Senior Management

Marc Freedman, CEO and Founder
Marc Freedman is CEO and founder of Civic Ventures, a think tank on boomers, work and social purpose. He spearheaded creation of Experience Corps, now one of America’s largest nonprofit national service programs engaging people over 55, and The Purpose Prize, which annually provides five $100,000 prizes to social innovators in the second half of life.

Freedman was described by The New York Times as “the voice of aging baby boomers who are eschewing retirement for … meaningful and sustaining work later in life,” while The Wall Street Journal stated, “In the past decade, Mr. Freedman has emerged as a leading voice in discussions nationwide about the changing face of retirement.”

He is author of The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, published in April 2011, which The New York Times called “an imaginative work with the potential to affect our individual lives and our collective future.“

His earlier books include Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life (praised as "wonderful" and "highly recommended" by Library Journal); Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America (hailed by The New York Times as an "inspiring, informative, mind-opening book"); and The Kindness of Strangers: Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New Voluntarism (called "the definitive book on the [mentoring] movement" by The Los Angeles Times).

Recognized by Fast Company magazine in 2007, 2008 and 2009 as one of the nation’s leading social entrepreneurs, Freedman is widely published and quoted in the national media and has been honored with numerous awards and fellowships, including an Ashoka Senior Fellowship, the Maxwell A. Pollack Award of the Gerontological Society of America and membership in the Innovators Network of The Japan Society. The NonProfit Times named him one of the 50 most powerful and influential individuals in the nonprofit sector in 2010. Civic Ventures and Freedman received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University in April 2010.

A high honors graduate of Swarthmore College, Freedman has an M.B.A. from Yale University and was a Visiting Research Fellow of Kings College, University of London.

He lives with his wife and children in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Email: mfreedman@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7480

Jim Emerman, Executive Vice President
From 2005 to 2008, Jim Emerman was a Civic Ventures vice president, directing The Purpose Prize. For 17 years prior to joining Civic Ventures, Emerman worked at the American Society on Aging (ASA), the largest association of professionals working with and on behalf of older adults.

Most recently as ASA's Chief Operating Officer, he had primary responsibility for day-to-day operations and supervised all programmatic activities of the organization, including membership services and programs, publications, marketing, educational programs, special projects, administration, finance, human resources, operations and information systems. He also led ASA's efforts on issues ranging from older worker employment and corporate elder care to assistive and information technology, family caregiving, medication use and public policy, among many others.

Prior to ASA, Emerman held positions of increasing responsibility in the development office of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he was Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the time he left the university. He graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude with
a bachelor's degree in English literature.

Email: jemerman@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7487 

Marci Alboher, Vice President
One of the nation’s top experts on career issues and workplace trends, Marci Alboher offers encore career advice through her writing, speaking and media appearances. A former blogger and columnist for The New York Times, Alboher is the author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success. She wrote the blog Working the New Economy for Yahoo and has been a regular contributor to The Takeaway on public radio. Alboher is regularly called upon for commentary by national media outlets, including NBC’s Today and Nightly News, MSNBC, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, National Public Radio, More and USA Today. She is on the advisory boards of SheWrites.com, a site for women readers and writers, and The Op-Ed Project, which focuses on enlarging the pool of women experts accessing (and accessible to) key print and online forums. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the Washington College of Law at The American University.
Email: malboher@civicventures.org

David Bank, Vice President
David Bank deploys his journalistic and entrepreneurial skills to advance innovative ideas and connect people who are making a difference with encore careers. In his pre-encore career, Bank was a technology reporter for The Wall Street Journal and launched the paper’s philanthropy beat. His book, Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Future of Microsoft, was named one of the “Best Business Books of 2001” by the Harvard Business Review and Amazon.com. His magazine articles have appeared in Newsweek, Wired, Mother Jones, Ode and Out. Bank, who was a 1996 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, has a bachelor’s degree in politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Email: dbank@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7488

Doug Braley, Vice President, Director of Finance and Administration
Doug Braley has more than 26 years of experience in nonprofit management, accounting and human resources. Prior to joining Civic Ventures in 2002, he served for nine years as the Executive Director of the Horizons Foundation. During his tenure, he initiated collaborative grantmaking and philanthropic programs targeting LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) youth and elders in the San Francisco Bay Area. Work included managing the finances and human resources for Very Special Arts, an educational affiliate of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Braley has master’s degrees in arts management and business administration from the University of Maryland, College Park and San Francisco State University, respectively.

