Executive Committee
Nancy Lukitsh
Board Chair
Retired Partner and Senior Vice President, Wellington Management Co., LLP
Nancy Lukitsh has been active in the investment management industry since 1993. She spent the majority of that time as senior vice president, partner, and director of marketing at Wellington Management Company, where she was responsible for the development and execution of the firm’s global marketing strategy. She currently serves as a trustee of the Columbia Atlantic (Mutual) Funds. Prior to joining Wellington Management, Lukitsh was a partner at McKinsey & Company, where she led their East Coast healthcare practice and also served a range of clients in the health insurance and financial services industries. Currently, Lukitsh serves as an Overseer for the Huntington Theater Company; and on two visiting committees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a graduate of MIT with a degree in Earth and planetary sciences and received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Mary Sue Milliken
Vice Chair
Chef/Owner Border Grill Restaurants and Border Grill Truck
A pioneer of world cuisine since the creation of City Café and CITY Restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1980s, Mary Sue Milliken is also a preeminent ambassador of modern Mexican cuisine at her Border Grill Restaurants and Truck in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Angeles International Airport, and the Huntington Library. After becoming the first female chef at Chicago’s Le Perroquet in the 1970s, she trained at a two Michelin-star, female-owned restaurant in Paris. She later joined a handful of progressive women chefs to found Women Chefs & Restaurateurs. Along with chef Susan Feniger, her business partner of more than 30 years, Milliken has authored five cookbooks, starred in nearly 400 episodes of Food Network’s Too Hot Tamales, hosted several popular food-centered radio shows, and won a James Beard award. In 2013 Milliken and Feniger were honored with the California Restaurant Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Milliken advanced to the finale on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, winning $40,000 for Share Our Strength, where she is a longtime board member. As one of three chefs on the James Beard Board of Trustees, she’s passionate about the role of chefs in our communities and chairs the Education Committee while also serving on the Impact Committee. A passionate food policy advocate, Milliken can often be found working alongside the L.A. Food Policy Council, PEW Charitable Trusts, OXFAM, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and other organizations that help to shape sustainable food systems. Spouse/partner Josh Schweitzer.
Steve Koch
Secretary
Co-Executive Chairman, Motivate International, Inc.
Steven Koch is managing partner of Bowline Group, LLLP, a family investment company. Previously he served as the Co-Executive Chairman and interim Chief Executive Officer of Motivate, and was Deputy Mayor of Chicago from 2012 to 2017.
Prior to that, Koch spent 27 years at Credit Suisse, where he both led and was the co-chairman of the global mergers and acquisitions business. Under his leadership, the M&A business had over 400 professionals and peak yearly revenues of $2.5 billion.
Koch currently sits on the boards of the Chicago Community Trust, the Joyce Foundation, mHUB, the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Navy Pier Inc., The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Naturally Chicago, The Southland Development Authority, The James Beard Foundation and the visiting committee of the University of Chicago Law School. He is co-managing partner of the mHUB Product Impact Fund, LP. He is also on the board of Fast Radius, Inc. (public), Local Coho inc. (private), and CohesionIB (private). He helped develop and teaches in the Directors’ Consortium, a training seminar for directors of public companies, sponsored by the University of Chicago and Stanford University.
Koch holds a BA from Hampshire College, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School. He was a Henry Luce Fellow and served as a law clerk for Judge Richard Cudahy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Koch has three grown children.
Trevor Guthrie
Co-Founder, Giant Spoon
Trevor Guthrie is co-founder of Giant Spoon, one of the fastest growing, full-service agencies in the industry. Through Trevor’s vision, the independent creative shop got its start by pairing unique media opportunities with highly creative work, like GE’s Fallonventions, which today is one of the longest-running and highest-rated paid segments on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He developed a partnership with the New York Times to introduce virtual reality to the masses, and is helping revive GE Podcast Theater by launching the eight-episode, science fiction podcast series “The Message,” which is now in its second season, entitled “LifeAfter.” In addition to leading Spotify, Cole Haan, and GE, Trevor heads the agency’s New York office. His work has helped Giant Spoon win numerous top industry awards. From AdAge A-List 2018 to two AdAge Small Agency awards in 2017, Adweek Media All-Stars 2016, MediaPost’s 2015 and 2014 Creative Agency of the Year, Adweek Media Plan of the Year and numerous Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, and others. A Boston University graduate, Trevor resides in New York. Spouse/partner Vanessa Guthrie.
