Meet the American Express Leadership Academy 2016 Global Alumni Summit Delegates

Troy Adkins has worked in marketing and membership for 14 years, spending the last 9 years in nonprofit and association work. He is currently the Director of Networks and Member Engagement at Independent Sector. He oversees multiple programs including member cultivation and acquisition, engagement and renewal, as well as customer service.

Previously,Troy was the Vice President of member and industry development with the American Society of Interior Designers. There he was responsible for managing all aspects of membership, from acquisition to renewal, as well as sponsorship and advertising sales and fund development for the ASID Foundation. He is a member of the Trevor Project’s DC Ambassadors Committee. He recently, worked with a colleague and developed a business plan for a new nonprofit they launched in 2015.

Troy received his Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Birmingham­Southern College and he is an alumnus of the Center For Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University.

Marla Berg is Associate Vice President of Operations, Resource Development at United Way of New York City.  In this role she oversees a team that is responsible for revenue reporting and revenue management, donor analytics, prospect research, the donor database, and general operations for the Resource Development department.  She is a member of the senior leadership team. Ms. Berg work includes collaborating with colleagues across departments on process improvement and protocols as well as helping United Way of New York City make progress towards becoming a data driven organization.

Ms. Berg has a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies from Queens College and a Master’s in Counseling and Guidance from New York University.  Prior to her current role she was a Prospect Researcher at United Way and March of Dimes, a part-time academic librarian at Pace University, and a freelance researcher.  Formerly, she was a Career Counselor at Westchester Community College, and also worked as a counselor for young people at several libraries and nonprofits in the NY metropolitan area. She is a member of the Association of Advancement Services Professionals (AASP), Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement (APRA), and Women in Development. Over the years she has also been active in the Special Libraries Association. She is married and has two grown children.

Pape Mamadou Camara observed youth delinquency in his suburban area and its negative effects on the future of the youth. He saw how under-served youth lacked the opportunity to develop a mode of self-expression and have a positive impact in the community.

In 2010, Mr. Camara’s passion for arts and hip-hop culture motivated him to start a venture call G Hip Hop (Guediawaye Hip Hop) with a group of artists and activists. G Hip Hop is a training center that focuses on using urban and hip-hop culture to promote positive behavioral change, with a varied training program centered on arts, citizenship, economic empowerment and environment. Its vision is to unify the Guediawaye neighborhood through the hip-hop community. He is the program manager and responsible for the planning and monitoring of activities, recording of financial and technical accounts, fundraising, developing the organization’s network locally and internationally, advertising and organizing events.

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A senior HR professional, passionate about establishing fairness and creating an enabling environment for all in the workplace,  empowering leaders to deliver better outcomes, working in the charity sector has been most satisfying professionally, where Sudeshna Chakraborty can use expertise to have a direct impact on the services which are provided to some of the most vulnerable people of the society.  Ms. Chakraborty also strongly believes in the ethos of equality and fairness which is consistently embedded in the charity sector which has motivated me to work is in this sector.

Ms. Chakraborty is extremely passionate and positive as a person.  Ms. Chakraborty prefers to see life from a wider angle and do not get de-motivated by failures.  Ms. Chakraborty is truly a people’s person and gets my energies from the people.

Cindy Eggleton is a tireless advocate for those she works with—be that a person, organization, or community. Most recently, she has co-founded Brilliant Detroit whose purpose is to help create “Kid Success Neighborhoods” where all children and families have what they need within walking distance to be school ready, healthy and stable. This work envisions a world where the promise of opportunity and equity is a reality.

This work represents a culmination of work focused on ensuring that children and families have what they need to be successful from birth through life. Among her previous efforts have been overseeing the turnaround of 17 Detroit area high schools, training of over 15,000 parent and caregivers and launching a shelter for human trafficking victims.

Alumni Task Force

Daniel Friday is a volunteer and a proposal writer at Nehemiah’s Restoration, Inc. a faith-based nonprofit organization that believes the need to restore the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of people who are in need of long-term recovery. Additionally, Nehemiah's Restoration also assists in identifying effective indigenous leaders and invest in their leadership by supplying monetary resources, facilities, training and support systems to increase the effectiveness of the long term recovery efforts for the people they love and serve. Mr. Friday also serves as Network & Computer Systems Administrator at Africa Nazarene University. Mr. Friday is an Emerging Global Leaders Initiative (EGLI) Fellow at Atlas Service Corps, Inc., an international network of nonprofit leaders and organizations that promote innovation, cooperation and solutions to address the world's 21st century challenges.

