We are thrilled to welcome four new members to SV2’s Board of Directors: Bill Brownell, Aarti Chandna, Elaine MacDonald, and Manny Smith. As part of our Strategic Plan’s emphasis on equity and power sharing, in the past two years, we have added four Board members who are current or former SV2 Grantee Partners. We now add an Impact Investee Partner as a Board member for the first time – Manny Smith is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly, an edtech company which received an investment from SV2 this past year. We are delighted to welcome Bill, Aarti, Elaine, and Manny to the SV2 Board.
We are also deeply grateful for the many contributions of outgoing Board members David Dill, Alison Elliott, and Nancy Heinen. David served on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group and the Finance Committee, as well as participating in impact investing and serving as a Partner Champion for two Impact Investees. Alison has led many Grant Rounds and served as a member of the Finance Committee. She also chaired the Board during a growth season for SV2 as we developed our current Strategic Plan. Nancy also formerly chaired the SV2 Board and more recently has chaired the Grantmaking and Impact Investment Review Committee (GIIRC). She has been a core Partner leader in our impact investing practice, serving on the Investment Committee and as Partner Champion to multiple Impact Investees.
We appreciate all of these stellar leaders, and all they have given to the SV2 community during their time on the Board. And welcome to our newest Board members – please read more about them below!
Bill Brownell
Bill is an accomplished business leader with a strong track record in driving growth and transforming organizations. He is also a community leader with a passion for unleashing philanthropy and impact capital to solve social problems. Bill is currently on the Board of Schwab Charitable, which manages $30B in charitable assets and facilitates $6B in giving per year. He is also a Partner and Investment Committee Member at SV2, which invests in San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profits and social enterprises. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board of the Stanford GSB ACT Program. He previously served on Boards at Social Venture Partners International, Pasturemap Inc., and the Nature Conservancy. In his business career, Bill was Chief Strategy Officer at Hewlett Packard and Senior Vice President at Cisco Systems, where he led strategy, marketing and business development functions over time on a global basis. He was also a senior partner at The Boston Consulting Group in San Francisco. Bill holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, an MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a BA with Honors from Stanford University.
Aarti Chandna
Aarti is an impact/angel investor working with early-stage ventures. Given her deep passion for social change and empowerment, Aarti mentors social entrepreneurs and invests in innovative companies driving social change. She serves on the Investment Committee at SV2, where she is a Partner and has served on the Board in the past. She is also on the leadership team for MIT Solve’s Innovation Future Fund, an Investment Advisor and LP at Symphonic Capital (VC Fund), an LP at Black Opal Ventures, and Impact First. She serves on the board of Trustees at Case Western Reserve University. She is on the board of directors at Shine Together and recently stepped off the board at Peninsula Bridge. She is on the advisory board at the Center for Asian Health and Research at Stanford Medical School and the Miller Center – Santa Clara University. She mentors at Stanford Emergence and Stanford GSB Startup Garage. Aarti previously held executive positions in information technology and led global IT teams. Organizations she has worked at include Oracle, Hitachi, Coherent, Autodesk, and Nikon. Aarti holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Bombay University and an M.S. in Computer Science from Case Western Reserve University.
Elaine MacDonald
Elaine Lum MacDonald is committed to harnessing the talents of the private sector to empower social enterprises to accelerate their positive societal and environmental impact. Elaine was the former CEO of Knowledge Impact NetworkTM (KIN), a network of passionate leaders sharing knowledge for social good. In this role, she inspired leaders to leverage their skills, insights, and connections to accelerate progress on the world’s most urgent issues. She currently serves on its Board. Prior to her role at KIN, Elaine was the Executive Director of Harvard Business School Community Partners of Northern California, where she motivated Harvard Business School alumni to leverage their business management talents to support nonprofits driving positive social change. Before her pivot to advance the social impact sector at large, Elaine founded a strategic marketing consultancy, was a Marketing Leader at the Clorox Company, and was a global management consultant for The Monitor Group. Elaine received her A.B. from Harvard College and MBA from Harvard Business School. Beyond the KIN Board, she currently serves on the Harvard Business School Alumni Board. She is also a partner at SV2, served on the Evaluation Panel of Yield Giving’s Open Call, and is an advisor/board member of nonprofits. Elaine speaks at events, conferences, and podcasts about the power of applying business acumen to social issues. Originally from New York, she now resides in California and is the mother of three daughters.
Manny Smith
Manny Smith is the Founder and CEO of EdVisorly. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy as a first-generation college student and served as a technical product manager in the US Air Force, developing satellite systems and software. Influenced by his experiences, Manny pursued an MBA at UC Berkeley where he founded EdVisorly, a platform to uplift community college freshman and sophomores with clear and accessible pathways to complete their bachelor’s degree at 4-year universities. In addition, Manny serves as a Major in the United States Air Force reserves, supporting high potential students in pursuing their dream of attending the US Air Force Academy.
Join us in welcoming these terrific new Board members!