While the mission and work of Net Impact have long included a focus on race and equity, on our journey towards anti-racism, Net Impact understands that we can and must continuously improve. In September 2020, thirteen founding members, along with Net Impact Board Advisors, Cecily Joseph, and Randy Strickland introduced the Net Impact Black Professional Chapter (NIBPC).
The NIBPC founding members will work to develop its specific chapter mission and focus areas in its inaugural year, serving as a catalyst to increased value and alignment across the greater Net Impact community. The NIBPC will help support and encourage Net Impact Central, its partners, and members in fulfilling their commitments to amplify the voices of BIPOC, and making decisions that promote greater equity.
Net Impact is honored to announce the founding members of the NIBPC:
Chutney Harper, Agricultural Business Lead at Bayer
Chutney’s current role at Bayer is the North America Parent Seed Contract Production Lead. She is leading the contracting efforts for multiple external and internal Parent Seed production sites in the North America region along with the contra season growing locations in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. She collaborates with partners in Trade & Compliance, Logistics, Procurement, Quality, and Planning to ensure robust processes are in place to deliver reliable parent seed material. She has a wealth of project management experience, pairing well with her ability to develop and nurture strategic partnerships.
Chutney also serves on the leadership team for the ARISE affinity group at Bayer. This group is focused on supporting an environment at Bayer that attracts, retains, and develops employees of African descent, as well as, enhancing the value provided to customers, business partners, and the community. Her role is planning the Annual Business Meeting in February, which sets the tone and direction of the ARISE group for the calendar year. In the annual meeting, she plans and structures the agenda to communicate ARISE business vision, mission, goals, and calendar of events in alignment with Bayer business directionality. Chutney is active in her community through this affinity group. For example, partnering with Junior Achievement to teach entrepreneurship to children 1st-5th grade at Mann Elementary in an under-privileged community. Another example, she volunteers at the Soulard School Community Garden to help with rehabbing and general maintenance of the community garden.
Chutney is highly energetic and enjoys a lot of physical activities. She likes working out, yoga, walking, running, and outdoor physical games with family and friends. She is an event planner by nature, and she plans all events for her family and events at Bayer as well. In her quiet times, she loves to read and reflect on life. She does not have any children, but she has a big family of 7 sisters and 5 brothers with a host of nieces and nephews whom she adores.
Danielle Kayembe, CEO and Founder at GreyFire Impact
Danielle is an Ariane de Rothschild Fellow, awarded to 20 Global Social Impact Entrepreneurs each year. She has been featured on CNBC and in Forbes, and is a frequent speaker at the United Nations, TEDx, Google, General Assembly and other events. Danielle is the author of "The Silent Rise of the Female-Driven Economy" a position paper on women and the future of business and innovation.
David Stevens, Founding Partner and CEO at Broaden Impact
DeJuan Woods, Director of Corporate Relations at Wayne State University
Ella Clausen, Red Tab Foundation at Levi Strauss & Co.
Jamerus Payton, Author, Entrepreneur, and Co-Founder of HBCU Wall Street
Mr. Payton has served on various nonprofit boards, committees, and advisory boards including United Way, My Brother’s Keeper Wake County, and the Department of Applied Engineering Technology in the College of Science and Technology at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. Mr. Payton is the Owner of The Payton Insurance Group, The Payton Publishing Group, and Co-Owner of Carolina Chicken & Waffles.
Mr. Payton is the author of the book, “HBCUNomics: A Story Of The Power Of Black College Students, Economic Self-Sufficiency and Financial Freedom” and co-author of the two books, “Dream Big. Dream Often. Dream Unrealistic.: Guidelines To Get Off The Sidelines” and “The HBCU Experience: The North Carolina A&T State University Edition.”
Jarami Bond, Chief Storyteller at Bond Studio
Throughout his career, Jarami has leveraged the power of storytelling, his love for relationship-building, and refined communication skills to help mission-driven organizations increase revenue, build brand awareness, and maximize positive impact. From 2015-2019, Jarami served as Sustainability Strategy Manager and Sustainability Coordinator at Interface, partnering with sales and marketing to leverage sustainability to increase marketplace advantage. From 2019-2020, Jarami worked as a Business Development Manager at Teknion, focused on building strong customer relationships and unlocking new business opportunities within Northern California's architecture and design community.
Jarami is a graduate of North Carolina State University with a B.S. in Environmental Science with a minor in Sustainable Materials and Technology. While at NC State, he scored three engineering internships with the NC Department of Transportation and a sustainability internship with the City of Raleigh Office of Sustainability.
Jochebed Bogunjoko, Founder and CEO at J. Aduke Consulting
After partnering with the newly launched Registered Investment Advisor GRID 202 Partners to help the firm develop a proprietary theory of change for racial equity investing, Jochebed saw an opportunity to leverage this expertise more broadly and founded J Aduke Consulting spring of 2019. She is a member of the Intentional Endowments Network and the Net Impact San Francisco Chapter.
