The Aspiration Co-Founder and CEO recently sat down with the Wharton Fintech Podcast to discuss his inspirations, collaborating with Drake and why identity banking is the future of financial services.
Sameer Jain
Chief Financial Officer
Sameer is the Chief Financial Officer at Radicle Impact where he is responsible for the firm’s finance and operations functions. He also focuses on supporting overall firm administration, investor relations, fund accounting, and portfolio investments.
Previously, Sameer has served in a variety of leadership roles across the investment management and financial services industries. Most recently, he worked as the Director of Fund Operations at Kiva Capital, an investment manager that supports underserved communities with impact-first capital. Prior to that, he was the Chief Operating Officer at Osmium Partners, an investment manager that focuses on small cap public equity investing. Sameer was also previously a Senior Vice President of Operations at Citco Fund Services, a market leading fund administrator. He started his career at Investors Bank & Trust followed by Barclays Global Investors.
Sameer received a BA in Economics and BS in Psychology from the University of California, Davis. He is a licensed CPA in the state of California, a CGMA holder, and a member of the AICPA. He also completed executive education programs through Santa Clara University receiving a Certificate of Advanced Accounting Proficiency, as well as through VC University – which is a joint initiative of Venture Forward, the National Venture Capital Association and Berkeley Law Executive Education.
Tom Chavez
Co-Founder, Super{set} Venture Studio
Tom is a serial tech entrepreneur and Co-Founder of super{set}, a venture studio that founds, funds, and builds technology companies. For the past 20+ years, Tom’s professional focus has centered on using data, decision science, and AI to solve hard, interesting problems. Prior to forming super{set}, Tom was the CEO and co-founder of Krux, acquired by Salesforce in 2016. Before Krux, Tom was the CEO and co-founder of Rapt, acquired by Microsoft in 2007. Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tom has lived and worked in San Francisco for the last 30 years. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science and Philosophy from Harvard and Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford. He supports and serves on the boards of non-profits in the areas of education, immigration, and entrepreneurship.
Kat Taylor
Co-Founding Investor
Kat Taylor works in service of restoring social justice and environmental well-being to build a more equitable and inclusive world.
Kat is active in a variety of social enterprises and philanthropic ventures focused on deep systems change. Currently, she serves as Co-Founder and Board Chair of Beneficial State Bank, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and certified B Corporation whose mission is to bring beneficial banking to low-income communities in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner – and to change the banking system for good.
As the co-founder and special limited partner of Radicle Impact Partners, Kat supports venture funds for early stage companies working in sustainable food systems, fair and transparent financial services, and resilient environmental solutions.
Kat is also a Founding Director of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (TKREF), dedicated to inspiring a sustainable food system through ranching best practices, training, educational tours, scientific research, and school food and garden programs. TKREF owns the social enterprise LeftCoast GrassFed, humanely raising cattle and other livestock for the benefit of healthy soils.
Kat serves and has served on many nonprofit boards including, Ecotrust, Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, ProPublica, the Community Development Bankers Association (CDBA), Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ), and CuriOdyssey.
She graduated from Harvard College and earned a JD/MBA from Stanford University. She and Tom Steyer, Kat’s climate-energy-justice activist husband, have four grown children, each pursuing their one wild and precious life, too.
Dan Skaff
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Daniel L. Skaff is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Radicle Impact Partners, an early-stage venture fund focused on climate and economic inclusion. Dan is former Co-CEO, President and Vice Chairman of Beneficial State, a triple bottom line bank dedicated to building prosperity in local communities with a focus on social justice, environmental resilience and economic sustainability. Beneficial State is the #3 rated B Corp globally and recipient of the California Prize for Service and the Common Good, The San Francisco Bay Area Environmental Business of the Year Award and Real Impact 100 Magazine’s Top 20 Company Award, among others.
Dan received a bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard University and a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Wharton Fellow and has been a guest speaker in Wharton’s Leadership in the Business World and School for Social Impact Programs. He also completed Stanford Law School’s Director’s College, an executive education program for more effective board leadership.
Dan is also Chairman of the Latino Community Foundation, the nation’s fastest growing nonprofit focused on Latino families, children and communities; Chairman-elect of Impact Assets, a pre-eminent partner for impact investing and philanthropic giving with $3.1B AUM; and serves on the board and as former Investment Committee Chair of the Marin Community Foundation, among the nation’s largest community foundations with $3.2B in philanthropic assets. He is a past advisory board member of The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, former Co-Chairman and Lead Director of Glu Mobile Inc. (Nasdaq GLUU, sold to Electronic Arts), and Vice Chair of The Harvard College Fund’s West Coast Council.
