Leadership

Karen Schub Epstein spent 12 years in the private sector, starting her career in public accounting at Ernst and Young. She then joined Interpublic where she focused on mergers and acquisitions, investor relations, financial analysis, human resources, systems implementations, business development and strategy.

In 2005, Karen transitioned to the nonprofit world. She spent the next 10 years at the Growth Philanthropy Network, an organization focused on building a capital marketplace for high performing organizations that serve at-risk populations. Her work there focused on evaluation, program design, strategy and operations. Since 2015, she has been consulting with a broad range of clients and was the Interim Executive Director at Change for Kids in 2018. Currently, she serves on the Boards of Change for Kids and Youth Action YouthBuild.

Karen graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in accounting and psychology, and graduated from the Executive MBA program at Columbia University with honors.

David has more than 15 years of nonprofit leadership experience. He founded and scaled Pitch In For Baseball and Softball (PIFBS) where he drove the organization’s strategic planning, fundraising, and Board development. Prior to joining the nonprofit sector, David worked in consumer packaged goods marketing with Procter and Gamble and H.J. Heinz.

He currently works as a nonprofit consultant and is an adjunct professor for the Nonprofit Leadership Development Program at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice.

David studied undergraduate business and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University. He furthered his education studying International Marketing at Brasenose College in Oxford and non-profit fundraising at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with Honors with an MBA from The Wharton School.

Bruce Arbit, CFRE* is a strategic advisor, fundraising leader, and entrepreneur who has spent more than 30 years applying his business background to advance meaningful
social change. Working across the nonprofit, corporate, entrepreneurial and philanthropic sectors, he has a long history of building high-impact development programs, helping organizations generate more than $200 million through innovative
business and funding strategies that unite stakeholders around shared challenges, unlocking new resources, sustainable revenue, and lasting social impact.

Bruce’s in-house and fractional leadership roles span established organizations including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Lighthouse International, Beth Israel Medical Center/Continuum Health Partners, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, as well as advising nonprofits, associations, chambers of commerce, social enterprises,
entrepreneurs, and impact investors during significant periods of transition and transformation.

A first-generation college graduate, Bruce earned a B.S. in Business and Marketing from the University of Maryland and a Master of Public Administration from NYU Wagner, where he went on to become a founding member of the NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship.

*certified fundraising executive

Cynthia has more than 15 years of experience working in New York City’s nonprofit sector. Most recently she worked at Candid (previously Foundation Center), and before that was the Director of Administrative Services at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center.

Cynthia is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Guatemala from 2007-2009. She has a Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) from Binghamton University.

Ivy is an Associate Analyst at CMI Media Group in Philadelphia, and she’s passionate about marketing and communications within the health and wellness space. She joined PennPAC’s communications team in 2025 and now serves as a Digital Communications Fellow. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, visiting museums, and trying new cafes!

Alison began her career in investment banking, spending a decade in the real estate sector at Bear Stearns before transitioning into real estate development. She later lived in Moscow, Russia, for seven years with her husband and two children, during which time she undertook a range of independent consulting projects, primarily focused on strategic development and messaging. Since moving to Los Angeles, Alison has been actively engaged with PennPAC, joining in 2022, and serves on the advisory board of the Karsch Social Services Center. She is a 1999 graduate of the Wharton School, where she concentrated in Finance and minored in French.

Melinda is an active community volunteer with experience at many Bay Area organizations including San Francisco University High School, The Nueva School, SF Education Fund, SF Achievers and 10,000 Degrees. She previously worked as a management consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and in the financial services industry for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. She has been involved with PennPAC since 2019, when she served as a Volunteer Consultant and subsequently joined the Volunteer Relations Team. Melinda studied History and French at Penn, and she holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Amy began her career in strategy and business development in the Media & Entertainment sector in New York, at Madison Square Garden and NBC Universal. After moving into SaaS Tech, she relocated to San Francisco, where she also helped build a non-profit focused on connecting Penn alumnae founders with educational opportunities, resources, and funding. She joined PennPAC in 2021 as a Volunteer Consultant and later held roles as a Client Liaison and a Team Lead. Amy earned an MBA from The Wharton School, as well as an undergraduate degree in Political Science and French from Duke University.

