Board
LaMar Bunts – Treasurer; Vice President for International Programs, ACT, Inc
LaMar Bunts was a musician for twenty years, formally trained in clarinet and percussion. LaMar now devotes most of his volunteer time towards ensuring that children have access to music and arts education. Over the last decade, he has served on the Board of Directors and as a voluntary CFO for the Community School of Music and Arts, the largest music and arts education organization in California's Silicon Valley serving 40,000 people per year. LaMar also serves as a special advisor to the president of Olodum, a popular Brazilian band that gained worldwide fame for its recordings with Michael Jackson and Paul Simon in the 1980s. Over the past decade, LaMar has helped the pioneering Creative School of Olodum (Escola Criativa Olodum) produce numerous professional musicians, artists, dancers and theater actors from poor, at-risk youth in the Northeast of Brazil. Prior to his current role at ACT, Inc., LaMar served as CFO and Chief Learning Officer for Dell End User Field Services. LaMar earned a Honors BA in Economics from Harvard College and a MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Joe Cerrell – Director, Europe Office, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
As the director of Global Health Policy & Advocacy, Joe Cerrell oversees global health communications, public policy and international finance for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this capacity, Joe manages a policy and advocacy grant-making portfolio and oversees relations with governments, NGOs, the private sector, multilateral organizations and other foundations. Prior to joining the foundation, Joe served as assistant press secretary to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He was a senior member of the team responsible for advising the vice president on energy and environmental issues and was a White House liaison to elected officials, industry, environmental, religious, and labor leaders, and the media. Joe also acted as U.S. spokesperson for numerous vice-presidential international state visits. Joe provided communications support and served as an advisor for three U.S. presidential campaigns. He was vice president of the philanthropy practice at APCO Worldwide, overseeing the agency's nonprofit and foundation clients. Joe currently serves on the board of directors for the ONE Campaign, UNITAID, and the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute. He is on the advisory board of the Clinton Global Initiative. Joe earned a BA from the University of Southern California and is a lifelong drummer in rock and soul bands.
Matt Comyns – Executive Search and Assessment Consultant, Russell Reynolds Associates
Prior to joining Russell Reynolds Associates, Matt Comyns recently completed the sale of Pacific Epoch, a consulting and research firm that specializes in market intelligence consulting and research projects for U.S. based companies trying to invest in and expand into China. There, he served as the CEO and was responsible for the operations and strategy of the firm and also directed many large research and consulting projects. Prior to this, he was a Founding Partner of BlackInc Ventures, a strategic advisory firm focused on providing clients in the digital media sector with market-leading solutions on an outsourced basis for business, sales, and corporate development. Before that, he was with CNET Networks Inc. for nearly seven years and held various positions including Senior Vice President/Publisher of News.com, where he oversaw the news division for online and broadcast, and Vice President of Business Development, where he managed strategic partnerships including custom advertising deals, affiliate development and content licensing deals. Matt also served as Director of Business Development at Snap.com. Earlier in his career, he was a Sales Manager for Dow Jones Interactive in Asia. Matt received his B.A. from Bucknell University. He is conversational in Mandarin.