As part of his fellowship in 2015 - 2016, he served as the American Express Leadership Academy Alumni Lead where he is also an Alumni. Mr. Friday Daniel has over 10+ years of experience in the nonprofit sector as a field officer, monitoring and evaluation officer and assistant program manager in HIV and AIDS at the USAID funded Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) PEPFAR program in Kenya, with Nazarene Compassionate Organization. The HIV and AIDS program supported over 10,000 OVC, 3,500 women affected or infected by HIV and AIDS. He also has 13 years of experience in computer information and systems, which adds a valuable competency that provides him an additional set of critical tools to support people and programs. Specifically, he continues to teach computer skills to many in his community, empowering youth to become self-sufficient and independent.

Jillian Gedeon is the co-founder and Co-Executive Director of the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning. She oversees the work of dozens of young people around the world to advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights. She has a MSc in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences from the University of Ottawa and lived in Mae Sot, Thailand for a year to research refugees and migrants’ experiences with long-acting reversible contraception (LARC).

She has been contributing to qualitative studies on women’s reproductive health for three years, on topics ranging from abortion in Canada to medical education in Jordan. Her passion for reproductive health, coupled with her ability to connect with youth, has led her to mentor, train and educate youth locally, nationally and internationally. Ms. Gedeon is a two-time valedictorian, a Global Shaper with the World Economic Forum, the recipient of the Ontario Women’s Scholarship Fund and an avid community volunteer.

Robert Gordon IV is currently pursuing a passion project as both the Manager of Partnerships and Business Development and the Leaderosity Product Manager for the Presidio Institute, where he is a member of the senior leadership team. Leaderosity, an innovative curated online leadership development platform, is funded by American Express, the Kresge Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Prior to his current role, he served as the inaugural Chief Digital Officer for America’s Promise Alliance in Washington, DC, the nation’s largest partnership dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth. As a senior executive, he led, evaluated and enhanced the development, branding/design and implementation of GradNation.org, the premier front facing digital hub for combating the dropout crisis; the re-launch of AmericasPromise.org; and the development of an award winning micro-site; all Fortune 500 funded(Boeing, Target, State Farm, AT&T, and others) projects. He also created organizational digital content and marketing push-pull strategies across multiple platforms (web, mobile, e-news) by leveraging demographic targeting and new trends in technology & distribution methods that resulted in a significant increase in brand lift. Prior to America's Promise, he was the Director of Information Technology at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, an economic development think-tank. Additionally, Mr. Gordon has worked as a digital strategy consultant in the entertainment industry. He is an award-winning music composer & pianist. He also is an Aspen Institute Fellow, an American Express Leadership Academy alum, a Web of Change Leadership & Technology alum and a member of the International Chief Digital Officer Club. In 2014, Mr. Gordon was recognized as one of the top 10 influential global Chief Digital Officers by the International Chief Digital Officer Club. A featured speaker on digital marketing, technology & leadership, Mr. Gordon sat on several boards throughout his career. He currently sits on the advisory board for the Kappa Foundation. He currently lives in Marin County, CA.

Alumni Task Force

Master of Ceremony

Kim Gube serves as Director, Southeast Region with Global Impact.  She manages a portfolio of international charity, corporate and public sector relationships and provides strategic guidance on employee giving and engagement programs.  Previously Ms. Gube worked at the American Red Cross developing volunteer partnerships and managing volunteer, disaster training and response efforts.    

Ms. Gube is excited to return to the summit this year, assisting with program planning and supporting the local DC alumni with leadership and training opportunities. Since 2000, Ms. Gube has lived in the DC area, experiencing as many new things as possible!  In her free time, she works at the Smithsonian Institution and volunteers with the local arts and nonprofit communities. 

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Megumi Hagiuda is the founder of AFRIKA ROSE, a company that imports beautiful and exotic roses from Kenya and sell them online as well as in a Rose shop in Tokyo.

She graduated from California State University (Double majored in International Relations and Spanish). She participated in the Model United Nations in 2004 and was interested in supporting developing countries. After engaging in the pharmaceutical industry ( sales and marketing and global HR strategy) for 6 years, Ms. Hagiuda moved to Kenya for a volunteering opportunity at the age of 29. Mesmerised by the beauty of Kenyan roses, she started a rose importing business in order to create job opportunities in Kenya in 2002. The organization has increased its employees from 150 to 1,830.

