ASBN - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Vice President - Head of Membership, Chief of Staff & ESG Policy Co - Lead
Ali-Reza "A.R." Vahabzadeh is Executive Vice President at The American Sustainable Business Network where he is Head of Membership, Chief of Staff & ESG Policy Co-Lead. He is a solutions-oriented and organizational development professional with a strong track-record in relationship management and marketing. He has worked in business development and investor relations roles for companies such as Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase in the U.S., Europe and Middle East. A.R. has served as a senior advisor to many corporate leaders and enjoys cross-industry collaboration on creating sustainable business solutions to preserve the planet for generations to come. He speaks English, French and Farsi and is a graduate of The Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 2020, A.R. returned to Washington, DC, where he currently lives with his wife and daughter.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, Bio - Gist Ventures, LLC
Annarie Lyles, PhD, is on a mission to protect and restore the health of living systems, from individuals to habitats. Her work spans governance and activism with corporations (both for-profit and tax-exempt), supporting applied R&D initiatives, and managing impact investments. She also leads the family side of a closely-held private business, and advises several entrepreneurs and funds. She leads working groups on how businesses can better align with eco-health for a few impact business networks. At home, in New Jersey, with ecology professor Andy Dobson, she relishes rambles with hounds, getting her hands dirty doing local forest restoration, and other nature adventures.
Previously, she gained a decade of deal-making experience as a Business Development executive with publicly traded Genmab and Medarex (acquired by BMY). After earning a BS from Yale and a PhD in Biology from Princeton University, she worked in non-profit management as an animal curator at NYC's Central Park and Bronx Zoos. A frequent speaker, Dr. Lyles has authored over three dozen publications.
Job Titles:
- Founder, the Practice of Democracy
April De Simone is a transdisciplinary practitioner working at the intersection of architecture, planning, and systems thinking. Her work is inspired by her experiences growing up in a Bronx, New York neighborhood, steeped in the collateral consequences of intentionally designed systems of inequity. In partnership with diverse stakeholders, she seeks to cultivate reframed opportunities within spatial practice to advance equitable, humane, and just frameworks and projects shaping the conditions of our society.
She brings over 20 years of experience investigating how democratic values are represented through the environments and systems we plan, design, and activate. Through this work, she activates a deeper understanding of how the ways we plan, design, and activate the systems and environments shaping the conditions of our society directly impact how democratic principles like civic participation, equality, justice, and fairness are accessed, experienced, and sustained. In practice, she connects her spatial investigations to projects demonstrating the equitable, humane, and just capacities of architecture, planning, and systems thinking mediums.
In 2015, April co-founded designing the WE, where she co-curated Undesign the Redline, a nationally recognized exhibition exploring the historical and contemporary impacts of unjust policies and practices like residential racial ordinances, Redlining, and Urban Renewal. She recently transitioned from her role as a Principal at a nationally recognized architecture firm to co-launch The Practice of Democracy in the Fall of 2023. Her newest immersive experience, Of the WE: The Truths WE Hold, launched in the summer of 2022 on the High Line in New York City and is traveling nationally to different communities.
April continues to be an invited lecturer, speaker, and facilitator at numerous institutions. She sits on progressive boards, including the American Sustainable Business Network, and was a Forefront Fellow with the Urban Design Forum. She works closely on a local and national level with stakeholders from diverse sectors on issues on issues of race, equity, and democracy. Recently, she was recognized by Enterprise Community Partners as one of their Impactful 40 in 2022.
A Dean Merit Scholar recipient, she received her Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecologies from Parsons School of Design. Currently, she is pursuing her Master's in Architecture.
Before coming to ASBN, Bryan worked as the IT Manager for an environmental consulting firm for 15 years. While there he managed all aspects of IT in support of the company's government contracting efforts. Before that, Bryan was IT and Membership manager for an international labor union.
Before ASBN, Colton worked on policy for multiple organizations covering sustainability, farming, food systems, and justice. He obtained his M.A.
