Advisors & Partners

We are honored to have a distinguished group of advisors supporting Harpswell’s mission and vision.

Representing leadership in a wide range of fields and industries, but sharing in common a commitment to gender equality and women’s advancement, our advisors have been critical to our growth and impact. 

We’ve recently formed a Council of Women Leaders whose members serve as role models for our Cambodian students and ASEAN Summit participants.

Kamal Ahmad

  • Kamal Ahmad currently serves as the President and CEO of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation (AUW). Mr. Ahmad has combined a career in private transactional law practice and international development. Prior to joining AUW, he was on the staff of the General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines. He has worked with the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and UNICEF. In 1998, Mr. Ahmad helped launch the World Bank/UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education and Society.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in BLANK, Harvard College
    - JD, University of Michigan Law School

Laura Asiala 

  • Laura is a Senior Fellow at PYXERA Global and passionate about the power of business to solve–or help solve–the world’s most intransigent problems.

    Prior to her current role, Laura was a VP at PYXERA Global, following her 30 years with the Dow Corning Corporation. She writes for The Global Engagement Forum: Online and is ranked among the Top 500 influencers on Twitter for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

    Board Affiliations:
    - Harpswell Council of Women Leaders
    - Net Impact, a network of more than 100,000 emerging leaders committed to making a positive, sustainable impact with their careers
    - Sustainable Innovation MBA Program, University of Vermont

    Education:
    - Bachelors in Economics, Alma College
    - Master’s of Science in Organizational Development, Case Western Reserve University

Jonathan Auerbach 

  • Jonathan Auerbach is the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer and Executive Vice President at PayPal, Inc. and PayPal Holdings, Inc. He has spent more than half of his career living and working in Asia.

    Prior to joining PayPal, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Singtel’s Group Digital Life, where he was responsible for a global portfolio of mobile video, digital advertising and analytics businesses. Before Singtel, he spent 26 years as a Management Consultant with McKinsey & Company. At McKinsey, he held a variety of executive roles in Asia and North America, including leading the Asian Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice; the Singapore Office and the Southeast Asia Region and the North American High Tech Practice.

    Board Affiliations:
    - Technoserve
    - Brooklyn Academy of Music

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in East Asian Studies, Dartmouth College
    - Master’s in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford University

Robert Barnes

  • Robert Barnes is a civil trial lawyer. Through his Oklahoma City-based firm, Barnes and Lewis, Robert specializes in complex civil litigation and has acted as lead counsel in some of the nation’s largest oil and gas cases. He is a nationally recognized expert in pursuing cleanup of oilfield pollution, royalty owner class action lawsuits as well as complex geological and engineering litigation.

    Education:
    JD, University of Oklahoma School of Law

Cara Barnes

Veasna Chea

  • Veasna was born and raised in Cambodia during the turmoil of the American War, the Khmer Rouge regime and the subsequent Vietnamese occupation. During this time of struggle and survival, the education of many Cambodian children suffered.

    After finishing her secondary education, Veasna attended Law School, where she lived in the crawl space underneath the university. After graduation, she joined the Ministry of Justice, and later worked on various legal projects funded by bilateral and multilateral donors.

    Education: 
Bachelor’s in Law, Royal University of Law and Economics

  • Cara has a passion for nonprofits, volunteering extensively in her community as well as exploring an interest in empowering women in developing countries. Before joining Harpswell, Cara created and supported a marketing effort promoting the work of more than 2000 Bolivian artisans.

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in BLANK, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College

Elizabeth Becker

  • Elizabeth Becker began her career as a war correspondent for the Washington Post covering Cambodia. She was one of two American journalists allowed by the Khmer Rouge to enter Cambodia during the Pol Pot regime. Her book When the War was Over is one of the most insightful histories of modern Cambodia.

