Ilyse Hogue

Partner

Ilyse Hogue is a fierce advocate for justice and a leader, innovator and coalition builder across American and global progressive movements. As a Partner at Purpose, Ilyse supports the global team of passionate changemakers and steers strategic planning and development. A trained ecologist, she approaches social change from a systems perspective, looking to identify gaps and points of leverage at which to intervene and proactively anticipating trends where Purpose can apply knowledge and capacity to address emerging threats.

Ilyse, who has spent over a quarter century waging fights on behalf of humanity and our planet, most recently served in an eight-year tenure as president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, during which she helped transform the legacy organization into a modern-day organizing and political powerhouse. Under her leadership, NARAL tripled its membership, staff and annual budget in service advancing state and federal legislation to protect and expand abortion access, and fighting an unprecedented wave of abortion bans at the state level. She helped to position reproductive freedom as a central tenet of progressive politics and to engage organizations cross-movement in support of the full spectrum of reproductive freedoms being fundamental human rights. In doing this, they achieved what was said to be impossible: engaging the private sector in the fight to protect abortion access. 

In 2016, Ilyse made history when she became the first speaker to share her abortion story at the Democratic National Convention. In 2020, she co-authored a best-selling book, The Lie That Binds, with former NARAL Research Director Ellie Langford on the history of the radical right, its authoritarian aims, and its reliance on white supremacy, misogyny and disinformation. Her commentary has been featured in The Washington Post, HuffPost, The Nation, Cosmopolitan, and ELLE. She is a frequent guest in the media, appearing as a progressive pundit on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR. She also spoke to popular New York Times podcast The Daily about the interlocking fights against dissolution of democracy, undercutting reproductive freedom and justice and disinformation. 

Prior to her work for NARAL, Ilyse worked for MoveOn.org, Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Media Matters for America, and the Friends of Democracy PAC. She holds a BA from Vassar College, an MS from the University of Michigan, and was named as one of the 10 Most Powerful Women in Washington DC by Elle Magazine. She currently serves on the boards of Demand Justice, a court reform organization, and Governing for Impact.

When not at work, Ilyse can be found spending time with her husband, six-year-old twins, and two dogs Ranger Rooster and Little Yellin. She’s an avid hiker, biker, and home cook, and an aspiring gardener.

Jeremy Heimans

Co-founder & Chairman

Jeremy Heimans is the co-founder and Chairman of Purpose, a Public Benefit Corporation with offices on six continents, that builds and supports movements for an open, just, and habitable world. He is co-founder of GetUp!, an Australian political organization with more members than all of Australia's political parties combined, and Avaaz, the world’s largest online citizens’ movement, now with more than 65 million members. Heimans has been building movements since the age of 8 when, as a child activist in his native Australia, he ran media campaigns and lobbied leaders on issues like children’s rights and nuclear non-proliferation. 

Heimans has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, The Guardian has named him as one of the ten most influential voices on sustainability in the US and to its World Pride Power List of LGBT+ leaders, and The Monthly has observed that Heimans “might be the most influential Australian in the world”. With Henry Timms, Jeremy is co-author of the international bestseller “New Power”, praised by the New York Times’ David Brooks as “the best window I’ve seen into this new world” and by The Guardian as “a manual on how to navigate the 21st century.” The book was short-listed for the 2018 FT & Business Book of the Year Award and named a best book of the year by Bloomberg, Fortune, Inc, CNBC and others. Heimans and Timms’ thinking on new power has been featured as the Big Idea in Harvard Business Review, as one of CNN’s “ideas to change the world” and Jeremy’s top-rated TED talk on the topic has been viewed 1.5 million times.

He is a recipient of the Ford Foundation's 75th anniversary Visionary Award, the Foreign Policy Association Medal and the Performance Theater’s Inspired Leadership Award. He served as chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Civic Participation. Heimans has been a keynote speaker at venues such as the World Economic Forum at Davos, TED, the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival, the RSA, Chatham House, the United Nations, Blair House, The Economist Big Rethink, The Guardian Activate and Social Media Week.

The proud son of two first-generation immigrants to Australia, Jeremy was educated at Harvard University and the University of Sydney, and began his career with the strategy consultants McKinsey & Company. He lives in New York.

Jon Damon

Partner & Chief Financial Officer

Jon Damon is a Partner and the Chief Financial Officer at Purpose. He brings over 15 years of Corporate Finance and Strategy experience in the advertising, consulting, media, and technology industries. Jon oversees Purpose’s Finance, Accounting, IT and Legal functions and works with the Leadership Team to drive growth, expand internationally and promote business performance. 

Prior to joining Purpose, Jon was the Head of Finance and Accounting at AccountAbility, a consulting company specializing in sustainability and corporate responsibility. 

Earlier in his career, Jon was the Director of Finance at SourceMedia, a business-to-business media company focused on the financial services industry.

Jon holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester and an M.B.A in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College.

Outside of the office, Jon enjoys the outdoors, traveling, and reading.

Keno Sadler

Partner & Chief Experience Officer

Keno brings over 20 years of experience as a social entrepreneur creating and implementing innovative programs in education, leadership development and social justice. With a background that blends military service, classroom teaching and organizational development rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion, he delivers senior-level leadership and guidance to multi-disciplinary teams delivering social impact globally. At Purpose, he has worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support their effort to elevate diverse voices that can help broaden the conversation about the issues inhibiting economic mobility and generate deeper awareness and actionable understanding. 

