The governance of StartFund’s U.S. office rests with the Fred Foundation board and its advisors, and its day-to-day direction and management rests with a New York City-based staff. There are plans underway to make StartFund an independent 501(c)(3) organization.
Fred Foundation Board
Fred Matser, Founder and Board of Directors Chair.
Mr. Matser is a prominent Dutch humanitarian philanthropist and former real estate investor. He has made it his life’s work to contribute to creating a more functional global society by means of inspiration and empowerment. He has been a (co- )creator and (co-)financer on a wide range of projects and over 15 foundations in The Netherlands and abroad since 1983, covering the fields of healthcare, environment, conservation, peace and global transformation.
Deepak Chopra, Board of Directors.
Dr. Chopra is the author of more than fifty books translated into over thirty-five languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers in both the fiction and nonfiction categories. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. Time magazine heralds Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.”
Jane Goodall, Board of Directors.
Dr. Goodall, DBE, is one of the world’s foremost scientists, best known for her landmark study of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In 1977 she established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) to support the Gombe research and lead the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. With offices in over a dozen countries, the Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs. In 2002 Dr. Goodall was invested by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a UN Messenger of Peace. In 2004 she was awarded England’s highest honor, Dame of the British Empire, and in 2006 she received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor. Dr. Goodall has also received the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence, the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life and Science and Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award.
Pieter Sluis, Board of Directors.
For 25 years Dr. Sluis practiced family medicine in the small town of Nieuwkoop in the Netherlands. After developing a keen interest in issues of love, loss and forgiveness, he went on to found several national organizations, like the Dutch Hospice Movement and CliniClowns. He also worked as a workshop leader with the internationally renowned Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. For some years now, Dr. Sluis has sought to pass on all he has learned, supporting individuals, groups and organizations as a teacher and trainer.
Howard Rosenfeld, Advisor to the Board of Directors.
After a successful career as a sales and marketing executive in the apparel industry, Mr. Rosenfeld went on to co-found the Shei’rah Foundation with his wife, Sheryl Leach. The foundation funds and supports projects and organizations that promote unity consciousness in the media while celebrating diversity. Mr. Rosenfeld now devotes his full efforts to the foundation, supporting organizations like LinkTV, Chat the Planet, the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, the Tipping Point Network, the Global Youth Action Network and the Alliance for a New Humanity. Mr. Rosenfeld is also a passionate supporter of conservation, organic farming and sustainability initiatives in Litchfield County, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife.
Richard Zimmerman, Advisor to the Board of Directors.
Mr. Zimmerman is an experienced financial industry executive. He currently holds a position at HSBC Private Bank in New York as a Senior Vice President for Wealth Management. And he has held senior roles at Bessemer Trust, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America. Mr. Zimmerman has served as a Director and Officer for the Red Ribbon Foundation and as a Director for Kids in Crisis, a Connecticut-based child advocacy group. He first ventured into the world of positive action and global sustainability, when he published a book with Penguin USA, What Can I Do to Make a Difference. Since then, he has become a popular motivational speaker, writer and coach in the fields of personal development and conscious and sustainable living.
U.S. Staff
Brian Waniewski, Acting Director.
Brian is managing partner at Popular Operations, a firm he co-founded to apply the practice of futurism to the commercial and social development sectors. Brian specializes in helping top companies, NGO’s and high-profile individuals position themselves in the marketplace, communicate that position and design and implement aligned strategies. Past clients include Unilever, PepsiCo, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, the Grace Foundation, the Colombian Coffee Growers Association and Deepak Chopra. Before that, at Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve in New York, Brian led the development and launch of a new product line to deliver qualitative cultural intelligence to the Fortune 100. He also directed a non-profit public health initiative in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Laurie Meadoff, Development Consultant.
Currently Laurie is CEO of Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer. Cancer Schmancer is helping shift national priorities from finding a cancer cure to lowering mortality rates through prevention and early detection, with a focus on empowering and advocating for women. Laurie is also a consulting producer of MTV’s The Buried Life. Laurie has served as CEO of Chat Ventures, a New York production company focused on Youth Programming. And Laurie has a long history of executive production for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC, HBO Family, MTV and VH1. In 2001 she received a Rockefeller Fellowship to create the innovative media program, Chat the Planet, which served as a conduit of conversation for diverse groups of young people around the globe. She also produced the critically acclaimed online series “Hometown Baghdad” and founded the CityKids Foundation.