Earlier in his career Dan served in the Corporate Finance Departments of Bankers Trust Company and Bank of America. He subsequently co-founded and served as Managing Partner of Sienna Ventures and its affiliates, a private investment firm focused on multi-stage venture and middle market acquisitions primarily in the mobile communications, consumer and light technology sectors. Sienna’s venture investments exceeded industry benchmarks by approximately 50% and included companies such as Protocol Communications, @Motion, Phone.com/Unwired Planet, Tradepoint Solutions/DemandTec, Priceline.com, Glu Mobile, Bojangles’ Restaurants and Heidi’s Fine Desserts.
“We started Radicle because my partners and I believe we have for the longest time overlooked many of the most deserving communities and entrepreneurs among us. Ability and hope for advancement are widespread. Opportunity is not. We’re pleased at Radicle to work with
exceptional founders, CEOs, advisors and like-minded investors to balance opportunity with access in creating a more fair, transparent and just economic system – one with people at its
center, not just profits.”
Catha Groot
Partner
Catha Groot is a partner at Radicle Impact where she sits on the investment committee and leads Radicle’s Good Food investing. She is a director on the boards of Evrnu and Consolidated Harvest.
Prior to Radicle, Catha worked at Personal Capital (acquired for up to $1 Billion), where she led the company’s partnership and business development efforts. Catha also worked in investment banking at UBS and private equity at the Rockefeller Group, and she was COO of a coffee company that she co-founded called Farm to Cup.
Catha has an MBA from Stanford and a BA in Politics (cum laude) from Princeton. She volunteers for both schools in development, including on the Stanford Business School Fund advisory board. Catha is actively involved in promoting women in the impact investing industry, including through the nonprofit Invest for Better. Catha is an avid long distance runner, with her claims to fame being competing in the US Olympic Trials for the marathon, holding a national high school record and a Princeton school record. Now, Catha logs most of her miles running after her two kiddos.
Ami Naik
Partner
Ami is a Partner at Radicle Impact where she focuses on investments in the fund’s Fair Finance portfolio, in addition to supporting the fund’s strategy, impact measurement and overall operations. She leads the fund’s diversity, equity and inclusion work and the Radicle Fellows Council.
Previously, Ami worked both as an investment professional and in key leadership roles at early-stage companies. Most recently, she was Head of Business Operations at BloomThat and a Product Manager at Fairloan Financial. Prior to that, Ami was an investment professional and conducted due diligence and monitored investments at Elevar Equity, an early stage, emerging market fund manager, and Cedarview Capital, a high-yield focused hedge fund. Ami started her career working in JPMorgan’s Energy Investment Banking group.
Ami received her MBA from Wharton School of Management and her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, where she focused on Economics and Political Science. As a second-generation Indian American, she is the daughter of Indian immigrants and grew up outside of Chicago. In her time outside of work, she focuses on being a mom, and enjoys traveling, cooking, and yoga.
Corey Vernon
Partner
Corey Vernon is a Partner at Radicle Impact where she focuses on Radicle’s Good Climate investing. Corey joined Radicle Impact as an Associate in 2015.
Corey was formerly an Analyst at ING Capital, where she focused on providing structured acquisition financing for leveraged buyout transactions. Corey received a BS with distinction in Commerce from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce with a concentration in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Corey has been a guest speaker at the University of Virginia, Stanford University and UC Berkeley on impact venturing investing.
Nick Egger-Bovet
Regulatory Associate
Nick is a part-time Regulatory Associate at Radicle Impact Partners where he assists with new deal diligence for fintech investments and supports our fintech portfolio companies with regulatory and compliance related issues. He is also a full-time employee at Beneficial State Bank (BSB) where he serves as the VP, Senior CRA and Lending Compliance Manager. Nick’s primary responsibilities at BSB include the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) program, Financial Empowerment, Fair Lending, and Consumer & Commercial Lending Compliance.
Prior to joining Radicle, Nick was a Commissioned Safety & Soundness Bank Examiner at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). While at the FDIC, he led examinations and assessed the financial condition of banks across the country ranging from $100M to $71B in assets.
He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and International Relations from Claremont McKenna College. Nick is originally from Sonoma, CA and enjoys traveling, playing soccer, and listening to audiobooks.
Lorna Davis
Senior Advisor to CEO, Danone
Lorna has served as President of multinational consumer goods companies for 20+ years, in Danone, Kraft and Mondelez. She was the President of Kraft China and the President of Nabisco North America.
She has been a key leader in Danone’s purpose journey and as a Global Ambassador for the B Corp movement. In 2017, Lorna served as CEO and Chairwoman of Danone North
America, where she established that $6 Billion entity as a Public Benefit Corporation and it achieved B Corp status in 2018, making it the largest B Corp in the world.