Before Purpose, Keno served as Vice-President of Programs at the Echoing Green Foundation where he provided strategic leadership to Echoing Green’s flagship Fellowship programs designed to identify, develop and support early stage social justice and climate change leaders. A 1997 Echoing Green Fellow himself, Keno also created the Breakthrough Atlanta program, an empowering educational experience that has resulted in equitable access to higher education for over 2,000 Atlanta middle school students and prepared over 400 college-aged teaching fellows for education sector roles. An educator at heart with a passion for leadership development, Keno also co-created and taught the Resilient Leadership course at Yale University and has served as an Executive Coach to a wide range of impact leaders around the world.

After hours, you will find Keno enjoying New York’s restaurant scene, hunting for a bike trail to explore or working towards his next belt in Karate and Jiu Jitsu. 

Samantha Fennell

Partner & Managing Director, North America

Samantha Fennell is Partner and Managing Director at Purpose, based in New York. She is North America's principal market-facing leader, focused on the strategy and growth of Purpose’s impact, best-in-class project delivery, and business development. She is a member of the global senior leadership team at Purpose.

Samantha brings over 15 years of cross-functional leadership experience to her role, having held managing director positions at global agencies and leadership roles at the world’s largest media enterprises, including Condé Nast, Hearst, Time Inc., and Huffington Post. She has built and led highly matrixed partnerships with Fortune 500 clients while leading multidisciplinary teams toward growth.

Before joining Purpose, Samantha founded and operated Athari Collective, an equity-driven social impact consultancy focused on inclusive marketing, community outreach, and corporate and nonprofit partnerships. During this time, she worked with partners such as Uber, Airbnb, and The Bruce Museum, forging connections with diverse communities to achieve meaningful change.

In 2008, Samantha took a hiatus from her business endeavors to dedicate herself to fundraising and organizing for the Obama '08 campaign. She inspired a wide audience of first-time political activists through her regular blog on elle.com while securing hundreds of campaign contributions and mobilizing scores of volunteers in key swing states.

She continues to be actively involved in campaigning and fundraising for candidates who prioritize social justice issues. 

Samantha holds a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and Italian from The University of Michigan. She lives in Manhattan with her son, Addison James who is teaching her to play pickleball and take regular breathing breaks.

Alex Hammer Ducas

Senior Director, Private Sector Lead

As the Private Sector Lead at Purpose, Alex brings 15 years of global experience partnering with leading brands, civil society organizations and philanthropists to drive social change. 

Alex joined Purpose from Girl Effect where she served in a range of roles across partnerships, program leadership and most recently as a Chief of Staff. During her tenure, she led expansion into new markets including Malawi, Tanzania and the US as well as partnerships with organizations including PEPFAR, the Vodafone Foundation and Nike. Before Girl Effect, she was part of Nike’s Social Impact team in Europe. She started her career at SustainAbility advising corporate clients on sustainability and social impact strategy. 

Alex graduated from Brown University with a BA in Development Studies and holds a Masters in Food Policy from City University in London. 

When not at her desk, Alex tries to be outside and is more likely than not chasing around or being chased by her two young children.

Bernard Hayman

Global Head of Impact, Measurement & Learning

As Global Head of Impact, Measurement & Learning, Bernard melds evaluative research design and digital campaign strategy to design and implement measurement and evaluation tools for the Voices for Economic Opportunity Incubator Lab. He uses data and information from the Incubator to develop products that can increase the program’s potential and impact. Additionally, his work translates research analysis and testing results into key findings, best practices, and actionable insights for organizational partners, stakeholders, policymakers, and other audiences. 

Before joining Purpose, Bernard was a campaign manager at Color Of Change, where he spearheaded successful digital campaigns that pressured companies like Airbnb to take action against racial discrimination and lobbied U.S. government agencies to improve lead poisoning prevention policies in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis. Prior to entering the digital advocacy sector, Bernard taught at the University of Brasilia as a Fulbright Scholar and served as an interrogator in the U.S. Army. 

Bernard holds a M.A. in Geography from the Ohio State University. He also holds a B.A., with High Honors, in International Relations and Global Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Outside of work Bernard is usually busy chasing his toddler around the house, reading, or playing Magic: the Gathering. 

Emily Hawkins

Senior Director

As Senior Director, Emily sits across a variety of global and US-based work, including Verified, the Purpose Covid Lab and the US early childhood portfolio. Emily brings over 20 years of experience in campaign strategy, creative communications and has spent her career designing and implementing innovative programs across a wide range of social issue areas.

Emily joined Purpose from GoFundMe and CrowdRise, where she led strategic partnerships, helping to develop high impact programs, campaigns and partnerships with some of the world’s largest nonprofits, foundations, influencers and corporations.

Previously, Emily built and ran an award-winning creative marketing practice within Sunshine Sachs and Associates, and served as a political director on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 Presidential campaign. Emily holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Studies from Wesleyan University.

In her spare time, Emily can be found chasing after her toddler and dog, spending as much time outside as possible and making awkwardly-shaped pottery.

Isabel Chou

General Counsel

As Purpose’s General Counsel, Isabel Chou brings with her over a decade of legal experience and twenty-five years’ worth of lessons learned from her work in social impact.  Formerly a partner at two prominent New York and New Jersey law firms, Isabel specialized in affordable housing and community redevelopment laws while in private practice, representing clients from the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Her work consisted of advising and guiding clients in the development of low- to moderate-income housing.  She continues to support the movement to innovate in the real estate space to improve (and increase) access to affordable housing options across the country and globe.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Isabel worked in the nonprofit sector as a program manager for several children’s advocacy organizations based in the Silicon Valley, California.  Isabel continues to be an active community volunteer, currently serving as the President of The Waterfront Project, a free legal services clinic serving several counties in Northern New Jersey.  She has previously served on various nonprofit committees and boards across the country and is frequently brought into organizations to advise on change management, fundraising and organizational structuring.