Janet Burns, PMP, CSM, is the Principle of PM Roadmap Consultancy, and is an experienced project management consultant and instructor, specializing in improving project results for organizations and individuals through tailored processes, training, and tools.

Janet has been recognized as an industry leader and has implemented and led project management maturity improvement programs at many companies in her career, including the New York Times, Viacom, Cigna, and many other public and private organizations.

Janet is a past president of the Delaware Valley and Hampton Roads chapters of the Project Management Institute and has held several other PMI volunteer leadership positions since 1998, including serving on the PMBOK 4 th Edition team.

Janet is a frequent speaker at industry events and was named to the PMI Power 50, a list of 50 prolific leaders in project management. Janet holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachael has over twenty years of experience in the commercial real estate finance and banking industry and has worked for banks and financial institutions in Philadelphia and New York City. She started volunteering for PennPAC in 2021 as a Deputy Team Leader and is the current Director of Nonprofit Relations for the PennPAC Philadelphia chapter.

Susan is a seasoned and visionary marketing executive with more than thirty-five years of strategic and management experience, including branding, strategic positioning and messaging, demand generation and sales support, digital marketing, marketing automation, PR/Social Media, corporate communication and events. Having worked in both established companies as well as new ventures in numerous industries, Susan’s primary accomplishments have been in building, restructuring, and leading global marketing teams that have contributed significant increases in revenue and growth.

Susan has been involved with PennPAC for the past five years as part of the Advisory Board and running the Coaching Call Program. Today, Susan is frequently tapped by other CMOS—typically new to the role—for her advice and guidance on how to introduce or expand the role of marketing in their organizations.

Urvashi’s 20+ years experience spans management consulting, life sciences, consumer health, startups and non-profits across Novartis, Deloitte, Microsoft, Aphorism and PennPAC. Professionally, her focus is women’s health and innovation — to expand meaningful access to evidence-based, modern care that transforms outcomes and elevates quality of life for women. Her non-profit work focuses on health equity and education. Urvashi has led consulting engagements pro bono for PennPAC since 2023.

Carolyn launched her career as a management consultant before transitioning into roles in marketing and project management across the financial, entertainment, and real estate sectors, including positions at Prudential, AOL Time Warner, and Moviefone. She later ventured into entrepreneurship, establishing her own small business. Since 2020, she’s been actively involved with PennPAC, serving as Deputy Team Lead, Team Leader, and Liaison on various projects, while also contributing to the Volunteer Relations Team. She also volunteers with political campaigns as well as education-related non-profits where she tutors at-risk youth and assists with strategic planning, events, programs, and marketing initiatives.

Vighnesh is a Senior Product Manager at Bluecore. He has previously worked at IBM, Denali Therapeutics and Cornerstone Research. Vighnesh has been a Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader on PennPAC client engagements, and a member of the New York Volunteer Relations Team and New York Nonprofit Relations Team. He is also the Chair of PennPAC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Task Force.

Linda retired as the University of Pennsylvania’s Senior Philanthropic Advisor in 2022. During her 32-year career at Penn, she partnered with the president, provost, trustees/advisory board members, and deans/directors to encourage the donor-centric approach critical at the highest level of fundraising.

After retiring, she developed and taught an on-line certificate course on “Strategic Writing for Fundraising” offered through Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies. She currently consults to several non-profits and serves as Chair of PennPAC’s Development Committee.

Russell is the Deputy Director at CUNY EDGE, a program that serves  undergraduate students receiving cash assistance from New York City. With over 30 years in the nonprofit sector, he has worked for the Center for Family Life CollegeSpring, PENCIL, the POSSE Foundation, and the American Jewish World Service. Russell now serves as PennPAC’s ImPACt Event Chair.

