The core team of Criterion Ventures is responsible for moving forward projects, and engaging the breadth of our network, its creative resources and reach.

Note: Like most professionals, we have several ways to tell our story. If you are looking for a formal or more specific bio on any of us, just ask.

• Holds a political science degree at Wesleyan University.
• Taught high school at James Madison High School in Brooklyn, NY from 1989-1997. She went to understand how power works in a large system and stayed for eight years because of the kids and their daily triumphs.
• Designed and managed million dollar federally funded programs for the school and the district in both educational technology and English as a Second Language.
• Played leadership roles in the United Federation of Teachers, working closely with union President Sandra Feldman on retention strategies for new teachers.
• Completed her Ph.D. in American History from New York University, in 2001. Her dissertation examined prison reform in the 1830's and how individuals and organizations claim expertise to shape public institutions.
• Worked for Growth Design, a national consulting firm that did fundraising and strategic planning for large nonprofit systems. Her first client, in 1997, was the United Methodist Church General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits, a client she worked with for a decade as strategic counsel.
• Founded Criterion in 2001 and evolved the firm from a general contracting consulting firm that did a range strategic work with nonprofits to a firm that invests time and talent in a few focused social ventures.
• Founded in 2006, with Tim Freundlich and Kevin Jones, Good Capital, an asset management firm seeking to move capital to good.
• Lives with her husband and daughter in a Connecticut apple orchard, and can be found in the fall pressing cider and boiling apple syrup.
• Chairs the local Historical Society board and, with her husband, is actively involved in restoring a 19th century jail.

• Holds a degree in Mathematics from Calvin College, Grand Rapids Michigan.
• Began her career at the Congressional Budget Office of the US Congress providing analytical support (programming mainframe computers!) for policy debates from welfare reform to education, housing to healthcare. This provided "political science 101" and sharpened a commitment for being involved with organizations that actually were making a difference (not to say anything negative about Congress…).
• Used this policy foundation to enhance and lobby for funding for programs at Focus HOPE, a Detroit education and community development non-profit.
• Received an MBA from The University of Michigan, and was at the founding meeting of Students for Responsible Business (now Net Impact).
• Fell in love with organizational change - and spent four years at CSC Index, leading consulting teams delivering strategic marketing, process and organizational planning counsel to Fortune 500 companies.
• Left to join the start up team of iBasis, now a $1B internet telecommunications firm. As Vice President of Business Development, she forged early relationships with Cisco, HP and other technology leaders.
• Co-founded WORK IN PROGRESS, a social enterprise enabling under privileged youth to develop the social networking skills required for finding internships and developing careers.
• Serves as Member of the Board of Trustees for Calvin College, as mentor for Women Unlimited, and on various committees at Trinity Church, Copley Square.
• Lives with her husband and adorable two year old son in Somerville, MA.
  

• Holds degrees from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude, and SUNY Albany (B.A. summa cum laude) where he studied Political Science.
• Conceived of and Co-founded Pride Diamonds, LLC, a socially responsible diamond mining company operating in Sierra Leone. He sold Pride in the spring of 2007 and now sits on the Board of Directors of the acquiring company.
• Spent five years working with Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, and a team of activists setting up Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities and TrueMajority.org.
• Promoted open and accessible government, worked to counteract corruption in politics, and sought to strenghten our democracy in his work as Executive Director of Common Cause's New York State chapter.
• Was once listed in the NY Daily News as one of the "100 Rising Stars in New York City."
• Owns a portfolio of residential real estate that he rents to non-profits for use as foster homes, transitional housing for addicts, etc.
• Moved to New York City "for a year or two" in 1993. He still lives there with his wife and two children.
  