Job Titles:
- Council Member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Councilwoman White Pipe is a Council member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe representing the Bull Creek Community, which is located in Gregory, SD. Lisa has a Bachelor's degree in Business with and emphasis in Management and a minor in accounting. Lisa has worked for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for over 18 years, most recently employed with the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Court as an assistant Public Defender.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- President
- Co - Founder and President of the American Sustainable Business Council
- Co - Founder and President of the American Sustainable Business Network
- Co - Founder and President, American Sustainable Business Council
David is the co-founder and president of the American Sustainable Business Council. He has worked as a social entrepreneur for over 30 years focusing on the development of whole systems solutions for a more sustainable society through building strategic partnerships and broad stakeholders initiatives. Previously, he was the founding director of Continuing Education & Public Programs at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. From 1984-1997, David was founder and executive director of the Learning Alliance, an independent popular education organization. David is also a principal partner at Miracle Springs Farm, a goat dairy and family farm in the Hudson Valley.
David is the co-founder and president of the American Sustainable Business Network. He has worked as a social entrepreneur for over 30 years focusing on the development of whole systems solutions for a more sustainable society through building strategic partnerships and broad stakeholders initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Consultant, American Income Life
Denise Bowyer is a Mission based leader with a lifelong passion and vocation in advocating for Workers' Rights, while contributing to key support in building and growing a billion - dollar company.
As Secretary of the National Labor Advisory Board and National Vice President of Public Relations for American Income Life, she successfully built trusting, lasting relationships with 45 International Union Leaders, State AFL-CIO Leaders, Central Labor Council and Local Union Leaders with American Income Life. Through a storied decades - long career as a labor organizer, and a corporate officer of a one billion -dollar 100% Union company, she uses her talents of connectivity, collaboration, strategic visioning to advocate for pro worker public policies, ultimately benefiting all stakeholders. A leader in High Road Workplace Initiatives, she models best practices for companies building a shared prosperity and stakeholder economy. With consistent annual company growth, her experience proves that doing right by workers, is also good for the bottom line, creating an economy that is good for all.
Her combined experience in corporate and labor , and acumen for story telling has resulted in elevating and bringing together high road workplace businesses as advocates on pro worker public policy and initiatives such as; employee's rights to organize, raising the minimum wage, family medical leave, and OSHA enforcement.
A Board Member of numerous esteemed national organizations, including Jobs with Justice, The Economic Policy Institute, and Vice Chair of the American Sustainable Business Council, she is a contributor and supporter of thought leaders in multi-faceted coalitions and trailblazing collaborations, all with bold visions for the future of workers.
Denise continues to serve a consultant for American Income Life Insurance, and as a leader with Solidarity with Packing Plant Workers/ Nebraska, a statewide coalition organizing on behalf of legislation, education and direct action on packing plant safety. She resides in Omaha, Nebraska.
Job Titles:
- Director, Public Policy & Advocacy for Inclusive Economy
Derek Peebles is a servant-leader with advanced education in Organizational Leadership and Public Relations and 10 years of professional experience in business and community development. Derek's reputation is built on cross-cultural and cross-sector collaboration, bridging communities for capacity building. Derek has the skill to build strong working relationships with C-Level Executives, civic leaders, and education administrators to connect diverse communities.
Job Titles:
- Director of Business for Democracy
Job Titles:
- VP of Membership Marketing
Job Titles:
- Board Member of Social Venture Circle
- Founder and CEO, Caspian Agency
With over 20 years experience and numerous international and local awards of recognition, Heather Mason is an expert when it comes to event innovation, design and execution. Heather founded Caspian Agency in 2005, a firm known for convening strategy, production and training.
Heather's innovative and creative solutions have brought people all over the world together to engage, influence and connect. Caspian's clients include the Skoll Foundation, Omidyar Network, Raikes Foundation, New America, Code for America and the United Nations. She is a consultant on convening design for the Rockefeller Foundation.
Early on, she recognized that there was no codified method for creating and executing strategic events at scale, and created the Caspian 10 Essentials. This methodology has been taught internationally and is featured curricula in the San Diego State University Masters in Meetings and Events degree program, where she is also an instructor.