Kelsey is a Senior Product Manager at NVIDIA.  Previously, she was a Senior Strategist at Indeed with strengths in strategy and data analysis. She has served as a Consultant, Deputy Team Leader, Team Leader, as well as Liaison for various PennPAC projects. Kelsey holds a MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Karen launched her career in the nonprofit world consulting to hospitals throughout New York state. Following a two decade career in investment management and private banking, she discovered PennPAC, has led numerous projects and served on the board, and continues to enjoy the rewards of working with other Penn alums to solve challenges faced by nonprofits in New York City and beyond.

Amy is a corporate development and finance professional with a focus in the life sciences. After more than 20 years on Wall Street, she now works for Terumo Corporation, a global medical device company headquartered in Tokyo, as Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and M&A for the Americas. In addition to several PennPAC consulting assignments, Amy has worked with the Nonprofit Selection Team since 2018, serving as co-chair since 2023.

Paula-Kaye is an experienced marketing professional with 15 years of experience in brand strategy, product development/marketing and digital marketing. She is currently the Head of Marketing and Communications for Space Capital, an early-stage space tech venture capital fund & investment platform. She has worked with PennPAC since 2013 in various ways from Consultant to Team Leader to current co-chair of the New York Nonprofit Selection Team.

Kevin is a product management, corporate strategy, and data professional. He is a senior leader, investor, and advisor for healthcare and fintech startups, including Healiom, Healthcare.com, and EveryStreet, and is a principal at a software development consultancy called Skylab74. At PennPAC, he has served on the Board of Directors, co-led the Volunteer Relations team, and worked on multiple consulting engagements as Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader. Currently, he is PennPAC’s Technology Chair.

Arun has over a decade in the financial services industry and over 20 years as a national security professional in the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence and Special Operations communities with multiple overseas and combat zone tours. In addition to PennPAC, he serves on the board of No Greater Sacrifice (a former PennPAC client) and Outthinker, a growth strategy consulting firm. He is also a volunteer leader with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization. Arun previously served as People’s Warden of Old Donation Episcopal Church while on Vestry, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center of Strategy and Security and led its project on Hybrid Warfare. He currently runs a Single Family Office and is a founder of a stealth international FinTech startup, while also completing his Doctor of Philosophy.

Carolyn launched her career as a management consultant before transitioning into roles in marketing and project management across the financial, entertainment, and real estate sectors, including positions at Prudential, AOL Time Warner, and Moviefone. She later ventured into entrepreneurship, establishing her own small business. Since 2020, she’s been actively involved with PennPAC, serving as Deputy Team Lead, Team Leader, and Liaison on various projects, while also contributing to the Volunteer Relations Team. She also volunteers with political campaigns as well as education-related non-profits where she tutors at-risk youth and assists with strategic planning, events, programs, and marketing initiatives.

Howard is a marketing strategy and digital marketing consultant, helping clients in financial services, fintech, technology and business services with their customer acquisition, retention, lead generation, and sales enablement issues. He previously served on several PennPAC projects as a Team Leader and Liaison.

Shraddha is a management consultant with nearly 20 years of experience in project management, marketing, and strategy development. She has worked at McKinsey, A.T. Kearny, and American Express, and is currently an independent professional servicing clients across industries spanning health care, financial services, technology, and nonprofits. Shraddha has volunteered as a team leader and liaison for numerous PennPAC clients and has been a member of PennPAC’s Development Committee. She also volunteers for the Girl Scouts and Share and Care Foundation.

Jackie is PennPAC’s founder and served as the organization’s Executive Director for its first dozen years. Jackie has 30 years of broad-based strategic planning, new program development, board leadership and mentorship, and project management experience in the nonprofit and healthcare fields.  She is currently creating a new social impact entity in the venture philanthropy space.