• Spent the last twelve years as Chief of Stuff to Ben Cohen at Ben & Jerry’s, helping bring to life the creative vision of that iconic social entrepreneur.
• Prior to that, Duane served the thought-leader Tom Hayden for six years -- as Chief of Staff in his California Assembly office, campaign manager in his race for California Senate and California Governor, and as staff director to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources.
• Preceded that with a more buttoned-down eight years in the California Department of Justice as Press Secretary to the progressive California Attorney General John Van de Kamp, whom Duane helped to elect.
• Worked professionally on 17 electoral campaigns, at local, state and national levels.
• Donned a uniform and served nine years as an LAPD Police Officer, patrolling Watts on weekends to protect and serve on the street while holding down policy-shaping jobs during the week.  Also worked as an ambulance medic in Los Angeles to explore urban sociology and earn money for college.
• Targeted as a “doer” by community groups, so currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of VPIRG, Board Member of USAction (into which he merged TrueMajority.org), Sunday school teacher at the local Universalist-Unitarian Society and Assistant Scoutmaster. (Vermont’s Boy Scout Council bucks the national edict by ignoring the sexual orientation of our scouts and adult leaders.)
• Graduated from Dartmouth College, with a major in government and minor in economics.
• Lives outside Burlington, Vermont with his wife of 18 years Laura (who focuses on growing Fair Trade and organic markets at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters), their rambunctious 15 and 12-year old boys, and a small menagerie of pets led by Sarah the Sled Dog.
• Channels his remaining energy by happily skiing, surfing, backpacking, paddling, biking and running.

• Today functions as consultant, catalyst and curator, helping groups create success in healthier ways.
• Plays a mean game of tennis.
• Completed a doctorate from Southern Methodist University in psychology, publishing in top peer-reviewed journals; and just twenty years earlier, obtained a bachelor’s at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in international relations and economic development.
• Is a health psychologist by training, a paradigm-shifter by practice, enabling families, foundations and family wealth structures to connect with the visionaries who can help them create a more positive future for themselves and their communities.
• Early work in health psychology revealed massive waste associated with the biomedical viewpoint, which spurred her to examine more carefully human biases that diminish social value.
• Worked for eight years as a consultant and thought leader in defining holistic wealth and wealth structures, advocating a more human perspective on value. Served affluent individuals and their institutions through important change processes.
• Has employed everything from video to finger puppets to illustrate interpersonal challenges like silos, hierarchies, and ghosts from the past.
• Lives in the Hudson Valley of New York, communing with nature when not communing with the world wide web.
• Periodically returns to her native Texas for ranching and parties.
• Is a sucker for fresh food and indie films.

• Holds degrees from the School of Public Health at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and Colgate University where she studied Political Science.
• Began her career in fourth grade delivering the Boston Globe in her neighborhood and quickly evolved her role into community organizer by slipping her opinions, notes and other ideas under the newspaper’s rubber band.
• Through various engagements and capacities has consulted on public health, poverty alleviation and development initiatives all over the world.
• Outside of work, Katie assists the Kenyan Ministry of Health in setting up their national emergency medical system and supporting an orphan sponsorship program with the Society for Hospital and Resource Exchange (SHARE).
• Lived in 7 states and 3 countries, but has found her home in San Francisco, CA.  She enjoys the Bay Area on a daily basis through biking, running, swimming, skiing, hiking and wine tasting. 

• Elizabeth served as the director of conservation for Chicago Wilderness, which is a consortium of more than 200 non-profits, for-profits, and governmental agencies working together to conserve biodiversity. In this role, she managed daily operations, guided diverse projects, led an overall strategic planning process, and generally “herded cats”.
• In a previous position with Chicago Wilderness, she worked with a team to design a process to assess the status of, the threats to, and the conservation goals for the species and natural communities of the greater Chicago region. The two plus year process resulted in a recovery plan for biodiversity.
• Earning a BS from Yale University and a MS from the University of Maryland, Elizabeth spent the first part of her academic career focusing on ecology and conservation biology. For her PhD which she received from the University of Michigan, she focused on collaboration, organizational behavior, and how to actually implement the conservation principles she had studied previously.
• In her first “real” job, Elizabeth helped to coordinate IUCN’s Species Survival Commission, a global network of 6,000 volunteer professionals.
• Outside of work, Elizabeth is a passionate sailor. In addition to sailing varsity in college, Elizabeth has competed in national level events in Vanguard 15s and Lightnings, as well as the world championships in Lightnings.
• Elizabeth lives in Westport, CT with her adorable daughter, Phoebe.
  