Marva Smalls
Executive Vice President, Global Head of Inclusion Strategy, Paramount
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief of Staff, Nickelodeon
Marva Smalls reports directly to Paramount President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Bakish. Smalls works with company leadership to champion multiculturalism, inclusiveness and diversity worldwide through employee engagement and strategic partnerships. As Chief of Staff for Paramount’s Nickelodeon, Smalls partners with the President in directing financial resources, personnel and strategy. In her role as EVP of Public Affairs, she oversees all corporate social responsibility initiatives for Nickelodeon, including award-winning pro-social campaigns. Smalls is a founding board member of the Performing Arts Center in Florence, SC, and a Corporate Director of the National Bank of South Carolina (Synovus). She serves on the University of South Carolina’s Board of Visitors and the boards of the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York, The American Theatre Wing, where she is Vice-Chair, and the International African-American Museum, among others. Smalls holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of South Carolina, where she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities. Additionally, she founded the Marva Smalls Endowment, which has awarded more than $1.5 million to programs for youth and families, as well as a $1 million endowment for the Ronald McNair Center to support aerospace students from under-represented populations. She resides in New York and South Carolina.
Frederic M. Seegal
Chair Emeritus
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, and Cornell University, Fred Seegal has held a number of senior positions at investment banking firms, including president of Wasserstein Perella and co-head of domestic investment banking at Salomon Brothers. Seegal is a trustee of the New York City Center, the San Francisco Symphony, and Chairman of the Board of the Parrish Art Museum. He has been the president of the American Ballet Theatre and has served on the boards of the San Francisco Opera, the Neuberger Museum, and Southampton Hospital. Fred is presently the Vice Chairman of Investment Banking at Cowen and Company, LLC. Spouse/partner Robyn Seegal.
Board of Trustees
Michiel Bakker
VP of Global Workplace Programs for Real Estate & Workplace Services, Google
Michiel Bakker is the Vice President of Global Workplace Programs on Google’s Real Estate & Workplace Services (REWS) team. Bakker leads the company’s renowned workplace programs and services such as food, transportation, events, health and performance, helpful at home, and sustainability.
Bakker has spent over 30 years in the global hotel, services, and experience industry. Prior to Google, Bakker worked for 17 years in various leadership roles for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
From 2012 to 2017, Bakker led Google’s Food@Work program where he supported all food service-related activities and initiatives for Google’s global community. Bakker also developed internal and external partnerships to address the challenges and opportunities of the broader food systems.
Bakker is also the sponsor for multiple teams and initiatives within Google which focus on the intersection of food, health, sustainability, data and technology, including “Food for Good”, which guides Alphabet's commitments to food waste and reducing food insecurity.
Bakker contributes to the Food and Nature Board at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the EAT Forum Advisory Board, the Yale School of Management Center for Customer Insights' Advisory Board, and the Culinary Institute of America’s Menus of Change Business Leadership Council.
Bakker holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and three graduate degrees. He earned an MBA from the University of Bradford, a Master’s of Hospitality Administration from the University of Nevada, and a Master’s in Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver.
Jeff Cherry
Founder, CEO, and Executive Director, Conscious Venture Lab; Managing General Partner, Conscious Venture Partners, LLC; Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner, The Porter Group, LLC
Over the last 35 years, Jeff Cherry has built award-winning companies in engineering, design, strategic consulting, and investment management. He has been a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 executives, government agencies, and startups, with a focus on helping teams understand customers and build dynamic, high-performing organizational cultures. As the managing general partner of the Conscious Venture Fund, Jeff has helped launch more than 100 early-stage venture backed companies. He currently serves on the Compensation Committee of the McKean Defense Group board, a $100MM engineering services company, where he advises the company on organizational culture and technology trends. Jeff also sits on the board of Hungry Harvest, LLC, a food delivery startup where he recently assisted with the closing of their $13.7MM Series A financing.