Email: dbraley@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7482

Judy Goggin, Vice President
Judy Goggin leads Civic Ventures’ Encore College Initiative, a program that encourages the nation’s colleges to create innovative pathways to encore careers in health care, education, social services and the environment. She led development of Civic Ventures’ Next Chapter™ concept, and is the co-author, with Meg Newhouse, of Life Planning for the Third Age: A Design Guide and Toolkit. Goggin has worked in the field of aging and lifelong learning for more than 30 years. Prior to joining Civic Ventures in 2001, she worked with Elderhostel (now Road Scholar) for 18 years where she served as Vice President for U.S. programs. She began her career in the field of continuing education where she was involved in the early development of external degrees and credit for prior learning at colleges in Oregon and Colorado. Goggin speaks, conducts workshops, advises national organizations and writes for publications in the areas of aging, higher education, civic engagement and encore careers. She is based in Boston.  

Email: jgoggin@civicventures.org 
Phone: (617) 800-9045

Michelle Hynes, Vice President
For nearly 20 years, Michelle Hynes has been a leader in efforts to increase children’s academic achievement, engage the public in improving public schools and create stronger communities. Her current work focuses on encore careers in education and youth development and national service as a pathway to encore careers. From 2003 to 2009, she managed the growth of Civic Ventures’ Experience Corps tutoring and mentoring program – doubling Experience Corps’ size, facilitating a major external evaluation of the program’s impact and spinning the program off as an independent national organization. Before joining Civic Ventures, Hynes was a consultant to several nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C., area. Earlier in her career, she directed a multimillion dollar, federally funded children’s literacy program at Reading Is Fundamental; designed an information clearinghouse and other member services for the Public Education Network; and managed several programs focused on connecting community organizations with local public schools. As a volunteer, Hynes has been involved with the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, DC VOICE’s Ready Schools Project, the In2Books pen pal program and an informal network of Washington voters interested in local school governance. She also serves on the advisory board for the Tranquil Space yoga studios. Hynes holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania.

Email: mhynes@civicventures.org
Phone: (202) 478-6167

Nancy Peterson, Vice President
Nancy Peterson works to advance encore career pathways through community programs and national service. Her work at Civic Ventures has also helped develop the Encore Fellows and community college programs and Experience Corps. For more than 30 years, Peterson has worked nationally, throughout California and in communities to increase social-purpose opportunities for people of all ages. Key projects include California’s Aging Opportunity, a statewide study sponsored by California’s state service commission; the California Initiative for National and Community Service of The James Irvine Foundation; startup and management of the Northern California Grantmakers National Service Task Force; and Public/Private Venture’s Urban Corps Expansion Project. During the 1980s, she was instrumental in helping to develop local youth service corps in California. Throughout her career, Peterson has worked with foundations, public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including the Ford Foundation, The Piton Foundation, the National Park Service, the Corporation for National and Community Service and California Conservation Corps. Before becoming involved in community service, she was a regional and environmental planner. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

Email: npeterson@civicventures.org 
Phone: (415) 383-6370

Phyllis Segal, Vice President
As Vice President of Civic Ventures, Phyllis Segal leads programs aimed at understanding and expanding encore careers as an important source of talent to meet society’s most pressing needs. These programs include: action-oriented research (including the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures papers on encore opportunities, the Encore Career Survey and the Survey of Nonprofit Employers); developing pathways and high-impact opportunities for encore careers in health care and other sectors; and promoting promising encore employer practices. This work builds upon Segal’s extensive experience in the nonprofit and public sectors – leading organizations, advocating for social justice, teaching and practicing law. She is a Trustee of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, a member of the Board of Overseers of The Heller School for Social Policy and Management and co-founder of the Eli J. Segal Citizen Leadership Program at Brandeis University. Last year, she served on President Obama’s transition team, preparing an agency review for the incoming administration. In her earlier career, Segal was the founding Legal Director of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and subsequently served as the fund’s President. She also served as Chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and as a trustee and consultant for other nonprofit organizations. In her prior public service, Segal was Chair of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and Deputy Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

Email: psegal@civicventures.org

Stefanie Weiss, Vice President, Director for Communications
For several years, Stefanie Weiss wrote a column called "MidLife" for The Washington Post’s Health section and contributed articles on education topics for the paper’s Sunday magazine. Prior to her current job, Weiss was communications director at Experience Corps, then a signature program of Civic Ventures. With her colleagues, Weiss helped to build Experience Corps and launch it as an independent nonprofit. Before joining Civic Ventures, Weiss worked as Communications Director for the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. She also worked for 16 years at the National Education Association (NEA) in the human and civil rights, publications and communications departments. In her last post at NEA, Weiss served as an editor of NEA Today, the organization’s flagship publication with a circulation of 2.5 million. While working for People for the American Way, Weiss co-authored a book, Protecting the Freedom to Learn. She also handled communications and public relations duties for the United Auto Workers, both in Detroit and during a groundbreaking organizing drive in Ithaca, N.Y. Weiss has a bachelor’s degree in English and American studies from Cornell University.