Heather is a board member of Social Venture Circle (SVC), American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), Utah State University Alumni Board and a strategic advisor to Womens Founders Foundation. She is also a frequent keynote speaker, MC and moderator.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Impact Investor Services for Investors Circle
Job Titles:
- Philadelphia Local Network Manager
John is currently the Philadelphia Local Network Manager for Investors Circle and the Executive Chair of ImpactPHL, an alliance to accelerate the impact investing ecosystem in the greater Philadelphia region. He has been a successful angel investor since 2005 with both Robin Hood Ventures, where he is a managing partner, and with Social Venture Circle (formerly Investors' Circle), the world's largest and most active impact investor angel group. He serves on the Board of Directors for Good Company Ventures, an accelerator for social impact companies, and several startup companies including Wash Cycle Laundry and Milkcrate. When he is not investing for impact, he is looking for excuses to go skiing or mountain biking. Previously, he did business acquisition and development, product pricing, and the implementation of company-wide strategic initiatives for Seton Company, the world's largest supplier of automotive leather. John spent most of the 90's developing and launching new cardiovascular catheter products for B. Braun Medical, Inc. John has long forgotten his Mechanical Engineering knowledge from the University of Delaware but remembers a little from his M.B.A. from Drexel University.
Katie has an extensive background working in media, community organizing and civic engagement. A member of the Producers Guild of America, Katie has produced projects ranging from documentaries to television series and podcasts. She is a graduate of Bard College's Graduate Programs in Sustainability where she completed her Masters in Business Administration.
Job Titles:
- Fishing Communities Outreach Coordinator
Leigh is a storyteller and network builder whose work has focused on many facets of our food system for over 15 years. She has led programming and outreach in the non-profit sector; written two cookbooks and countless editorial stories; spearheaded and launched a network, event series, and podcast for women food entrepreneurs; developed programming for public educational events, and taught writing and communications to hundreds of students.
Job Titles:
- Council Member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Lisa has gained an interest in the political venue as her Father was the Tribal Treasurer for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for 16 years, and in 2015 her father was elected to the Tribal Council to represent Bull Creek Community until he passed away in May of 2016 from cancer. Lisa then ran to sit in her father's vacated seat; she was the only one to run and was elected to compete her father's term. Lisa is Chair of Budget and Finance Committee advocating for funds to sustain the Tribe's needs. She a member of the Tribal Land Enterprise (TLE) board. She is chair of the Health Board. She also sits on the board of Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (Siċaŋġu Corporation, also an ASBN Member)). In addition, she serves as treasurer of the Coalition of Large Tribes (COLT) board and a board member of the GAO Tribal Advisory Committee.
Job Titles:
- VP of Policy and Government Affairs at the American Sustainable Business Network
Mia Woodard is the VP of Policy and Government Affairs at the American Sustainable Business Network. She most recently served as Director of Federal and External Affairs for The Hub Project, where she led an in-house and external lobbying team in developing and executing strategies for engaging Congress, the administration, and organizational partners in support of the Hub's issue advocacy campaigns. She also co-led the organization's strategic planning process.
Before joining the Hub, Mia served as Legislative Affairs and Policy Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a political watchdog focused on government accountability, ethics, and transparency. Mia has also served as Investigative Counsel for the U.S. Senate and worked as Managing Editor for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, where she led the research and policy agenda for small businesses and tech. Mia began her career as a civil defense litigator. She received her J.D. from Howard University School of Law and her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).
Job Titles:
- Board Member ( Executive
- Co - Founder & Executive Director, 1worker1vote
Michael Alden Peck serves as board member (executive and governance committees) for the American Sustainable Business Network and was the 2019 recipient of ASBC's Sustainable Leaders Award. At ASBN, Michael focuses on three campaigns: "Ownership4All"; "Own The Metrics" - Alternative ESG Human & Social Capital Assets with UNRISD (https://www.unrisd.org/en) + SEE (https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/-); and Rebuild Social Economy Ukraine through the SEE/ASBN Sustainability Collaboration Partnership announced in December 2020 (https://www.asbnetwork.org/media-release/social-economy-europe-and-american-sustainable-business-council-mark-fifth-anniversary).
