Gary Alpert
Vice President of Business Development, Caring.com
Gary Alpert is an experienced entrepreneur and company builder, with over 20 years of general management, marketing, sales, venture fundraising, M&A, and business development experience, and is a founding board member of the MBA-Nonprofit Connection. Gary is on the executive team of Caring.com, the leading website and online community focused on the rapidly-growing eldercare market. Caring.com provides comprehensive and trusted information and services to the over 34 million members of the "sandwich generation" who are caring for aging parents and loved ones while also juggling families and careers, a market that will grow to over 50 million individuals in the U.S. alone in the next decade. Gary is responsible for Caring's extensive partnership and content licensing programs, working with organizations including MSN, Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, the Alzheimer's Association and others to expand their coverage of caregiving and eldercare content while driving new business opportunities. Prior to joining Caring, Gary was the CEO and co-founder of WetFeet, Inc., a leading provider of recruitment management services to corporations, universities, and job seekers worldwide, from its founding in 1994 until its acquisition by the global employer branding consultancy Universum in 2006. Gary earned an MBA and Certificate in Public Management from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a BA in Human Biology from Stanford University.
Samantha Barbee
Vice President, Finance, Administration and IT/Chief Financial Officer, International Youth Foundation
Samantha Barbee joined IYF in January 2001, serving as Director of Operations before becoming CFO in January 2004. Before coming to IYF, she worked as a senior associate at La Piana Associates, Inc., a firm specializing in strategic restructuring (a.k.a. mergers) for nonprofit organizations, and prior to that as Associate Director of the Nonprofit and Public Management Program and the Director of MBA Student Services at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Samantha grew up in Costa Rica and received her undergraduate degree in government at Georgetown University. Before moving to California to pursue an MBA from Haas, Samantha worked for a consulting firm that managed the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program of the United States Department of Justice. There she served as a Field Representative throughout Central and South America and the Caribbean, and as the Country Program Director in Bogota, Colombia.
Michael Blake
Vice President of Finance, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
Michael Blake oversees the $450 million investment portfolio of the Haas, Jr. Fund, a family foundation. He is a past president of the Foundation Financial Officers Group, a worldwide association of chief financial officers of large private foundations. Before joining the Haas, Jr. Fund, he worked as a consultant to the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, conducting a comprehensive survey of the capital needs of San Francisco nonprofit organizations. Before that, he served for three years as the Country Director for the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic. In the 1980s, Michael served as administrative director of the Hesperian Foundation, a nonprofit publisher of health manuals for the Third World. Before joining Hesperian, Michael was a Peace Corps teacher, leader and teacher-trainer for the organization’s teaching of English as a Foreign Language, as well as chairman of the National English Commission in Central Africa. Michael earned an MBA at U.C. Berkeley, with a concentration in nonprofit management, and a BA in Economics at Duke University.
Derek Brown
Executive Director, Peace Appeal Foundation
Derek Brown heads the Peace Appeal Foundation, which facilitates and supports peace processes with innovative tools and methodologies to achieve just and fair outcomes. The foundation’s work is presently focused in South Asia, where it provides ongoing assistance to peace initiatives and multi-stakeholder dialogues in Nepal and Sri Lanka. Prior to joining the Peace Appeal Foundation, Derek was Vice President and Associate Chair of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global institution investing in leading social entrepreneurs in over 50 countries. Derek holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and a BA in History from Yale College.
Retha Howard
Director, Finance & Accounting, Room to Read
Retha Howard oversees financial management at Room to Read, a nonprofit that partners with local communities in the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries and schools. Previously she was Director of Finance & Administration at Public Advocates, a nonprofit that defends and expands civil rights, and Chief Operating Officer for Girls Incorporated, a youth organization that provides educational programs to girls in underserved areas. Prior to working in the nonprofit sector, Retha worked in senior management roles both domestically and internationally with corporations such as GTE (currently Verizon), Time Warner and WorldCom. She also was a business management consultant with Mercer Management. She enjoys travel, performing arts and triathlons in her spare time. Retha received her MBA from The Wharton Business School in 1993 and a BA in Finance & Accounting from the University of Washington in 1987.
Maureen McNulty
Senior Director, Principal and Major Gifts, Harvard Medical School
Maureen leads a team that builds support for major Harvard Medical School initiatives. Previously she was a Senior Development Officer for the UC Davis Health System and a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. Earlier jobs include CEO of Coro Northern California, a leadership and community development organization, and Director of Marketing and Development at the Children's Health Council. At Stanford University she served as Associate Dean, External Relations at the School of Education and as Director of the Career Management Center at the Graduate School of Business. Before that she was Director of Career Services at Santa Clara University. Maureen holds a Master’s degree in Administration and Policy Analysis from the Stanford School of Education and a BA in Sociology from the University of California at Davis.