Email: sweiss@civicventures.org
Phone: (240) 863-2103

The Purpose Prize

Alexandra Céspedes Kent, Director
As a teen runaway, Alexandra Céspedes Kent decided she wanted to work for social change and has focused her career on identifying, training and investing in emerging social sector leaders. Previously, Kent designed and led leadership programs for people across the life span – urban teens, working professionals and retirees – at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. There, she oversaw part-time and contract programs, including the University of California, San Francisco Faculty Leadership Collaborative, an intensive program for 32 professors interested in enhancing their profiles and their effectiveness as campuswide leaders. She also served as Asset Services Manager at Juma Ventures, a social enterprise that owns businesses to employ low-income teens. At Juma, she introduced young people to money management strategies and financial products to help them achieve their long-term goals. Alexandra also implemented national demonstration projects to determine whether financial literacy seminars coupled with no-fee bank accounts would help low-income urban youth and their families. Kent has a bachelor’s degree in English from Amherst College and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Email: akent@civicventures.org 
Phone: (415) 222-7486

Aireen Cristobal Navarro, Program Associate
Aireen Cristobal Navarro has more than 11 years combined experience in client relations and staff management in the travel sector, international development research and small nonprofit operations. Before joining Civic Ventures, her love for adventure led her to specialize in travel consulting for luxury safaris to Africa, and inspired her to do volunteer work after witnessing health and education inequities first-hand during her journeys. Navarro has a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of the Philippines and helps facilitate annual mission trips to Cambodia to provide allied health care through the Well-Balanced World nonprofit founded by her husband.

Email: anavarro@civicventures.org 
Phone: (415) 222-7489

Encore Fellowships Network

Leslye Louie, National Director

Leslye Louie was a General Manager and Vice President at the Hewlett Packard Company. During her 20-year career, Louie held numerous senior sales, marketing, operations and finance positions in the high-tech industry in the United States and Europe. In 2009, Louie participated in the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows pilot, working at Partners in School Innovation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with low-income public schools to achieve educational equity through school-based reform. During her part-time, yearlong fellowship, Louie implemented a performance management system, revamped the human resources policies and practices and served as the group’s interim executive director during a leadership transition. Louie credits the fellowship with enabling her to make a successful transition from an extensive for-profit career to an encore career in the social sector. Louie is now working for Civic Ventures, directing its efforts to expand the fellows program nationally.

Email: llouie@encorefellowships.net

Lyle Hurst, Brand and Network Designer

Lyle Hurst was a General Manager and Vice President at the Hewlett Packard Company. During the 20 years he was at HP, he held numerous jobs in finance, marketing and strategy. After leaving HP in 2001, he split his time between strategy consulting and volunteer work. In 2009, Hurst became an Encore Fellow in the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program, which matches former corporate employees with local nonprofits. He spent his fellowship year at Partners in School Innovation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with low-income public schools to achieve educational equity through school-based reform. Hurst is now working to help Civic Ventures expand the fellows program nationally.

Email: lhurst@encorefellowships.net

Antoinette La Belle, Encore Fellowships East Coast Director/Senior Fellow

Antoinette La Belle worked in the corporate sector in the field of organizational development and human resource management for more than 30 years.  A managing director at Lehman Brothers, she left in 2008 to pursue her doctoral research at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University while continuing her active board work in the nonprofit sector.  Her original research assessed the professional and situational influences on nonprofit leaders and organizational effectiveness. Included in her research was a comparison of the transition experiences and behavioral repertoires of nonprofit leaders from the corporate sector with those from within the sector. La Belle is now working for Civic Ventures, helping to expand the fellows program on the east coast.

