Bill Burgess
Bill is the Managing General Partner at ABS Ventures. Prior to ABS Ventures, Bill was a senior executive for Deutsche Bank and Alex Brown & Sons. From 1998-2001, he managed the integration of Bankers Trust and Alex Brown Corporate Finance. Mr. Burgess began his career in 1981 with Morgan Stanley.
Currently, Bill is the chairman of trustees for the New England Aquarium where he led a $43 million capital campaign to help revive and rebuild the institution. He also serves on the board of trustees for St. Mark’s School and Dartmouth College. Mr. Burgess received his BA from Dartmouth College and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Whitney Hatch
Whitney currently serves as Director of Program Initiatives at The John Merck Fund. Whitney worked from 1998 until 2011 at the Trust for Public Land, most recently for two years as Director of Southern New England and Director of Corporate Relations. During the prior 10 years Whitney served as Regional Director to the six-state New England region.
Before joining TPL, Whitney served for fifteen years at GTE Corporation in various capacities. For most of his GTE career he served as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Whitney was a founding board member of the School for Field Studies, and has served as Chairman of the American Rivers and Management Assistance Group boards. He has been reappointed by Governor Deval Patrick to a second, seven-year term on the Stewardship Council of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, where he serves as the Finance Committee Chair. He also serves on the Board of Overseers of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and on the Board of the Merck Family Fund.
Ruth Hennig
Ruth is the executive director of The John Merck Fund, which she joined as the foundation’s first staff member in 1988, the year that climate change began to get sustained media attention. In addition to management responsibilities, she functions as the director of the Environment Program. Prior to joining the foundation, Ruth was on the Conservation Law Foundation’s senior staff. Ruth chairs the board of SmartPower, which is attempting to build markets for clean energy across the country, and was a founding advisory committee member of the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. She was instrumental in creating both organizations.
Arnold Hiatt
Arnold served as Chairman of The Stride Rite Charitable Foundation. He joined Stride Rite in 1967 and became president of the company in 1968. Mr. Hiatt pioneered socially conscious methods such as opening a day-care center for employees and community members at the company’s manufacturing plant in 1971. Stride Rite provides scholarships for inner-city youth to attend Harvard University each year. He has also served as Director of Dreyfus Strategic Municipals Inc. since November 7, 2006. Mr. Hiatt served as Director of Strategic Funds, Inc. since 2006, as well as the Director of 15 Dreyfus funds in fund complex. Mr. Hiatt has been a long-time critic of money in politics and advocated campaign finance reform to President Bill Clinton in 1996. Arnold Hiatt currently serves as a Director of the John Merck Fund.
Julie Kohler
Julie is the EVP of Democracy Alliance. Julie has over a decade of experience in philanthropy, with deep expertise in civic engagement, state infrastructure, policy/advocacy, and social innovation grantmaking. Prior to joining the Alliance, Julie served as Director for Education & Civic Engagement at Public Interest Projects, where she managed four funding collaboratives designed to promote stronger participatory democracy and more equitable public schools. She also directed the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s National Venture Fund, which invested $13 million annually in civic engagement and social venture projects, and taught at the University of Maryland. Julie holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in family social science from the University of Minnesota.
Mike Peabody
Mr. Peabody is President of Peabody Corporation, a Washington, D.C. real estate development corporation he established in 1975. In 1995, Mike established Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) that serves as the principal advocate for the public charter school movement in the District of Columbia. FOCUS helped pass the D.C. Educational Reform Act in 1996, which set up the D.C. Public Charter School program. He was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Equal Opportunity at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1969-1973) where he pioneered the development of the Housing Allowance Program. He served from 1962-1968 as the Secretary of the Mayor’s Committee of Minority Housing for the Boston Renewal Authority and as the civil rights advisor to the Governor of Massachusetts. During that time he ran for Congress as a Republican, losing in a close race. Mr. Peabody graduated from Harvard College in 1950 and from Harvard Business School in 1952.
Vincent Ryan
Vincent is the President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of Schooner Capital LLC. He co-founded the firm in 1971. Prior to November 1995, Mr. Ryan served as the Chairman at Iron Mountain’s Board. He is also a Founder at National Hydro and Arch Mobile Communications. Mr. Ryan has been one of Iron Mountain Incorporated’s Directors since prior to 1990. He is a former Director of Continental Cablevision, where Mr. Ryan invested and served on the board.
Ian Simmons
Ian initiates projects that improve democracy and is an impact investor. Ian is president of Foundation for Civic Leadership, a non-profit that incubates public service projects. Ian was the silent partner in co-founding and seed-funding ActBlue, which makes it easier for citizens to create political change. Together with his wife, Liesel, he founded the Blue Haven Initiative to accelerate the social impact of their investing. Ian graduated with honors from Harvard College in 2000.