• Recently earned a Masters Degree from the John C. Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University
• Has worked with refugees to help complete their applications for recognition as victims before the International Criminal Court at the Hague during an internship with the law firm of Wanda M. Akin, Esq.
• Has managed global health surveys and helped to construct economic models to project future costs for HIV/AIDS, Orphans and Vulnerable Children, Malaria and Tuberculosis with Futures Group
• Also holds Bachelor degrees in Economics and Political Science from the University of Connecticut, Storrs where she was über active in Student Government
• Studied abroad for two semesters at Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
• Has traveled to 22 countries in North America and Europe, and hopes to travel to at least 100 more
• Has traveled to almost every state (still working on Alaska and North Dakota)
• Is an 8th generation Texan, but has also lived in Virginia (Lynchburg & Alexandria), Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Salzburg, Austria
• Has been trained as a Sushi Chef in both the Japanese and Hawaiian styles
• Recently traveled almost cross country, hiking several 10,000ft+ mountains in National Parks from Idaho to Ohio; including Hells Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Devil’s Tower, Rushmore, Wind Cave and The Badlands of South Dakota
• Is the proud mother of three Basset Hounds (Otis, age 3; Henry, age 2; and Jethro, age 1)
• Is a huge fan of Southeastern Connecticut and loves to host friends and strangers alike at her 1780s farm house near the Rhode Island boarder with Connecticut
• Can be found at the beaches of Watch Hill, RI when not working to support the day-to-day functions of Criterion Ventures

• Ashesh joined Criterion from Lehman Brothers Real Estate Private Equity.  He assessed risk profiles of potential partners, and presented investments to internal committees.  Prior to Lehman Brothers, he was a member of the Real Estate & Lodging practice at Citigroup.
• He began his career in northern Greece, where he consulted the expansion of a college that catered to refugee students.  While there, he created a residential life program, and coached the school’s inaugural basketball team to a silver medal.  His lasting memory is of his once-divided students banding together to organize an international food festival.  
• Working on behalf of immigrant communities spurred his interest in social change.  In college, he helped the IRC’s Charlottesville office launch its Immigration Services Division and assist the displaced from former Yugoslavia, Africa and Afghanistan.  More recently, he volunteered as a tutor and coach to Queens-area students through South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!).
• He tries to live by the philosophy that “every little bit helps.” He still recalls, at age six, urging the crowd at a fundraiser to donate to his hometown’s India Association while pledging his own meager allowance.  As an RA, he convinced his 330 residents to recycle regularly.  Even today, he often packs leftovers for New York City’s less fortunate.
• Ashesh graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in History and a minor in Comparative Politics.  He conducted two travel projects: tracing a family history during Partition and comparing immigrant politics in Western Europe.  He also began to pen a white paper titled “Procrastination: You Want it When?” which is, as yet, unfinished.
• He now lives in the West Village with his wife, a fellow Wahoo who shares his love of international travel and mischievous sense of humor.  He enjoys torturing her with his passion for sports, preoccupation with experimental vegetarian cooking and utter confusion over digital photography.
  

• Most recently, Dawn served as the Senior Brand and Advertising Manager for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a non-profit reproductive health and rights organization with 103 affiliates, which operate more than 860 health centers across the United States. She provided strategic guidance, operational management, and tactical execution of the branding initiative and advertising programs.
• In her work with Planned Parenthood, she conducted outreach on a wide range of issues and services, from Supreme Court nominations and family planning funding to emergency contraception over-the-counter and birth control.  She managed branding efforts, a book launch, and a futurist initiative on communications media.  In all of her work, she focused on building relationships, consensus and a shared sense of purpose, articulating that purpose in plans, and mobilizing to turn purpose and plans into beautiful, compelling and effective communications.
• Dawn’s previous work focused on the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.
• She is recently returned from the Indian Ocean Region.  She loves to travel and has spent time in Central America, Europe, and the South Pacific as well as nearly every State in the Union.
• Dawn earned a BA from Grinnell College in Psychology.