TEAM

Daryn is a passionate advocate of social and economic justice, especially for disadvantaged and marginalized groups. His work with impact investors, private equity funds, Fortune 100 companies, universities and foundations has been viewed through the lens of addressing the world’s most pressing social and environmental problems.

Daryn previously led the Special Equities Program as a consultant to the Board of the Calvert Funds, a $12 billion pioneer of the impact investing field. Through this vehicle, Calvert maintains a portfolio of more than 40 funds on five continents, representing over 350 underlying portfolio companies.  Prior to serving as a consultant to Calvert, Daryn served as Director of University and Corporate Partnership for The Idea Village, where he created a platform engaging leading private equity firms, business schools, and Fortune 500 companies to invest over 100,000 hours and $2 million into more than 1,000 New Orleans entrepreneurs post-Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Dodson currently serves on the Board of Directors for Ben and Jerry’s.  He earned his M.B.A. from Stanford, where he serves on the Dean’s Management Board, and his A.B. from Duke University.

JASON HENNING

Jason cares deeply about building more inclusive and equitable markets. For 15 years, Jason has supported leading impact investors in aligning their capital with their values.

Prior to joining Illumen Capital, Jason built, scaled and led the investor relations function for Global Partnerships, helping source over $250 million in impact-first capital from families, foundations, religious institutions, and development banks. During his time with the organization Jason developed a set of rich investor experiences, ranging from CEO briefings and the establishment of an advisory council, to travel that connected investors with social entrepreneurs and the clients they serve. Previously Jason was engaged in social justice work at the Children's Defense Fund, and held leadership positions on several presidential and congressional campaigns.

Mr. Henning earned a B.A. in political science from The Pennsylvania State University and holds an M.P.A. from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington.

JOANNA KUANG

Joanna has dedicated her career to expanding access to capital in pursuit of inclusive justice for and alongside under-resourced people of color. She believes a combination of public, private, and philanthropic capital drives the most meaningful impact when coordinated towards a shared systemic goal.

Prior to Illumen Capital, Joanna advised and built capacity for local, state, and federal governments on driving taxpayer dollars towards meaningful results for overlooked and underestimated communities at Third Sector Capital Partners. She began her career at Wellington Management, defining and managing impact for the institutional asset manager's sole impact investing portfolio.

Ms. Kuang earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Duke University, and as a Robertson Scholar, she was also dual enrolled at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

MARIA LOPEZ

Maria Lopez is passionate about achieving equity for low-income, first-generation, immigrant youth through education and economic empowerment.
 
Prior to joining Illumen Capital, Maria served various Bay Area nonprofits aimed to decrease the education gap for students of color through resources, mentorship and advocacy. At DreamCatchers Youth, Maria advocated for first-generation bilingual students in Palo Alto, researching and implementing meaningful interventions to eliminate the socioeconomic barriers driving the education gap. She also led the recruiting efforts to bring Stanford students and resources to DreamCatchers. At Ravenswood Reads, Maria tutored, mentored, and advocated for elementary school bilingual students to strengthen their English language skills through innovative curricula.
 
At Stanford University, Maria earned her B.A. in Psychology and MA in Latin American Studies. Maria is a QuestBridge scholar and speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese.

OCTAVIO SANDOVAL

Octavio Sandoval, CFA, CAIA, genuinely seeks innovative solutions to address social and economic injustice facing historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities.  He believes structural problems require structural solutions.

Prior to Illumen Capital, Octavio was a leader at MassMutual Life Insurance Company in building the emerging fund manager program, which allocated $50 million to a wide variety of BIPOC-led funds that invest in BIPOC-led startups. At MassMutual, Octavio also deployed over $500 million in allocations to various alternative investment strategies including private equity and private credit. Prior to MassMutual, Octavio held positions throughout traditional finance, including roles within investment banking, private wealth management and capital markets.

Mr. Sandoval earned a B.S. in Applied Economic & Management at Cornell University and holds an M.B.A from MIT Sloan School of Management. Mr. Sandoval formerly served on the alumni advisory council of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP). 

JEREMY SOOKHOO

Jeremy Sookhoo believes that thoughtfully combining entrepreneurship and investment capital is the most effective way to tackle society’s most critical challenges. He has helped organizations achieve dual impact and economic success by providing strategic clarity and intensive analytics at the highest levels.

Prior to Illumen Capital, Jeremy was a management consultant at Bain & Company where he developed strategic initiatives for blue chip corporations and conducted due diligence for leading private equity funds. Before Bain, Jeremy served as a consultant to the Board of Calvert Funds, a $15B impact investing pioneer, for its private market portfolio. He has also served in a variety of business analytics and finance roles for startups and asset managers. 

Jeremy earned a B.S. in Accounting from Brigham Young University and holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

KATIE TWOMEY

Katie Twomey is passionate about using innovative methods of financing to advance social and economic justice and to positively impact people, communities, sectors, and markets.

Prior to joining Illumen Capital, Katie led the finance, operations & HR functions at the nonprofit organization, Mama Hope, which aims to create a new global approach to tackling injustice in which communities hold the power and resources they need to drive their own futures. She began her career at Apollo Global Management, providing compliance support to private equity, credit, and real estate businesses to ensure compliance with corporate policies and procedures, FINRA, SEC, state, federal and international regulations.

Ms. Twomey earned a B.S. in Management from Boston College's Carroll School of Management and holds an M.B.A. from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

ADVISORY BOARD

ILLUMEN CAPITAL AMBASSADORS

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Illumen Capital takes a systems-level approach to reduce bias facing women and people of color who are fund managers, entrepreneurs, or otherwise in the investing field. To work at the systems-level, we know we cannot do it alone. We are grateful for our ambassadors, skilled individuals with deep experience in impact investing, who regularly coach or provide expertise to support our work and collectively advance our mission.

AMBASSADORS​

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• Marlene Orozco, Lead Research Analyst at the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative at Stanford Graduate School of Business

CONTRIBUTORS

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• Brian Ferguson, Chief Operating Officer at the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice and former Executive Director at the Mayor of D.C.'s Office on Returning Citizen Affairs

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• Jen Welter, first female coach in the National Football League (NFL) and author 

ILLUMENIQ CONTRIBUTORS

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Illumen Capital's bias reduction curriculum, IllumenIQ, provides training, tools, and resources to reduce racial and gender bias in venture capital and private equity decision-making. We are grateful to the following contributors for sharing their lived experience and stories as a part of IllumenIQ.