Steve Davis,

Steve Davis is the Director of Social Innovation at McKinsey & Company (www.mckinsey.com), overseeing its global practice and partnerships with philanthropic organizations – private/family foundations, community foundations and corporate foundations – and social entrepreneurs engaged in tackling some of the world’s largest social problems.  He also serves as a core leader of the firm’s Social Sector Office.  He also is a Senior Fellow at the University of Washington School of Law’s Law, Technology & the Arts Program, and sits on the board of several non-profit organizations.  He recently served as the Interim India Country Program Leader for PATH (www.path.org), a leading global health organization with five offices around India working on a wide variety of strategic programs, and previously served as the Interim CEO of IDRI (Infectious Diseases Research Institute – www.idri.org), a Seattle-based non-profit organization focused on translational science for global health.  He is the former president and chief executive officer of Corbis, a global digital media company (www.corbis.com).  Steve had senior roles at Corbis from 1993 until 2007.  Earlier, he practiced law with the firm of Preston Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates) in Seattle, specializing in intellectual property issues, and prior to that he held various positions in international refugee and human rights organizations.

He received his A.B. from Princeton University, his M.A. in Chinese Studies from the University of Washington, and his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he received the Faculty Prize in International Law. He has also attended certificate programs at Beijing University and Stanford Business School.

Steve is the incoming Chair of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and also currently serves on the boards of Global Partnerships, The Seattle Foundation, The George Eastman House, and Northwest School.  He is on the national advisory board for Save the Children’s Survive to Five Campaign, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He previously chaired the boards of the Technology Alliance, IDRI, NPower, United Way of King County, and the International Practice Section of the Washington State Bar, and he has served on the boards of PATH, Crucell (CRXL), United Way International, Alliance for Education, Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, PlanetOut, Intrepid Learning Solutions, the Governor’s Competitiveness Council, and other organizations.

David Roodman, Center for Global Development
David Roodman is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development currently focusing on microfinance. He is writing a book on the subject through an “open book” blog, through which he shares questions, discoveries, and chapter drafts. The book asks bottom-line questions about what we know about the benefits of microfinance, and what that implies for how we support it. David has also been architect and manager of the Commitment to Development Index since the project’s inception in 2002. The Index is widely recognized as the most comprehensive measure of rich-coun try policies towards the developing world. Roodman generally ranks between 15 and 20 on the monthly-updated RePEc list of top young economists in the world.

Rick Beckett, Global Partnerships
Rick Beckett is the president and CEO of Global Partnerships. Rick came to Global Partnerships in 2006 and has led the organization’s strategic expansion, impacting more than 800,000 people living in poverty, through partnerships in seven Latin American countries with more than $39 million dedicated to mission.

Prior to joining Global Partnerships, Rick was managing director of a $112 million private equity fund investing in middle-market companies and early stage ventures. Rick spent 10 years at McKinsey & Company and with his McKinsey partners co-authored the bestselling book, Real Change Leaders: How You Can Create Growth and High Performance at Your Company. He holds a B.A. with distinction in economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. as an Arjay Miller Scholar from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Rick also serves on the board of directors of Direct Relief International.

Peter Bladin, Grameen Foundation

Peter Bladin is former Executive Vice President of Programs and Regions at Grameen Foundation, and was the Founding Director of the Grameen Foundation Technology Center. Under his leadership, the Technology Center led the microfinance industry in driving relevant and appropriate technology innovation, creating information and communications initiatives that benefit the world’s poorest.

Peter was a founding member of the MTN-Village Phone board, the first public-private partnership to extend telecommunications access to the rural poor. He is a frequent speaker at international telecommunication and microfinance conferences, and is an Executive Board Member of the International Telecommunications Union Connect the World initiative. Peter is also actively involved with various Seattle-based non-profits, including Global Partnerships and Social Venture Partners. Before joining Grameen Foundation, Peter worked for Microsoft for more than 10 years, managing various projects and departments during his tenure. He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.

For more information on Grameen Foundation, visit its website.

Chris Wolff, ACCION International

Chris Wolff is the Senior Director Corporate Partnerships & Major Gifts at ACCION International. Having spent more than a decade working to alleviate poverty, Chris has worked at some of the leading microfinance organizations including Opportunity International, World Vision, Unitus and now ACCION International as their Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships. www.accion.org

At these NGO’s he’s led a task force on social performance management and served on organization-wide groups focused on strategic planning or global marketing integration to the Gender Action Team. Chris applies his business background as an innovator at the intersection of the for-profit and social sector, and has partnered to serve the philanthropic and CSR interests of global companies like American Express, Best Western, Boeing, HP, Microsoft, etc.

Chris also teaches a masters course on Funding for Sustainable Organizations at Northwest University and earned his B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Business and Masters from Wheaton College Graduate School.