Board Members

Lisa Woll, Chief Executive Officer + bio

Cheryl Smith, Chair

• Cheryl Smith is Executive Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Trillium Asset Management Corporation, an employee-owned investment management company solely devoted to socially responsible investment. She is responsible for managing investment portfolios for institutional and personal clients, and is Chair of the Proxy Policy Committee at Trillium. After beginning her career as Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Denver, Ms. Smith began her investment management career at Trillium Asset Management in 1987. In 1992 she joined United States Trust Company in Boston (now known as Walden Asset Management) as Vice President and portfolio manager, before rejoining Trillium Asset Management in the fall of 1997.
  
  Ms. Smith serves on the Steering Committee for the Institute for Responsible Investment. She is a former Board member and Advisory Board member of Resist! Ms. Smith is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute. She is a member of the American Economic Association. She holds a B.S.F.S. degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and earned M. A., M. Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from Yale University. She has spoken at numerous occasions on integrating Community Investments into investment management portfolios.

Michael Lent, Vice Chair

• Michael Lent is a financial advisor with Veris Wealth Partners, LLC.  He also serves as Veris’ Chief Investment Officer.  Veris Wealth Partners is an independent wealth management firm founded by five partners who share a deep conviction in the interdependence of values and wealth. Veris believes managing that interdependence with knowledge and wisdom delivers benefits for individuals, companies, and society.

  Michael brings extensive experience in aligning sound investment planning with his clients’ values. Prior to Veris, Michael was the Manager of the New York office of Progressive Asset Management for 13 years. He is a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) and has held Registered Representative (Series 7) and Registered Principal (Series 24) licenses. Michael specializes in financial consulting for individuals, foundations and non-profit organizations.
  
  Michael is a trustee of The Edward W. Hazen Foundation, a private foundation established in 1925, which seeks to assist young people, particularly minorities and those disadvantaged by poverty, to achieve their full potential as individuals and as active participants in a democratic society. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Lotus Music and Dance, a New York City organization that promotes traditional ethnic dance forms. Michael is a member of the Social Venture Network, and the Investment Management Consultant Association. He is a runner and appreciates the balance that comes from his yoga practice and Alexander table work.

Joanne Dowdell, Secretary

• Joanne Dowdell is Senior Vice President, Director of Corporate Responsibility for Sentinel Investments. She directs the firm's sustainable investing effort, focusing on corporate, social and environmental research, as well as strategy development implementation of the firm's shareholder activism initiatives. Joanne's professional experience spans over 20 years. Before joining Sentinel as a result of the acquisition of the Citizens Funds, she spent five years at Citizens where she held a similar role.
  
  Prior to Citizens, Joanne led her own consulting practice where she provided research, business planning and management consulting to companies across a variety of industries. Earlier in her career, she was a Vice President at Washington Business Information, Inc., the premier source of news and information for professionals in the consumer safety, pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. She also held management positions at Congressional Quarterly, Inc. and Government Information Services, Inc. Joanne serves on the advisory committee of the Seacoast African American Cultural Center and is on the Board of Directors for the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail. She is a graduate of Howard University.

Ingrid Dyott, Treasurer

• For the past nine years, Ingrid has been an integral part of Neuberger Berman’s socially responsive group. She is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager on the Socially Responsive Investing (SRI) Team. Neuberger Berman’s SRI team manages a 4-star Morningstar rated fund (as of 5/31/06) and separate accounts for both individuals and institutions.  Ingrid is responsible for financial, social and environmental analysis for the SRI portfolio.  In addition Ingrid is an associate portfolio manager of Neuberger Berman’s Guardian Fund.
  
  Before joining the firm in 1997, she was a research analyst at the Council on Economic Priorities; a non profit research organization focusing on corporate social and environmental responsibilities. Ingrid received a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A. from Columbia University.  Ingrid is actively involved in the SRI community through various functions and speaking engagements. She is a steering committee member of the Social Investment Forum’s Research Analyst Network. 
  
