Frontier Market Scouts

Alex is a 2014 University of Iowa pharmacy school graduate with a passion for preventive medicine through lifestyle improvement and patient education. He currently works with Self Spark, a lifehacking startup that focuses on creating positive lifestyle behavior change through behavioral science and technology. He has a broad range of healthcare internship experience, from macro level projects (at US-FDA, GlaxoSmithKline, Management Sciences for Health, and PATH) to one on one work with patients in clinical settings. He hopes to work with a healthcare focused fund to learn how they evaluate and support individual enterprises, as well as analyze and project market trends.

Maura has unique experience in management consulting and field development for social enterprise. Her strengths are in strategy and design for systemic change, community engagement and education. She is a creative individual driven to share stories of social and environmental triumph through unique program design, speaking, writing. As a consultant, she has developed strong project management, problem-solving and facilitation skills. As a co-owner of a small business (an independent cinema and café) she is versed in the ground-level practicalities of small business administration as well as design research for new services and community engagement. Maura cares deeply for ocean health and is working to end plastic pollution through materials and systems innovation and to help people economically dependent on environmental degradation achieve alternative livelihoods.

John’s experience in banking and finance has consisted of energy-focused internships in which he was able to develop a broad understanding of the industry and related business economics. He has proven himself to be a dedicated worker who enjoys participating with colleagues and clients alike and is quick to adapt and immerse himself in new environments. Most recently, John had the opportunity to work as an analyst for Jefferies Group, an investment-banking firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and financial advisory services. He worked alongside financial analysts as they developed valuation models, created company overviews of various mid and large-cap companies, and prepared investment committee materials for potential investments.

Through his investment experience, John developed a strong analytical and valuations skillset that he looks forward to bringing to fellowship opportunities offered by the Frontier Market Scouts Program.

As an International Policy Studies student at MIIS focusing on Human Security and Development, Brittany seized the opportunity to cross academic boundaries and work in a number of consultancy roles through the MPA and MBA programs. Currently, she is designing a program evaluation for a sports-based youth development nonprofit organization that focuses on immigrant and refugee youth, as well as conducting market research for a social enterprise looking to start honey production in Nicaragua. She studied abroad in South Africa, she speaks Spanish, and she has carried out development work in El Salvador, Peru, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. She feels most passionate about the issues of women’s rights, the intersection of gender equity and sport, youth development, food security, and nutrition. In the summer, she leads trips abroad with National Geographic Student Expeditions, managing and mentoring groups of high school students on their own immersive learning journeys. She also enjoys blogging for The Women’s International Perspective (The WIP), and recently, she was selected as an Intercultural Digital Storytelling Project fellow for Spring 2015 at MIIS. Brittany’s creative and holistic skill set ranging from project design to facilitation and writing skills will benefit a social enterprise in the areas of business development, operations, and communications.

Molly draws from nearly ten years of experience in international non-profit management and advocacy work. One of her first adventures in entrepreneurship came during college, when she joined forces with a small group to conceptualize and launch a summer peace-building program for youth participants from three continents. Since then, she has led grassroots campaigns for the Democratic National Committee, developed a successful communications strategy for a large Cambodian advocacy organization, and helped transform Oakland-based social enterprise Global Citizen Year from a fledgling global gap year provider into the award-winning leadership development program it is today. Most recently, she served as a consultant to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area headquarters in San Francisco, single-handedly producing an annual report for one of the nation’s most complex urban national parks.

In each of these roles, Molly has combined an innate organizational ability, powerful communication skills (in English, Spanish, and French), and strategic thinking with the do-more-with-less zeal required in start-up ventures. This skillset makes her ideally suited to manage operations and contribute to business strategy for any number of Frontier Market Scouts partner organizations.

Jeff has extensive experience evaluating new business opportunities, launching new ventures and product lines, and advising business owners and entrepreneurs. His expertise includes business planning and strategy, marketing and communications, project management, financial analysis, and consulting. In his current role, Jeff helps companies create, launch, and grow products and services which have a positive impact on people and the planet. He is also an advisor and mentor at the Alliance for Community Development, a not-for-profit organization that serves women and minority entrepreneurs with programs and resources to build their financial competency and increase access capital. Jeff is adept at identifying, evaluating, and developing new market opportunities, and he strongly believes in leveraging the power of for-profit enterprise to improve health and speed the transition to sustainable sources of energy around the world.