Email: tlabelle@encorefellowships.net

Gina Cassinelli, Community Partnerships Director/Senior Fellow
Gina Cassinelli worked at the Hewlett Packard Company for 26 years serving in several executive positions, including Vice President of Marketing for HP’s Technology Systems Group Enterprise Partners. She also held several senior management positions in HP’s business systems organization. Cassinelli became an Encore Fellow in the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program, which matches former corporate employees with local nonprofits. She spent her fellowship year at Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit that works with high-needs middle schools to expand the learning day. During her part-time, yearlong fellowship, Cassinelli created the organization’s five-year strategy and sustainability plan, assembled the marketing plan and served as the interim executive director. Cassinelli is now working to help Civic Ventures expand the fellows program nationally.

Email: gcassinelli@encorefellowships.net

Betsy Balassone, Encore Fellow
As a member of the Encore Fellowships Network team, Betsy Balassone's responsibilities include community outreach and partnering and process management. After receiving her bachelor's degree and MBA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Balassone held a variety of management, sales and finance positions at Wachovia National Bank, F. Hoffmann-La Roche and IBM. She worked and lived in France for several years. Balassone has served on the boards of several nonprofits, conducting national events, mentoring management and leading annual and capital fundraising campaigns.

Email: bbalassone@encorefellowships.net

Mike Gallagher, Encore Fellow
Mike Gallagher spent his career at the Hewlett Packard Company and Agilent Technologies in various management positions, mainly in marketing. Since retiring from Agilent in 2007, he has served as the Chairperson of the Los Altos Traffic Commission and as a member of the Sierra County Economic Development Committee. In 2010 Gallagher became an Encore Fellow in the Silicon Valley Encore Fellows program, which matches experienced, skilled former corporate employees with local nonprofits. He is working with Civic Ventures, investigating the possibility of extending the fellowship program into rural areas to assist county governments, small school districts and economic development organizations.

Email: mgallagher@encorefellowships.net

Encore Colleges Initiative

Diane Piktialis, Senior Fellow
Diane Piktialis is an expert on issues related to aging and the multigenerational work force. Piktialis has 35 years of experience in product development, product management and consulting for a wide range of organizations, including Marriott International, AstraZeneca and IBM. During the past decade, Piktialis’ work has included analyzing demographic and work force trends and the challenges they present for businesses and nonprofits. She has published widely, including in such journals as& Business and Health, the Journal of Aging & Social Policy and Human Resource Executive, and in research reports by The Conference Board. Piktialis holds a master’s and doctorate degree in sociology from Boston University. She is now consulting with Civic Ventures on its Encore Colleges Initiative.

Email: diane.piktialis@verizon.net

Cal J. Halvorsen, Program Associate
Cal J. Halvorsen works on education and employer programs. He graduated from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned a master’s degree in social work and researched in-depth policies and programs affecting older adults, especially in areas of civic engagement. Halvorsen was a graduate intern for The OASIS Institute, a national nonprofit that provides lifelong learning and volunteer opportunities for older adults, and he was an intern at the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international studies at the University of Iowa and studied in Dortmund, Germany, while an undergraduate student. A native Iowan, Halvorsen currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Email: chalvorsen@civicventures.org
Phone: (202) 642-5854

Communications

Stephen Anfield, Communications Associate
Throughout his career, Stephen Anfield has been drawn to serve. With City Year – which gives young people opportunities to tutor and mentor children – Anfield served as a team leader. After a stint as a media analyst for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he worked for the benefits arm of the AFL-CIO, Union Privilege. While there, he worked most closely with the American Federation of Teachers and the International Association of Fire Fighters, discussing benefits with members. He also planned the first Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship Mentoring program. In conjunction with HandsOn Network and AmeriCorps Alums, Anfield served as a regional director for the "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day" campaign to mobilize 1 million volunteers to serve their communities in 2010. He has consulted for the national nonprofit Family-to-Family, AARP and the AARP Foundation.  

Email: sanfield@civicventures.org 
Phone: (202) 465-3224

Michele Melendez, Associate Director for Communications
Michele Melendez brings to Civic Ventures 15 years of experience as a journalist and a deep belief that people should have the chance for meaningful, enriching work beyond their first careers. At the Washington, D.C., bureau of the Newhouse chain of 26 daily newspapers, she covered generational issues for eight years. As a national correspondent there, she illuminated stories of old and young, pop culture and politics, family relationships and personal journeys. She worked previously at The Plain Dealer, the daily newspaper in Cleveland, as a metro news reporter and later as a features writer concentrating on women’s issues. She has a print journalism degree from The American University in Washington. 