  She is actively involved in the networks at Lehman Brothers serving on the WILL Steering Committee, IMD’s Diversity Council and co-chairing the WILL IMD committee.

John Liechty, Appointed Member

• John L. Liechty is Principal and Founder of Integrated Investment Solutions, an investment consulting and financial planning firm that assists institutions and individuals with the integration of mission and finance.

  Mr. Liechty also serves as a Director of the Pax World family of mutual funds, board member of Greencroft Retirement Communities, Trustee of Bluffton University (OH) and is a member of the Business Advisory Council of Hawkins Water Tech, a leading water purification business in Indiana.

  Prior to establishing his consulting firm, Mr. Liechty spent 32 years at MMA, and served as President and CEO of MMA Praxis Funds for the last twelve years prior to his retirement.  He also was a founder and charter board member of Meritas Mutual Funds, a leading SRI fund family domiciled in Canada.

  A graduate of Bluffton University (Ohio), Mr. Liechty received a dual major in business administration and church work. He was awarded the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation by The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA and is a candidate for CFP Board certification, having successfully passed the CFP examination in November 2009.

Mary Jane McQuillen, Appointed Member

• Mary Jane McQuillen is the Director of the Socially Aware Investment (SAI) Program for ClearBridge Advisors, a unit of Legg Mason. With this directive, she leads the portfolio management strategies for the various Socially Aware Investment separate account portfolios at ClearBridge. Her responsibilities include integrating ESG research into the stock-selection process for institutional and high net worth client portfolios. Mary Jane has been with the SAI program since 1996, and prior to this, she was an analyst for Smith Barney Harris Upham, Inc.

  Mary Jane is on the Board of Directors for the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) is the former Chair and Vice Chair of the Socially Responsible Investing Committee at NYSSA. Mary Jane is a long-standing, active member of the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Asset Management Working Group (AMWG). She is a Steering Committee member of the Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN).  

  She received her MBA from Columbia Business School, where she serves as Co-Chair of the Bernstein Center on Leadership & Ethics Board. She holds a B.S. in Finance from Fordham University and is an alumna of Columbia University’s Center for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC), where she serves on the Alumni Advisory Committee. Mary Jane is a member of Bpeace, a volunteer organization that works to introduce sustainable business skills to women in Rwanda, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

Betsy Zeidman, Appointed Member

• Betsy Zeidman is Director of the Center for Emerging Domestic Markets (CEDM) and a Research Fellow at the Milken Institute in Santa Monica, CA.  In addition to seeking innovative solutions to the capital gaps facing ethnic and low-income entrepreneurs and communities, she addresses such issues as mission-related investing, corporate governance, environmental financeand development finance.  She has authored numerous reports and op-eds, and speaks frequently at industry conferences and to the media.  She has served on the Investment Committee of the Shefa Fund’s Los Angeles TZEDEK Fund, and is on the Urban Policy Advisory Committee of the Obama/Biden campaign.  She received her B.A. and M.B.A. from Yale University.

Frank Altman, At-Large Member

• Frank Altman is President and CEO of Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF). CRF is the nation’s leader in bringing capital to public and private nonprofit community development lenders through the secondary market for loans. Prior to founding CRF, Altman served as Assistant Commissioner for Financial Management at the Minnesota Department of Energy and Economic Development, where he administered several loan programs designed to create jobs in energy-related industries, to promote energy conservation in public and private buildings, and to finance manufacturing facilities in small communities. Currently, Altman is Chairman of the New Markets Tax Credit Coalition, a coalition established to initiate the creation of a federal tax credit to encourage private investment in community development. He is Board Chair of the College of Visual Arts and Board Member of the California Association for Local Economic Development and Franklin National Bank.  He serves as an Advisory Committee Member for Wall Street Without Walls and is a Member of the Center for Community Development Securities of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and the Financial Innovations Roundtable of the University of Southern New Hampshire. Altman received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brown University and a Masters in Public Affairs from the Humphrey Institute University of Minnesota.

