Innovate With Purpose

Carrie Freeman is co-CEO of SecondMuse, an impact and innovation company that builds resilient economies. Since 2012, she has been steering the global company’s approach to finding and nurturing innovators dedicated to social and environmental good then building supportive ecosystems around them. SecondMuse’s mission aligns with Ms. Freeman’s fundamental belief in the infinite capacity of humans to learn and grow, as well as the potential for inclusive markets and businesses to massively scale positive change.

Before joining SecondMuse, Ms. Freeman worked for 15 years at Intel, where she honed her business and leadership experience in a range of management positions. In her most recent role there as Director of Sustainable Business Innovation, Ms. Freeman pioneered strategies around a corporate impact investing fund and became deeply involved in — and impassioned by — technology market solutions to global sustainability problems.

Dean Hand is the Chief Research Officer for the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), responsible for developing and guiding GIIN’s research agenda. She joined GIIN with 10 years of specific impact investing experience within emerging market asset management, focusing on originating investment opportunities, developing catalytic blended finance tools, and developing impact fund and impact measurement strategies.

Prior to joining GIIN, Ms. Hand formed part of the Impact Investing team within Ashburton Investments (part of the FirstRand group, one of the largest financial institutions in South Africa, with an eight-country footprint on the African continent as well as operations in Great Britain and India). She has also led the work stream on what philanthropic foundations can do to leverage traditional capital as part of the work of the South African National Task Force on Impact Investing.

Ms. Hand regularly teaches post-graduate students about impact investing; her most recent lecturing commitment was to MBA students at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science for their elective on Social Enterprise and Impact Investing. Ms. Hand holds a Master’s in Philosophy (Inclusive Innovation) from the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, which was awarded with distinction. The focus of her dissertation was on impact investment strategies and blended finance structuring for philanthropic foundations. Ms. Hand is a Bertha Scholar – a merit-based award for her work in impact investing and innovative finance.

Diane Kaldany is the co-founder of The CSG Group. After obtaining her B.A. in Philosophy from Fordham University, Diane embarked on professional self-discovery via the real estate, banking, and insurance sectors as a business development executive. She was compelled to make a difference, joining nonprofit boards; curating art shows; and organizing discussions on a variety of topics, such as economic inequality, women and children’s issues, and education. During her tenure as the U.S. Development Director of a Lebanese NGO, Diane came to understand the challenges of grassroots organizations and the communities they serve.

In 2018, Diane realized that systemic change takes time and commitment and that enterprises have the capital and resources to make an impactful difference, especially through private-public partnerships. To that end, she co-founded The CSG Group with the mission to encourage and help enterprises lead through purpose and values by incorporating more transparent social and sustainable business practices into their operations.

Fabrice Testa is an exponential thinker, innovator, serial tech entrepreneur, business angel investor, trusted advisor, public speaker, author, and in-demand mentor. He has successfully founded, co-founded, or participated in the launch of multiple companies that have created hundreds of jobs and generated millions of dollars in revenue.

Mr. Testa is passionate about turning crazy ideas into world-changing ventures. For the past 30 years, he has innovated accessible touchscreens, digitized toxic cinema prints, and produced solar panels with raw sand. As a natural and inspirational leader, Mr. Testa helps disruptive startups succeed and supports corporations in overcoming disruption and leading transformation in their industry. He offers keynote speeches, workshops, coaching, team development, and board advisory services.

Joe Milam is the founder of AngelSpan/The Legacy Funds, a platform and solution to remove the gamble from funding innovation. Prior to AngelSpan, Mr. Milam founded and managed Legacy Capital Management, Inc., a fee-based RIA. Legacy was originally headquartered at 3000 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. Managing both “old” and “new” money — with clients from Sequoia Capital; Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati; and Silicon Valley Bank — gave Mr. Milam a unique perspective on wealth preservation, wealth creation, and institutionally rigorous portfolio management.

Having witnessed and participated in the birth of “modern” angel investing, in 2000 Mr. Milam founded AngelSpan’s predecessor firm, Angel Legacy, to address the funding inefficiencies for early-stage companies. Mr. Milam has been published multiple times in Institutional Investors Journal of Private Equity, Journal of Portfolio Management, and Practical Applications Journal, and he is a recognized expert in the optimal venture fund model.

Rene Bonomi pursued his MBA at Cornell University and has a degree in Industrial Engineering from UFSCar in Brazil. He brings years of experience both in business development, for startups as well as corporations, and in financial advisory, structuring M&A and capital-raising transactions. Rene has international business experience working in Latin America, United States, and Europe. His industry expertise includes industrials, renewable energy, healthcare, biotechnology, agriculture, food production, and social and environmental impact.

Rene is passionate about environmental finance and impact investing, venture capital, and startup acceleration. He has a consulting business focused on supporting entrepreneurs, startups, and corporations on financial strategy, business modeling, and business strategy in the fields of social and environmental impact. Rene’s business has a collaboration partnership with The CSG Group to work on these projects globally. He also collaborates with Idea Lunchbox, an U.S. accelerator that internationalizes and expands deep tech startups to the U.S. market.