IMPACT RECAP

John is the founder of Kind Capital, an impact investing platform and investment firm to drive scalable sustainable impact profitably. He was formerly the Managing Director and Founder of Lumina Impact Ventures, the $50 million impact investing arm of the Lumina Foundation. Previously, John was the Program & Portfolio Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, managing an over $110 million MRI and PRI investments portfolio. The portfolio spanned across funds and direct investments and making grants to further the field of impact investing. John started his career as an investment banker at J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch in various roles including M&A advisory, credit risk analysis, equity research, capital structure optimization and corporate finance in both debt and equity products. He has extensive for-profit and nonprofit board experience including Cell-Ed, Upswing, BrightHive, Credly, Global Communities, Vitas Group and AAPIP.

John is a Kauffman Fellow; he earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and Executive Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management. Born in Cambodia, John immigrated to the U.S. at a young age. He and his parents are survivors of the Khmer Rouge concentration camp and were sponsored to the U.S. by the Catholic Sisters of St. Francis in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Lawrence (Larry) Weitzen was born in San Diego in 1955, and it is still home to him and his wife, Mary Lynn. He graduated from UCLA in 1977 and went into the insurance business for the Robert F. Driver Company, now known as Alliant Insurance. After a career spanning 38 years, Larry retired to spend more time with his wife of 40 years, five kids, 12 grandkids and four great-grandchildren. Larry served as the President of the Independent Insurance Industry and Temple Solel. However, his service to Global Communities and previously Project Concern International (PCI) has been his passion, which he shares with Mary Lynn. Together they have visited programs in Guatemala, Malawi, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Zambia, Indonesia and Mexico. Both Larry and Mary Lynn served as Walk Directors in the ’80s, and Larry has served as Chairman of the Audit and Development committees and Chairman of the PCI Board. Inspired by the work of Global Communities, Larry and Mary Lynn look forward to continuing to serve people.

Hon. Leocadia (Lee) Zak is President of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. A lawyer and expert on international trade, Lee served for seven years as Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Before that, she served as General Counsel and Deputy Director of USTDA. Lee’s accomplishments at USTDA include leading development of the Aviation Cooperation Programs in China, India and Brazil, the Energy Cooperation Programs in China and India, and the worldwide Global Procurement Initiative. Before joining USTDA, Lee was a partner at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., practicing in corporate, municipal and international finance. She served as counsel in connection with a variety of finance transactions for energy, transportation, healthcare, telecommunications and tourism projects.

Lee was also an Adjunct Professor of Law and has taught International Project Finance at the Boston University School of Law, Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law Studies and the Georgetown University Law Center. Lee received her Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College, which named her to its Women of Influence Gallery, and her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law.

Richard (Dick) Celeste has an unusual career trajectory. Following his education at Yale University and Oxford University, he worked at the Peace Corps headquarters; as Personal Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador in India; in real estate development; served as a state legislator in Ohio and as Lt. Governor. After a stint as Director of the Peace Corps, Dick was elected to two terms as Governor of Ohio. Dick then headed a small economic development consultancy until 1997, when he returned to India as U.S. Ambassador. From 1990 until Dick departed for India, he chaired the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable at the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2002, Dick became the 12th President of Colorado College and served for nine years. He has been and is a member or chair of several corporate and not-for-profit boards. He and his wife Jacqueline have a son, Sam, 22, and he has six grown children from a previous marriage.

Rudy Cline-Thomas is the founder and managing partner of Mastry, Inc., which specializes in identifying investment opportunities for Fortune 500 companies, early-stage start-ups and professional athletes. Rudy is also a founding partner of the Bloomberg Annual Players Technology Summit, which brings together top leaders in the technology, venture capital and sports communities to discuss tech investing, trends, partnerships and future sports/tech initiatives.

He is on the advisory boards of Pacific Pro Football, Inc. and Intent Ventures, an investment management company created to advance and support women entrepreneurs of color. He is also a board member of the Business Advisory Council for Providence College.