Isabel holds a BA from UC Berkeley, an MPA from the University of San Francisco, and her JD from Rutgers University.  She is licensed to practice law in both New York and New Jersey.

In her spare time, Isabel enjoys road trips in the Northeast with her partner and two dogs and cross country visits with her family in California. 

Jodie Van Horn

Senior Director, Philanthropy Lead

Jodie is an advocate and movement-builder working in the service of a more sustainable, just, and joyful world. As Senior Director, Philanthropy Lead at Purpose, she oversees partnerships with the world’s leading foundations to bring innovative communications and mobilization approaches to social movements and issue spaces. Previously, she led Purpose’s work with the LEGO Foundation and partners to build a future where learning through play empowers children to become creative, engaged, lifelong learners.

Prior to joining Purpose, Jodie created and led the largest, most successful 100% clean energy campaign in the United States, winning policy commitments from more than 150 cities, 11 counties, and 7 states and generating widespread public support for an equitable transition to clean energy. For 15 years she has worked with Indigenous and environmental justice communities, non-profits, businesses, and policymakers to change policies, shift culture and advance transformative change.

Jodie received her B.A. in Global & International Studies and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Barcelona. She lives on the Costa Brava in Spain, where she spends her free time mountain biking and exploring in her camper van. 

Julie Amodeo

Senior Director of Operations, North America

Julie is the Senior Director of Operations at Purpose, where she oversees a team that is the backbone of creating impact for Purpose North America. In collaboration with her fellow team members, she leverages her operational and project management expertise to guide the future of Purpose’s business and impact across the continent.

Prior to joining Purpose, Julie worked in service of several mission-based organizations where her solutions-based leadership approach helped to lead diverse teams toward positive transformation and growth. Julie was responsible for the strategy and implementation of policies and programs that supported the growth of global scientific and academic products. Her passion for operations and people-first style is perfectly suited for navigating complex and large-scale projects, while producing sustainable outcomes for internal teams and clients.

Julie graduated from Brooklyn College with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Mass Media. When not at work, Julie can be found hanging out with her family or on the nearest football/baseball field tossing the ball around.

Luz Rodriguez

Head of Global Partnerships

As Head of Global Partnerships, Luz works across the business to drive the development of Purpose’s evolving offer to businesses, brands, philanthropies and NGOs. 

Luz brings 20 years’ experience in building high-impact partnerships with corporations and civil society organizations — working across five continents. Before joining Purpose, Luz led partnership development for the media and health sectors for the World Economic Forum in North America. Her work was deeply focused on forging coalitions to address major social challenges — including extensive work with major medical firms in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Luz previously held business development and partnership roles at a major New York cultural institution, the Paley Center for Media, and the world’s largest business organization — the International Chamber of Commerce. A common thread of Luz’s work has been the development of innovative and authentic relationships with major clients — creating win-win solutions that deliver on the promise of business as a force for good in the world. 

Luz is a graduate of Boston University. Away from Purpose, Luz’s life is driven by three other “Ps”: Peloton, podcasts and her pet dog, Pierre. 

Shira Albagli

Senior Campaign Director

Shira is a social impact leader with over a decade of experience managing strategic partnerships and programs that mobilize millions, shift public narratives, and deliver legislative wins on issues such as increasing access to reproductive healthcare and accelerating climate action. Prior to Purpose, she led breakthrough public engagement strategies at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Paid Leave for the US, and with the First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

In her community leadership positions, Shira is deeply committed to building political, social, and economic power for women. She is a guest lecturer training young women on the fundamentals of successful campaigning at various universities and colleges, a co-founder of a Bay Area women’s mastermind group, and recently completed her tenure as the communications chair of Closing the Women’s Wealth Gap.

When not at work, Shira is often hiking or hoping a passing pup is friendly and wants a pet.

Anna Baranova

Associate Director, Impact, Measurement, and Learning

As an Associate Director, Impact, Measurement, and Learning (IML) and IML Lead at Purpose U.S, Anna Baranova works with project teams in understanding and measuring project impact and collecting insights.

Anna brings over ten years of international experience in performance, impact and knowledge management working in non-profit, social enterprise and financial sectors. Prior to joining Purpose, she led impact measurement efforts across a wide variety of development projects in clean energy technologies, lean experimentation research, waste management and education sectors in Indonesia. She also ran an award-winning social enterprise in Cambodia that combined cultural immersion with experiential learning, while raising money to support local community development. In another lifetime she evaluated financial and operational risk at a global banking institution. 

Anna graduated with an MSc in Climate Change and Development from University of London, SOAS and a B.A. in Business Administration from Schulich School of Business.

When she’s not evaluating something, Anna prefers being outdoors, especially above and belows water, and battling her friends in board games.

Beatriz Zappa

Strategy Director

Bia brings international experience leading brand, digital strategy, and product marketing from both the agency and brand sides. She has built a solid marketing foundation throughout her career while leading multi-channel communication projects at Unilever, and embraced the scrappiness and resilience needed to successfully open and grow a creative agency in New York. As a queer Latina, she is deeply passionate about gender and racial justice. 