Kelsey is a Senior Product Manager at NVIDIA.  Previously, she was a Senior Strategist at Indeed with strengths in strategy and data analysis. She has served as a Consultant, Deputy Team Leader, Team Leader, as well as Liaison for various PennPAC projects. Kelsey holds a MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Daniel is an Associate Consultant at Geneva Global. Previously, he managed college access programming for a non-profit based in New York City. Daniel has served as a Consultant, Co-Lead, and Nonprofit Selection Team member for PennPAC. Daniel is currently applying for his MBA.

Elaine, after spending over 20 years in investment management as an equity portfolio manager and analyst, has focused her attention on charitable causes, both local and global. Most recently, she spent 7 years as Board President for a Fairfield County nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support and services to children in the custody of the state. Elaine has also been involved in multiple roles with PennPAC as Deputy Team Leader, Consultant, ImPACt volunteer and currently sits on the DEIA Task Force and New York Nonprofit Selection Team.

Ellen has had a 20 year career in Investment Finance, working in NY and London before moving to San Francisco 22 years ago. Her last private sector role was as SEVP, Director of Corporate Investments at Wells Fargo, where she managed a securities portfolio of over $250 Billion. After leaving finance, Ellen began doing pro-bono non-profit work with a focus on youth development and career coaching. She is on the board of Year Up Bay Area where she is also an Academic Coach, Mentor and Strategic Advisor. In addition, Ellen provides career coaching to veterans and their spouses through American Corporate Partners, and she was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth (CASA) for four years. She has worked with Girls Inc., and tutored within SFUSD through The San Francisco Education Fund.

Urvashi’s 20+ years experience spans management consulting, life sciences, consumer health, startups and non-profits across Novartis, Deloitte, Microsoft, Aphorism and PennPAC. Professionally, her focus is women’s health and innovation — to expand meaningful access to evidence-based, modern care that transforms outcomes and elevates quality of life for women. Her non-profit work focuses on health equity and education. Urvashi has led consulting engagements pro bono for PennPAC since 2023.

In addition to the Board of Directors at PennPAC, she serves on the Board for Horizons NYC, a summer learning organization whose mission is to close the education equity gap. She has also served as the School District PTA Committee Chair for STEM and as the Chair of the Elementary School PTA.

Urvashi received her MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Bachelors Degree (with Honors) in Economics from Delhi University.

Lydia is a seasoned marketer and manager with over 25 years of experience in business. She began her career as a management consultant before moving to consumer products brand management and then small business ownership. She first became involved with PennPAC in 2019 and has since acted as Deputy Team Leader, Team Leader, and Liaison on various projects. She now serves as the Co-Chair of the PennPAC Development Committee.

Linda retired as the University of Pennsylvania’s Senior Philanthropic Advisor in 2022. During her 32-year career at Penn, she partnered with the president, provost, trustees/advisory board members, and deans/directors to encourage the donor-centric approach critical at the highest level of fundraising.

After retiring, she developed and taught an on-line certificate course on “Strategic Writing for Fundraising” offered through Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies. She currently consults to several non-profits and serves as Chair of PennPAC’s Development Committee.

Ariel works in venture investing in the beauty and wellness space. She has been involved with PennPAC since 2019, serving as Team Leader, Liaison, and Consultant on various projects while also participating on the Volunteer Relations Team. She also currently serves as the Volunteer Communications Lead.

Vighnesh is a Senior Product Manager at Bluecore. He has previously worked at IBM, Denali Therapeutics and Cornerstone Research. Vighnesh has been a Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader on PennPAC client engagements, and a member of the New York Volunteer Relations Team and New York Nonprofit Relations Team. He is also the Chair of PennPAC’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEIA) Task Force.