Sara Hamilton currently serves as the Director of Programs at Boston Cares, New England’s largest volunteer center, where she oversees the strategic direction and growth for a full portfolio of programs including corporate engagement, individual volunteering and partnerships with more than 160 organizations.  Over her fourteen year nonprofit career, Ms. Hamilton has focused on the engagement of volunteers as an important pathway to community impact with roles at Chicago Cares and Northeastern University’s Center of Community Service, as well as HandsOn Gulf Coast, where she managed a volunteer response to Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Mississippi.  

Ms. Hamilton is currently the co-chair for the board of directors of the Massachusetts Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.   She holds a BS in Journalism from Boston University and a MS in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University.

Alumni Task Force

Marlene Janetos is the Vice President of Visitor Services, Marketing & Communications at the Museum of Discovery and Science located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Marlene manages and directs all sales and marketing efforts including public relations and advertising. She oversees operations for IMAX theater, gift store, café, concessions, graphics, reservations, facility rental, membership and visitor services.

Previously, Ms. Janetos served in marketing positions at the Orlando Science Center and Orlando Centroplex, a group of six public entertainment facilities. Ms. Janetos has a B.A. in Journalism: Advertising/Public Relations from the University of Central Florida. She is a graduate of the International Association of Assembly Managers “Ogelbay” Public Assembly Facility Management School. She attended the American Express Leadership Academy 2013 NYC. She has served on committees for Visit Florida since 2011 and is currently a member of the Global Communications Committee. Since 2012, she has served on the Giant Screen Cinema Association Marketing & Membership Committee.

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Beginning his career in the private sector, Michael Linington started working in Development following a period volunteering on outreach projects for Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity.

After a career break teaching English in Mexico City, Mr. Linington returned to his career in philanthropy at TATE with a role supporting the international collections of all four of the organisation’s public galleries in the UK. He now works for the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London, leading a team of 11 professional fundraisers on an ambitious programme of development both in the UK and abroad.

Mr. Linington graduated with an arts degree from the University of the Arts London, followed by an MA in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths College, also in London, where he has been living for the last decade.

Emily May is an international leader in the movement to end harassment.  In 2005, at the age of 24, she co-founded Hollaback! in New York City and in 2010 she became its first full-time executive director. Under her leadership, the organization has scaled to over 50 cities in 25 countries, and launched HeartMob, Hollaback!'s platform designed to support people being harassed online. In the wake of the election, Ms. May launched  #100days100dinners, a collaboration to designed to bring people together to bridge difference.

Ms. May believes that through the power of storytelling, decentralized leadership, and deep empathy we can disrupt cycles of hate and create a world where everyone has the right to feel safe and confident. Ms. May has a Master’s Degree in Social Policy from the London School of Economics, is an Ashoka Fellow, a Prime Movers Fellow and has won over ten awards for her work including the TEDCity 2.0 Prize.

Alumni Task Force

Nicole McKinney is the Senior Director of Campaign Engagement at Global Impact, a nonprofit leader in growing global philanthropy. Global Impact’s network of international relief and development organizations meets real needs by supporting programs focused on today's pressing humanitarian causes, including poverty alleviation, clean water and food security, disaster relief and resiliency, economic development, education and human trafficking.

Ms. McKinney is an alumni of the University of Virginia and completed the Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship at Stanford University. She recently obtained a certification in Design Thinking and Innovation from U.Va's Darden School of Business. Ms. Mckinney volunteers with IMPACT 2030, a United Nations collaborative that aligns human capital investments in service of the sustainable development agenda, and with Compass DC, an organization matching professionals with long-term skills-based volunteer projects. She is also a certified group fitness instructor and enjoys hiking, Pilates and boxing as well as traveling and photography. She lives in Washington, DC with her wife, Olivia, and their Siberian husky, Bo.

Mr. Milord joined the Institute for Family Health in early 2015, as the Operations Manager at one of the Institute’s largest practices, the Family Health Center of Harlem. The center provides nearly 90,000 medical, dental and behavioral health visits annually to 16,000 patients in one of the highest need communities in New York City, East Harlem. Mr. Milord oversees 11 departments, with roughly 250 staff members, including 40 attending-level physicians and 30 family practice residents. Mr. Milord has a broad range of responsibilities, including ensuring a high level of productivity among our providers, and an equally high level of quality. He works closely with medical, psychosocial and nursing leaders to ensure the seamless integration of services between our departments. In the changing world of healthcare, patient satisfaction and engagement are key, and Mr. Milord understands that staff collaboration is imperative to the successful operations of the center.