Jan Bryan, At-Large Member

• Jan Bryan CFP® owns and operates an independent financial planning firm by the same name and is an investment advisory representative with First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm with the SEC.  Jan has specialized in Socially Responsible Investing since 1990 working with individual clients and trusts to integrate investment needs and planning goals with client’s values.  Jan obtained her Certified Financial Planner Designation (CFP®) from the College for Financial Planning, Denver; and is a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA®) and an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) professional. Jan obtained her BA in Geography from the University of New Mexico, speaks Spanish and currently works to build community investing in impoverished areas like Guatemala. Jan has worked extensively in her community to build awareness about the importance of green business, community investing, and sustainability issues.
  

Sarah Cleveland, At-Large Member

• Sarah Cleveland is a senior consultant with Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting, located in the Lake Oswego, Oregon office.  She brings over 20 years experience in economic research and financial services.  Sarah consults with endowments, foundations, healthcare organizations and corporate and public retirement plans.  For six years prior to joining Watson Wyatt, Sarah headed up the Portland, Oregon office of Rogerscasey, an investment solutions firm.  Expertise includes: strategy development and implementation; performance and portfolio monitoring; investment manager due diligence and search; asset allocation modeling and implementation; and defined contribution program evaluation.  In addition, she has collaborated on sustainable and responsible Investment initiatives with the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative and the UN Global Reporting Initiative.

  Sarah's additional experience includes: Financial Advisor at Wachovia Securities where she provided consulting for individuals, non-profits and corporate clients; Manager, Analytics at Arnerich Massena & Associates, Inc where she performed and supervised investment policy development, asset allocation studies, investment manager searches and due diligence.  In addition, Sarah served as an economist with the Oregon Public Utility Commission and was a Fulbright Lecturer in Economics at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji.
  
  Sarah has a Masters degeree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  She is a member of the Northwest Planned Giving Roundtable, Western Pension & Benefits Conference, and The Natural Step.  Sarah is also board chair for the Northwest Earth Institute.

Paul Hilton, At-Large Member

• Paul A. Hilton is Director, Advanced Equities Research at Calvert.  In this role Mr. Hilton helps lead Calvert’s efforts in integrating the analysis of environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) into traditional financial analysis. With over $14 billion in assets under management, Calvert has provided shareholders with solid financial performance and leadership in socially responsible investing (SRI) since 1982.

  Prior to joining Calvert, Mr. Hilton was Portfolio Manager, Socially Responsible Investing at The Dreyfus Corporation.  At Dreyfus he was responsible for social research and marketing of the Dreyfus Premier Third Century Fund and its variable annuity counterpart, the Dreyfus Socially Responsible Growth Fund.  Mr. Hilton has also served as a research analyst in the Social Awareness Investment (SAI) program at Smith Barney Asset Management, a division of Citigroup. 
  
  Mr. Hilton is co-founder of SIRAN, the Social Investment Research Analyst Network, a national group of analysts working to promote dialogue with companies about corporate responsibility.  He is also Treasurer of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI) and current member and former co-chair of its Asset Management Working Group.  In addition, Mr. Hilton serves on the board of Communities in Schools of the Nation’s Capital. A Chartered Financial Analyst, he holds Master’s degrees in Anthropology from New York University and Education from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

Leslie Lowe, At-Large Member  

• Director, Energy & Environment Program, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Leslie, an attorney for over 20 years, has been a frequent speaker on issues of environmental law and policy, and on corporate disclosure for professional audiences and the media.  Her work has been published in environmental journals, including Environmental Finance magazine.  A graduate of Harvard Law School, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bennington College, a Masters of Science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and did post-graduate research in economic and social history at the University of Paris.  Prior to joining ICCR, she was Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYCEJA).  Leslie is Chair of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation’s Board of Directors and Vice Chair of the Weeksville Heritage Center’s Board of Trustees, in addition to serving on the boards of the Social Investment Forum and Housing Works, Inc.