Prior to Purpose, Bia was a Group Strategy and Account Director at CUBO.CX New York. As the first hire, she led the Strategy and Accounts departments and helped build a successful global office from the ground up. At CUBO.CX she has led a complete brand overhaul for Nexxus, launched a campaign and program for Hellman's, inviting children and their millennial parents to learn about and connect with where their food comes from. She also helped women with all hair types love and care for their hair type on non-wash days in Brazil and the United States, strategizing for TRESemmé and Dove.    

Bia graduated from ESPM University in São Paulo with a B.A. in Social Communication and Marketing. When she’s not taking care of her plant babies (including foster plants she takes in from her friends to revive), Bia can be found volunteering on a suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth, trying veggie recipes, introducing friends she thinks should meet, and laying on McCarren Park reading and soaking up the sun.  

Becca Hovland

Associate Creative Director

Becca Hovland is an Associate Creative Director at Purpose, where she uses her branding, communication, and copywriting skills to create impactful campaigns. In her role as Local Lead for the US creative team, she enjoys empowering others to succeed and leans into her passion for people.

Becca studied at the Savannah College of Art and Design where she earned a BFA in Advertising. She then began her career in a traditional advertising agency setting developing work for a variety of global and national clients in the corporate and nonprofit sector.

Becca is a serial crafter picking up a variety of hobbies including making polymer clay jewelry, embroidery, mixed media, punch needling, and more.

Chelsea Lipman

Associate Campaign Director

Here at the Purpose Climate Lab, Chelsea works at the intersection of strategy and creative application. With her design degree, background in experiential advertising and knowledge of policy and planning, she develops creative tactics which energize climate action throughout Europe, India and East Africa.

Prior to Purpose, Chelsea worked for the Times Square Alliance where she explored the intersection of design, civic programming and placemaking. In 2017, she founded I Scream!, a philanthropic ice cream kiosk which motivated Times Square's 330,000 daily visitors to remake the world. She doesn't mind telling you that I Scream! recently won a Downtown Achievement Award of Excellence. And the Village Voice won't mind telling you that I Scream! was "the most exciting thing to happen in Times Square since the Clash destroyed it at Bond's in 1981."

Outside of Purpose, Chelsea enjoys cycling through U.S. states she hasn't yet visited, listening to live jazz and exploring various artist spaces and museums.

Claudia Barcha

Manager, Impact, Measurement, and Learning

Claudia is a Manager of Impact, Measurement, and Learning (IML) at Purpose who brings her experience in communication, storytelling and systems thinking to research and uncover insights, explain complicated concepts, co-create with multiple stakeholders, and define success measurement frameworks in projects.

At Purpose she works in agency and lab projects that sit at the intersection of systems, storytelling, and impact design and measurement. She has worked in global and local projects in different issue areas that include racial justice, early childhood education, economic inequality and food insecurity. 

Along her career development in Colombia, she had the opportunity to work with farmers communities from a multinational organization’s perspective. She implemented design research methodologies in the field and inside the company that resulted in the design of services, communication campaigns and products to improve the user experience and perception of the brand.

Claudia holds a Master in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons and a Bachelor in Design with an emphasis on communication from Los Andes University in Colombia.

She’s passionate about human behavior, learning from stories and traveling. Depending on the time of the day you will find her cooking, reading or dancing around.

Damion Edwards

IT Systems Manager

Emma Pulido

Strategy Manager

As a Strategy Manager at Purpose, Emma brings together social science research skills, prior professional experience in digital communications, and a commitment to multicultural perspectives in her work.

Before joining the Purpose team, she served as a Zolberg Research Fellow at the International Rescue Committee's Airbel Impact Lab, where she helped ideate and prototype games designed to increase gender equity in the IRC's field teams. Prior to her fellowship, she conducted fieldwork on the management of migration in Lesvos and Sicily, worked as the Communications Coordinator for the New School's Studley Graduate Programs, assisted the media relations team at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, served as an Editorial and Social Media Management Consultant for a travel media start-up, and volunteered in Rio de Janeiro. She began her career as an AmericorpVISTA member working at the intersection of juvenile justice and arts education in her hometown of New York. 

Emma received her BA in International Studies from Macalester College and her MA in International Affairs from the New School's Studley Graduate Programs in International Affairs. In her off hours, she is often with friends, watching movies with subtitles, or tracking down snacks from around the world. 

Genesis Henriquez

Art Director

Genesis works on the Creative Team at Purpose. As an Art Director, she expertly combines her digital, print and branding experience, alongside her passion for social impact design to create smart and compelling visuals for every project she’s assigned.

Before joining Purpose, Genesis was an in-house designer at Voto Latino, a civic media organization based in Washington D.C. Her work played an important role in increasing voter registration among millennials during the 2016-17 election cycle and beyond. Before Voto Latino, Genesis received her Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Maryland, College Park.

When she’s not designing, Genesis can be found exploring the city, reading books from her ever-growing list and testing out new sheet masks.

Jade Taylor

Senior Project Manager

As a Senior Project Manager at Purpose, Jade coordinates project processes and operations to facilitate the team’s delivery of impactful work and campaigns. She leverages her background in brand development to be a creative thought partner in problem-solving and storytelling. At Purpose, she has worked with non-profit and foundation clients including The Oak Foundation, Human Rights Watch, and Vermont PBS.