In the 18 months since Mr. Milord took over the leadership of the Family Health Center of Harlem, he has revamped the telephone system for greater efficiency, reduced wait times for walk-in patients, prudently managed the operating budget of the site, promoted the practice at community venues, and conducted research with a few of the medical directors. He has also invited groups of adolescents into the center for workshops on preventive health, and provides staff opportunities to lead exercise and nutrition classes for community members. Perhaps most importantly, he has demonstrated a consistent commitment to training, mentorship and professional development for staff at every level of the center. Mr. Milord received his Master’s Degree in Public Health and his B.S. in Business Management and Finance from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

Regina Northouse joined as the Executive Director in 2015 and is responsible for setting the vision, strategy and fundraising efforts for Food Recovery Network (FRN). Ms. Northouse works with the amazing team at national headquarters, stakeholders and partners around the country to achieve ambitious goals. Overall, FRN's goal is to support the higher education to be the first sector where food recovery is the norm and not the exception. But Ms. Northouse won't stop there. Businesses, events, public institutions also have a role in reducing food waste at the source. They also have a role to recover their surplus food and Regina wants to ensure they are integrated within the vibrant FRN network to make that happen. Most recently, Ms. Northouse is tasked with implementing the three-year strategic plan for FRN and cannot wait to talk to all of YOU about how you can support FRN's goals.

For over a decade, Ms. Northouse has worked in the nonprofit sector, committed to social justice issues because she believes it is in this sector that she can make the biggest difference and that people are the engines of positive change. At the Coro Center for Civic Leadership in Pittsburgh, she worked with employers in all sectors to establish internship programs and to match talented individuals with those opportunities. At Independent Sector and LIFT in Washington, DC, Ms. Northouse worked to raise awareness of the nonprofit sector's abilities to solve our society's most complex issues. Ms. Northouse loves to garden, hike, travel and cook meals with friends. She also loves to collaborate to make big ideas a reality!

Mr. Anders Pettersson has worked internationally in the nonprofit sector for most of his life. He is the Executive Director of ECPAT Sweden since 2013, working in the forefront against the sexual exploitation of children. Prior to this, he spent a decade with UNICEF, developing the global organization’s rapid response capacity in emergencies and later working with strategic planning for UNICEF’s National Committees.

Mr. Pettersson’s public service includes four years of programme work in democracy, human rights, peace and security at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Prior to public service, he did three tours in the early to mid-90s with UN- and NATO forces in Lebanon, Croatia and Bosnia.

Mr. Pettersson excelled at Thunderbird School of Global Management in 2011 and Aspen Institute in 2012. In 2015, he was awarded the American Express Leadership Academy Award for outstanding service in the social sector.

Bridget Weston Pollack is the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at the SCORE Association. In this role, Bridget is responsible for all branding, marketing, PR and communication efforts. She focuses on implementing marketing plans and strategies for the organization to facilitate the growth of SCORE’s mentoring and trainings services. Prior experience includes Marketing Manager at Mid-Atlantic Control Systems, a small business in the commercial low voltage industry and Marketing Coordinator at Temple University Health Systems. She is married to husband Rick and has a energetic toddler son, Alex.

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Mary Pryse works as a Manager in the Volunteer Center at United Way of Greater St. Louis focusing on youth and millennial engagement. Ms. Pryse manages four volunteer-based programs that collectively engage over 600 youth, college students and young professionals with United Way annually. One of these programs is ServiceWorks, a national program that uses volunteer service as a strategy to help youth and young adults develop the skills necessary to have greater success in college and career.

Prior to working at United Way, Ms. Pryse worked in Kampala, Uganda for a Kansas City based nonprofit, The HALO Foundation, whose mission is to provide housing, healing and education to youth in the greatest need. As one of HALO's only employees located in Uganda, Ms. Pryse developed, managed and facilitated all HALO programming in Uganda including seven different youth programs serving over 100 children. Ms. Pryse’s experience in Uganda significantly shaped the way she approaches community development. Ms. Pryse received a dual degree in International Studies and Political Science from Indiana University Bloomington in 2011.

