Features

Mita Malik, Head of Inclusion, Equity & Impact, Carta

New juror Mita Mallick is a change maker with a track record of transforming culture and business. With an extensive career as a multicultural marketer in the beauty and consumer goods space, Mallick is a fierce advocate for including and representing Black and Brown communities. 

Her passion for inclusive storytelling led her to become a Chief Diversity Officer, building end-to-end ecosystems across big and small organizations and future proofing brands for today’s dynamic environment. Mallick currently serves as the Head of Inclusion for Carta, an equity management platform for shareholders. Previously, she lent her talents to companies such as Unilever, Pfizer, AVON, Johnson & Johnson and more. A talented author and speaker, Mallick has authored Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workspace and is the co-host of popular podcast “The Brown Table Talk”, part of the LinkedIn Podcast Network.

Francisco J. Tezen, President & CEO, A Better Chance

Since 2020, Francisco Tezén has served as President and CEO of A Better Chance, a nonprofit that places students of color into the leadership pipeline. Prior to joining A Better Chance from the Food Bank For New York City where he served as Chief Development Officer. Tezén has created and managed growth, visibility, and partnership strategies for educational and social service organizations with community-based, national, and global reach. Prior to joining the Food Bank, he held positions at Year Up, The New School, and Columbia Business School. He is currently a Board Member of the strategic philanthropy Arbor Brothers, a Trustee of The Packer Collegiate Institute, and Secretary of Packer’s Alumni Association Board.

Casey Acierno, Social Impact Lead, Spotify

Casey Acierno specializes in leveraging storytelling and culture to make an impact. She founded and currently leads the Media Responsibility practice within the Social Impact team at Spotify. Her recent projects include Real Fans, an initiative redefining what it means to make live events impactful, including a multiyear partnership with leading global nonprofits to help end sexual violence at gigs; original podcast impact campaigns for shows like Jordan Peele’s Quiet Part Loud and Forbidden Fruits with Julia Fox; and I’m with the banned, an Emmy-nominated original series showing how, when people can’t travel, music will. Casey also created and leads Spotify’s global civic engagement initiative, Play Your Part, which helps consumers, creators, and employees feel empowered to vote and be heard. The civic engagement work has reached nearly 70M Spotify consumers worldwide to encourage them to play their part in elections in the US, France, Germany, Brazil, Nigeria, the UK, and more, leading to over 4M resources being accessed.

Previously, she was Senior Manager of Public Affairs for MTV, where she managed major multiplatform campaigns to engage and activate America’s youth on the biggest issues impacting their generation.

Martino Harmon, Vice President for Student Life, University of Michigan

A longtime advocate for students, Dr. Martino Harmon serves as the Vice President for student life at the University of Michigan (U-M). As a senior leader at one of the foremost public institutions in the country, Dr. Harmon oversees a budget of more than $260 million and over two dozen units that provide critical programs and services to over 50,000 students on U-M’s Ann Arbor campus. Through his leadership, Student Life at U-M has transformed the institution’s approach to holistically addressing student health and well-being, leading to the formation of a collective impact group and the signing of the international Okanagan Charter for health-promoting universities. 

Dr. Harmon previously served as the senior vice president for student affairs at Iowa State University, where he provided strategic oversight for a large student affairs division responsible for enrollment, student success, and overall student well-being. Prior to Iowa State, Dr. Harmon served at institutions including Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Rhodes State College, and Washtenaw Community College.

Keely Cat-Wells, Founder & CEO, Making Space

Keely Cat-Wells is an Entrepreneur and Disability Rights Advocate. While in the hospital, she founded a company that evolved into C Talent. Acquired in 2022, C Talent represents Disabled talent, reshaping perceptions of Disability. Under her leadership, C Talent had an artist roster with a combined following of over 50 million people and placed talent in thousands of projects for brands like Nike, HBO, and Disney, and they’ve represented Academy Award and Emmy-nominated Disabled talent. The acquisition marked a significant investment in Disabled talent and a milestone for the creator industry. 