Jeff has been honored as one of the top ten people in technology in Baltimore by the Baltimore Business Journal. In 2018, the Vatican awarded him the inaugural Laudato Si Challenge Impact award for entrepreneurs who are working to change the relationship between business and society. More recently, the tech journal Technical.ly named Jeff their 2020 Baltimore Impact Leader of the Year, and the Conscious Venture Lab accelerator, which he founded in 2013, was named one of the ten greatest social impact programs in the world in 2019.
Tricia Clarke-Stone
Co-founder, WP Narrative_
Tricia Clarke-Stone brings her decades-long experience at the intersection of marketing, branding, tech, media and entertainment to the branded content division of Will Packer Media. Under her leadership, and through a blend of creative strategy, innovation and cultural intelligence, the award-winning agency creates unique experiences and tells authentic stories that connect brands and consumers.
Ms. Clarke-Stone co-founded Narrative as an experiential communications agency that activates brands within subcultures in meaningful ways. She led campaigns for some of the world’s largest brands including Under Armour, Showtime, Samsung and JCPenney. Before that Ms. Clarke-Stone was President of Russell Simmons’ Global Grind, a viral news platform that curates online content for urban millennials. She started her career at Emmis Communications, launching the company’s first digital division and creating multilayered cross-platform campaigns for Puma, iTunes, Fox and EA Sports.
Baldwin Cunningham
Director of Media and Partnerships at State Farm
Baldwin Cunningham is the Director of Media and Partnerships at State Farm.
Prior to that, he was the VP, Client Sales Lead at Warner Brothers Discovery, where he was responsible for driving revenue across CPG, DTC, Finance and Insurance categories.
Cunningham was previously VP of Strategy at Brit + Co and before that, Founder & CEO of Partnered. Partnered was a digital network that helped traditional businesses innovate how they market & sell to customers by partnering with the world's most innovative startups. He helped over 200 leading brands from Coca-Cola to L'Oreal to Nestle meet the companies who are disrupting industries and transforming how business gets done, resulting in a Forbes 30 under 30 award in 2015. More recently, he was recognized with the 2019 Cynopsis Rising Star Award and was named to Bumble Biz’s list of Most Inspiring New Yorkers.
Cunningham is a graduate of Springfield College, Y Combinator, a tech incubator located in Silicon Valley and completed an executive leadership certificate at University of Virginia Darden Business School.
Elizabeth Falkner
Chef/Creative/Maker
Born in San Francisco, celebrated chef Elizabeth Falkner grew up in Los Angeles and worked her way up in San Francisco’s top kitchens before opening her first restaurant, Citizen Cake, in 1997. A decade later, she opened four more restaurants in San Francisco and New York. Today, she does recipe development and consults on numerous products and brands. She loves to teach about the importance of creativity in cooking, is an inspiring public speaker, and has cooked and spoken all over the United States, Asia, and Europe.
Falkner advocates for people and chefs to think more like athletes by “staying fit to cook.” Along with playing league soccer, studying sword fighting martial arts Jungshin and Iadō, Falkner also practices yoga and cross fit, plays tennis, runs half marathons, ran the NY Marathon in 2016, and regularly participates in ChefsCycle, a 300-mile cycling fundraiser for No Kid Hungry. Falkner has been both competitor and judge on many television cooking competitions, including Tournament of Champions, Iron Chef, Next Iron Chef, Top Chef Masters, and more. She is often featured in food and lifestyle magazines, has received multiple awards, and was nominated for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2005.
Deeply concerned for the restaurant industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Falkner is the host and co-producer of “Sorry We’re Closed,”
a feature documentary currently in post-production. The film offers an insider’s perspective on how the restaurant industry deals and evolves in crisis.
Michelle DiFebo Freeman
Owner and CEO of Carl M. Freeman Companies
Michelle DiFebo Freeman is the owner and chief executive officer of the Carl M. Freeman Companies, a real estate company established in 1947 that specializes in land acquisition, land planning, development and redevelopment, and the management of award-winning, amenity-rich residential communities, neighborhood shopping centers, and commercial properties. Freeman Companies also owns and operates two golf courses including, Bayside, an 18-hole, award-winning Jack Nicklaus Signature Course in Selbyville, DE.