Arun has over a decade in the financial services industry and over 20 years as a national security professional in the U.S. Department of Defense and Intelligence and Special Operations communities with multiple overseas and combat zone tours. In addition to PennPAC, he serves on the board of No Greater Sacrifice (a former PennPAC client) and Outthinker, a growth strategy consulting firm. He is also a volunteer leader with Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization. Arun previously served as People’s Warden of Old Donation Episcopal Church while on Vestry, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center of Strategy and Security and led its project on Hybrid Warfare. He currently runs a Single Family Office and is a founder of a stealth international FinTech startup, while also completing his Doctor of Philosophy.

Alison began her career in investment banking, spending a decade in the real estate sector at Bear Stearns before transitioning into real estate development. She later lived in Moscow, Russia, for seven years with her husband and two children, during which time she undertook a range of independent consulting projects, primarily focused on strategic development and messaging. Since moving to Los Angeles, Alison has been actively engaged with PennPAC, joining in 2022, and serves on the advisory board of the Karsch Social Services Center. She is a 1999 graduate of the Wharton School, where she concentrated in Finance and minored in French.

Jackie is PennPAC’s founder and served as the organization’s Executive Director for its first dozen years. Jackie has 30 years of broad-based strategic planning, new program development, board leadership and mentorship, and project management experience in the nonprofit and healthcare fields.  She is currently creating a new social impact entity in the venture philanthropy space.

CJ is a seasoned executive for high growth companies; he is currently the CEO for Gorilla Commerce. Previously, he served as CFO for Rhone and CFO/COO for D1 Brands. In addition to his PennPAC activities, CJ is an active volunteer, having served as a mentor for Pace University, Pleasantville Cottage School and Good Shepherd Services.

David has been a PennPAC supporter and volunteer since 2012. After receiving his MBA from Wharton in 1982, he worked for JPMorgan, becoming a Managing Director in 1995. He worked in various capacities, most recently as a stock analyst. Since retiring from JPMorgan he has done independent financial advisory work and has pursued part time coursework at NYU in grant making and non-profit management.

Melinda is an active community volunteer with experience at many Bay Area organizations including San Francisco University High School, The Nueva School, SF Education Fund, SF Achievers and 10,000 Degrees. She previously worked as a management consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and in the financial services industry for SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. She has been involved with PennPAC since 2019, when she served as a Volunteer Consultant and subsequently joined the Volunteer Relations Team. Melinda studied History and French at Penn, and she holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Atish Davda is the co-founder and CEO of EquityZen, a leading marketplace for private company stock. He has been responsible for running the firm, designing and managing the leadership team, and product development since its inception a decade ago. Prior to EquityZen, Atish was Vice President Product at Ampush, a data-driven advertising technology company, where he launched the firm’s New York office. He began his career as a Research Analyst at AQR Capital Management, a pioneer in rigorous quantitative investing, where he worked on a small team responsible for portfolio management of their $4B Global Stock Selection strategy. Atish graduated summa cum laude from University of Pennsylvania with B.S.E. in Computer Science & Engineering and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, along with a minor in Mathematics.

Since 2018, Marcia has enthusiastically supported PennPAC. She has participated in eleven ImPACt events, initiated strategic alliances, conducted grant research, and continuously suggested organizational development ideas.

Marcia is retired from a 35 year diverse career as an executive and developer of a wide variety of  job search, entrepreneurship, career management, and leadership training programs, products, and services for new professionals and senior executives. Marcia has been a Lecturer in English at Hunter College, an Assistant Dean of Student Services at NYU’s Graduate School of Public Administration, an internal Management Education Consultant at Mobil Oil Corporation, and a Group Vice-President in charge of the Career and Change Management Practice Area at Drake Beam Morin. 

Marcia earned her Master’s in English from Penn. She has served on the Boards of the Wiener Education Center of the UJA and The Transition Network. 

Marcia’s Ph. D. in English is from the CUNY Graduate Center and her B.A. in English is from Boston University. She is the author of Put Your Degree to Work: A Career Planning and Job-Hunting Guide for the New Professional.