Email: mmelendez@civicventures.org 
Phone: (202) 465-3223

Sarah Maple, Web Designer

Focusing on intuitive interactive design, Sarah Maple integrates video, animation and imagery into engaging online experiences. Her previous experience includes interactive marketing, commercial investment and, with other nonprofits, design and direction in developing websites and web applications for a wide range of clients and audiences. Sarah holds a degree in design from Virginia Commonwealth University, with an emphasis on digital media.

Email: smaple@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7491

Finance and Administration

Marco Austin, Staff Accountant
Marco Austin manages employee payroll and benefits and other accounting functions within the finance department. He has more than 15 years of accounting experience in the fields of travel, technology, law and education and the nonprofit sector. Austin holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Phoenix and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Email: maustin@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7493

Richard Smith, Office Manager (San Francisco)
A graduate of San Jose State University, Richard Smith has served as an office manager for a number of public and private organizations during the past 15 years. Most recently, he worked at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. Smith teaches tap dance and is a former cast member of the Broadway production 42nd Street and the San Francisco production of Beach Blanket Babylon.

Email: rsmith@civicventures.org
Phone: (415) 222-7497

Senior Fellow

David Morse
David Morse has over 35 years experience leading public policymaking, advocacy, strategic communications and planning in the non-profit sector, philanthropy and government. He’s been a professional staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, director of the President’s Task Force on the Arts and Humanities, associate vice president for policy planning and director of federal relations for the University of Pennsylvania, director of public affairs for the Pew Charitable Trusts and, from 2001 to 2011, vice president for communications for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s 3rd largest private philanthropy.  David earned a B.A. with honors from Hamilton College and a master’s in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University.

Email: dmorse@civicventures.org

Senior Advisers

David Cohen

David Cohen is one of The Advocacy Institute’s two founders. He pioneered the institute’s work in its international capacity-building programs, for which he facilitated workshop and strategy sessions. He had a leadership role in the institute’s Leadership for a Changing World program. Advocates around the world have translated Cohen’s writings on advocacy, civil society and lobbying into many different languages. His writings have appeared as essays in college textbooks and in major U.S. newspapers. He has co-authored two books on advocacy and contributed essays on advocacy to books published by the Urban Institute, The World Bank and New York University. Cohen has been an advocate and strategist on many of the major social justice and political reform issues in the United States since the early 1960s. He played a leading role in the fight for Congress to end its support for the Vietnam War. From 1984 to 1992, he led the Professionals’ Coalition for Nuclear Arms Control to stop the U.S. nuclear arms buildup by supporting arms control agreements and reducing the military budget. He served as president of Common Cause, the largest voluntary membership organization in the United States working on government accountability issues.

Email: dcohen@civicventures.org
Phone: (202) 478-6192

Andy Goodman
Director of The Goodman Center, Andy Goodman is a nationally recognized author, speaker and consultant in the field of public interest communications. Along with Storytelling as Best Practice, he is author of Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes and Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes. He also publishes a monthly journal, free-range thinking, to share best practices in the field. Goodman is best known for his speeches and workshops on storytelling, presenting and strategic communications. He has been invited to speak at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and at major foundation and nonprofit conferences. In 2007, former Vice President Al Gore selected Goodman to train 1,000 volunteers who are currently helping Gore engage more Americans in the fight against global warming. In 2008, Andy co-founded The Goodman Center to offer online versions of his workshops and additional communications classes for nonprofits, foundations, government agencies and educational institutions worldwide. When not teaching, traveling or recovering from teaching and traveling, Goodman also serves on the advisory boards of VolunteerMatch and Great Nonprofits.

Email: andy@agoodmanonline.com

Alex Harris
Alex Harris is Professor of the Practice of Public Policy and Documentary Studies at Duke University and a co-founder of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. He is a distinguished photographer, editor and writer who, during the last 30 years, has focused on the American Southwest and, more broadly, on aging in America. In four books – The Old Ones of New Mexico, River of Traps: A Village Life, Red White Blue and God Bless You and Islands in Time – he has examined the world of the Ancianos, the elders in Hispanic communities in New Mexico. In the early 1990s, Harris began to look more broadly at issues of aging in America. He published Old and On Their Own with Robert Coles in 1998. He also worked with Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman to provide photographs for Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America in 2000, which led to a broader collaboration with Civic Ventures making photographs for six publications in the Innovations series. 

Email: aharris@acpub.duke.edu