Michael serves as executive director & cofounder of 1worker1vote (www.1worker1vote.org & The 1worker1vote/NewsSocial Bridge) emerging from the October 2009 collaboration MOU between the United Steelworkers and Mondragon International. 1worker1vote (NY 501C3) serves as fiscal sponsor for the 2022-2023 Build Mutualism Campaign - mutualistsociety.net). Michael also serves as co-founder & managing director of a second for-profit start-up, The Virtuous Cycle Collaboratory (tvc2) - a majority-minority worker cooperative & social enterprise (mission: to "flatten unequal socioeconomic curves into shared prosperity virtuous cycles").
Michael is a co-editor with Professor Christina Clamp of "Humanity@Work&life - Global Diffusion of the Mondragon Cooperative Ecosystem Experience", (published 27 March 2023 by Oak Tree Press in Cork, Ireland, in PDF, ePub & printed/paperback edition formats): a collective labor featuring 36 contributors from six countries on three continents proving how solidarity, innovation, and conviction forge sustaining local and global social economy practice on behalf of the greater common good (available on SuccessStore.com).
Job Titles:
- Director of Climate & Energy Policy
Job Titles:
- BCCA National Policy Coordinator
- Resource Policy Specialist
National Policy Coordinator. Noah is a natural resource policy specialist working to support and lift up communities and their sustainable and equitable access to resources. He's worked as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, a staffer in the US Congress, and has led a commercial fisheries trade association.
Job Titles:
- Founder and President, Marketing Partners, Inc.
Pat established Marketing Partners, Inc in 1992, where she has produced a portfolio of award winning marketing, communications, and media plans for public information campaigns and products. Prior to founding Marketing Partners, Inc., she served as the associate dean at the Vermont Law School. She is a founder and first president of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and founder and first president of Women Business Owners Network of Vermont & New Hampshire. In addition to sitting on the ASBC board, Pat is an active board member for several organizations. Pat earned a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Virginia, a Master's degree in Marketing and Strategic Management from Suffolk University, and is a PhD candidate in communications.
Job Titles:
- Director of Membership Success
Shanti began her career in the non-profit space as the assistant to the executive director of Investors' Circle in 2017. Since then she has rotated to numerous roles throughout the organization. She is now the Director of Membership Success where she onboards members and continuously works to improve the overall member experience. Before joining ASBN, Shanti had more than 14 years of corporate experience in the finance and marketing industries. Shanti has an undergraduate degree in business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with honors from North Carolina Central University with an MBA and a Masters in Information Sciences. She resides in Durham, NC with her husband, daughter and dog Buddy.
Job Titles:
- VP of Strategy, Impact, and People
Job Titles:
- CEO, Sustainable Furnishings Council
Susan served as founding Executive Director of Sustainable Furnishing Council (SFC) and continues to support the organization. She has worked alongside furniture industry leaders to establish a set of standards for the sustainability of furniture products and manufacturing practices. Susan developed programs to promote and educate the industry and attracted hundreds of companies to join the organization.
Since SFC's founding in 2006, she has received international recognition for her ability to meet the demands of both for-profit industries and non-profit organizations. Susan holds a Bachelor's degree in anthropology from the UNC at Chapel Hill.
Job Titles:
- Director, Programming & Events
- Manager of Programming and Events
Thulasi Sivalingam is the Manager of Programming and Events at ASBN, where she works on webinars, conferences, summits, and more. Social impact has been the focus of her education and all of her work experience. Thulasi created a Corporate Social Responsibility major at New York University, minoring in Social Entrepreneurship. She has had diverse work experience in social impact: in both large and boutique-size agencies helping Fortune 500 companies create corporate citizenship platforms, at a small branding & marketing agency focusing on social impact clients, wearing several hats at a fledgling nonprofit foundation, and creating and managing programming for social impact events.