She is a member of the Social Mission Board of Seventh Generation, the Integrity Board of Sir Kensington (both companies owned by Unilever), the Board of Guayaki, the Advisory Board of Radicle Impact and the board of B Lab Global. She is now working on bringing indigenous wisdom into business through a series of fire circles with indigenous elders.
Lorna has done a TED talk on Radical Interdependence which has been viewed by over 2 million people.
She has lived and led businesses in 7 countries and is passionate about purpose in business, wildlife conservation, and her dog, Stir.
Adrienne A. Harris is a Professor of the Practice at the University of Michigan, as well as a Senior Research Fellow with the Center for Finance, Law and Policy at the University. Adrienne is an early-stage investor and advisor. She also advises fintech companies, incumbent financial institutions, and large venture capital firms. Most recently, Adrienne was the founding Chief Business Officer and General Counsel of States Title, a San Francisco-based, insur-tech start-up for which she is now an Advisor. States Title (now Doma) announced it was merging with a SPAC in March 2021.
Adrienne currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Financial Health Network (formerly CFSI), for Beneficial State Bank (a CDFI and certified B-Corp), and Homie, Inc. She also serves as a Limited Partner Advisor to NYCA and as a Term Member on the Council of Foreign Relations. She previously served on the International Technology Advisory Panel (ITAP) for the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Adrienne was a Special Assistant to President Obama for Economic Policy at the National Economic Council in the Obama White House, where her portfolio included financial reform, financial technology, cybersecurity, consumer protection, and housing finance reform. At the White House, Adrienne spearheaded the development of the Administration’s fintech strategy, chairing both the Interagency Fintech Working Group and the Administration’s Distributed Ledger Technology Task Force. She came to the White House from the U.S. Department of Treasury where she served as Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary. Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., Adrienne was an Associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York, where her practice included representing financial institutions in complex regulatory proceedings and M&A transactions. While at the firm, Adrienne was tapped to serve as an advisor to numerous local, state and national political campaigns and transitions. From 2007 to 2008, she was a Judicial Clerk in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for the Honorable Stephen C. Robinson. Adrienne earned her M.B.A. from the New York University Stern School of Business with specializations in Economics and Management, her J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where she was a member of the Columbia Law Review, and her B.A. from Georgetown University, where she was a John Carroll Scholar and graduated with honors.
Pete Hartigan
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, MUSE (Mutual Society, Inc.)
Pete Hartigan’s career thesis is to help enable the “Values Economy.” To actualize this vision, he serves in a variety of roles, including Founder of MUSE (Mutual Society, Inc), CFO/CIO for a Family Office, Managing Partner for Marketplace Funds, a specialist fund focused on community health (financial, mental and physical), Board Governance (SOFI – Nom/Gov, Happify – Comp, Conventus), and Advisor (Radical Impact & VC Include). Prior, Pete assisted the SoFi founders from pre-incorporation to serving as its original Chief Community Officer, as well as additional operating and venture capital roles since the early 1990s (SOFTBANK & Battery Ventures). Pete has earned FINRA Series 7, 62 and 63 licenses (all expired). He has an MBA from Stanford University (Arbuckle Award) and earned degrees in Psychology & Philosophy from Duke University, summa cum laude & Phi Beta Kappa. In 1993, USA Today picked Pete as one of their Top 20 College Students in the United States.
Jules Kortenhurst
CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute
~ Co-Chair of the Global Future Council of Energy, World Economic Forum
~ Board Member, Energy Web Foundation
~ Board Member, Keystone Tower Systems
~ Commissioner, Energy Transitions Commission
~ Eramus University Rotterdam MA, Harvard MBA
Kanyi Maqubela
Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Kindred Ventures
Kanyi is a Managing Partner at Kindred Ventures. He served as a Partner at Collaborative Fund, where he was an early advisor to Tala and Walker & Co., and a board member at Buffer, Camino Financial, Spruce, and True Link. Kanyi is a co-founder at Heartbeat Health, and previously ran growth at One Block Off the Grid (acquired by $NRG) and was an early employee at Doostang (acquired by Universum Global). Kanyi has also served as a Lecturer and Adjunct at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, a curriculum adapted from his time as a student at Stanford University.
Jan Lynn Owen
Senior Advisor to Manatt, Phelps & Philips, LLP
Jan Owen is Senior Advisor in Manatt Financial Services, resident in the San Francisco and Sacramento offices.
Jan’s broad practice includes the representation of a wide variety of regulated entities with respect to consumer-facing products and services. She also counsels clients on strategic approaches in response to state and federal inquiries, exams, investigations and enforcement actions, and appears on their behalf before state and federal regulators.