Meredith began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable W. Harold Albritton in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. She then joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP as a litigation associate working in both San Francisco and Philadelphia before moving to Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia. After practicing law, Meredith held various positions at Temple University’s Beasley School of law, including Director of Student Affairs and Director of Academic Success. She also co-developed and taught Temple Law’s third-year bar preparation course. Currently, Meredith teaches at Drexel University Kline School of Law and mentors students during their preparation for the bar exam after graduation.

Allen began his professional career managing a family packaging distribution business, which he sold in 1988. He then became regional CEO of Bunzl PLC, the acquiring company.

In 1991 he switched his focus to the nonprofit sector and became the CEO of Outward Bound USA until 1997 when he left to write and teach about the challenges of creating high performing nonprofit organizations and public school districts.

He joined the Harvard Business School (HBS) faculty in July 1998, with a concurrent appointment as a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE).

Allen was appointed a HBS Professor of Management Practice in July 2000 and taught in both MBA and executive education programs until he retired in 2021.

Allen has authored and co-authored numerous cases, articles and books including High Performance Nonprofit Organizations: Managing Upstream for Greater Impact; Managing School Districts for High Performance; and the Harvard Business Review article, Virtuous Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists.

Allen has served on and chaired nonprofit and for-profit boards, most recently, the Aspen Community Foundation.

He received a B.S. in corporate finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Sarah Jiang is a Portfolio Manager at CAIS Advisors, where she oversees investment selection, portfolio construction, and liquidity management.

She has 18 years of experience in portfolio management and risk oversight across public and private market strategies. Previously, Sarah was a Managing Director on Blackstone’s Credit and Insurance team, where she built risk and liquidity frameworks for private credit funds and developed multi-asset credit solutions for institutional and wealth clients. Earlier in her career, she was a Managing Director at AQR Capital Management, serving as a Portfolio Manager for liquid alternative strategies across private and registered funds.

Sarah graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, earning a B.S. in Economics and a B.S.E. in Computer Science. She has also published in the Journal of Portfolio Management.

Dr. Stefani Arzonetti Hite is a graduate of the American School in London, Tufts University, and the University of Pennsylvania. After a decade-long career as an award-winning art director in the marketing industry, Stef transitioned to the field of education, earning her MSEd and later her Ed.D. from Penn’s Educational Leadership program. Her doctoral research specialized in program implementation and the critical conditions necessary for the success of organizational change initiatives.

Stef’s extensive professional background includes teaching students of all ages, serving as a school administrator, and heading an international school in the United Kingdom. She is the founder and leader of the Tigris Foundation where she manages the organization’s operations and continues her specialized work in systemic redesign and professional learning. Additionally, Stef is a published author, co-writing Leading Collective Efficacy, which serves as a guide for leaders looking to build team capacity to address complex improvement needs.

Lauren has over 12 years of consulting experience in IT strategy, business strategy, and complex program management. She works with financial institutions to realign strategy and processes to meet the evolving regulatory and technology landscapes. Lauren has extensive experience in improving and optimizing front, middle, and back-office technology platforms, policies & procedures, data management/quality, and reporting capabilities. She has also led multi-market product launches, orchestrating go-to-market efforts across product, marketing, sales, technology, and servicing.

Prior, Lauren was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Diamond Management and Technology Consultants in the Financial Services practice.

Lauren served as PennPAC’s first Technology Chair.

Scott Millstein has worked in a variety of senior leadership roles in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years focusing on making New York a stronger, healthier, and more equitable city for all New Yorkers. Prior to joining iMentor, he served for 12 years as Executive Director of the Coro New York Leadership Center, New York City’s premier leadership training program and a community of 3,000 alumni across business, government, schools, and nonprofits that are shaping the city’s future. Before that, Scott worked for 10 years at Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victim assistance organization which helps more than 350,000 victims of crime and abuse each year. Scott served as Safe Horizon’s Chief of Staff, and then Chief Operating Officer, leading strategy and managing day-to-day agency operations. He also served as the organization’s Interim CEO in his final year. Early in his career, Scott worked for New York City government in staff roles at the Department of Homeless Services, the Parks Department, and the Mayor’s Office.