Amy Muska O’Brien, At-Large Member

• Amy Muska O’Brien, Director of Social Investing at TIAA-CREF, works on a wide range of social and community investing initiatives across TIAA-CREF. Among her responsibilities are overseeing the social screening of such funds as the CREF Social Choice Account, acting as liaison to stakeholders in connection with the company’s social- and community-focused investments, and providing leadership to the company on emerging social responsibility issues.
  
  Amy has over 10 years of social investment experience with a strong focus on environmental issues. She is currently on the Steering Committee of the Social Investment Forum’s International Working Group. Before joining TIAA-CREF in 2005, she was the Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at the United Church of Christ. Previously, Amy was research manager at the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP); Amy served as CEP’s representative to the inaugural Steering Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative. Amy earned a Master’s of Science degree in Environmental Management and Policy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a B.S. from Boston College.

Cliff Rosenthal, At-Large Member

• Mr. Rosenthal has served as the chief executive officer of the Na­tional Feder­ation of Com­munity Devel­op­ment Credit Unions since 1983.  The Federation represents more than 200 credit unions that serve low-income communities across the United States.  Under his leadership, the Federation has invested more than $75 million in these credit unions.

  He cofounded and serves on the board of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Coalition.  From 1989 through 1991, he served on the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board of the United States.  He currently serves on the boards and advisory bodies of SEEDCO Financial Services, Self-Help, J.P. Morgan Chase, the Fair Mortgage Collaborative, and the New York City Office of Financial Empowerment.   He was elected to the board of the Social Investment Forum in 2009.
  
  He has received the highest individual honors of the credit union movement (2005; National Credit Union Foundation), the Opportunity Finance Network (2008; Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Lending, honoring the former governor of the Federal Reserve System), and the Insight Center for Community Economic Development (2009). On May 5, 2009, the ASI Federal Credit Union in New Orleans named its Community Resource Center after him, recognizing the assistance he coordinated after Hurricane Katrina.
  
  Mr. Rosenthal holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University in New York City, where he also completed a mid-career fellowship provided by the Revson Foundation for the Future of the City of New York. 

David F. Sand, At-Large Member

• David Sand, President and Chief Investment Officer of Access Capital Strategies, LLC, has over 25 years of experience as a portfolio manager and investment advisor with a focus on investments in underserved communities throughout the country. In 2008 Access was acquired by Voyageur Asset Management, the US investment management arm of the Royal Bank of Canada. He was the co-founder and managing director of Commonwealth Capital Partners, Inc., and Commonwealth Capital Strategies, Inc., Cambridge and New York. The latter was a consulting and investment banking firm that specialized in housing, enterprise development, job training and the environment and was involved in a $100 million affordable housing program in Pennsylvania. While Vice President at Shearson Lehman Brothers, New York, Mr. Sand helped build a successful pioneering partnership in socially responsible investment management. He did extensive research and public speaking on issues including investments in companies involved in South Africa, nuclear energy, defense, and environmental issues. He has a special expertise in taxable fixed income trading and sales. Mr. Sand received a BA from Princeton University and a MPA at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

David Wood, At-Large Member

• David Wood is Director of the Institute for Responsible Investment (IRI), a project of the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship, where he conducts research on responsible investment and its applications. He has led a series of projects over the last five years, exploring emerging issues for social investors such as fixed-income investment, mergers and acquisitions, corporate disclosure, real estate investment, and offshore SME investment.

  Recent projects at the IRI include the production of a Handbook on Responsible Investment across Asset Classes; the development of a Responsible Property Investing Center; research on the production and dissemination of corporate social reports; and research into investor use of corporate reporting on nonfinancial information.
  
  Prior to his work at Boston College, Wood taught the history of ethics, ethical and economic thought, and human rights theory at Boston University. He holds a Ph.D in History from the Johns Hopkins University.