Chris has broad financial services experience gained from roles at several institutional investment firms. His most recent position in bank loan operations and fixed income accounting give him an opportunity to have a significant impact in the operations or financial analysis areas of a social finance organization. He also has experience in a mutual fund accounting department and a derivatives collateral group. His varied roles in investment management have given him strong analytical and communications skills, as well as in-depth knowledge of Excel and other financial software. Chris is passionate about social impact investing, with specific interest in the areas of microcredit, social venture capital, and renewable energy solutions. He also has conversational knowledge of French.

Over the years, Muhammed has accumulated a great deal of research and professional experience in the renewable energy sector. His most recent position was as a finance executive at a wind power startup in Pakistan, where he first began to develop his proficiency in financial analysis and investments. As an FMS fellow, Muhammed hopes to bring his energy finance expertise to rural areas in developing nations.

Kate Greswold has a twenty year background working in the non-profit sector. She is a social entrepreneur, having started, led, advised and served on boards of many non-profit organizations. Her work has ranged from humanitarian efforts in Africa, to international population issues, economics, water in the US and California,  safe energy, solar in the US, China, and Germany,  renewables and energy, communications, among other topics.

Ms. Greswold holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania with a minor in international business.  She has participated in three Climbs for CARE, to benefit the international humanitarian organization, CARE. She climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania in 1998. She summitted Tarija and Huayna Potosi in the Cordillera Real in Bolivia in 2000, reaching a height of 19,974 ft.  In 2004 she and her eleven year old daughter climbed to 17,000 feet on Cotopaxi glacier in Ecuador. In 2006 the Greswold family summited five volcanic peaks while living in Chile. In July 2010, Ms. Greswold completed her first marathon, the San Francisco marathon. She summited Cathdral Peak in 2014. Her interests are environmental work, outdoor sports, canyoneering, kitesurfing, reading, and travel.

Tom is a bilingual professional with over five years of experience in strategic partnership building, project management, and data analysis and interpretation. In his most recent role as Senior Research Associate at the global microfinance non-profit, Accion, Tom specialized in grant procurement and management, impact assessment and reporting, and institutional development. Prior to Accion, Tom worked for two years as a Compliance Manager for the largest international education company in the world, Education First. In this role, he hired, trained, and managed a team responsible for ensuring program compliance with US Department of State regulations.

Tom recently completed a Master’s Certificate in Financial Management and is looking to use his financial analysis and business assessment skills to assist with the capital decision making of an impact investment firm. After this fellowship, Tom plans to attend business school in the Fall of 2015.

Hunter’s diverse professional background includes expertise in marketing and advertising strategy, brand and innovation design, and business development in foreign markets. He recently worked on a market innovation team in Mombasa, Kenya where he researched and prototyped business ideas aimed at stimulating economic opportunities for the poor. He was key in the development of the team’s first entity, a purified water company called BAMBA Water. Hunter developed the brand, the marketing launch strategy, and the initial design of a sales department, which has experienced 450% increase in sales since its inception. While he is a trained graphic designer, Hunter’s expertise also includes the use of design principles to conduct human-centered research and to develop solutions to solve social problems. As a consultant, Hunter has used his skills to help consumer brands and start-up social enterprises launch successful ventures. Organizations who work with Hunter will appreciate his talent for generating innovative approaches to tackling challenges, his proficiency at advancing projects from idea to implementation, and his ability to motivate teams as a solid visionary leader.

Aruna is India program director, at Acara, an impact entrepreneurship program at the University of Minnesota. In her role, she helps set up internships and fellowships, works closely with students on their social innovation ideas and business plans, builds both classroom and experiential learning-based capacity building programmes, performs culture-sensitive primary field research, and function as Indian liaison, for logistics-related needs. Aruna has close to 15 years of experience with social innovation, programme management, coordination, capacity building, incubation, cross-cultural linkages, print and online journalism, marketing and corporate communications, and technical documentation, both in India and the USA. She earned my Masters in International Development from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, and spent five years in the Southwestern Pennsylvania region, working with nonprofits focused on diaspora relations, cross-cultural competency, and economic development.

For the past 10 years, through hands-on experience and applied research, Larisa has actively contributed to international social development efforts, focusing on educational opportunities. Specifically, she has worked as program/project manager, teacher trainer and researcher in developing contexts – both urban and rural – in countries across three continents.  An expert in intercultural communication, linguistics, and teacher/practitioner education, Larisa has extensive experience in program development, monitoring and evaluation, creating concrete improvement plans, and grant writing for health education and business development. Through her work in health and education contexts in developing countries, Larisa has experienced first hand the need for, and success of, community-based social enterprise, which draws on local sociocultural practices to promote economic development and alleviate poverty.