Keith E. Whitfield, Ph.D., 11th President of the University of Nevada Las Vegas
Dr. Whitfield is a champion of student and faculty success, innovation and entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary research. His broad higher education experience includes developing programs and institutional policies that promote social and economic equity and financial sustainability. He has also devoted considerable time to faculty development, particularly junior scholars.
Dr. Whitfield remains an active scholar. His research examines the etiology of individual variation in health and individual differences in cognition due to health conditions. Dr. Whitfield works with researchers from Sweden, Russia, Finland, and the United States. He has been a continuously funded researcher for more than 20 years through NIA, NIH, and NSF with projects totaling more than $18 million, and has authored or co-authored over 200 journal articles, books, and book chapters. His current research project focuses on the relationship between stress and longevity in African American families living in North Carolina.
Melynnie Rizvi, Deputy General Counsel and Senior Director of Employment, Inclusion and Impact at SurveyMonkey
Prior to SurveyMonkey, she was Senior Director, Global Employment, Litigation, Chief Sustainability & Diversity Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer at Veritas, a global technology company. In this role, Ms. Rizvi led the global employment law and litigation teams, managed the global compliance program, and led the Corporate Responsibility, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.
Prior to Veritas, she was a Director of Global Employment Law at Symantec. Prior to Symantec, she was a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith and an associate at Baker & McKenzie.
Ms. Rizvi is a graduate of Northern California Grantmaker’s Racial Equity Action Institute and The Leadership Consortium, Harvard Business School’s Executive Leadership Acceleration Program, was named Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2016 Employment Counsel of the Year and is an accomplished speaker on employment law, corporate responsibility, diversity and inclusion issues. Ms. Rizvi is a Board Member of Watermark and Fresh Lifelines for Youth and past Board Member of the Success Through Education Program. She received her JD and Bachelors of Commerce degrees from the University of Alberta, In Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Philip L. McKenzie, Cultural Anthropologist/Strategist and Executive Director at AdvancingDiversity.org
Philip’s work has placed him at the center of understanding the significance of culture as a reflection of shared values. As a result, he is a sought-after strategist working with a myriad of global organizations. He is a content creator and writer. He is the current Executive Director of Advancing Diversity and a columnist for MediaVillage. He is the creator and host of The Deep Dive, a leading culture and insights podcast in partnership with Pod Co Media. In the past, he has manifested his creative vision as co-host/co-creator of 2 Dope Boys & a Podcast.
Philip is a global speaker, having provided keynotes and workshops in London, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Amsterdam, Mexico City, and more.
Prior, he was the Managing Partner of FREE DMC, an influencer marketing agency that specialized in integrated marketing strategy, digital content creation, and experiential events. In his roles with FREE DMC, Philip created strategic experiential campaigns for Jaguar, Sprite, Remy Martin, Belvedere Vodka, and others. He was also the Global Curator of Influencer Conference, a global content platform that exists at the intersection of values, creativity, culture, and commerce. From its beginnings in 2010 in NYC, InfluencerCon has been held in some of the most dynamic cities in the world including London, Berlin, Detroit, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, and Amsterdam.
After completing his MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Philip joined Goldman, Sachs & Co where he worked in Domestic Equity Trading. He has had extensive trading experience in both the Healthcare and Consumer Product sectors.
Philip is a passionate supporter of the arts. He has been a Supporting Partner of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre since 1999. He is formerly a Junior Associate of the Museum of Modern Art and a member of the Apollo Circle of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is a rabid music fan and accomplished DJ under the name 9 Is Water.
Prior to his Duke MBA, Philip earned a bachelor of business administration from Howard University majoring in finance with a minor concentration in philosophy. Philip is born and bred in what he terms “Real Brooklyn” but travels extensively wherever the wind takes him. He is completing his first book titled No Shortcuts! The Revolutionaries Guide To The Future.
Stefanie A. Thomas, Impact Venture Investor at Impact America Fund
Today, Stefanie serves as one of six operators at a boutique venture firm––Impact America Fund (IAF)––with a primary focus on new investments and sourcing strategy. Prior to joining IAF, she co-founded Quarterback Impact while also managing fund development for an impact investment evergreen project. In 2014, she led a 6,000-mile road trip across the US to meet and work with entrepreneurs who focused on catalyzing economic opportunity for their local communities. Before the switch to venture, Stefanie served as a Vice President in Citigroup's global banking division. She received her M.B.A. from the Ross School at the University of Michigan and her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Yusuf George, Managing Director of Corporate Engagement at JUST Capital
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Princess Chambers, a nonprofit that awards college scholarships to young women in Brooklyn; the Middle Project Inc., a nonprofit which prepares and unites progressive and ethical leaders for a more just society by using resources to act locally and think globally; and the Red Hen Collective, a feminist, worker-owned, wine importer that is dedicated to a “new wine economy,” one that pays farmers first and shares equity.