Freeman is president and chairman of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, which has been giving grants to organizations where her employees live, work, and play since 1960. She is the founding chair of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, which honors her late husband Joshua Freeman by providing arts and arts education to create opportunities to elevate the human spirit. She was the visionary of the Foundation’s first program: The Freeman Arts Pavilion.
Freeman is a minority partner in Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns Capital One Arena, Stanley Cup Champions, the Washington Capitals, the Washington Wizards, and 2019 WNBA Champions, the Washington Mystics. Freeman is also an investor in the Washington Spirit Soccer Team. Freeman is proud to sit on the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. She was a founding member of WE Capital, a group of female investors that invest in women-led businesses and initiatives. Freeman currently serves as a trustee of the James Beard Foundation. She has co-produced four documentaries including the 2022 Don’t Make Me Over, the story of Dionne Warwick’s life and career. Freeman is most proud of her three children, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby Ella.
Melinda Hildebrand
Melinda “Mindy” Hildebrand currently serves as the vice chair of the Hildebrand Foundation and the vice president of Hilcorp Ventures, Inc. Hildebrand is the President and owner of River Oaks Donuts in Houston, Texas. Hildebrand also serves on the following boards or committees: University of St. Thomas, Houston, Board of Directors; MD Anderson, Board of Visitors; University of Texas at Austin, Development Board and McCombs Advisory Council; Bayou Bend and European Arts sub-committees, Museum Fine Arts Houston; Houston Parks Board, Trustee, appointed by Mayor Bill White; President of the Memorial Park Conservancy Endowment; Episcopal High School, Bellaire, TX, Executive Committee and Endowment Committee; Elected to the board of the Upper Snowmass Creek Caucus, Snowmass, CO; Life House Houston, Advisory Board; Trustee for the Center for Addiction, NYC; and Preservation Square, Board member, Austin, TX. Hildebrand has also volunteered for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, as a member of the International Committee for 30 years and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Houston. Hildebrand earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas, Austin and has been married to Jeffery D. Hildebrand for 29 years and has three children. She is an avid aficionado of good food and wine.
Tanya Holland
Chef/Author
Tanya Holland is the executive chef/owner of Brown Sugar Kitchen and is the author of the Brown Sugar Kitchen Cookbook and New Soul Cooking. She was the host and soul food expert on the television series Melting Pot and competed on the 15th season of Top Chef. Holland holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, and a Grande Diplôme from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine.
Holland has appeared on countless national television shows including the Today Show, Vh1′s Soul Cities, Sarah Moulton’s Cooking Live, Ready, Set, Cook!, The Wayne Brady Show, and The Great American Chef’s Tour on PBS. She has been a contributor to The Huffington Post, Food & Wine, Signature Bride, and Wine Enthusiast magazines, and has been featured in The New York Times, Gourmet, O Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Savoy, Travel & Leisure, and Sunset. Holland has served as the president of the prestigious Les Dames d’Escoffier San Francisco chapter.
As a chef, she trained in France with Michel Sarran at Le Mas Du Langoustier and with Jean-Michel Bouvier at Restaurant L’Essential in Chambery. After cooking in Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, and Brooklyn, Holland decided to move to California as the creative director at Le Théâtre in Berkeley, CA. This lead to the opening of the now famed soul food eatery, Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland CA. The City of Oakland declared June 5th, 2012 as Tanya Holland Day for her “Significant Role in Creating Community and Establishing Oakland as a Culinary Center.”
Andrew Levine
Andrew Levine is a litigation partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. He serves as a co-leader of the firm’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) group and co-head of its Latin America practice. Andrew regularly defends companies and individuals in criminal, civil, and regulatory enforcement matters and has conducted countless internal investigations throughout the world. He frequently advises leading global companies on compliance matters, including conducting risk assessments, enhancing compliance programs, and mitigating transactional risks. Andrew’s practice also encompasses complex litigation and other commercial disputes, often with an enforcement or investigative connection.
In recent years, Andrew has served with other Debevoise lawyers as pro bono legal counsel to the James Beard Foundation. Under the supervision of a special committee of the board, Andrew led a privileged review of the 2020 Awards, following their cancelation. He also helped support the Foundation’s audit of its Awards policies and procedures. More recently, Andrew has worked closely with the Foundation on matters relating to compliance with the Code of Ethics, including advising the Governance Committee on its oversight of the independent Ethics Committee’s work. Andrew and his family live in Scarsdale, New York.
