Our Team is Transforming the Impact Investing Field
Join Our
Team
We’re expanding our team! If you’re interested in joining our team, please apply:
-Staff Accountant
-Director of Impact Investing Education Programs
To filter, select one category at a time. Unselect to filter by a different category.
Paulina Apone
Impact Investing Associate
Paulina Apone is BII’s Impact Investing Associate. Originally from Oregon, she brings knowledge and experience supporting BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs in realizing their ventures. Prior to BII, she lived in New Orleans, where she worked with an affordable housing nonprofit formerly known as the Tulane/Canal Neighborhood Development Corporation, now People’s Housing+. She also was a microentrepreneur financial advisor for Fund 17. Currently, her focus is on economic development for historically marginalized communities in the New England area and learning the local history and the effects it has on community development. Professionally, she strives to work with BII in community economic growth, using affordable and accessible real estate to mitigate displacement and supporting programs that emphasize environmental justice. Paulina holds an MBA from Brandeis’ Heller School for Social Policy and Management and a BA in English from Portland State University.
Angela Brown
Chief of Economic Development, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Angela Brown
Chief of Economic Development, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Angela Brown is the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) Chief of Economic Development and leads its work creating downtown and area plans for industrial, commercial, and mixed use for cities and towns throughout Metro Boston, assists municipalities with formulating economic developing strategies, and helps to address upstream and downstream factors and barriers to worker participation in the regional economy. At MAPC, she supports convening initiatives across government, private sector and community-based organizations around shared aims and promotes workforce development for low- and moderate-income job seekers, with particular emphasis on workers of color. Prior to joining MAPC, she spearheaded the economic inclusion and racial equity strategies for CFLeads, led the grantmaking portfolio of The Hyams Foundation, a private foundation delivering funding in greater Boston, directed the jobs and income program for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and served as a vice president for New York City Economic Development Corporation. She is a member of Boston Impact Initiative’s grants advisory committee and sits on Third Sector New England’s board of directors. She holds a B.A.in economics from University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Ellie Brown
Development Director
Ellie is a multifaceted professional with a diverse background spanning the nonprofit, fine art, communications, and education sectors. Notably, as the Executive Director of DESIGNxRI, she oversaw substantial growth and transformation, expanding the budget, diversifying fundraising sources, and enhancing existing programs. Her commitment to driving equity and inclusion is evident through her improvements in internal training, documentation, and community involvement. Earlier experiences as the Director of Development and Operations at the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island showcased her adeptness in grant writing, relationship building, marketing, and event planning, leading to remarkable achievements like developing Rhode Island’s inaugural Women’s Well-Being Index and significant budgetary growth.
In addition to these roles, Ellie heads POPsicle Consulting, where she has been pivotal in tailoring content and campaigns for diverse audiences. Her extensive 25-year tenure as a fine -art photographer and 17 years as a teaching artist has seen international exhibitions, accolades, and teaching engagements at prestigious institutions, including Rowan University, Ithaca College, Temple University, Moore College of Art, University of the Arts, and University of Ulsan in South Korea. Ellie’s unique amalgamation of experiences across various industries reflects the abundant knowledge and enthusiasm she brings to every project and role.
Rose Felix Cratsley
Founder, Ivy Child International
Rose Felix Cratsley is a well-being and equity specialist, innovator, investor, and founder of Ivy Child International, a nonprofit that broadens access to mindfulness and healing education programs for children, youth and communities. As an entirely BIPOC-led organization, Ivy Child centers social justice and equity, with a special focus on often overlooked populations. Rose is also Trustee of the Felix Family Foundation, which honors the life and legacy of her father, Professor Felix Mathew. The Foundation focuses on expanding pathways in education and racial justice, addressing inequities and creating opportunities for communities of color. Rose is a TEDx speaker on “Unlocking Children’s Potential Through Mindfulness.” Most recently, Rose was honored among the 2022 “Powerful Women Leading the Mindfulness Movement” by Mindful Magazine.
Eric Esteves
Philanthropist, Artist, Community Advocate
Eric Esteves is a connector, convener, philanthropist, artist and community advocate. His life mission is to connect people to resources and opportunities in order to transform their lives. Eric is the former Executive Director of the Lenny Zakim Fund and before that was the Director of the Social Innovation Fund at The Boston Foundation. He’s also worked for Root Cause, Harvard Business School, Lesley University, the Boston Impact Initiative and the Boston Public Schools. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in information systems from Northeastern University.
Nia K. Evans
Director, Boston Ujima Project
Nia K. Evans is the director of the Boston Ujima Project. Her educational background is in the areas of labor relations, education leadership, and policy. Her advocacy includes a focus on eliminating barriers between analysts and people with lived experiences as well as increasing acknowledgement of the value of diverse types of expertise in policy. She is a co-creator, along with artist Tomashi Jackson, of Frames Debate Project, a multimedia policy debate project that explores the intersection between drug policy, mental health services and incarceration in the state of Massachusetts.