Following the acquisition, Keely established Making Space, a venture-backed talent acquisition and learning experience platform that allows companies to train and access pre qualified disabled talent pools. Designed to bridge the education-employment gap, Making Space creates tangible pathways to employment and career advancement through employer-supported courses. Making Space is a Techstars Economic Mobility 2023 company and winner of Pepperdine’s 2023 ‘Most Fundable Companies’.

Asha Curran, Chief Executive Officer, GivingTuesday

Asha Curran is CEO of GivingTuesday. She serves as Chair of the Board of Guardian.org and as Advisory Committee Co-Chair for the Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact at the 92nd Street Y, where she was formerly Chief Innovation Officer. She is a Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society, a Marla and Barry Beck Visiting Social Innovator at the Social Innovation and Change Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Fellow at the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford. She was named to the Nonprofit Times’ Top Fifty Power and Influence list 2019 through 2023.

C.D. Glin, President, PepsiCo Foundation & Global Head of Social Impact, PepsiCo

C.D. Glin is currently President of the PepsiCo Foundation and Global Head of Social Impact for PepsiCo. In this role, Glin leads the organization’s social- and community-driven impact efforts and a portfolio of global employee engagement programs. Glin oversees the Foundation’s strategic direction, leading internal and external engagement around The PepsiCo Foundation’s three core pillars of creating equitable access to nutritious food, safe water, and economic opportunity.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Glin began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa during the Mandela administration. He also served as President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation, Associate Director of The Rockefeller Foundation and Vice President for Business Development at PYXERA Global. Further, as an appointee in the Obama Administration, Glin was the first Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Global Partnerships for the Peace Corps. In 2011, Glin was honored as a Champion of Change in Civic Engagement and International Service by the White House.

Greg Propper, President, Propper Daley

Greg Propper is the co-founder of Propper Daley, a social impact firm that helps brands, nonprofits, and philanthropists accelerate positive change in the world. With over 25 years of experience in public policy, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy and entertainment, Propper has built and scaled three distinct practice areas (corporate brands, high-profile individual philanthropists, and foundations/nonprofits), serving over 200 clients over 10+ years. Clients include The Clinton Foundation; The Call of Duty Endowment; Viacom; The Shawn Mendes Foundation; Everytown for Gun Safety; Planned Parenthood; Conservation Lands Foundation; Best Buy; The Walt Disney Company, Youth Villages, Bradley Cooper, Babylist, and Steven Tyler’s Janie’s Fund.

Prior to found Propper Daley, Greg served as Executive Director of ServiceNation and Managing Director of Be the Change, Inc., leading the effort to pass the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act during the first 100 days of the Obama Administration — the largest expansion of national and community service since the Great Depression. As an advocate and organizer, Greg helped lead the “Save AmeriCorps” campaign of 2003 that successfully restored funding to the marquee national service program. He is a member of the board of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University, LIFT Los Angeles, the New Politics Leadership Academy, and serves as a board member and President Emeritus of the Social Impact Fund.

Wendy R. Weiser, Vice President, Democracy, Brennan Center for Justice

Wendy Weiser is Vice President for Democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, a non-partisan think tank and public interest law center that works to revitalize, reform, and defend the systems of democracy and justice. She directs the Center’s work on voting rights and elections, redistricting and representation, federal reform, and judiciary work. She founded the Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program, directing litigation, research, and advocacy efforts to enhance political participation and prevent voter disenfranchisement across the country for more than a decade.

A constitutional lawyer and an expert on a range of democracy issues, Weiser has authored multiple publications and articles on democracy issues, litigated ground-breaking lawsuits, authored dozens of U.S. Supreme Court briefs, testified on multiple occasions before both houses of Congress and in state legislatures, and provided legislative drafting assistance to legislators and administrators nationwide. She is a frequent public speaker and media contributor, with her commentary has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and elsewhere.