Natalie Rodic, Program Manager.
Natalie is a project management consultant with a focus on international development, social media and documentary film. Before joining StartFund, she built and nurtured a global community of young people through social networking and user-generated content for Taking It Global. She spearheaded projects for the United Nations and the World Bank, including producing a documentary film on urban development in Senegal. She has directed and edited web-based advocacy videos and viral marketing campaigns, and she also led international artist exchange projects in the Balkans to confront stereotypes and create cross-cultural understanding. Natalie serves as a board member for the Douniya Project and as an advisor to Uniting People. Currently she is co-producing a documentary film with Streetwise Pictures.
Kelly Woolf, Assistant Program Manager.
Kelly recently graduated from The New School with a BA in Psychology. She has worked as an event planner with Sidekick Events in Manhattan. She has organized empowerment workshops in Cape Town and taught English in the tribal villages of northern Thailand. With her work at the StartFund she continues her path of service and community outreach. Kelly was recently admitted for graduate study at the Silver School of Social Work.
Sem Devillart, Advisor.
Sem is co-founder and managing partner at Popular Operations, dedicated to the practice and application of futurism in the commercial and social development sectors. Sem has helped top companies, NGO’s and high-profile individuals design effective strategies and winning product concepts, based on a deep understanding of human psychology and socio-cultural trends. Her broad international experience―with a focus on Europe, Latin America and Africa―has been particularly useful to clients looking to implement global strategies effectively in local markets. Throughout her career Sem has concentrated on developing methods and systems to track, quantify and map qualitative cultural change. She has pursued her passion for trend analysis at Studio Edelkoort, the BBC and Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve. She is a faculty member of the branding program at the School of Visual Arts.
Team
The governance of StartFund’s U.S. office rests with the Fred Foundation board and its advisors, and its day-to-day direction and management rests with a New York City-based staff. There are plans underway to make StartFund an independent 501(c)(3) organization.
Fred Foundation Board
Mr. Matser is a prominent Dutch humanitarian philanthropist and former real estate investor. He has made it his life’s work to contribute to creating a more functional global society by means of inspiration and empowerment. He has been a (co- )creator and (co-)financer on a wide range of projects and over 15 foundations in The Netherlands and abroad since 1983, covering the fields of healthcare, environment, conservation, peace and global transformation.
Deepak Chopra, Board of Directors.
Dr. Chopra is the author of more than fifty books translated into over thirty-five languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers in both the fiction and nonfiction categories. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor at Kellogg School of Management and Senior Scientist with The Gallup Organization. Time magazine heralds Dr. Chopra as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century and “the poet-prophet of alternative medicine.”
Jane Goodall, Board of Directors.
Dr. Goodall, DBE, is one of the world’s foremost scientists, best known for her landmark study of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In 1977 she established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) to support the Gombe research and lead the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. With offices in over a dozen countries, the Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs. In 2002 Dr. Goodall was invested by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as a UN Messenger of Peace. In 2004 she was awarded England’s highest honor, Dame of the British Empire, and in 2006 she received France’s highest honor, the Legion of Honor. Dr. Goodall has also received the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence, the Franklin Institute’s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life and Science and Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award.
Pieter Sluis, Board of Directors.
For 25 years Dr. Sluis practiced family medicine in the small town of Nieuwkoop in the Netherlands. After developing a keen interest in issues of love, loss and forgiveness, he went on to found several national organizations, like the Dutch Hospice Movement and CliniClowns. He also worked as a workshop leader with the internationally renowned Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. For some years now, Dr. Sluis has sought to pass on all he has learned, supporting individuals, groups and organizations as a teacher and trainer.
Howard Rosenfeld, Advisor to the Board of Directors.