Alumni Award Finalist

Jessica Santana is an entrepreneur, technologist, writer and philanthropist who is passionate about people, products and building community. In 2014, she​ co-founded New York On Tech (NYOT), which is an organization that creates pathways for underrepresented students into degrees and careers in tech. NYOT's work has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, CNN and Huffington Post and we have been able to forge partnerships that reach students in all five boroughs of NYC.

​Ms. Santana has presented and spoken to over 25 different audiences (e.g. TechCrunch, Google for Entrepreneurs, White House) and been named to the​ Forbes 30 Under 30 list​, Wells Fargo Millennial Activist, Ashoka / American Express Emerging Innovator, Pahara Institute Next-Gen Leader, Camelback Ventures Social Innovation Fellow and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She is a member of the NationSwell Council and one of the ambassadors for the NCWIT and Televisa Foundation's TECHNOLOchicas initiative. She ​contributes​ to Huffington Post, Univision and LinkedIn. In her work, she has​ served as an advisor to 50+ early stage start-ups, small businesses and non-profits.

Prior to NYOT, she​ worked as a technology consultant for global brands that include Accenture and Deloitte. She ​worked on digital projects for financial services organizations and federal agencies in New York and Washington D.C. Her specialties are in product strategy, design and management. She also completed the JPMorganChase Global Enterprise Technology Leadership program and was recognized as a Deloitte Future Leaders Apprentice and a Morgan Stanley Emerging Leader. She ​graduated with degrees in Accounting and Information Technology from Syracuse University.​

Rebecca Starnes is the Vice President of Family Education for the Children’s Home Society of North Carolina where she leads prevention focused programs supporting healthy families.  She also leads a growing training program focused on enhancing the work of professionals who work with youth and families.  

Ms. Starnes has worked with nonprofits for nearly 20 years with a focus on using education and training to strengthen families.  She currently leads programs impacting more than 15,000 parents and teens annually in programs across North Carolina.  She has developed new programs, worked to innovate others and grown promising programs to reach more people.  Ms. Starnes is passionate about using family life education to improve the lives of youth, parents and professionals

Candice Tolliver is extremely passionate about leadership and the youth in her community. After receiving her Bachelors of Science degree in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona, Ms. Tolliver returned to her former school, NFL YET Academy, to teach 7th – 12th grade Leadership in 2012.
 
In 2014, she joined St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance providing training and compliance assistance for afterschool and summer feeding sites with the Kids Cafe program and, occasionally, teaching leadership classes to adults in the Community Kitchen program. Her 2016 American Express Leadership Academy experience, through ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Innovation, reignited her passion for teaching and equipping youth in her city to lead.
 
 In July 2016, she returned to the classroom to help students discover and thrive in their purpose. Ms. Tolliver knows that significant change in her community begins with the students she serves in and out of the classroom whether it’s teaching, leading community workshops or volunteering with youth at her church. The South Phoenix native continues to reside in the city with her son

Kevin Vuong is a connector, city-builder and military officer working to build a stronger, more resilient and prosperous Canada where no one is left behind. For his work as a community leader, Mr. Vuong has been named one of Her Majesty The Queen’s Young Leaders and Canada's Top 30 Under 30. Winner of the Robert G. Siskind Entrepreneurial Medal at the Ivey School of Business, Mr. Vuong was awarded a Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education Fellowship in 2016 to take part in HKS’ Emerging Leaders program and joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto as a 2017 candidate for the executive-level Global Professional Master of Laws, focusing on public-private partnerships, CSR and social regulation. Most recently, he was appointed a CJPAC Fellow, a Public Fellow as a leading Canadian thinker under 35 for the Spur Festival and delivered a Walrus Talk on Social Innovation - Innovating Procurement for Social Impact.

As Hospice of Michigan (HOM) and Arbor Hospice’s Director of Volunteer Services and Complementary Therapies, Alison Wagner is responsible for the activities of 18 staff members and 600 volunteers.  Ms. Wagner is committed to engaging volunteers to utilize their time and talents for their personal growth while benefiting the nonprofit hospice mission.  Under Ms. Wagner’s leadership, the Complementary Therapies program, which includes Music Therapy, Massage Therapy and Pet Therapy, is expanding. Previous to joining HOM, Ms. Wagner worked within the nonprofit sector in nursing education, economic development and the arts. Throughout her career, she has worked with volunteers, musicians, clinicians, donors and has extensive event management and program management experience.

Ms. Wagner earned a Masters of Fine Arts from New York University, New York, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, as well as minors in flute and piano from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.