Examples of her current representations include:
Prior to joining Manatt, Jan was the first and longstanding Commissioner of California’s Department of Business Oversight (2013 to 2019) now known as the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), the state’s financial regulator. A hands-on Commissioner, Jan actively led a massive agency with oversight over licensed and regulated financial services and securities entities. Prior to her role at DBO, Jan held other senior positions in both government and at a major financial institution.
In addition to Jan’s work at Manatt, Jan enjoys being on the Board of Directors of Bank of Southern California and on the Board of Directors of Kraken Financial. Jan also is on the Advisory Board of Radicle Impact and on the Advisory Board of Jiko, a financial services company.
Jan is a frequent speaker and author on topics relating to women’s issues, regulatory and consumer protection developments across the country. She continues to be extensively quoted by national publications such as American Banker and Bloomberg and is referenced in articles written in other publications as such American Lawyer.
Lisa Stevens
Chief People Officer, Aon United Operations
Lisa Stevens is Aon’s Chief People Officer. In this role she is responsible for creating, implementing and leading the strategies that empower the Firm’s 50,000 employees across 120 nations to fully align with the client-centric Aon United mission. Stevens leverages her proven ability to deliver business results as she leads the People Organization, including culture & change, talent, rewards and diversity, equity & inclusion strategies and their global functions. As a member of the CEO’s leadership team, Stevens also plays a critical role in overseeing the coaching and executive talent development and succession planning strategies for Aon.
Stevens joined Aon in 2018 as Executive Vice President of Aon United Operations where she led the Delivering Aon United strategy and adoption to accelerate client value creation and drive growth by increasing collaboration across geographies and solution lines.
Her ultimate objective is for colleagues around the world to be inspired by the Aon United mission, committed to professional development and work as a unified global team to build and be a part of a firm that consistently delivers great outcomes for clients, and even greater impact in the communities we serve around the world.
Stevens joined Aon from Wells Fargo Bank after a 29-year career. In her last role with Wells Fargo, Stevens was Executive Vice President and Head of the Western U.S., leading 34,000 employees and 2,700 branch offices across a 24-state region with annual community engagement in excess of $100 million. Prior to that role, Stevens ran 20 states plus sales and marketing for the entire Community Bank while leading Small Business Banking for the company. Earlier roles included serving as President of both the Pacific Northwest and the California Regional Banking Divisions.
Stevens has an extensive background in managing operational, market, reputational and credit risk, in addition to having managed multi-billion dollar operating organizations. Under Stevens, Small Business Banking served over 3 million small business customers with sales up to $5 million with a full range of financial services. As the leader in the banking industry for small business lending, Stevens was responsible for building and innovating small business customer solutions including FastFlexSM, the first product in traditional financial services that disrupted enterprises such as Lending Club, OnDeck and Cabbage. She also created national lending commitments to minority and women owned businesses.
Stevens earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Santa Clara University. She services as a commissioner for the Rose Bowl Operating Committee and is an active board members of several non-profit organizations, including the Executive Committee of the California Roundtable, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and the Board of Regents for Santa Clara University.
Mychal
Senior Analyst
Mychal is a Senior Analyst supporting the investment efforts across all three of Radicle Impact’s focus areas.
Over the last decade, he’s helped develop curriculums, advised NPOs, and worked with regional stakeholders to launch technical boot camps focused on under-employed young adults.
He’s committed to increasing inclusion by creating quality opportunities for those
underrepresented within the tech ecosystem, from IC to VC. Being a former founder and operator, he brings experiences that can be most impactful towards helping builders in the earliest stages, and never hesitates to dive in and work with them in the trenches.
As a community builder, he helped establish the Birmingham Chapter of the Global Shapers, served on the junior board of economic development agency, REVBirmingham, and is formerly a Chapter Director for Startup Grind. He received his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, with a concentration in Sports Administration from Mississippi State University. Originally from Alabama, when not working, you can find him trying to travel more, gaming, and exploring craft breweries.
Tom Steyer
Co-Founding Investor
Tom Steyer left his successful investing business to give his own money, time, and energy to fighting for progressive causes. He soon became one of the country’s leading forces in registering more young voters and voters of color, fighting climate change, working for racial justice, and helping secure better lives for all Americans.
From founding voter mobilization organization NextGen America, to spearheading impeachment with Need to Impeach, Tom has led a number of people-first, grassroots campaigns that have repeatedly defeated powerful special interests. Tom has mobilized grassroots efforts to beat big oil to win clean air laws, force big tobacco to pay its share of healthcare costs, and close a billion-dollar corporate tax loophole to fund public schools.
Most recently, Tom was a former Democratic presidential candidate and in 2020 served as Co-Chair for Governor Newsom’s Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. He Co-Chaired Vice President Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council to help mobilize climate voters. He will continue his work to make sure Americans reap the benefits of climate action in a just and equitable way.