna has 20 years of experience in impact investing and social enterprise. Before joining BlueHub, Lubna served in a variety of fundraising and operational leadership positions at social enterprise organizations.

Maggie Sandoval, The Capital Good Fund

Maggie works directly with investors who are looking to earn a return on their investments while making an impact, socially or environmentally. She leads Capital Good Fund's overall strategy in regards to fundraising across grants and investments, ensuring alignment with the organization's operations while helping funders achieve their goals. Before joining the team at Capital Good Fund, Maggie worked for five years supporting an international community development organization addressing solutions for rural communities across Latin America, Europe, and Africa.

Pierre Joseph, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Pierre joined the Boston Fed as Working Cities Manager to support the cross-unit Inclusive Economies Initiative of the Regional & Community Outreach department. Inclusive Economies aims to develop strategic efforts that will shift the drivers of inequity so that all may benefit from economic growth and recovery, with a focus on lower-income smaller cities and rural communities. Prior to joining the Boston Fed, Pierre spent over a decade in various roles across philanthropy, impact investing, and government. As a Grantmaker, Pierre supported integrated capital approaches democratizing finance for small businesses. In government, he served as a policy analyst in the Department of Health and Human Services and the White House Rural Council.

Ricky Bogert, Rhode Island Foundation

Ricky is the Director of Impact Investing & Housing at the Rhode Island Foundation, where he works at the intersection of grantmaking and impact investing. Ricky has over 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector, manages a portfolio of grants made to a variety of sectors throughout the state, and has helped develop the organization's Impact Investing program which has made over $19M in direct investments since 2017. Ricky is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and holds an MBA from the University of Rhode Island.  

Rob Riley, Northern Forest Center

Rob has guided the Center since 2008 to become the respected regional innovation and investment partner it is today. Under Rob’s leadership, the Center launched impact-investment funds to catalyze community development in Millinocket, Maine, Lancaster, N.H., and now across four states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York) through the Northern Forest Fund. Prior to joining the Center, Rob served as director of MicroCredit-NH, an award-winning statewide community economic development program. Previously, Rob founded and served as executive director of Main Street Plymouth, Inc., which received New Hampshire’s “Main Street Program of the Year Award” in 2000.

Stephen Snider, New England Impact Investing Initiative

Stephen is a sustainable finance practitioner and Caribbean environmental advocate. He is from Jamaica where he grew up before coming to the USA for college and work. He has spent over 10 years working in corporate finance, asset management, and treasury roles. Seeking a more impactful career, Stephen went back to school and completed a master's in sustainable development at Harvard University. Stephen currently works for NEIII and oikos International and with them develops sustainable finance programming for corporate partners, young professionals, and students.

Stratton Lloyd, Essex County Community Foundation

Stratton is ECCF’s President and CEO. ECCF, based in northeast Massachusetts, inspires philanthropy that strengthens the communities of Essex County by managing charitable assets, strengthening and supporting nonprofits, and engaging in strategic community leadership initiatives. ECCF oversees $145m in assets across 350 charitable funds and has delivered over $100m in grants in the last 5 years. Prior to ECCF, Stratton worked for 18 years in the technology sector. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Strategy, Product Management and Customer Operations at EBSCO Information Services, a fortune 200 Information Services Company, where he worked for 14 years. Stratton was also the founder of First Look, Inc., now known as YouthServe, a nonprofit youth service-education organization that empowers youth through volunteerism and leadership.

Thomas Mitchell, Elmina B. Sewall Foundation

Thomas' work is focused on transitioning the Sewall Foundation's assets to 100% alignment the organization's mission and values. He joined the Foundation in 2020 and has spent his career working at the intersection of finance, equitable development and community investment. Previously, Thomas led economic development lending in New York City for LISC, a nationwide organization that connects communities with financial and technical resources. Prior to LISC, he spent 5 years in Chicago working on financing mission-driven real estate projects in partnership with nonprofits, municipalities, and financial institutions across the country. Thomas attended Binghamton University and graduated with a degree in quantitative finance and economics. 

Tory Dietel Hopps, Dietel Pickering & Partners

Tory is a social, environmental, gender and financial activist. In 2007, she joined her father and sister in creating Dietel Pickering & Partners, a shared family philanthropic office working with individuals and multigenerational family philanthropies. Clients credit her with transforming their attitudes about what is possible with philanthropy and their aligned investments. Since 2007, the firm has advised over 30 clients and over $300M in grantmaking. In 2008, Tory began to move her own inherited wealth in alignment with her values. She has been actively engaged in the impact investing space and enjoys sharing her personal story in hope of inspiring others. 

Travis Green, Community Investment Project

Travis helps foundations across the United States commit to place-based impact investing. As of 2023, 35 partners have ratified investment policies and programs allocating $175 million for housing, food systems, childcare, and other projects. Previously, Travis served as vice president at Locus and program manager for The Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group. His wealth of experience with community-based nonprofits allows him to assist teams as they tackle complex governance and policy challenges as organizations work to align resources with their values.