Skidmore College

Open to job opportunities in project and program management /  philanthropy / innovation /  impact investing / CSR / entrepreneurship

Caruso Ventures invests in tech-enabled companies led by highly effective CEOs. We use our deep scale up experience to help the next generation of tech leaders achieve their visions.

Caruso Ventures

Program Manager

Manage the operations of The Kroger Co. Foundation and Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, including charitable fundraising and grantmaking programs. Develop and maintain relationships with partners and grantees and build a well-rounded grant portfolio that advances the mission of each foundation. Demonstrate the company’s core values of respect, honesty, integrity, diversity, inclusion, and safety.

• Manage day-to-day foundation operations, including efforts to track and report fundraising and grantmaking
• Lead projects with the Head of Philanthropy, Corporate Affairs leaders, and Foundation officers and directors
• Research prospective grantees; manage the grantee database; build or maintain relationships; review grant requests and applications; and conduct financial due diligence
• Monitor, evaluate and report results for philanthropic programs with a goal to advance positive impacts for people and our communities
• Maintain Foundation fundraising, grantmaking and programmatic records to report results and help ensure compliance with regulations
• Leverage Kroger’s community fundraising and donation platforms to track and report results and assist with future decision-making
• Support division Corporate Affairs managers on fundraising and giving strategies and on platform data quality and reporting
• Develop clear and consistent systems and procedures to collect, store and analyze data, ensuring the processes adopted are ethical and in line with established governance
• Track expenditures against Kroger Foundation Office budget and specific projects
• Provide project support, including proofreading documents and managing photo files for effective communications

Kroger

Foundation Program Manager, Social Impact + ESG

- Manage Kroger’s charitable grantmaking and reporting stewarding over $275M in donations last year
-Support execution of The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation Innovation Fund, manage operations of the Innovation Fund and support philanthropic investments
-Manage relationships with key grantees and Innovators
-Support strategy and execution of The Kroger Co. Foundation Racial Equity Fund, identifying potential funding opportunities
-Manage Kroger Scholars, a signature program of The Kroger Foundation 
-Vet and research potential grantees, develop processes for evaluation and review
-Support impact measurement and strategy
-Managed the design, project plan, and implementation of a new community donations platform to help maximize the impact of Kroger’s community giving
-Corporate Social Responsibility research and strategy for Kroger family of companies

Foundation Program Manager, Social Impact + ESG, Contract position

CTNext supports the success of companies and entrepreneurs by providing guidance, resources, and networks to accelerate their growth.
-Managed portfolio of Innovation Places grants of $30M and Higher Education Grants of $10M both to be disbursed over five years
-Managed and provide oversight of funding assistance to grant recipients, ensuring appropriate uses of funds, and timely and in-budget deliverables;
-Contributed to the development of content for all materials related to the process and procedures, implementation and ongoing analysis and evaluation of the Innovation Places program as well as the Higher Education Initiative
-Coordinated and ensured compliance with statutory and reporting requirements relevant to the Innovation Places Program
-Evaluated and analyzed the impact decisions will have on the successful implementation and sustainability of the Innovation Places Program and Higher Education Initiative
-Assisted with ideation and execution of new strategic initiatives

CTNext

The Techstars Foundation was founded in 2015 and is committed to increasing diversity in tech and entrepreneurship. We do this by investing in organizations with grant money and leveraging the Techstars network to empower these organizations to accelerate their mission. forward. 
-Managed fundraising campaigns, including a partnership with Betabrand and a matching campaign with raising over $200,000
-Evaluated the first round of grants with over 150 grant requests 
-Managed LOIs and application process for the Foundation
-Managed Foundation advisory board, strategy, fundraising plan and budget
-Helped grantees access the Techstars Network and find ways for Techstars to help the grantees

Techstars

Director, Techstars Foundation

The Techstars Foundation provides grants and resources to support organizations making a scalable impact on diversity in tech entrepreneurship. 