Jade comes to Purpose with a range of project experience supporting clients such as Walmart, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Colgate, and early stage startups to create and grow innovative brands in sustainability, telehealth, consumer packaged goods, and B2B categories.

Jade graduated Cum Laude from Scripps College with a degree in Politics & International Relations.

Jasmeen Barbari

Executive Assistant

Jasmeen is the Executive Assistant to the Partnerships Principal at Purpose, in which she meets the impact objectives and supports revenue targets by deepening existing relationships and activating new relationships. With her background in non-profit work, she can identity opportunities for impactful work.

Before joining Purpose, Jasmeen worked as a Development Coordinator for a non-profit organization, working on events, fundraising, and donor relations. She also worked as an Executive Assistant to both a music producer and tour manager, which added to her experience of working in fast-paced, ever-changing environment.

Jasmeen graduated from her hometown state college, California State University, Los Angeles with a with a B.A. in Mass Communications: Public Relations and Marketing, and a minor in Class and Racial Studies.

When she’s not working, Jasmeen loves rock-climbing, yoga, and of course, traveling and eating foods of the world.

Juliana Uribe Villegas

Founder and Executive Director of Movilizatorio, Purpose Peace Lab

Juliana lives at the intersection of social innovation, international relations and digital strategy as Founder and Executive Director of Movilizatorio, Purpose Peace Lab. She is passionate about the opportunity new technologies can offer modern society, and about transferring innovations with high social impact to Latin America.

Movilizatorio , the citizen engagement and social innovation Lab she leads, is a space for experimentation, creation and implementation of initiatives on citizen empowerment, leadership and collective work. At Movilizatorio, Juliana and her team combine strategy, creativity, and technology to solve social problems.

One of the platforms Movilizatorio launched, El Avispero allows citizens to create campaigns, and map peacebuilding initiatives in Colombia, reaching more than 38,000 members in the first six months. El Avispero won the Tuner Prize on Social Transformation, awarded by the Peace Nobel Prize Laureates Secretariat.

Juliana is also a co-founder of Escala, an organization that improves educational access. 

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Juliana developed extensive experience in government and consulting in developing countries. She served as Senior Strategist at Purpose, Vice President of FTI Consulting, International Relations Director for the City of Bogota and Marketing Director at ProColombia.

Noted for her work as social entrepreneur, Juliana was named one of the 20 Most Inspiring Women in Colombia by Semana, one of Colombia’s most distinguished and influential political magazines.

Juliana received her Master´s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the Universidad de los Andes and a Cum Laude Master in International Business from the University of Barcelona.

Julie Brazen

Associate Director, Resourcing & Operations

As the Associate Director of Resource Management and Operations, Julie works across disciplines to ensure projects are staffed appropriately and the teams are balanced and aligned. She’s a creative problem solver and advocate of efficient processes to enable better work and collaboration.

Prior to Purpose, she spent the past six years in advertising, working with WPP companies GTB, VMLY&R and Wunderman Thompson. In a previous life, she spent three years teaching English in Taiwan and a year in Hawaii working at an outdoor education camp.

She has a BA in Film/Video from Columbia College Chicago and is the editor of a documentary, Michoacán to Michigan. She is passionate about all aspects of health and is also an Ayurveda wellness coach and yoga teacher.

Outside of work, you can find her adventuring in the great outdoors with her toddler, practicing yoga, reading and compulsively buying books - all while pondering the mysterious nature of existence.

Kacper Kopka

Junior Financial Analyst

Working on Finance's Purpose team as a Junior Financial Analyst, Kacper Kopka helps to maintain budget trackers, and works with the team to make sure that financial documents are up to date and accurate. He hopes to grow and become a significant part of driving Purpose's mission to make positive and everlasting change.

Before becoming a fulltime Porp, Kacper attended Baruch College in NYC, while also interning for the company. He then graduated with a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting—during this time he also worked as a Personal Trainer and received his NASM certification.

When he's offline, Kacper loves to shoot landscape photography and engage in difficult treks. He also enjoys bodybuilding and helping others achieve their physique goals.

Kaitlyn Kelly

Associate Director, Project Management

As an Associate Director of Project Management at Purpose, Kaitlyn leverages her expertise in strategic account management and client partnership to help elevate and drive movements for social good. In her role, Kaitlyn is passionate about facilitating strong relationships and healthy teams, creating clear channels of communication, and finding creative solutions to ensure successful delivery of impactful strategies and campaigns.

In her time at Purpose, Kaitlyn has worked across a myriad of projects spanning issue spaces and sectors, from co-creating youth engagement strategies with young people across the world, to mobilizing New Yorkers around issues of climate change and sustainability, to producing full-scale national campaigns. Most recently, she helped lead the Voices for Economic Opportunity Incubator, a two year program supporting 28 organizations working across the US to shift harmful narratives on economic mobility and poverty.

Prior to Purpose, Kaitlyn worked directly with nonprofit development and major fundraising teams to develop and execute brand strategies, communications plans and creative campaigns for organizations like The Nature Conservancy, No Kid Hungry, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Nurse Family Partnership. She also brings extensive experience in account and client services roles at advertising agencies large and small.

Kaitlyn holds a B.A. in English and Psychology from New York University. Outside of work, she loves cooking, painting and drawing, traveling to new places near and far, and chasing after any live music she can find.

Katie Spillman

Executive Assistant Team Manager & Senior EA

Katie manages the EA team and is Senior EA to the President of Purpose. She oversees and supports the hiring, development and work product of EA’s across Purpose’s global offices. 