After a successful career as a sales and marketing executive in the apparel industry, Mr. Rosenfeld went on to co-found the Shei’rah Foundation with his wife, Sheryl Leach. The foundation funds and supports projects and organizations that promote unity consciousness in the media while celebrating diversity. Mr. Rosenfeld now devotes his full efforts to the foundation, supporting organizations like LinkTV, Chat the Planet, the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, the Tipping Point Network, the Global Youth Action Network and the Alliance for a New Humanity. Mr. Rosenfeld is also a passionate supporter of conservation, organic farming and sustainability initiatives in Litchfield County, Connecticut, where he lives with his wife.
Richard Zimmerman, Advisor to the Board of Directors.
Mr. Zimmerman is an experienced financial industry executive. He currently holds a position at HSBC Private Bank in New York as a Senior Vice President for Wealth Management. And he has held senior roles at Bessemer Trust, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America. Mr. Zimmerman has served as a Director and Officer for the Red Ribbon Foundation and as a Director for Kids in Crisis, a Connecticut-based child advocacy group. He first ventured into the world of positive action and global sustainability, when he published a book with Penguin USA, What Can I Do to Make a Difference. Since then, he has become a popular motivational speaker, writer and coach in the fields of personal development and conscious and sustainable living.
U.S. Staff
Brian is managing partner at Popular Operations, a firm he co-founded to apply the practice of futurism to the commercial and social development sectors. Brian specializes in helping top companies, NGO’s and high-profile individuals position themselves in the marketplace, communicate that position and design and implement aligned strategies. Past clients include Unilever, PepsiCo, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, the Grace Foundation, the Colombian Coffee Growers Association and Deepak Chopra. Before that, at Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve in New York, Brian led the development and launch of a new product line to deliver qualitative cultural intelligence to the Fortune 100. He also directed a non-profit public health initiative in conjunction with Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Laurie Meadoff, Development Consultant.
Currently Laurie is CEO of Fran Drescher’s Cancer Schmancer. Cancer Schmancer is helping shift national priorities from finding a cancer cure to lowering mortality rates through prevention and early detection, with a focus on empowering and advocating for women. Laurie is also a consulting producer of MTV’s The Buried Life. Laurie has served as CEO of Chat Ventures, a New York production company focused on Youth Programming. And Laurie has a long history of executive production for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC, HBO Family, MTV and VH1. In 2001 she received a Rockefeller Fellowship to create the innovative media program, Chat the Planet, which served as a conduit of conversation for diverse groups of young people around the globe. She also produced the critically acclaimed online series “Hometown Baghdad” and founded the CityKids Foundation.
Natalie Rodic, Program Manager.
Natalie is a project management consultant with a focus on international development, social media and documentary film. Before joining StartFund, she built and nurtured a global community of young people through social networking and user-generated content for Taking It Global. She spearheaded projects for the United Nations and the World Bank, including producing a documentary film on urban development in Senegal. She has directed and edited web-based advocacy videos and viral marketing campaigns, and she also led international artist exchange projects in the Balkans to confront stereotypes and create cross-cultural understanding. Natalie serves as a board member for the Douniya Project and as an advisor to Uniting People. Currently she is co-producing a documentary film with Streetwise Pictures.
Kelly Woolf, Assistant Program Manager.
Kelly recently graduated from The New School with a BA in Psychology. She has worked as an event planner with Sidekick Events in Manhattan. She has organized empowerment workshops in Cape Town and taught English in the tribal villages of northern Thailand. With her work at the StartFund she continues her path of service and community outreach. Kelly was recently admitted for graduate study at the Silver School of Social Work.
Sem Devillart, Advisor.
Sem is co-founder and managing partner at Popular Operations, dedicated to the practice and application of futurism in the commercial and social development sectors. Sem has helped top companies, NGO’s and high-profile individuals design effective strategies and winning product concepts, based on a deep understanding of human psychology and socio-cultural trends. Her broad international experience―with a focus on Europe, Latin America and Africa―has been particularly useful to clients looking to implement global strategies effectively in local markets. Throughout her career Sem has concentrated on developing methods and systems to track, quantify and map qualitative cultural change. She has pursued her passion for trend analysis at Studio Edelkoort, the BBC and Faith Popcorn’s BrainReserve. She is a faculty member of the branding program at the School of Visual Arts.