Chris Lyons
Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Christopher Lyons is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he cofounded the firm’s Cultural Leadership Fund (CLF) in 2018 with the mission to connect the world’s cultural leaders to the best new technology companies and engage Black builders and creators on their journey towards excellence in the technology industry. More recently, Christopher is supporting the team’s newly launched Seed Fund. He joined a16z in 2013, first as chief of staff to co-founder Ben Horowitz.
Christopher started his career in the music industry working for Grammy Award-winning producer Jermaine Dupri as a sound engineer. He then launched his first startup, a mobile app and digital menu offering called PictureMenu, and moved to Silicon Valley in 2012 to participate in NewME, an accelerator for minority-led startups. Christopher is the founder of Italian wine brand Lyons Wine, and is on the advisory boards of The Black Economic Alliance and New Story Charity, as well as a member of the Verizon Media Global Advisory board. He earned a bachelor of science degree from Full Sail University, is a Kauffman Fellow graduate, and member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
Luis Marconi
Board Director, American Outdoor Brands
Luis is an accomplished Board Director and Fortune 500 C-Suite P&L leader with over 35 years of experience in the CPG Food & Beverage industry across the United States and Latin America.
As a Certified Director by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Luis currently serves as an Independent Board Director of American Outdoor Brands (Nasdaq: AOUT), a leading provider of products and accessories for outdoor enthusiasts. Prior to this role, he spent over 22 years with Hormel Foods, a $12 billion+ global branded food company with a presence in more than 75 countries worldwide. During his tenure at Hormel, Luis rose from a sales and marketing manager to lead the $3.5 billion+ grocery products division, the company's second largest. He held full profit and loss responsibility and provided overall leadership for the business. Luis also played a key role in developing the strategic rationale for M&A presented to the Hormel Foods Board of Directors. He led the successful acquisition and integration of several businesses, collectively valued at $4.7 billion. These included acquisitions such as WHOLLY GUACAMOLE®, SKIPPY® peanut butter (acquired from Unilever), JUSTIN’S® nut butters and confections, and PLANTERS® snack nuts (acquired from Kraft Heinz).
Luis was the founding president of MegaMex Foods, the $800 million+ joint venture between Hormel Foods and Herdez Del Fuerte Mexico. His brand-building expertise significantly contributed to the growth of legacy brands like SPAM®, which achieved eight consecutive years of record sales. He further expanded the portfolio by establishing new business platforms like nut butters and snack nuts and managed the Hormel Functional Nutrition Business Units. Luis also served on multiple boards within Hormel, including MegaMex Foods, Carapelli Olive Oils, and the Hormel Cargill Joint Venture in Central America. During his time in the international division of Hormel, Luis built the Hormel Foodservice Business in Mexico from the ground up and expanded the company's portfolio across retail and foodservice channels throughout Latin America. Prior to joining Hormel Foods, Luis held international marketing leadership roles at The Quaker Oats Company, including managing the flagship Quaker Oats® brand in the Andean region.
Luis holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Pontifical Xavierian University in Colombia and an MBA from Icesi University. He is also a graduate of the Executive MBA program at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Business. Luis is multilingual (English, Spanish, and Italian) and resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL with his wife Juliana.
Cindy McLoughlin
CPA, Partner, CohnReznick, LLP
Cindy McLoughlin is a partner with CohnReznick and the leader of the firm’s national hospitality industry practice which has over 100 individuals servicing over 500 hospitality clients. With more than 25 years of experience, McLoughlin has developed extensive expertise in providing audit and advisory services to mid- to large-sized companies. She is part of the capital markets group with a focus on private equity transactions and liquidity pre-IPO strategy for hospitality companies. She services clients predominantly in the restaurant space with an emphasis in fine dining, emerging brands, fast casual, and has an expertise in franchising. McLoughlin is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSCPA), the Institute of Management Accountants, and the International Franchise Association (IFA). McLoughlin received the Corporate Leader Award from Long Island Women’s Agenda, was named one of Long Island Business News’s “Top 40 under 40,” and one of Long Island’s Top 50 Most Influential Women in Business. Additionally, the Long Island Center for Business and Professional Women selected McLoughlin to receive their Achievers’ Award. McLoughlin is a board member of the American Heart Association, a board member for the Marty Lyons Foundation, and an advisory board member for Friends of Karen. She holds a B.S. from California State University. Spouse/partner Tom McLoughlin.