Betty Francisco
CEO, Board. Investment Committee, Grants Advisory Council
Betty Francisco
CEO, Board. Investment Committee, Grants Advisory Council
Betty joined as CEO of BII in 2021. She is a business executive, impact investor and community leader with more than 24 years of experience. She is known as a powerful convener and changemaker. In 2022, Boston Magazine named Betty as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Boston and the Boston Business Journal named her as a 2020 Power 50 – Extraordinary Year Extraordinary People honoree. She is the co-founder of Amplify Latinx, a social venture that’s building Latino economic and political power in Massachusetts. Before joining BII, Betty was the General Counsel at Compass Working Capital where she oversaw its legal affairs, compliance, and risk management. She serves on the Boards of Directors of The Boston Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Beth Israel Lahey Health, and Roxbury Community College. Betty obtained her JD and MBA from Northeastern University, and BA in History from Bard College.
Deborah Frieze
BII Co-Founder
Deborah Frieze is a professor, author, entrepreneur and activist. She teaches impact investing at Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. In 2013, she founded the Boston Impact Initiative, an impact investing fund working to close the racial wealth divide and build a resilient and inclusive local economy in Massachusetts. Deborah is co-author (with Margaret Wheatley) of Walk Out Walk On, an award-winning book that profiles pioneering leaders who walked out of organizations failing to contribute to the common good—and walked on to build resilient communities. She is also founder of the Old Oak Dojo, an urban learning center in Boston, MA. Deborah has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Amherst College.
Michael Frieze
BII Co-Founder
Michael Frieze was the founding Vice President of Boston Impact Initiative Fund and continues to serve on the BII Investment Committee. He also serves on the Board Investment Committee of the Gordon Brothers Group, setting the strategic vision for the firm, where he has served in executive positions for over 40 years. During his tenure, the firm expanded from a retail liquidator to a full-service provider of strategic business and capital solutions to healthy and distressed companies alike. Michael exemplifies Gordon Brothers’ commitment to community service, having served in top leadership positions on many community and corporate boards. He has served on the philanthropic boards at the Dana Farber, Boston Children’s Hospital; Combined Jewish Philanthropies; Brandeis University, College Bound; JOIN for Justice; Impact-Israel; Shalom Hartman Institute; American Technion Society, and Our Generation Speaks. Michael received his BA from Bowdoin College and his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Chardae Golding
Executive Assistant
Chardae Golding joined BII as Executive Assistant and Office Manager in November 2023. With over 10 years of experience in administration management in the medical, nonprofit and education sectors, she has substantial expertise in high-level executive support and liaising between leadership, internal/external colleagues and external community organizations.
Most notably, as the Public Advocacy administrator at the ACLU she created and implemented organization-wide policy on speaking engagements for the general public. She is adept at assessing executive workflow, identifying and closing organizational gaps and promoting connectivity through team-building activities. As an architect of solutions and conduit of information, she ensures executives and colleagues are able to function at top productivity.
Prior to joining BII, she served as an Executive Assistant to the VP of Education Outreach and Social Entrepreneurship at Berklee College of Music. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from Trinity College.
Samalid Hogan
Field-Building Program Manager
Samalid Hogan is a Latina entrepreneur and has served in key roles building partnerships across public, private, and civic sectors. She was the Regional Director for the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) Network Western Regional Office and during her tenure, she co-founded the Western Mass Means Business collaboration, an alliance of small business technical assistance providers. Samalid is committed to serving her community and serves on several boards of directors including the Governor’s Latino Advisory Commission for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Board of Trustees of Springfield Technical Community College, and President-Elect for the Springfield Rotary Club. Samalid received a BA in Economics from UMass Amherst and an MBA from Bay Path University.
Ivy Jack
Investment Committee Member
Ivy Jack is a senior finance executive, thought leader and expert in sustainable investing. She is a Co-Founder and Senior Advisor of the Diverse Investing Collective. Prior to working with the Collective, Ivy was the Co-CIO for NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. and an Institutional Investor ranked analyst at Barclays Capital (formerly Lehman Brothers). She is a dynamic speaker, providing unique insights on our financial system, with a distinct perspective on what it means to invest and operate with a racial and gender lens. She is the treasurer of YW Boston, an organization that is a thought leader at the intersection of race and gender. She previously served on the Board of Governors for Harvard Business School Association of Boston and the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association. She has an MBA and MPA from Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government and graduated from Spelman College, where she was inducted into the inaugural class of Phi Beta Kappa.