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in South Asian Studies, University of Washington

Holly Cratsley 

  • Holly Cratsley founded Nashawtuc Architects in 1988, a community oriented architectural firm located in Concord Massachusetts. She has been cited by readers of Women’s Business Boston as one of the region’s “Top Ten Female Architects.” Holly’s civic activities include five years as an elected Commissioner of the Concord Housing Authority, Chair of various municipal Task Forces and Mentor in the School/Business Partnership. Holly assisted in the design of Harpswell’s Dormitory and Leadership Center at Teuk Thla and supports the empowerment of women.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in Social Sciences, Sarah Lawrence College
    - Bachelor’s in Architecture, Boston Architectural College
    - Master’s in Latin American History, University of Maryland

Roland Eng

  • Roland Eng is former Cambodian Ambassador to the United States (1999 – 2004) and is now Ambassador-at-Large and Advisor to the Royal Government of Cambodia. After the civil war with the Khmer Rouge, Ambassador Eng volunteered at the refugee camps along the Cambodian-Thai border. He worked with the UN to bring about peace in Cambodia, under the UNTAC operation and, in 1993, was elected to the National Assembly. Before becoming Ambassador to the United States, he was Ambassador to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in Public Administration, Université Paul Cézanne Aix-Marseille III

Brad Gordon

  • Brad Gordon is founder of Edenbridge Asia, based in Phnom Penh, which advises capital markets and private equity transactions.

    Before founding Edenbridge, he worked for the international law firms Linklaters, Freshfields and Shearman & Sterling and has many years of experience working as a corporate lawyer for international investors and investment banks in Asia. He worked with Cambodian refugees in Thailand in 1989. Brad is an advisor to Cambodia Living Arts and is also a member of the American Chamber of Commerce. His firm has given internships and other job opportunities to a number of Harpswell students.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in Literature and Society, Brown University
    - JD, Harvard Law School

Marco Greenberg

  • Marco is an adjunct professor at Fordham Graduate Business School. A public relations expert and web video innovator, he has held senior positions in two of the largest global public relations and advertising firms, Burson-Marsteller and BBDO, and in his own ventures, NYPR, Reel Biography and Thunder11. He is currently managing director of Burson-Marsteller.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in Political Science/History, University of California Los Angeles
    - Master’s in BLANK, Columbia University

Annie Halvorsen

Madeleine Jacobs

  • Madeleine Jacobs is the new president of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents. Prior to that, she was Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. She has a background in both chemistry and journalism. Before her current position at ACS, Jacobs was Editor-in-Chief of Chemical & Engineering News magazine. She has held a number of senior management positions in scientific and educational institutions. Most notably, she was director of Public Affairs at the Smithsonian Institution, 1987 – 1993. She has been committed to achieving gender equality in science.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in Chemistry, George Washington University
    - Master’s in Organic Chemistry, University of Maryland
    - Doctor of Science, George Washington University (Honorary)

Irving Levin

  • Irving Levin is the Chairman and CEO of Genesis. A veteran of retail financial services, Mr. Levin founded Renaissance Holdings, Inc., and was the Chairman of Renaissance and its Orchard Bank subsidiary. Mr. Levin also works with a number of nonprofit organizations. He is Chairman of the Board of Digital Divide Data, which employs young people in Cambodia to provide IT data services to global clients, and also serves as a Trustee or Board Member for the St. Vincent Hospital Foundation, The Children’s Institute, Oregon Entrepreneurial Forum and the Portland State University Foundation.

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in BLANK, University of Chicago
    - MBA, University of Chicago

Stephanie Fowler

  • Stephanie is a retired broadcast and print journalist, as well as a licensed psychotherapist. She is a director of the Renaissance Foundation, a family foundation established with her husband, Irving Levin, to promote educational access, service to those in need and environmental preservation.

Daniel Pritzker

  • Daniel was the founder, guitarist and songwriter for the Chicago band Sonia Dada and is now making films.

    Board Affiliations:
    - Co-Founder, Jay Pritzker Foundation
    - Co-Founder, Jay Pritzker Academy (Ta Chet, Cambodia)

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in BLANK, Tufts University
    - JD, Northwestern University

Karen Pritzker

  • Karen Pritzker is the daughter of a foreign service officer and has lived in Martinique, Liberia, Haiti, Jordan, Switzerland and France. Karen has developed and supported Providence St. Mel, an innovative K-12 preparatory school for disadvantaged students in Chicago.