In his free time, Scott is an active volunteer mentor with iMentor and several other organizations including Braven, America Needs You, and The City Tutors.

Jennifer is the Founder and President of JAO Global Communications, a consultancy drawing on more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of luxury hospitality, media, and strategic communications.

Jennifer began her professional journey at NBC News before moving into the luxury hospitality sector, where she held senior roles at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and The Leading Hotels of the World. These experiences sharpened her expertise in brand positioning, executive communications, and global stakeholder engagement.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Communications, a combination that informs her instinct for both narrative and strategy.

Marc has been a supporter of PennPAC for more than 10 years and a
member of its Advisory Board since 2019. During his 35-year legal career,
mostly at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Marc advised clients on a wide variety of corporate and securities law matters, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions. Marc’s practice encompassed both domestic and cross-border transactions, as well as advice to boards of directors regarding fiduciary duties, corporate governance, shareholder engagement and strategic matters. Prior to beginning his law firm career, Marc clerked for the Honorable Ellsworth Van Graafeiland in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2 nd Circuit. Marc earned a B.S. degree from The Wharton School and received his J.D. degree from Columbia Law School. Since retiring, Marc has been focusing on environmental issues and, in 2023, completed a course on ESG (environmental, social and governance) through the Wharton Executive Education Program.

Michael Parker is an entrepreneur, former Big 4 practice leader, and trusted senior advisor. He is focused on unlocking investments that move the world forward and on helping organizations, colleagues, and communities succeed and flourish. Over the past 25 years, he has helped advance more than $100 billion of critical transportation and infrastructure initiatives and investment, pioneering ways to blend private capital, long-term partnerships, federal programs, and the capital markets.

Previously, Michael co-led and served as CEO of an infrastructure financial advisory firm acquired by Ernst & Young (EY). As a strategy and transactions partner and EY’s inaugural Americas Infrastructure Leader, he built a top-ranked practice and an inspired community of hundreds of professionals across disciplines. He also chaired the board of an EY SEC- and MSRB-regulated affiliate.

Michael has led pro bono work for clients such as the Philadelphia school district, the New York MTA, and the Partnership for New York City, assisted gubernatorial and mayoral transition committees, and is a long-time supporter of Workshop Learning, the non-profit behind Philadelphia’s innovative project-based public high school and a new post-secondary program for young adults. He advises executives, investors, civic organizations, and public officials on strategy, investment, growth, talent, and partnerships, and serves as a mentor to founders and emerging organizations.

Tony is an experienced educator, business executive, consultant and entrepreneur. He worked for many years for Unilever in Europe, serving as Chief Economist and Head of Corporate Strategy. His academic experience includes positions at London Business School and Columbia University, where he taught courses on Global Marketing, Competitive Strategy and the Management of Innovation. He has been a consultant to multiple Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, tech and consumer start-ups, and non-profits. Tony has served as a team leader or liaison on numerous PennPAC projects and is a member of PennPAC’s Nonprofit Selection Team.

Tamara Samman is the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at CMCS, a provider of project management software and services for capital projects across the MENA region. She leads company-wide strategy, operations, and market expansion, with a focus on digital transformation in construction for both real estate developers and government entities. Prior to CMCS, Tamara spent eight years at Cisco, where she led global Smart Cities, IoT, and Public Sector initiatives, driving sales strategy, operations, and analytics across high-growth verticals. She holds dual master’s degrees in Behavioral and Decision Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and Business Analytics from IE University in Spain, and brings a multidisciplinary approach to aligning data, strategy, and executive decision-making. Tamara also serves on the board of Amana Foods and is currently pursuing her Executive MBA at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.