Jacob Monty
For over two decades, Jacob Monty has successfully practiced at the intersection of immigration, labor, and employment laws. A nationally recognized authority on issues facing employers with large Hispanic workforces, Monty has written not one, but two books on the topic and speaks regularly in English and Spanish on navigating labor and employment matters in industries with heightened immigration scrutiny. His clients include professional baseball teams, grocery store chains, single establishment and chain restaurants, and leading companies in the construction and facility maintenance fields. Monty has been interviewed by major media outlets such as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC regarding national immigration concerns.
Monty founded Monty & Ramirez LLP to offer an integrated approach to serving Hispanic workforces. He and his bilingual partners address all the critical aspects of employer advocacy, from immigration to union matters, workplace safety, and employment disputes. Monty’s practice extends nationwide; he has represented employers in courts and government investigations in California, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and throughout Texas.
Monty has held presidential and gubernatorial appointments to the University of Houston Board of Regents, the Texas Private Security Board, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, and the North American Development Bank. Monty is also active in civic and professional leadership. He serves as outside counsel for the Mexican Consulate in Houston and chairs the Center for Latino Jewish Relations.
Anthony Myint
Executive Director, Zero Foodprint and Co-Founder of Mission Street Food, Mission Chinese Food, The Perennial, and Commonwealth Restaurants
Anthony Myint is a chef turned climate crusader. He is the executive director at Zero Foodprint (ZFP), a 501(c)(3) organization leading collaborations with state agencies and regional governments to scale regenerative agriculture. In 2020, ZFP was the honoree of the James Beard Award’s Humanitarian of the Year category, which recognized their work with over 70 restaurants and businesses in the U.S. to change how food is grown to restore the climate. Anthony is also the co-founder of Mission Street Food, Mission Chinese Food, The Perennial, and Commonwealth restaurants. He is also the 2019 winner of the Basque Culinary World Prize.
Michael Phillips
Vice Chair Emeritus
President, Jamestown Properties
Michael Phillips is a principal and the president of Jamestown. Phillips is a driving force behind several nationally recognized adaptive reuse developments, including Chelsea Market in New York, Industry City in Brooklyn, and Ponce City Market in Atlanta. He is nationally recognized for his creative leadership and his ability to build distinctive urban communities. Phillips is the vice chair for the James Beard Foundation, and sits on the boards of Friends of the High Line and the Real Estate Board of New York. Spouse/partner Dominick Coyne
David W. Rivkin
Independent Arbitrator, Arbitration Chambers
David W. Rivkin is an independent arbitrator affiliated with Arbitration Chambers in New York, London, and Hong Kong. For more than 40 years, Mr. Rivkin practiced private and public international law at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he served as Co-Chair of its International Dispute Resolution Group for more than 20 years and was a founder of its Business Integrity/ESG Group. He now serves as a full-time arbitrator and mediator, focusing on complex international commercial arbitrations and investor-state disputes.
Chambers Global 2022 identified him as one of the top 10 arbitration practitioners worldwide. In 2012, the American Lawyer’s AmLaw Litigation Daily named Rivkin one of two “Global Lawyers of the Year.” In 2011, the National Law Journal named him one of the country’s “Most Influential Attorneys.” In 2015-16, Mr. Rivkin served as President of the International Bar Association—he was the first American to serve in that position in 25 years. Rivkin serves on the Council of the American Law Institute, for which he is also an adviser to several of its Restatements, and he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. The U.S. State and Commerce Departments appointed him to be a founding member of the NAFTA Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes, and he has been appointed to other government committees. Rivkin is Co-Chair of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and a member of the International Council for Arbitration in Sport, for which he served as an arbitrator at the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. Rivkin graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in history and received a J.D. from Yale in 1980. Spouse/partner Marilyn A. Rivkin.
Allison Rose
Allison Rose is a venture capitalist in the culinary world, having financially backed and championed some of the West Coast's most celebrated restaurants and culinary innovations of the past decade.