She is skilled at creating and streamlining internal processes to drive improved efficiency and elevated performance. She enjoys using her skills to support NGOs addressing some of the world’s biggest challenges such as climate change, equality and criminal justice reform.

Prior to joining Purpose, Katie was Special Projects Lead at REFORM Alliance where she supported the Chief of Content & Comms with priority projects, research and high-level relationship management. She thrives when it comes to team coordination and seeing projects from concept to completion. 

Katie graduated from The New School with a M.A. in Media Management. When not working, you’ll find Katie working with animal rescues, going to the movies or reading.

Laura Bidwa

Associate Director, Institutional Fundraising

As Associate Director of Institutional Fundraising at Purpose, Laura leverages her deep editorial experience to guide the development of concise, complete, and compelling proposals.

Prior to Purpose, Laura led diverse editorial and content development projects in fundraising, marketing, planning, and higher education— spanning from 50-word postcards to 75,000-word city planning reports to bazillion-word market-leading college textbook/digital titles. Her industry experience includes higher ed publishing, higher ed marketing/communications, local government and quasi-governmental agencies, and art centers.

Laura is also a practicing artist whose work is part of more than 100 private, corporate, and public collections in the United States and Europe. Represented by Hammond Harkins Galleries, she has a BFA and BA from Indiana University and an MFA from Ohio State University. In her spare time, she is a devoted gardener who wants to stop at every single greenhouse along the way as she continues to finetune the Secret-Gardenesque situation in her yard.

Lisa Chau

Associate Director, Project Management

As an Associate Director of Project Management at Purpose, Lisa coordinates timelines, budgets, staff, and process to ensure our project teams are delivering impactful work. 

Her educational background is rooted in Urban Planning, with a postgraduate focus in Sustainable Urbanism. Her love for the planet led her to work for a creative nonprofit, called Global Inheritance, where she still serves as an advisor. Through her project management role there, she helped to design, build and activate experiences at large-scale events to raise awareness around environmental issues. 

One of her past "hats" includes being a restaurant co-owner and general manager, of which she attributes her grit and stamina. She also has served as a Business Development / Marketing Manager for a creative production studio, where she's helped to connect a talented team of artists to top agencies and brands. 

Lisa graduated from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Urban Studies & Planning and from UCL with a post-graduate degree in Sustainable Urbanism.

Outside of work, Lisa can be found traveling, hiking, camping, running, snowboarding, or museum-hopping. Her latest passion project is a family cookbook, which features stories of her family's survival of the Cambodian genocide, alongside Cambodian and Chinese home recipes. She hopes to use the cookbook as a way to highlight her family's experience as refugees and help raise funds for our current global refugee crisis.

Lou Peralta

Culture and Operations Manager

As the U.S. Culture and Operations Manager at Purpose, Lou focuses on creating an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable environment for all the team members in the U.S. as well as collaborating with the Purpose Partners, the Purpose Senior Leadership team, and the Local Leadership team.

Before joining Purpose, Lou managed operations for a fine-art photography gallery, an angel investment firm, and a boutique architecture design firm. His exposure to these industries helped him sharpen his operational strategy skills which he uses daily at Purpose.

Lou received his Bachelors in Fine Art and Photography from SUNY Purchase. He channels his passion for raising awareness through social media activism and good olde traditional protesting. When he’s not fighting for social justice, you can find him scouring through bins at his local record stores, planning and hosting parties, and enjoying the company of his husband and two cats.

Lucy Hoffman

Executive Assistant

As a Purpose Executive Assistant, Lucy Hoffman primarily works with the IML team to ensure optimal efficiency and communication within the team and with the organization as a whole.

Before joining Purpose, Lucy worked on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team at Boston Consulting Group, helping to bring together people from different diversity networks within the company on relevant issues. Prior to BCG, Lucy worked at a think-tank nonprofit organization called MassINC, focusing on research projects within Massachusetts in areas such as Education, Healthcare, and Transportation.

Lucy graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a B.S. in Political Science and Criminal Justice and a minor in Business Administration.

Lucy loves spending time with friends, traveling, playing the piano, and rollerblading.

Marcela Bustillos

Associate Partnerships Manager

As Associate Partnerships Manager, Marcela helps Purpose develop meaningful partnerships with leading organizations and businesses that result in lasting social impact. 

Before joining Purpose, Marcela worked with Vision Democratica, a nonprofit that promotes social welfare in Venezuela by connecting humanitarian organizations on the ground with funders in the U.S. There, she helped develop a humanitarian aid pipeline that provides daily meals to Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. Prior to Vision Democratica, Marcela was a co-creator and manager of the online platform Ask A Venezuelan, an awareness campaign that brought attention to the crisis in Venezuela and the misinformation that surrounds it. Additionally, she also served as a curator for TEDxNorthwestern, where she helped TEDx highlight leading research and innovation in the Chicago area. 

Marcela graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Communication Studies. 

In her free time, Marcela can be found at a dance class, reading French books, or sitting down and people watching New Yorkers. 

Margaret Dawson

Director, Project Management & U.S. Local Lead

Margaret brings to her roles as Director, Project Management and U.S. Local Lead, a rich background in education, nonprofit leadership and program development, and social impact strategy.

At Purpose she enjoys tackling complex projects and facilitating smooth project-team dynamics that allow for each team member to focus on producing their best work, building and executing impactful strategies in partnership with innovative brands, nonprofits, and NGOs.