Chris 'Kiff' Gallagher, Jr. – CEO & Founder, Center for Music National Service
Kiff served under President Clinton on the White House legislative team that created AmeriCorps. At the Corporation for National and Community Service in Washington, he ran a $15MM program portfolio in education, health, public safety and the environment. At night, he wrote and performed in a hip-hop, acid jazz project. Later, at Odwalla, Inc., Kiff was lead spokesman and advisor for brand strategy and corporate responsibility. Appointed President of Social Venture Network, a national organization for CEOs and investors, Kiff was an early advocate and innovator in the movements for social entrepreneurship and sustainable business. He has guest lectured at business schools and leadership forums nationwide on values-based business. A lifelong musician, Kiff has written and produced two critically praised, independently released, pop-rock albums; his music is licensed commercially on radio, TV and digital media worldwide. Through his micro-indie record label, PeaceLabs Music, Kiff integrated his personal and professional passions, calling for the creation of a “musical Peace Corps” which became the vision and platform for MusicianCorps. Kiff has consulted internationally for the State Department and the Gates Foundation, served as an advisor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and transition, and won leadership awards and recognition from the Aspen Institute, the James Irvine Foundation and GQ magazine’s Gentlemen’s Fund. Kiff is an honors graduate of the College of Letters from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Deborah Jospin – Partner & Co-Founder, sagawa/jospin
Deborah (Deb) Jospin is partner and co-founder of sagawa/jospin, a consulting group based in Washington, D.C. Along with her business partner Shirley Sagawa, Deb is the co-author of The Charismatic Organization: Eight Ways to Grow a Nonprofit that Builds Buzz, Delights Donors and Engages Employees, Jossey-Bass, 2008. From 1993 – 2001, she worked at the Corporation for National and Community Service, as Associate General Counsel, Chief of Staff and Director of AmeriCorps. Deb serves on the board of ServeNext and the Washington, D.C. Local Advisory Council of Sports4Kids. Deb was also a Deputy Team Leader for the Obama Agency Review Transition Team that reviewed the Corporation for National Service. Deb is a graduate of Tufts University, the London School of Economics and the Georgetown University Law Center. She chairs the board of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts, and serves as a Trustee of Tufts, chairing the Board’s Council of Overseers and serving on its Executive Committee. In 2009, Deb received the Light on the Hill Award, the highest honor that the undergraduate student body bestows on Tufts alumni.
Clara Shin – Chair; Partner, Covington & Burling LLP
Clara Shin is a Partner of Covington & Burling LLP and concentrates her trial and appellate practice on complex technology, intellectual property, and general commercial disputes. Her pro bono representations focus on the defense of constitutional rights, including federal campaign finance reform cases and challenges to the constitutionality of medical care provided by the California prison system. Earlier in her career, Clara served as a special assistant and White House Fellow in the White House Office of the Chief of Staff, law clerk to Judge Dorothy Nelson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and member of the start-up team that designed and launched AmeriCorps. Clara's international experiences include working for the United States Agency for International Development in South Africa and participating in the creation of Tahoe-Baikal Institute, a binational environmental institute focusing on land and water use issues, in California and Siberia. In addition to MusicianCorps, Clara is a Commissioner of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, Trustee and Treasurer of the Rosenberg Foundation, and a Director of the National Partnership for Women and Families and the United States District Court Northern District of California Historical Society. She earned a BA in Government and Psychobiopolitics from Smith College and a JD from Stanford Law School. Clara grew up playing the clarinet, flute, and piano, and her greatest regret is that she is unable to carry a tune.
Spencer Wells - Partner & Managing Director, TPG Opportunities Partners
Spencer Wells is a partner at TPG Opportunities Partners in San Francisco, a new venture formed by TPG Capital to pursue distressed credit investing. From 1992 to 1995, Spencer worked as a junior loan officer at Dresdner Bank in New York. In 1998 he served as an Analyst on the Distressed Trading Desk until 2001. He then moved to UBS Securities in Stamford, CT, where he was co-head of the Distressed Research group. He left UBS in 2002 to join Silver Point Capital, a $7 billion hedge fund based in Greenwich, CT, and focused on Distressed/Special Situations credit investing. In 2007, Spencer was made a Partner of the firm, retiring in 2009 to pursue other interests. Spencer currently serves as President of the Alexandra and Spencer Wells Charitable Foundation, which was established in 2008 to facilitate his family’s pursuit of their charitable interests. The Foundation focuses its giving on educational causes, among others. Spencer is also a member of the Board of Visitors of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Spencer is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, with a B.A. in Psychology and Columbia Business School with academic honors.
Board Advisors
Brad Armstrong (MNS Officer, Corporate Secretary) - Corporate Counsel, Salesforce.com
William Needle (Legal Pro bono counsel) - Special Counsel, Business Department, Sidley Austin LLP