    Board Affiliations:
    - Co-Founder, Jay Pritzker Foundation
    - Co-Founder, Jay Pritzker Academy (Ta Chet, Cambodia)

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in BLANK, University of Chicago

Jeannie Sack

  • As the mother of two bright and curious daughters, Jeannie Sack is especially dedicated to seeing the advancement of women’s opportunities through education. Over the past few years, Ms. Sack has made many visits to Harpswell and believes the organization is offering young women a chance that would be otherwise unavailable to them.

Mallika Dutt

  • Mallika is the founder of global human rights organization, Breakthrough, and led the group as its President & CEO for 17 years. She has served as Program Officer for Human Rights and Social Justice at the Ford Foundation’s New Delhi Office. She was Associate Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University, an institution that was at the forefront of the global movement demanding recognition for women’s rights as human rights. She has served as the Director of the Norman Foundation, and is also a co-founder of Sakhi for South Asian Women.

    She has been the recipient of several awards and received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2016. Mallika began her career as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton.

    Board Affiliations:
    - Harpswell Council of Women Leaders
    - New York City’s Commission on Gender Equity

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in BLANK, Mount Holyoke College
    - Master’s in BLANK, Columbia University’s School of International Affairs
    - JD, New York University
    - Honorary Doctorate, Mount Holyoke College

Jordan Sachs

  • Jordan Sachs was the senior executive of manufacturers of science education materials. His last position was publisher of educational software for Encyclopedia Britannica. Capping his career he published the first multimedia CD-ROM encyclopedia which won the Software Publishers Association’s Oscar equivalent in every category it was eligible.

    Jordan retired early so he and his late wife could pursue their enthusiasm for travel, spending several months overseas every year with a focus on Asia. Jordan & his wife Jeannie derive immense satisfaction from their commitment to Harpswell. Their annual visits with the Harpswell women provide living proof of the life changing results of Harpswell’s efforts. Harpswell converges Jordan and Jeannie’s passions for education and Asia.

Katja Nelson

  • Katja’s desire to create meaningful change on a large scale began after she studied abroad in the Northeast of Thailand during college, where she focused on issues of globalization and development. There she wrote human rights reports, worked with the Thai Network of People Living with HIV & AIDs, and spent 5 months living in rural villages.

    Katja worked for Causes, a philanthropy application for Facebook, advising nonprofits on their social media fundraising. After Causes she spent four years at Twitter building out a new arm of their business in the mobile app space. Katja most recently took a year off to travel around the world with specific learning objectives. Katja has spent time at Harpswell’s dorms teaching the women a course on social media. She is currently living in San Francisco.

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in Psychology and Studio Art, Occidental College

Roberta Yuen

  • For over 30 years, Roberta provided individuals and companies with financial planning/investment advice, guiding them to their goals of financial security and independence. She started in the business as a financial assistant/para-planner and worked her way to positions of branch manager and Principal. Her clients entrusted her to manage over $250 million in assets.

    Prior to her financial services career, Roberta designed costumes for the performing arts. Her works appeared on stages for dance, ballet, opera and regional theaters, including San Francisco Opera, SF Ballet, California Shakespeare Festival. In addition to designing, she managed the production of costumes and was a Performing Arts Design Consultant for the Zellerbach Family Fund Foundation for many years. Her designs were critically acclaimed and nominated for industry awards. Roberta also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile, South America after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley.

    Board Affiliations:
    Harpswell Council of Women Leaders

    Education:
    Bachelor’s in BLANK, University of California, Berkeley

Marissa Wesely

  • Marissa is the CEO of Win-Win Strategies, a non-profit social enterprise that connects the power of business with the deep assets of women’s organizations to empower women globally.

    Marissa has served as an Advisor to the “Path to Empowerment” series hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center, and was a 2014 Fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center, affiliated with the Center’s Global Women’s Leadership Initiative.

    Marissa is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to 2014, Marissa was a partner in the global law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. As a long-standing advocate for women in diverse settings, Marissa has received many awards, including the ABA’s 2014 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.

    Board Affiliations:
    -     Harpswell Council of Women Leaders
    - Global Fund for Women

    Education:
    - Bachelor’s in BLANK, Williams College
    - JD, Harvard Law School

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