Simone N. Sneed is a development professional, life coach and motivational speaker who is dedicated to catalyzing a cultural paradigm shift in how we address the health and wellness of women and girls in America. Currently, she is the Major Donors Manager at Community Access; an NYC based organization that empowers individuals with psychiatric disabilities to lead healthy, independent lives by providing comprehensive support via housing, job training, and recovery focused workshops. She has an extensive background in philanthropy, specializing in board development and major gifts. In addition to serving for seven years as the board co-chair for Holding Our Own Women’s Foundation in Albany, NY, Simone cultivated her expertise at The Astraea Foundation, The United Nations Fund for Gender Equality and The Albany County Executive’s Office. She has also partnered with The Girl Scouts of the USA, Friends of Camp Little Notch and The Brown Boi Project to dramatically increase their development capacities. In addition to completing fellowships with The New Leaders Council, The George Washington Graduate School of Political Management and The University at Albany’s Center for Women in Government, she holds a B.A. in Sociology and Africana Studies with a concentration on race, class and gender from the University at Albany. Simone is also the CEO and Founder of Catching Brilliance (CB). Through CB Simone leverages her experience in system design and personal development to empower ambitious individuals with the tools and insights they need to live balanced and fulfilling lives. A savvy strategist Simone is working closely with the One Percent Foundation’s senior leadership to create and establish comprehensive development strategies and infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability and growth.

Iara Duarte Peng is committed to strengthening progressive infrastructure critical to creating long-term social change. She is particularly interested in helping organizations move from ideas to action by improving their management and organizational development systems. She is the founder of T21, Together in the 21st Century, a national project dedicated to empowering parents of children with Trisomy-21 by equipping them with information and resources. She designed and managed the executive leadership transition at Green For All in 2009 and supported the executive leadership transition at The Tides Foundation in 2008. From 2003-2008, she was the founding Director of Young People For, the premier youth leadership development program that identifies, engages and empowers the newest generation of progressive leaders to create lasting change in their communities. She also serves on the board of the Tides Advocacy Fund, Beatitudes Society, Youth Justice Funding Collaborative and Mario Savio Activist Awards. She serves as an Advisory Board member to several organizations and provides strategic advice to countless grassroots and leadership organizations around the country. Iara is the proud mother of two boys, Isaac (2 1/2 years) and Joshua (6 months).

Mike is a senior strategy manager at Microsoft, where he works on strategy, M&A, and business planing priorities for the Business Division. Prior to joining Microsoft, Mike received his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He has also worked at McKinsey as a management consultant and at an outdoor gear startup, GoLite, as marketing and technology manager. Mike grew up in Vermont and loves all forms of outdoor adventure. He serves on the valuation committee of a Vermont-based venture capital firm that focuses on clean technology. Mike also holds a B.S.E. from Princeton University in computer science.