Allison’s portfolio includes some of the Bay Area’s and Hawaii’s most innovative restaurants and culinary enterprises, including Birdsong, Protégé, Selby’s, Bar Crenn, Che Fico, Merriman’s, Casa Dragones, Good Eggs and Goodles. She is dedicated to providing talented entrepreneurs with the support they need to succeed, including financial backing and networking as well as intangibles such as moral support and advice.
Allison has been passionate about food and cooking since she was young, hosting a dinner party for 20 family members on her thirteenth birthday. She and her husband Dan now split their time between Hawaii’s Big Island and the Bay Area.
Philanthropy and community are some of her top priorities. She has served on the board of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, FoodCorps of America, Kukio Golf and Beach Club, and Aloha Hui Kiholo with The Nature Conservancy partnership.
Herb Scannell
President and CEO of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR)
Herb Scannell is president and CEO of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media organization that includes 89.3 KPCC, LAist.com, and its podcast studio LAist Studios. Before SCPR, Herb had a successful and diversified career within the media industry, from being the CEO of mitú, the top digital media brand for Latino millennials; to serving as the president of BBC Worldwide, North America; to culminating in the position of vice chairman MTV Networks/President Nickelodeon Networks, where he launched Nick favorites Spongebob Squarepants, Blues Clues, and Dora the Explorer, among others.
Herb has been active in the nonprofit sector since 2000, when he joined the board of New York Public Radio, serving as chairman of the board from 2009-2012. Additionally, he has been a longstanding board member of Ballet Hispánico and the Latino Donor Collaborative. Herb is a graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts. Married to Sarah Reetz, he is a parent to two wonderful young women.
Kim Williams
Kim Williams is currently a director of Xcel Energy, EW Scripps, and Weyerhaeuser Company. Previously, Ms. Williams worked at Wellington Management Company LLP., Boston, from 1985 until her retirement in 2005 and was elected partner in 1995. She developed her career in investment management as a fundamental industry equity analyst, but prior to her retirement, she worked with the Director of Research in the management of 45 Global Industry Analysts who comprised the Global Research Department. Before joining Wellington Management Company LLP, she held leadership positions at Loomis, Sayles & Co., Inc., Boston, and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Pension Fund, London.
Ms. Williams holds a Master of Science degree in economics from the University of London and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and French from Kingston Polytechnic, London.Ms. Williams is a life trustee of Concord Academy, a member of the Women’s Health Advisory Council at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and is a member of the board of Oxfam America.
Ms. Williams is a member of the Boston chapter of WomenCorporate Directors and the Women Energy Directors Network. She is a member of the CFA Institute and holds the designation Associate of the Society of Investment Professionals (U.K.) Ms Williams, is married with 3 adult children and lives with her husband, Trevor Miller in Newbury, Massachusetts.
Rodney Williams
President, Diageo Beer Company and President, Diageo Canada
Rodney Williams leads the iconic Guinness Beer business in North America as well Diageo’s industry-leading spirits portfolio in Canada. Before joining Diageo in 2022, Rodney spent 11 years at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, where he most recently served as the global president and CEO of Belvedere Vodka. Under his leadership, Poland-based Belvedere was the first distillery to win a green energy grant from the European Commission, achieved carbon neutral operations, and was named Positive Luxury’s Innovative Producer of the Year in 2021. Prior to Belvedere, he was the chief marketing officer for Moët Hennessy USA’s storied portfolio of luxury champagne, wine, and spirit brands. Rodney’s tenure at Moët Hennessy began as senior vice president for Hennessy, where his team led the brand out of four years of no growth to record sales and earnings.
Previously, Rodney served as senior vice president of classics brands at Jackson Family Wines, and senior vice president at Robert Mondavi before and after it was acquired by Constellation Brands. He began his career at Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. Rodney serves as a strategic advisor to Zitti, Reach TV, and CKBG, and is a member of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures and the Executive Leadership Council. He earned a bachelor of arts from Amherst College and a masters of business administration from the Kellogg School, Northwestern University.
Emeritus
Peter B. Cameron
Jill A. Greenthal
Peter Kump
Founding President (1986-1995)