Prior to joining Purpose Margaret was the Director of Strategy at CarrotNewYork, a consultancy specializing in developing public education programs.  Margaret holds a Masters of Science in Education from Portland State University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from Georgetown University, and a certificate in Digital Marketing from General Assembly.

On her own time, Margaret is keen on anything related to art, food, farming, gardening, and the great outdoors. This combo comes to life in her role as board member at CityGrowers, a NYC based nonprofit that uses urban agriculture to close fundamental gaps in the experiences of city kids.

May Steinberg

Senior Campaigner

May is a Senior Campaigner at Purpose’s New York office.

Prior to being a Senior Campaigner at Purpose, May has honed her skills in social media strategy and content production within the startup world and the nonprofit sector.

She has ideated and executed campaigns that have supported social services initiatives in NYC and reproductive rights, which included strategy and creating content for a 12 hour InstagramTV fundraising “telethon” to support independent clinics who provide abortions in hostile states amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

May has a Master’s in International Relations from The New School, with a specialization in women’s rights. May brings the same feminist energy to her non-digital life when she’s baking and thrusting those bakes upon others.

Meredith Saucier

Partnerships Director

As Director of Partnerships at Purpose, Meredith helps to build partnerships that tap public mobilization and storytelling to foster political and social impact.  

Prior to joining Purpose, Meredith developed cross-cultural exchange and education programs at the Institute of International Education. She specialized in designing initiatives in the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, such as Harnessing Innovation through Virtual Exchange (HIVE) which links students in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine with their U.S. peers to explore STEM subjects. She is most proud of her work developing PEER, an online hub that connects displaced Syrian students to scholarships, online education, and language learning resources.

Meredith has consulted with Qatar Foundation International and volunteered with several human rights organizations in Morocco. She was a Program and Research Fellow for the Nanubhai Education Foundation in India where she helped design a scholarship program and researched the role of schools in the wake of communal violence. 

In her free time, Meredith loves walking around Prospect Park, collecting old things for a future antique store, and taking many weeks to finish puzzles. She has her BFA from the School of Visual Arts and MA from Columbia University.

Morgan Sendor

Associate Director, Project Management

As an Associate Director of Project Management at Purpose, Morgan brings her calm and humor to every assignment, and looks to create social good through well-run projects. She has worked on projects across the Purpose spectrum, from brand-focused work for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to campaign strategy and management for Purpose’s grant-based work, including the Voices for Economic Opportunity Incubator and the Early Childhood for Illinois Lab.

Prior to Purpose, Morgan worked at the aptly named Ideas On Purpose (IOP), where she honed her account management approach, organization skills and ability to put out fires as a project manager with clients of all sizes. She also organized the inaugural rounds of the IOP’s pro bono initiative, Brand New Brand!.

Outside of work, Morgan is constantly considering her next meal, hoarding craft supplies that she may or may not use one day, and keeping up with the sustainable fashion world. 

Nada Ezzat

Project Manager

As a Project Manager at Purpose, Nada works closely with clients, project teams and vendors to produce impactful campaigns.

Prior to joining Purpose, Nada was the Programs and Communications Director at ABANA, a non-profit organization in New York. She also worked as a Program Assistant at Independent Diplomat.

At the start of 2020, Nada joined the New York City Department of Small Business Services, where she works as a part-time instructor and delivers a course that aims to inform and support Arabic-speaking immigrants on the best practices for building a successful business in New York.

Nada graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in Political Science & French Studies, and she holds a post-graduate degree in Media and Politics in the Middle East, from SOAS, University of London. She is fluent in English, Arabic and French.

Nada is passionate about utilizing media to drive positive social change, especially when it comes to issues like climate change, and the global refugee crisis. When not at work, you might find Nada walking through the streets of Brooklyn, drinking coffee in the sun or sitting somewhere by the beach.

Noelle Fries

Associate Director, Strategy

Noelle joined Purpose as the Associate Director of Practice Management & Strategy for the Racial Equity Impact Practice. She brings over 15 years experience of building transformative interventions, programs, and organizations by centering equity, healing justice, and the people who are most impacted by systemic injustice.  Noelle is building out a Health Equity portfolio and nurturing partnerships that strengthen impact. Above all, her passion is mobilizing communities towards system change and collective liberation. 

Noelle’s work has spanned across various public health and social impact issues including gender based violence, youth homelessness, prison abolition, human trafficking, and birth justice. Prior to joining Purpose, she led a national program centering LGBTQ and BIPOC young people with lived experience to be leaders in the movement to end youth homelessness, and provided technical assistance to communities around the country on equity, youth collaboration, and participatory action programming. Noelle has co-authored research framing prison abolition as public health, the necessity of trauma informed care in medical settings, defining sexual agency in young people, and the power of art activism.

Noelle graduated with a BA in Race, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Mills College and holds a Master’s of Public Health in Community Health and Public Health Policy from CUNY School of Public Health. 

When not at work, Noelle can be found building a mini-homestead upstate or painting community murals.

Omar Hakim

Campaign Director

Omar is a Campaign Director & Campaign Lead at Purpose's US office, leveraging over 15 years of experience spanning political advocacy, community organizing, and narrative development. He centers intersectionality, authentic storytelling and asset-based leadership as vehicles for movement building, working with impacted stakeholders to drive high-impact grassroots action. Working across Labs and Agency at Purpose, a few of Omar's recent projects have included delivering campaigns on immigrant and migrant inclusion for the Global Forum on Migration and Development, research and strategy on digital threats to society for Luminate, and training on narrative change for organizations selected for the Voices for Economic Opportunity Incubator.