- Manage fundraising campaigns, including a partnership with Betabrand and a matching campaign with Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor raising over $200,000
- Evaluated the first round of grants with over 150 grant requests, choosing the first five grantees
- Managed correspondence and action items with the advisory board 
- Helped grantees access the Techstars Network and find ways for Techstars to help the grantees

Interim Director

Techstars is a global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market wherever they choose to live. With dozens of mentorship-driven accelerator programs and thousands of startup programs worldwide, Techstars exists to support the world’s most promising entrepreneurs throughout their lifelong journey, from inspiration to IPO.

- Manage calendars, domestic and international travel, expenses, and all meeting logistics for Co-CEO David Cohen. From April 2014 - June 2016 I also supported Co-CEO David Brown. 
- Organize Techstars Ventures Annual Meetings and Bullet Time Ventures Annual Meetings 
- Attend weekly venture team partner meetings and coordinate offsites, data entry into our deal flow platform, and provide basic administrative support for the team 
- Coordinate Quarterly fund calls 
- Prepare presentations and other reports as needed
- Work closely with Founders, Investors and Staff to accommodate requests and schedule meetings in a timely manner
- Help develop processes around executive presence at each accelerator and events as we grow and scale
- Highly involved with Techstars Diversity efforts, pushing forward initiatives and connecting with organizations who are working in the space
- Highly involved in interview, hiring, and training process of two Executive Assistants
- Organized first InvestorDay event in conjunction with our annual Founder event, facilitating over 400 meetings for founders and investors through extensive double opt-in process
- Previously organized Senior Leadership offsites, strategic planning, and quarterly meetings

Executive Assistant

Verano Capital is a renewable energy developer specializing in early stage investment and development of renewable energy projects in Latin America.
-Joined Verano Capital as one of the first members of the team. 
-Supported the Managing Partner in scheduling, travel, site prospection, permitting and development of solar energy projects in Chile. 
-Managed the daily accounting and assisted with investor relations including creation of pitch documents and other administrative duties. Carried out financial modeling for current and perspective projects.

Verano Capital, LLC

Analyst & Executive Assitant

Women's Initiative is a business training program for low income women in the San Francisco Bay Area. After a participant finishes the 10 week training program, they can apply for a Individual Development Account (IDA). I managed client outreach and application process for IDAs. Executed client outreach to over 40 clients, completed eligibility screening, lead one on one and group orientation sessions and client follow-up to ensure complete applications.

Women's Initiative

Fellow

Equality and Opportunity Foundation is a US based foundation with poverty alleviation initiatives in Asia. 

During my time at E&O, I coordinated Foundation start-up activities with core team of five members including; market research, web-site development, social media presence, business development, partner selection resulting in successful launch of the Foundation within 6 months from inception. 

I also managed the microfinance institution segment of a new housing microfinance product resulting  in a multi-million dollar business plan ready for funding as a social impact venture.

Equality & Opportunity Foundation

Initiative Coordinator and Fellow

Pro Mujer is a leading development organization that provides women in Latin America with financial, health and human development services that are typically out of reach, but essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. 

As the Financial Analyst, responsibilities included:

• Managed daily accounting including general ledger entries, accounts payables/receivables, bank 
reconciliations, travel expense reports, wire transfers, grant allocations, and other day-to-day 
accounting activities. New policies and procedures were produced to ensure timely and proper 
management of all transactions and donations. 
• Managed A/R and A/P with Pro Mujer’s five Microfinance Institutions in 5 countries 
• Complied quarterly Finance Committee reports 
• Monitored budget execution of a $2.5m budget 
• Supported organization of Financial Risk Management Training in developing improved financial 
policies with standardized reporting metrics
• Assisted with 2007- 2008 Audits
• Weekly donor acknowledgements, mailings and solicitations and organized and maintained donor 
database through donor perfect 
• Created promotional material used for donor solicitation

Ali Berman