Before joining Purpose, Omar worked for Consumer Reports Advocacy as a Campaign Manager, leading efforts to improve consumer safety and protections. He mobilized activists on issues across the financial and tech sectors including algorithmic bias, discriminatory pricing, student debt, net neutrality, and data privacy. Previously, he was the national coordinator for Cities for Action, a coalition of mayors and municipal leaders advocating for immigration and refugee-related reforms at the federal and local level. Omar’s campaign work is rooted in his experience as an organizer; among his many roles, he has worked with the NYC LGBT Center and Public Allies to develop and support community-based leaders on issues relating to foster care, fair housing, and homeless services.

Omar has a Masters of Social Work from the City University of New York at Hunter College and a BFA in Film & Television from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Having worked at Paramount Pictures, New Regency Productions, and the Doha Film Institute, Omar is still passionate about the power of filmmaking and you may find him tinkering on a screenplay or two.

Prachi Rao

Strategy Director

Prachi is a Strategy Director & Strategy Lead in the NY office, and an experienced organizer who has developed compelling campaigns and creative mobilizations, which have been featured in national publications like the New York Times, to help solve society’s most pressing issues.

Before joining Purpose, Prachi worked for Amnesty International where she led Amnesty’s Innovation Lab working at the intersection of technology, human rights and participation. Prachi helped design their lean impact accelerator which was tasked with scaling and testing new ideas. Prior to that, Prachi worked as a community organizer at Amnesty focusing on refugee and migrant rights. She led Amnesty’s family detention organizing strategy in Berks, Pennsylvania which resulted in the release of the four remaining "Castro" families (Castro v. DHS) who had been detained for more than 600 days.

Prior to Amnesty, Prachi worked at the Women's Environment & Development Organization, a global women's advocacy organization, to ensure women's voices were represented in the UN climate change negotiations, particularly in the lead up to the Paris Climate Summit. Prachi managed the Women Delegates Fund, a capacity building fund, at five UNFCCC meetings for a network of over 300 women delegates from 50 countries. At COP21, Prachi was named as one of the women on the frontlines of the climate debate by Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Over the past eight years, Prachi has also worked and volunteered with a variety of non-governmental and grassroots organizations including Peace Women, Amnesty International Australia, the Starlight Foundation, Jeans for Genes and Oaktree.

Prachi, originally from Australia, holds a Bachelor of Laws, with a major in international human rights law, and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics). In her spare time, Prachi loves to eat her way through New York City.

Rosa Ling

Senior Accounting Manager

Rosa is Senior Accounting Manager at Purpose, where she assists with different accounting and finance functions.

Prior to joining Purpose, Rosa has worked in various business sectors, ranging from Pharmaceutical, IT, and the Transportation Industry.

Rosa has a Finance degree from St. John’s University and holds an M.B.A. degree with a concentration in Accounting from Long Island University.

Outside of the office, Rosa volunteers for an animal rescue organization and loves playing with her dog, Nugget!

Sami Ehmed

Associate Accounting Manager

Sarah Brettschneider

Senior People Experience Business Partner

As the Senior People Partner supporting the US team at Purpose, Sarah Brettschneider impacts the growth of our business utilizing her expertise within talent management strategy, performance management, career development, employee relations, workforce planning and HR operations.

Before Joining Purpose Sarah was the global lead for people operations and engagement at BSR (Business for Social Responsibility) where she supported 180+ employees across the US, EMEA, and APAC. Prior to BSR Sarah worked at Non-Profits and Startups where she gained experience as the sole HR and office manager.

Sarah graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a B.A. in Psychology.

In her spare time Sarah enjoys taking dance classes, playing in a competitive bocce league, and traveling.

Sean Swift

Data & Operations Manager

T. Courtney Williams

Associate Strategy Director, Racial Equity Impact Practice

Court is an Associate Strategy Director for the Racial Equity Impact Practice at Purpose. Court brings a global strategy lens to projects and frameworks that center racial equity objectives, and leads the execution of strategy with partners across sectors. 

Prior to joining Purpose, Court was an Independent Strategist, specializing in embedding and designing intersectional equity in systems. Court founded A Call For Equity, a Global South platform imaging affirming black futures. They’ve collaborated on projects and research around food security, transformative justice in queer communities, and global Black identity while living and traveling the African continent. They have an extensive food justice & youth community engagement background. 

Court is an avid home-cook with a culinary background and a fervent interest in the creolization of food across the diaspora. 

Yash Dang

Global Manager, Digital Marketing

Yash Dang is the Global Digital Marketing Manager at Purpose, spearheading the organization's digital initiatives worldwide. With a keen focus on amplifying impact across various issue areas and elevating the Purpose brand, Yash collaborates with global offices and stakeholders to ensure seamless execution.

Having served as a Senior Campaigner for his first two years at Purpose, Yash demonstrated exceptional leadership in crafting and executing digital strategies for impactful campaigns in India. His expertise spans multiple issue areas, collaborating with esteemed partners such as the UN in India, Packard Foundation, and Vital Strategies.

Before joining Purpose, Yash developed his marketing skills while working with renowned organizations like IBM, Arup, and Havas Media, across India, Europe, and North America. Complementing his professional journey, he holds a Master's degree in Marketing from Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin.

When not at work, Yash finds solace in exploring new horizons. He enjoys traveling, hiking, playing and watching football, reading, and exploring different cuisines.